When you grade his directing chops do you place him among the upper echelon?

Yes.

No

Doesn't mean I don't enjoy his films, but no.

All day. Every day. And twice on Tuesdays.

He's a top tier perv

He's a freak for the Salma Hayak BS

Sorry but feet is like the most vanilla of kinks.

Hilarious if that's the line for you into perv territory. Especially in Hollywood.

The foot thing is kinda weird though. Don't forget how boring most of us are; we're not measuring against West Hollywood or eyes wide shut parties.

And in answer to the OP, I tend to think of him more as a connoisseur than an originator. But some good things have come out of that.

Not against him but I never understood why he was so revered. I genuinely like some of his work. His early stuff couldn't hold my interest or I just passed on it completely.

R Dogs - never seen it
Pulp Fiction - saw it, just didn't see what the big deal was
Jackie Brown - passed
Kill Bill 1 - tried to watch, lost interest
Kill Bill 2 - passed
Death Proof - absolutely dumb

then something changed

Inglourius B's - was not sold on the first watch then it became one of my favorite films of all time
Django - solid
H8 - solid, so much fun (a bit over the top but that's what he does)
Hollywood - ending was dumb but the rest was incredible

I still think his greatest work was as the writer for True Romance which is a top 10 all time for me.

Jackie Brown is honestly as good as Pulp Fiction imo. Recommend giving it a watch.

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Not against him but I never understood why he was so revered.

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I think it's kind of like a big movie fan getting to make movies. So we can kind of relate to him and live vicariously. I don't relate to him every way, of course, but get it.

He and Rob Zombie give me the same feel with their movies. I enjoy them for what they are but don't think of either as elite.

Yes, but he's not as good as he once was.

He's an auteur, and there's probably nobody better at directing Quentin Tarantino movies than him. I kind of liken him to Wes Anderson - both have specific styles that they don't tend to deviate from too much.

Yes. He's very hit or miss with me, but his great movies are among the greatest of all time.

I usually hate his movies on first viewing and then they become favorites. Pulp Fiction and Once upon a Time are wonderful.

He's top tier for sure. Couple of things that bug me:

I don't like: the waaaaaaaaaaaay over the top violence. Just butchered the ending of Once Upon a Time for me. If he had toned down the deaths, particularly the screaming girl, it would have improved the tone of the overall movie for me. But he doesn't do "toned down". This hurt the ending of Django for me as well.

He can get too wordy at times with his dialogue, the monologues can just run on and on.

His ability to create scene tension is unparalleled IMO. A few:
*The opening of basterds.
*The card game in Basterds.
*Once Upon a Time - Brad Pitt is first at Spahn Ranch.

Yes, he is a top tier director.

His films demonstrate a high level of craft as far as dialogue, casting, performances from actors, cinematography, score, pacing, editing.

His films do not have as big a box office as a Michael Bay, or a director of a Marvel movie, because they are not as broadly appealing. It may sound funny due to his use of extreme violence and coarse language, but his films are more cinematically artsy. If a criteria for top director is box office, he doesn't have it. Performed well, but not in a Ron Howard of Steven Spielberg way.

I have enjoyed everything he has made but rarely do I rewatch any of his works. The opening stanza of IB was some of the best, mist riveting film making ever.

But I won't put him in the same echelon as Spielberg, Nolan, Villanueve (no idea how to spell that name)

Yeah he's definitely up there. Not really my taste, but a very top director

Tavern scene in Inglourious Basterds is the best directed scene of any movie of the past 25 years. Fight me if you think otherwise.

Absolutely

The opening and tavern scenes in Inglorious Basterds are two of the best, most tense, well directed scenes in any movie I've ever watched

The actual dialogue, the language switches, the performances he got out of the actors - this was prime Michael Jordan at work. Both of those scenes are goated. Art.

I get his over the top style in dialog, character, and violence isn't for everyone. But it is impossible to deny his success and influence.
He's probably the best writer/director ever.

Every one of his movies, with a few exceptions, gets Oscar buzz or wins. They also make decent money. True he doesn't have huge blockbusters, but he also isn't trying to have huge blockbusters.

His movies and style are ripped off constantly. Pulp Fiction changed how movies looked, sounded, and were told for two decades at least.

