"My filmmaking education consisted of finding out what filmmakers I liked were watching, then seeing those films."
Paul Thomas Anderson
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SOURCES
QT's Lists - Top 20 Favorite Spaghetti
Westerns (and runners up), Top 20 Favorite Grindhouse Films, Top 7 exploitation movies (Cinescape Magazine), and many others.
QT Interviews - and we're talking about A LOT of interviews. (My favourites were his three episodes on
The Rewachtables Podcast)
QT FIlm Fest - The Quentin Tarantino Film Festival, or QT-Fest, was a semi-annual film and multimedia event held by the Austin Film Society in Austin, Texas and attended by film director Quentin Tarantino, where he screened a selection of his favorite films
using prints he owns.
The New Beverly - Quentin Tarantino does the vast majority of the monthly programming at the New Beverly, a legendary revival cinema in Los Angeles.
QT Reviews - Quentin Tarantino's writings about other people's films.
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Browse throught the list on
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WHY
Film history is typically written by scholars and historians who look down at a certain kind of cinema.
They write their essays thinking that Sergio Leone is the only Spaghetti Western director worth mentioning, that Shaft is the only Blaxploitation that matters, that Roger Corman's biggest achievement is giving Francis Ford Coppola his first job, and that The Exorcist is the only horror movie ever made.
What a world they miss!
A world full of gangsters, bounty hunters, nazi killers on a mission, werewolves, bikers, zombies, and a very sexy Pam Grier.
But it's a dangerous world where you get lost easily. In order to survive you need an experienced and passionate guide...
Since I started to let myself be guided through this world by Quinten Tarantino,
I've not only seen many masterpieces I had never heard of before, I also discovered an alternative and fascinating view on the history of film (Don't expect to bump into
John Ford or David Lean),
and I'm very excited to share this ride with you.
So fasten your seatbelts, and start
watching
!
Note: This is not an official list. And I'm sure QT would add certain titles and delete some others. That is unavoidable. But I promise you this: Tarantino highly recommended all of these films at one point or another. I thereby chose (mostly) films Tarantino loved growing up over films he (re)discovered later in life.
'When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them, 'no, I went to films.'' - Quentin Tarantino
History
November 30 2024:
Added: Beau Geste (1926) (Source: Video Archive Cinema Club Programming and Instagram page)
Deleted: Tenebre (1982)
November 17 2024:
Added: Swiss Family Robinson (1960) (Source)
Deleted: Dead End Drive-In (1986)
September 10 2024:
Added: Lady Snowblood (1973) (Source: Video Archive Cinema Club Programming)
Deleted: You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1986)
July 19 2024:
Added: Performance (1970) (Source)
Deleted: The Naked Cage (1986)
July 10 2024:
Added: Invisible Agent (1942), Private Hell 36 (1954), The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967), Shampoo (1975) (Source: Video Archive Cinema Club programming, Tarantino's Roger Corman tributes at both New Beverly and the Video Archive Cinema Club, and an old interview where Tarantino mentions Shampoo as one of his favourite films).
Deleted: Island of Lost Souls (1932), Swamp Women (1956), Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957), The Prowler (1981)
March 28 2024:
Yesterday Mr. Tarantino announced his first month of programming for his brand new Video Archives Cinema Club. On the programme are three films I always
doubted: do they belong on the list or not? Well, the fact that Tarantino put them on his schedule convinced me that they really really do. So here they are:
Added: Woman They Almost Lynched (1953), Claire's Knee (1970), Death Collector (Family Enforcer) (1976)
Deleted: Yojimbo (1961), The Naked Kiss (1964), El Dorado (1967)
May 19 2023:
All right. So, after months of trying to finish this project, I realised that in order to do so, I had to make a radical choice. That choice has now been made. I decided to focus on the films that inspired the young Tarantino. Meaning: up to his directorial debut in 1992. So I got rid of his 'I discovered William
Witney'-movies, the 35 mm prints he bought that turned out to be 'hidden gems' and his recommendations of films that are so rare, he could never have seen them before 1992. From the movies he (re)discovered later than 1992 I only allow the ones he mentions in one of his official lists. By making that choice, I don't need to make changes every time Tarantino praises or recommends a film somewhere and I can - without any further ado, and with a little pride - proclaim this list as...
final!!!
Added:
New entries
Island of Lost Souls (1932) (Source),
Rodan (1956)
(Source),
Ride Lonesome (1959)
(Source),
Yojimbo (1961)
(Source),
Mothra (1961)
(Source),
The Naked Kiss (1964)
(Source),
Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) (Source),
Young Frankenstein (1974) (Source),
Death Force / Fighting Mad (1978) (I forgot to write down the source, so you'll just have to trust me on this one),
The Avenging Eagle (1978)
(Source),
The Big Red One (1980) (Source).
