The best scene from every Quentin Tarantino movie
Blood, guts and vitriol are all in a day’s work for modern cinema’s most distinctive director, Quentin Tarantino. It is perhaps one of his most notable feats that he has crafted himself a vivid style worthy of turning his name into a suffixed adjective: ‘Tarantino-eqsue’. Since he emerged with Reservoir Dogs, this bloody, quick-talking ‘-esque’ style has been noticeable everywhere within entertainment.
Tarantino now resides as one of the most revered and certainly the most talked about directors in Hollywood. However, punctuating the notable style that has pushed him towards this pinnacle are the scenes that add substance to it all—the carefully crafted set-plays that grip you tighter than Django’s hand around the handle of his pistol. He doesn’t go overboard on big arching morals or philosophical nuance, so these moments of movie magic are where he really makes sense as a director.
As he said himself: “I like it when somebody tells me a story, and I actually feel that that’s becoming like a lost art in American cinema.” His pivotal scenes are the punchlines within his tales—the moments he pushes the narrative towards an edge, and with Tarantino, it is usually a very sharp one.
Below we have chartered the best scenes from all of his films to date. While the selection might be distinctively Tarantino-esque, the eclectic mix proves that he does, indeed, achieve his filmmaking aim: “When I make a film, I am hoping to reinvent the genre a little bit. I just do it my way. I make my own little Quentin versions of them.” Below we present the best little versions within those little versions.
The best scene from every Quentin Tarantino movie:
Reservoir Dogs (1992) – “It’s a big surprise, I’m sure you’ll like it”
There is plenty of bloody style in the whirlwind opening of Reservoir Dogs. Things come so thick and fast, in fact, that, as a first-time viewer, it can leave you somewhat startled. Then comes a trademark shot that quickly coats the whole thing with a punch of dark humour, and you suddenly know where you’re at with this stylistic epic.
We see the ‘trunk get popped’ to reveal a shot of Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi), Mr. White (Harvey Keitel) and Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) standing over the camera in an unashamed declaration of dominance. The domineering trio presides over the camera like giant sinister, smiling bastards and diminish the audience down to the helpless soon-to-be tomb of the boot. Therein lies a policeman in a pickle.
The fate of the entombed policeman is about as reassuring as a Prince Andrew interview – that much is already patently obvious – but having the giggling gangsters leering over him adds a viscerally sinister edge to his completely f–ked situation. The other flipside of the shot is that initially, we don’t know what’s in the boot or what they’re laughing at, which not only adds tension but also imbues the follow-up cut of a hapless policeman – whose utterly Chernobyl’d face has clearly been besieged by the same haphazard treatment as the top shelf of a dwarf’s fridge – with a jet-black sense of humour. And suddenly, the film has a note of levity that clicks it into top gear.
Pulp Fiction (1994) – “Every mother f—king last one of you”
If Tarantino is in the business of telling stories, then it stands to reason that he’s also in the business of gripping opening lines. This scene is the equivalent of that dinner party moment where somebody utters something fateful like, “I think I had a ghost encounter once,” and you know that you’re in for an exciting next few hours. That’s what he does here, he welcomes you into his cinematic world.
Brilliantly acted by Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer, there is an alluring sense of character on display in this uncompromised opening. It disobeyed the usual cinematic rules of setting things up and simply pulled back the curtain and lassoed the bewildered audience into the action. This has been copied ever since. As Jeff Bridges said: “Every once in a while, a movie comes along that is almost like an etch a sketch, and it cleans everything off and just starts afresh.”
This was evident with Pulp Fiction from the get-go. This is the sort of invigorating gambit that has you briefly plotting your own heist—it’s fantasy at the top of its game.
Jackie Brown (1997) – “How did you ever rob a bank?”
Many claim that Tarantino’s 1997 movie Jackie Brown is his very best, and whilst we may not go that far ourselves, the director’s third movie was a considerable step up in tone and style. Led by Pam Grief, who plays the title character, a flight attendant who gets arrested for smuggling drugs and turns into an informer, our favourite moment of Jackie Brown doesn’t even include the protagonist, even if the actor gives a stellar performance.
Being the only time Tarantino has ever worked with De Niro, he uses the actor perfectly in a moment in which he becomes frustrated with a female associate who is irritating him during an exchange of money. As well as being a moment which is ingeniously stitched together with another perspective later in the film, the scene is also a marvel of pacing and screenwriting that ends with De Niro’s character losing his cool.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) – “Your mother had it coming”
Born from his own love of martial arts flicks, Kill Bill is a wild two-part odyssey that tells the story of a former assassin who wakes up from a four-year coma and wreaks revenge on the team of killers who double-crossed her. A violent and visually electric movie, we could’ve picked a range of scenes as the very best, with the obvious being the Bride’s fight against ‘The Crazy 88’, but we’ve gone for something a little different instead.
Oozing style, wry humour and class, the moment in which Uma Thurman’s Bride kills Vivica A. Fox’s Vernita is pure quality Tarantino. Brutally killing her former friend with wild style, she turns to Vernita’s daughter, who is standing in the doorway and utters: “When you grow up…If you still feel raw about it…I’ll be waiting”. Leaving the line to sit in silence, she exits the room, crunching on spilt cereal as if it were the gravel of an old western movie. Sheesh.
