If you want to make a Quentin Tarantino tier list, you have to decide if you’re comparing him to others or only himself. If compared to others, he’s definitely in the upper echelon of directors, but the argument for “best” becomes too subjective to really get into. As a result, none of his movies are outright bad. You can have gripes about particular films, but they’ll always be streets ahead compared to films like The Room (2003) or The Grudge (2020) (The bad remake). So if you compare Tarantino to everyone else, nothing falls below the B or, at worst, C tier. In contrast, comparing Tarantino to himself is a more interesting lens because it requires more nuance to be picky about excellence. For example, if someone is asked to rank their favourite desserts but stubbornly insists ice-cream is the very best, it might be more productive to have them rank ice-cream flavors instead. So, let’s start being picky about Ice-Cream Flavors. I mean, Tarantino films.

My Personal Rankings: 

“I’m a surgeon with this shotgun.”

S Tier: 

I am of the viewpoint that Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) are best watched back to back for that “one movie” effect. I understand that’s a lot of time. So, take breaks in between or during the films, but don’t wait too long, or it’s like stopping a movie right in the middle. The most common criticism about these films is that they are blood-soaked voyeurism, but these films tell such a great story of love, revenge, and determination, that the violence makes sense contextually and is (slightly) easier to stomach. The casting is excellent, the dialogue is enthralling, and the music choices are iconic. I mean, the use of Ironside Theme as a motif for dramatic encounters occupies space in so many people’s brains.

You might notice I have Vol. 2 ahead of Vol. 1. I stand by this. I think Vol. 2 has a larger world, more great performances, and just tells more of the story than the first film. For example, of the five members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, only two die in Vol. 1. Vol. 2 manages to be the 2nd and 3rd act, while also showing us more of the story leading up to the bloody revenge. Some people say that Vol. 1 is better for the Crazy 88 fight scene, but one good sequence does not a better movie make. The over the top action isn’t the only selling point for Kill Bill, so I think it’s a shallow take to praise Vol. 1  for that reason.

I think Django Unchained (2012) is one of Tarantino’s best standalone films. It tells a complete story of justified revenge and character growth in 2/3rds the time of watching both Kill Bill volumes. I would give it a lot of the same praise as Kill Bill, but it has a lot more Hollywood polish and a lot less style. For example, no jumping back and forth in time, no shifting between character’s perspectives, and no big twist at the end. Sure, there’s the big shootout and the final retribution, but no undercover cop or unknown daughter. For these reasons, I don’t think it can surpass Kill Bill because those movies just have Tarantino’s signature all over them. Still, I rate this film highly and I get the urge to rewatch it at least once a year. I also love showing this film to other people. If you haven’t seen it, watch it.

“Alright Ramblers, let’s get rambling.”

A Tier: 

Someone out there is very angry that I put Reservoir Dogs (1992) before Inglourious Basterds (2009), but at the same time, some other film nerd is pumping his fists in the air. For a lot of these films, it’s hard to describe them in one sentence. In contrast, whenever someone asks me what Reservoir Dogs is about, I say “It’s a movie about a bank robbery gone wrong, but you never actually see the robbery.” This usually gets people more intrigued and then I try to let the film speak for itself. The film uses its tiny budget wisely by being a bottle* film that is still dripping with style and violence, but without the fancy effects and big explosions. The real charm of this movie is in the dialogue delivery and chemistry between the ensemble. There’s so many scenes where they interact and reveal their true natures to each other, and the best part is that it causes both conflict and camaraderie between the heist crew. You get invested in these characters only to realize the majority are selfish psychopaths. It outranks Basterds because not only does it do so much with so little, but it has managed to remain in the mainstream since its release in 1992.

Putting Basterds after Reservoir Dogs is definitely a personal choice. As excellent as Basterds is, it doesn’t stand out as iconic Tarantino to me. Not that I’m going to rag on this movie, like I said I think it’s excellent. Similar to Reservoir Dogs, one can simply introduce this movie as “a WWII film where they fight Nazis, but we never see the actual war.” And this statement alone might intrigue a lot of people. This movie also features an amazingly strong performance by Christoph Waltz as the villain, Col. Hans Landa. I absolutely love that the main antagonist is not traditionally Hitler, but this more down to earth yet supernaturally intelligent military officer. Brad Pitt as Aldo Raine is also hilarious and iconic in this film. I will forever be pronouncing “Buongiorno” just like he does in that scene.

**A bottle film is a term used to describe a movie where the central plot or conflict is simply putting a group of characters in a confined, inescapable place. This allows their emotions to bottle up until inevitably, the whole situation blows up. Kind of like when you trap air in a plastic bottle until the lid shoots off.

“It’s ‘cause of the metric system.”