Re-entries (films that were on the list before that I've wrongfully deleted)
The Southener (1945), Ramrod (1947), The Steel Helmet (1951), Glory Alley (1952), Nightfall (1956), China Gate (1957), Men in War (1957), Boeing, Boeing (1965), Vanishing Point (1971), Slaughter (1972), Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972), Macon County Line (1974), Brotherhood of Death (1976),
Orca (1977), Ninja III: The Domination (1984), A Better Tomorrow II (1987)
Deleted:
Invisible Agent (1942),
The Golden Stallion (1949),
Women They Almost Lynched (1953),
Vera Cruz (1954),
Stranger at My Door (1956),
Paratroop Command (1959),
The Spy with My Face (1965),
Ride in the Whirlwind (1966),
The Venetian Affair (1966),
The Mercenaries (1968),
Shark! (1969),
The Brave and the Evil (1971),
The School That Couldn't Scream / What Have You Done to Solange? (1972),
Deep Thrust / Lady Whirlwind (1972),
I Escaped from Devil's Island (1973),
Beach of the War Gods (1973),
Deadly China Doll (1973),
When Tae Kwon Do Strikes (1973),
The Swinging Cheerleaders (1974),
The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977),
The Tattoo Connection (1978),
The Kid with the Golden Arm (1979),
The Kung Fu Instructor (1979),
Shogun Assassin (1980),
River's Edge (1987),
La Femme Nikita (1990),
Unstoppable (2010)
Last update on July 14, 2023:
Replaced Rodan (1957) and The Big Red One (1980) with Cruising (1980) and The Hitcher (1986) (source: Cinema Speculation (Book))
Very last update on December 8, 2023:
Replaced The Steel Helmet (1967) with Capricorn One (1977) (Source)
April 28 2023:
Added: Vera Cruz (1954) (Source), The Americanization of Emily (1964) (Source), The Hospital (1971) (Source), The Last Run (1971) (Source), Badlands (1973) (Source), The Prowler (1981) (
Source), Casualties of War (1989) (Source)
Deleted: The Southener (1945), Winchester '73 (1950),
Godzilla: King of the Monsters! (1956), Men in War (1957), Lone Wolf and Baby Cart to Hades (1972), Mikey and Nicky (1976), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
April 18 2023:
Added: The Execution of Private Slovik (1974) (Source), The Naked Cage (1986) (Source)
Deleted: Where Have All the Peolpe Gone? (1974), Ninja III: The Domination (1984)
March 24 2023:
Added: Fantastic Voyage (1966) (Source), Hard Times (1972) (Source), Junior Bonner
(1972) (Source), Drum (1976) (Source)
Deleted: Machine Gun McCain (1969), Cry for Me, Billy (1972), Don't Torture a Duckling (1972), The Prowler (1981)
March 5 2023:
Added: World for Ransom (1954), Kiss Me Deadly (1955) (Source)
Deleted: Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Spider Baby (1968)
February 19 2023:
Added:
After reading Cinema Speculation:
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Nightmare Alley (1946), The Music Man (1962), Bullitt (1968), The Love Bug (1968), Take the Money and Run (1969), The House that Screamed (1969), Joe (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), M*A*S*H (1970), The Owl and the Pussycat (1970), Cry of the Banshee (1970), House of Dark Shadows (1970), Diamonds are Forever (1971), The French Connection (1971), The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), The House That Dripped Blood (1971), The Getaway (1972), Play it Again, Sam (1972), The Lords of Flatbush (1974), Death Race 2000 (1975), The 'Human' Factor (1975), Rocky (1976), Paradise Alley (1978), The Driver (1978), Malibu High (1979), Matador (1986)
After listening to the Video Archive Podcast:
Straw Dogs (1971), Cry for Me, Billy (1972), Caliber 9 (1972), The Italian Connection (1972)
Deleted:
King Kong (1933), Action in Arabia (1944), Ramrod (1947), The Steel Helmet (1951), Crime Wave (1953), All in a Night's Work (1961), Captain Newton, M.D. (1963), From Russia with Love (1963), Boeing, Boeing (1965), To Sir, with Love (1967), Greetings (1968), 100 Rifles (1969), Little Big Man (1970), Doc (1971), McCabe and Miss Miller (1971), The Mephisto Waltz (1971), Vanishing Point (1971), Hickey & Boggs (1972), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), Junior Bonner (1972), Chinatown (1974), Black Christmas (1974), Caged Heat (1974), Macon County Line (1974), Shampoo (1975), Death Collector (1976), Mr. Scarface (1976), Zulu Dawn (1979), Night of the Juggler (1980), Forbidden World (1982), Exposed (1983)
January 6 2023:
Added: 100 Rifles (1969) (Source)
Deleted: The Bad Seed (1956)
December 9 2022:
Added: Death Rage (1976) (Source)
Deleted: Badlands (1973)
October 27 2022:
Added: Dressed to Kill (1980) (Source)
Deleted: Scarface (1983)
October 20 2022:
Added: Mikey and Nicky (1976) (Source)
Deleted: The Human Factor (1975)
September 30 2022:
Added: Piranha (1978) (Source)
Deleted: Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
August 23 2022:
Added: Thief (1981) (Source)
Deleted: The Driver (1978)
August 10 2022:
Added: River's Edge (1987), Three O'Clock High (1987), Near Dark (1987) (Source)
Deleted: Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Blood Simple (1984), A Better Tomorrow II (1987)
July 26 2022:
Added: Ride in the Whirlwind (1966) (Source)
Deleted: Kelly's Heroes (1970)
June 29 2022:
Added: No Way Out (1973), The Human Factor (1975) (Source)
Deleted: Kiss Me Deadly (1955), Kid Vengeance (1977)
June 20 2022:
Added: A bout de souffle (1960) (Source),
Captain Newton, M.D. (1963) (Source)
, Boeing, Boeing (1965) (Source: QT Film Fest),
Hammerhead (1968) (Source),
The Big Doll House (1971) (Source),
The Big Bird Cage (1972) (Source),
Black Gunn (1972) (Source),
The Swinging Cheerleaders (1974) (Source),
Shampoo (1975) (Source),
Mad Max (1979) (Source),
The Prowler (1981), The Dead Zone (1983), Dead End Drive-In (1986), Unstoppable (2010) (several sources)
Deleted: Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police (1939), The Saint in London (1939), Le petit soldat (1963), Shaft (1971),
The Twilight People (1972), Hot Summer in Barefoot County (1974), Death Race 2000 (1975), Piranha (1978), Tag:
The Assassination Game (1982), Next of Kin (1982), The Sender (1982), April Fool's Day (1986), City on Fire (1987), Revenge (1990)
June 2 2022:
Added: April Fool's Day (1986)
Deleted: The Big Combo (1955)
May 27 2022:
Added: The Big Combo (1955), Hot Summer in Barefoot County (1974)
Deleted: Rosemary's Baby (1968), The Exorcist (1973)
May 12 2022:
Added: Brides of Blood (1968), Beast of Blood (1970) (Source)
Deleted: From Hell to Victory (1979), Evil Dead (1983)
May 3 2022:
Added: Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1968), The Andromeda
Strain (1971), Don't Torture a Duckling (1972), Where Have All the People Gone (1974), The Brood (1979), Zombie (1979), Airplane! (1980), Nightmare City (1980), My Bloody Valentine (1981), Re-Aninmator (1985) & Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) (Source), Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police (1939) (Source)
Deleted: The Bank Dick (1940), A Tragedy at Midnight (1942), It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), The Killers (1964), The Man from Abashiri Prison (1965), The Ipcress File (1965), Is Paris Burning (1966), The Karate Killers (1967), The Battle of El Alamein (1969), Black Gunn (1972), Slaughter (1972), Kid Blue (1973), Man on Fire (2004)
April 27 2022:
Added: King Kong (1933), The Bad Seed (1956), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Swamp Women (1956),
Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957), The Mephisto Waltz (1970),
The Exorcist (1973), The Omen (1976), Evil Dead (1983), Raising Arizona (1987) & Evil Dead II (1987) (Source), You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939), The Bank Dick (1940) & Red Dawn (1984) (several sources)
Deleted: The Verdict (1946), The Big Combo (1955), Soldier Blue (1970), Hot
Summer in Barefoot County (1974), Policewomen (1974), Brotherhood of Death (1976), Legend of The Wolf Woman
(1976), Cross of Iron (1977), Straight Time (1978), Saint Jack (1979), The Stunt Man (1980), Perfect (1985), Casualities of War (1989), King of Beggars (1992)
April 6 2022:
Added: Greetings (1968), Last Summer (1969), The Devils (1971), Doc (1971) & Summertime Killer (1972) (Source), Hot Rod (1979) (Source)
Deleted: On the Old Spanish Trail (1947), The Killing (1956), Nightfall (1956),
China Gate (1957), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971)
March 26 2022:
Added: The Twilight People (1972) (Source)
Deleted: Johnny Guitar (1954)
March 24 2022:
All right, here's what happened. When I started this two years ago, I believed there was a list called 'The Coolest Movies of All Time', a list of movies handpicked by Tarantino. Only recently I found out that this list is nothing more than a pile of titles mentioned by Tarantino in some of his interviews. Even when he says he hasn't seen it (as with Karl Freund's Mad Love), the film was included. So stay away from that list and don't fall for it the way I did. Anyway, the reason there are so many new titles today, is that I finally got rid of that list.