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) – “The Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique”
From one Kill Bill movie to the next, whilst Quentin Tarantino may class both movies as one creative whole, we’ve decided to split both instalments into two. After all, they are separate cinematic experiences released a year apart. For the previous movie in the series, we opted for a comparatively toned-down moment, so for Kill Bill: Volume 2, we’re going to do exactly the same thing, ignoring the admittedly excellent action sequences for something entirely more meaningful.
Both Kill Bill movies are all about exploitative violence in excess, so the fact that Tarantino decided to finally enact the titular point of the movie with a moment of subtlety was a pleasant surprise. The moment that the Bride sets Bill’s fate in motion with the iconic ‘Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique’ it seems as though all her hatred fades away too. For just a moment, the chaos ends, and these former friends share a brief moment of companionship. It’s both appropriately farcical and genuinely touching.
Death Proof (2007) – “Hold tight, count to three, gotta stay close by me”
There’s no doubt among fans, critics and even the filmmaker himself that Death Proof is the worst movie in Tarantino’s filmography. This isn’t to say that the film is without merit. However, part two of his Grindhouse collaboration with Robert Rodriguez is teeming with a passionate adoration for classic exploitation cinema. Telling the story of a stuntman who goes on a murderous rampage in his ‘death proof’ car, the film stars the likes of Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson and Zoë Bell.
Being a violent exploitation flick, it would be wrong for us not to commend the goriest moment in Tarantino’s movie, with the car crash scene embodying everything the 2007 film stands for. Featuring convincing practical effects, intense visual storytelling, and even a Wilhelm scream for good measure, the scene is an indulgent piece of horror cinema.
Inglorious Basterds (2009) – “I can think like a Jew”
Tarantino’s WWII fantasy epic opens with a shot of undulating green hills in a Sound of Music-esque setting and all the charming connotations that go along with a country cottage. That is until these homely wonders are both immediately eviscerated by the transcendently loathsome Col Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz).
However, the notion of the idealised countryside is not blown to bits entirely, as it were, by the heavy hand of Nazi Germany, but rather a much more subtle and, ultimately, sinister touch. Flitting between languages on a whim, Waltz expertly portrays the sickening confidence that abides with unabated evil – it is simply easier to be the consummate bastard – while the equally brilliant Denis Ménochet (playing Perrier LaPadite) strikes the excellent counterpart of nobility battling with hopelessness – it’s so much harder to be virtuous.
Both of these acting masterclasses are perfectly crafted by Tarantino’s pen in a screenplay where each of the lines is beautifully considered to deliver the most affecting malicious intent. While the later basement scene might also be brilliant, the subtle context of wickedness and nobility in this scene is the moment that the depth behind the thrills comes to the fore and acts as a touchstone for everything else that follows.
Django Unchained (2012) – “Where were we?”
Tarantino is anything but tepid. As a director, he has never been afraid to turn over tables, and this tour de force of tension is something that lives long in the memory. Here he lets the true horror of Leonardo DiCaprio’s Calvin Candie shine through in all of its ugliness without even a passing thought of temperance. As he proudly says: “If there is something magic about the collaborations I have with actors, it’s because I put the character first.”
Much like the basement scene in Inglorious Basterds, Tarantino dabbles in the James Bond trope of stripping your heroes of their powers and placing them in a seemingly insurmountable position of peril for the sake of suspense. In a near thee-hour film, it was essential to bring things abruptly to a head, and this moment does it with a gut punch and a bloody fist.
The Hateful Eight (2015) – “Anybody else wanna make a deal?”
This poetic western gem might be the most underrated flick in Tarantino’s entire filmography, with The Hateful Eight telling the story of a bounty hunter, his prisoner and a gang of eccentric villains who end up bunkering down in a secluded cabin during a Wyoming winter. Featuring a selection of some of the filmmaker’s greatest characters, including Samuel L. Jackson’s Major Warren and Jennifer Jason Leigh’s Daisy Domergue.
The greatest scene in the 2015 movie gives time and space to the characters, allowing Tarantino’s luscious script to roll off the tongue of all those involved. As Domergue gives her violent speech, the tension of the moment is slowly cranked until all hell breaks loose.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) – “Eh, can I help you?”
To say that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is all about the finale is to diminish the great cinema that comes before it. However, there is no doubt that it’s certainly a symphony that builds towards a crescendo. When it arrives, it does so in such a satisfactory manner that you almost have to lose your inhibitions and clap like a goon when the credits descend on the agog theatre.
By the time this flame-throwing, head-smashing pièce de resistance comes around, you’re rooting for the flawed heroes Cliff Booth and Rick Dalton to succeed, and in classic Hollywood style, Tarantino happily obliges you with that. Is it gratuitous? Absolutely! Is it his most definitive scene? The jury’s out, but it’s certainly one of his most entertaining. Does it tie the whole thing together? Bet your bottom dollar like the Dude’s goddamn rug, it does.