B Tier: 

Somewhere out there, a film nerd is absolutely livid about where I’ve placed Pulp Fiction (1994). Truthfully, this movie could be in A tier as well, but it lacks the structure and polish that the higher ranked films have. Yes, I know this film just has the events almost completely out of order, but this film definitely leans more towards style than substance. It’s got a lot of incredibly iconic scenes, but really this movie feels like a collection of awesome scenes edited together. Someone else out there is screaming, “But that’s what a good movie should be!” and I would say, only in part. Pulp Fiction plays with chronology a little too much for my tastes. It’s a great film for anyone passionate about art and Tarantino’s style, but not everyone at the movie night is gonna appreciate this pick. It doesn’t have that mass appeal that even stylish films like Kill Bill and Basterds have, but I would by no means call this a bad film. I just think it’s for a more niche audience and Tarantino probably knew that while making it. Still, the amount of memorable and iconic scenes in this film place it above Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

I think Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) only really hits if people have some appreciation for the history of Hollywood. As much as I found the adventures of a washed-up actor and his loyal stunt double to be endearing, it’s the twist at the end that really makes this film standout. If you didn’t know; actress Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) was murdered in her L.A. home while 8 months pregnant in August of 1969. She was murdered in a home invasion by followers of Charles Manson, who is infamously a pretty bad dude. With the subtle details sprinkled in about Sharon Tate and the meeting of those sketchy teens, this film ends up with a twist that dawns on you organically. No big Tyler Durden reveal, just a violent, but satisfying, alternate history. This film could definitely be someone’s comfort film as it is just soaked in that old Hollywood nostalgia and has a “happy” ending to it. However, it’s hard to say this is objectively Tarantino’s best film because he’s simply just told more compelling stories already.

“Now, isn’t that a surprise.”

C Tier:

I have The Hateful Eight (2015) in C tier because I wasn’t that impressed by this movie. As far as bottle films go, I think Reservoir Dogs is better at the concept. This movie feels more like, “oooh all these characters obviously hate each other, let’s put them in a room and see what happens” rather than playing out a more organic situation. This film only really gets interesting when Channing Tatum shows up – no joke – and the lid starts flying off the bottle. It tries to have a message regarding the arbitrary nature of violence, but it’s hard to sit through the almost 3 hours before that. I don’t think this is a bad film, but I think Reservoir Dogs offers the same structure and themes in a leaner and more memorable way. I mean, the color-coded aliases are a masterclass in character economy – meanwhile, try naming Hateful Eight characters without Google or IMDb. This alone speaks massive volumes about how effective a delivery Reservoir Dogs is in comparison to Hateful Eight.

“You want to ride in my car?”

D Tier:

Death Proof (2007) is absolutely insane. If it wasn’t entertaining, I wouldn’t have finished the whole thing. But there is no way this ranks higher than any other film on this list. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, save it for a bad movie night with friends. It won’t make you cringe with the acting or frustrated by the camera work, but the concept and plot are so ridiculous it’s hard to take the film any bit seriously. Overall, it could be worse, but it could also be way better.

“Describe what Marsellus Wallace looks like.”

??? Tier:

Jackie Brown (1997) is the only film in the collection I haven’t seen. That means I’ve seen Death Proof before this movie. Let that sink in. It seems the community is a bit split on this film as some say it’s his worst and others say it gets better with every watch. If I get around to watching this film I can update the list, but until then I think it’s unfair to give it a rating.

“How ‘bout if I’m Mr. Purple? That sounds good to me. I’ll be Mr. Purple.”

Where The Community And I Disagree:

So the obvious disagreement is Pulp Fiction taking the S rank and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 being ranked a whole tier lower than Vol. 1. I think this is probably impression management or a bunch of film nerds trying to fit in with each other.  I think Pulp Fiction is great but I strongly disagree with the sentiment that it is his masterpiece. Just because it has influenced pop-culture strongly, doesn’t mean it is without fault. Having Kill Bill: Vol. 1 higher than Vol. 2 probably proves my previous argument of rating inflation due to the Crazy 88 scene. I’m not sure how people can rate it so highly when it doesn’t even conclude the story. As for the rest of the list, I’m glad Vol. 2 is ahead of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and The Hateful Eight but I think it deserves A tier at a minimum and I don’t think Hateful Eight should be ahead of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.  If people didn’t like Jackie Brown, they didn’t like Jackie Brown. I can’t comment on that just yet. If people didn’t like Death Proof, I’m not gonna fault them.

Look, you can rearrange my tiers all you want, but at the end of the day, Tarantino doesn’t really miss. Even his “weaker” films have moments other directors would kill for. My list reflects what stuck with me—the performances, the pacing, the dialogue. If nothing else, I hope it made you rethink where your favorites land, or at least want to revisit a film or two with fresh eyes. Feel free to come at me with the baseless Pulp Fiction worship. I said what I said.