Added: Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), A Tragedy at Midnight (1942), The Steel Helmet (1951), The Big Combo (1955), Men in War (1957), China Gate (1957), The Killing of Sister George (1968), Soldier Blue (1970), McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), Shogun Assassin 2 (1972), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), Kid Blue (1973), Hot Summer in Barefoot County (1974), The Stunt Man (1980)
Deleted: A Girl in Every Port (1928), The Vigilante: Fighting Hero of the West (1947), Dark Passage (1947), They Live by Night (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Rififi (1955), Breathless (1960), Back Street (1961), Topkapi (1964), Pierrot le fou (1965), The Trip (1967), The Long Goodbye (1973), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), Intruder (1989)
January 24 2022:
Added: The Son of Monte Cristo (1940), That Gang of Mine (1940), Bowery Blitzkrieg (1941), The Southener (1945), The Exile (1947) and What's Up Doc (1972) (Source), Kid
Vengeance (1977) (Source), Night of the Juggler (1980) (Source), Piranha (1978)
Deleted: Mad Love (1935), Jules et Jim (1962), Willard (1971), Night of the Lepus (1972), The Long Good Friday (1980), Local Hero (1983), Comfort and Joy (1984), The Hit (1984), Mona Lisa (1986)
December 26 2021:
Added: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) (Source)
Deleted: Once Upon a Time in America (1984) (Source)
November 11 2021:
Added: All in a Night's Work (1961), Machine Gun McCain (1969), Macon County Line (1974), Death Collector (1976), From Hell to Victory (1979) (Source: QT Film Fest + New Beverly's Instagram account)
Deleted: Frogs (1972), The Van (1977), Piranha (1978), Zombi 2 (1979), Re-Animator (1985)
September 13 2021:
Added: Death Stalk (1975) (Source), A Cry for Help (1975) (Source), Zulu Dawn (1979) (Source: QT Film Fest)
Deleted: The Bachelor's Daughter (1946), The Night Holds Terror (1955), Get Carter (1971)
September 9 2021:
Added: Spider Baby (1968) and The Night Stalker (1972) (Source (second half))
The Bird with The Crystal Plumage (1970) and The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975) (Source)
Deleted: Anatahan (1953), Beyond the Door II (1977), The Social Network (2010) and Dunkirk (2017)
August 25 2021:
Added: The Big Sleep (1946), Torso (1973) and Mr. Scarface (1976)
Deleted: Jeremiah Johnson (1972), Big Bullet (1996) and Unstoppable (2010)
July 13 2021:
Added: White Line Fever (1975) (
Source (first half))
Deleted: none (I discovered that I listed both The Gravy Train (1974) and The Dion Brothers (1974), which are one and the same film.)