Maybe the biggest thing you could complain about in his total career is quantity and variety. He'll never make a sports movie or sci-fi movie, etc. So it is difficult to compare him to Spielberg who has made 15 times the number of movies across all genres. We'll never know if he could have succeeded making a movie someone else wrote or a movie outside his lane. But he always knew the kind of movie he wanted to make, he was unwilling to give up on his vision, and every movie is unmistakably his.

If you are a movie producer who wants someone to make your family move or next big Sci-fi franchise, then he isn't a top tier director. If you want someone to get top actors, make a movie without a huge budget, make decent money, win awards, and deliver a total singular package then his name is top of the list.

Head Ninja In Charge said:

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Tavern scene in Inglourious Basterds is the best directed scene of any movie of the past 25 years. Fight me if you think otherwise.

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Fight a ninja?

No thanks.

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Head Ninja In Charge said:

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Tavern scene in Inglourious Basterds is the best directed scene of any movie of the past 25 years. Fight me if you think otherwise.

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maroon barchetta said:

Fight a ninja?

No thanks.

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And head ninja, in charge, at that!

Apache said:

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He's top tier for sure. Couple of things that bug me:

I don't like: the waaaaaaaaaaaay over the top violence. Just butchered the ending of Once Upon a Time for me. If he had toned down the deaths, particularly the screaming girl (Academy Award Winner Mickey Madison), it would have improved the tone of the overall movie for me. But he doesn't do "toned down". This hurt the ending of Django for me as well.

He can get too wordy at times with his dialogue, the monologues can just run on and on.

His ability to create scene tension is unparalleled IMO. A few:
*The opening of basterds.
*The card game in Basterds.
*Once Upon a Time - Brad Pitt is first at Spahn Ranch.

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FIFY

FL_Ag1998 said:

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Yes, but he's not as good as he once was.

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Well, he's got a few years on him now.

His segment from Four Rooms: "The Man from Hollywood" (directed by Quentin Tarantino): A man is involved in a strange bet with a cleaver.

That's the hardest I ever laughed at a scene. But without knowing the Alfred Hitchcock scene from which it is derived, it is meaningless.

I like to think of top tier directors as being flexible, not unlike a good actor. Some actors and directors are just good at "being themselves" and I put Quintin into this category. So good and definitely unique, but not top tier IMO.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Sorry but feet is like the most vanilla of kinks.

Hilarious if that's the line for you into perv territory. Especially in Hollywood.

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It's f-ing weird. But most artistic geniuses are very weird and/or flawed...and he is definitely all of the above.

I used to think he was effing with us...but I am 100% convinced he has a foot fetish for sure. A dirty foot fetish. I almost think he also likes taking extremely beautiful women, and exposing their awkward lanky feet and toes for all of the world to see. Part fetish, part artistic contrast.

But he is definitely one of the absolute greatest to ever do it imo.

Apache said:

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I don't like: the waaaaaaaaaaaay over the top violence. Just butchered the ending of Once Upon a Time for me. If he had toned down the deaths, particularly the screaming girl, it would have improved the tone of the overall movie for me. But he doesn't do "toned down". This hurt the ending of Django for me as well.

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I like the over the top violence which I find absurdly funny.

My guilty pleasure

Head Ninja In Charge said:

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Tavern scene in Inglourious Basterds is the best directed scene of any movie of the past 25 years. Fight me if you think otherwise.

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That scene and the early scene at the dairy farmer's house are absolutely incredible. The whole world seems to stop during those two scenes for me.

Once Upon a Time is a masterpiece to me. It helped that someone told me in advance that it's not a movie centered around the Manson murders, it's basically a nostalgic movie about Hollywood in the late 60's.

I think a lot of people I know didn't like it initially because they went into it expecting some type of murder drama or mystery and walked away thinking it was about nothing.

I liked it the first time...but i enjoyed it more and m ore with each viewing thereafter for a while. I watch it probably 3-4 times a year. I could probably watch that movie once a week and never grow tired of it.

I had no idea it was incorporating anything about the Manson murders, going into watching the movies. To me, that was a huge surprise. I don't know how anyone would know that unless they did research prior to watching the movie. The trailers for the movie never really talking about that at al.

I don't hate the guy and respect anyone with a unique perspective, but I've posted a number of times here how the worship he gets in some circles is just baffling to me. To each their own though.