June 18 2021:
Added: The Saint in London (1939), Action in Arabia (1944), Murder Without Crime (1950), The Yellow Balloon (1953), The Crook (1970), Kinjite:
Forbidden Subjects (1989) (
Source (second half))
Deleted: Shogun Assassin 2 (1972), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), 10 to Midnight (1983), Salvador (1986), Dead Poets Society (1989), Joker (2019)
April 9 2021:
Added: Winchester '73 (1950) (
Source)
Deleted: Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary (1997)
February 25 2021:
Added: The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), Hellraiser (1987), Joker (2019) (
Source (first half))
Deleted: The T.A.M.I. Show (1964), Police Story 2 (1988), Cabin Fever (2002), It Follows (2014)
December 10 2020:
Added: Blood and Black Lace (1964) (Source), Beyond the Door II (1977) (Source)
Deleted: Zulu Dawn (1979), Ed Wood (1994)
October 12 2020:
Added: Zombie (1979)
Deleted: The Last Seduction (1994)
August 26 2020:
Added: Tenebre (1982), 10 to Midnight (1983)
Deleted: Kid Blue (1973), The Evil That Men Do (1983)
July 20 2020:
Added: Jeremiah Johnson (1972), Black Christmas (1974), Mandingo (1975), Cabin Fever (2002)
Deleted: Rock All Night (1957), Last Woman on Earth (1960), Ski Troop Attack (1960), The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)
July 5 2020:
Added: Godzilla: King of the Monsters! (1956), El Dorado (1967) (Source: Natural Born Killers Screenplay)
Deleted: The Omen (1976), Dead End Drive-In (1986)
June 28 2020:
Added: Kid Blue (1973) (Source), Man on Fire (2004) (Source)
Deleted: Days of Thunder (1990), The Last Boy Scout (1991)
June 17 2020:
Added: The Social Network (2010) (Source)
Deleted: Imaginary Crime (1994)
June 10 2020:
Added:
Ramrod (1947), The Venetian Affair (1966), Five for Hell (1969), Shark! (1969), The Family / Violent City (1970), Billy Jack (1971), School That Couldn't Scream / What Have You Done to Solange? (1972), Hickey & Boggs (1972), White Lightning (1973), Hollywood Man (1976), Zulu Dawn (1979), Gates of Hell (aka City of the Living Dead) (1980), Shogun Assassin (1980), The Beyond (1981), Shogun Assassin 2: Lightning Swords of Death (1983 / 1972), Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), King of Beggars (1992) (Source: The QT Film Fest Programming and the first months of Tarantino's programming at the New Beverly)
Deleted: Hail the Conquering Hero (1944), The Bounty Hunter (1954), Flaming Star (1960), Ride in the Whirlwind (1966), Hornets Nest (1970), Soldier Blue (1970), The Big Bird Cage (1972), Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972), Black Mama White Mama (1973), The Yakuza (1974), Kidnapped / Rabid Dogs (1974), Sister Streetfighter (1974), Hollywood Boulevard (1976), Silver Bears (1977), The Stunt Man (1980), So Fine (1981), The Siege of Firebase Gloria (1989)
May 13 2020:
Added:
The Omen (1976), Silver Bears (1977), So Fine (1981), The Sender (1982), The Evil That Men Do (1984) (Source (second half))
Deleted: Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953), Claire's Knee (1970), The Terminator (1984), Platoon (1986), Showgirls (1995)
May 3 2020:
Added:
Bandits, Prostitutes and Silver (1972), Deep Thrust / Lady Whirlwind (1972), Lady Kung Fu (1972), Deadly China Doll (1973), When Tae Kwon Do Strikes (1973), J.D.'s Revenge (1975), Fist of Fury Part 2 (1977), To Kill with Intrigue (1977), Tattoo Dragon Connection (1978), The Kid with the Golden Arm (1979), The Kung Fu Instructor (1979),
The House on Sorority Row (1982), Tag: The Assassination Game (1982), Forbidden World (1982), Five Elements Ninjas (1982), Fistful of Talons (1983), Ninja III: The Domination (1984), Big Bullet (1996) (Source)
Deleted: Glory Alley (1952), The Marrying Kind (1952), The Naked Spur (1953), Dragstrip Girl (1957), The Mysterians (1957), God's Little Acre (1958), Billy Jack (1971), Sweet Kill (1972), Charley Varrick (1973), The Exorcist (1973), Mean Streets (1973), Lady Snowblood (1973), Mandingo (1975), Drum (1976), Hollywood Man (1976), Escape from Alcatraz (1979), Airplane! (1980), Fort Apache the Bronx (1981), Zodiac (2007)
April 17 2020:
Added: Slaughter (1972), Mean Streets (1973) (Source)
Deleted: Papillon (1973), The Omen (1976)
April 11 2020:
Added: Women They Almost Lynched (1953), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Black Gunn (1972),
Papillon (1973), Platoon (1986) (Source)
Deleted: Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), Orca (1977), The Brood (1979), Dances With Wolves (1990)
April 5 2020:
Added: I Escaped From Devil's Island (1972), Orca (1977), Message From Space (1978),
Alligator (1980), Legend of the Eight Samurai (1983), Trancers (1985) (Source (first half))
Deleted: The Women (1939), The Palm Beach Story (1942), The Big Sleep (1946), Written on the Wind (1956), Sanjuro (1962), Bullitt (1968)
March 26 2020:
Added: The One Armed Swordman (1967), Blood of the Dragon (1971), The Brave and the Evil (1971), Fist of Fury (1972), One Armed Boxer (1972), Beach of the War Gods (1973), A Man Called Tiger (1973) (Source)
Deleted: Gunman's Walk (1958), The Journey to the Center of the World (1959), All in a Night's Work (1961), Boeing Boeing (1965), Baby Cart in Hades (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974), The Deer Hunter (1978)
March 22 2020:
List created
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