Films by Tarantino- Good, or not so good?

[CorbenT]

I thought about starting up this thread to see what others think about films made by Quentin Tarantino. Personally I have never been able to see why others call him such a "genius" because to me films like Kill Bill were terrible, immature, un thought-provoking and didn't absorb me into the story. Besides Inglorious Bastards, I have never been able to view one of his films the whole way through as there is always something about them which annoys me.

For example, Planet Terror was a bit of a joke (the main character had a machine gun for a leg for Christ's sake) and when I told my mate what I thought of it he replid saying "your just not 'intelligent' enough to understand it". I can't describe what it is exactly which I don't like about his films; I think it may be that he never tries to immerse his audience into the situation and you are left feeling disconnected from the plot and characters. Also, just as you start to slightly enjoy the presence of a character he gets killed off in a flash.

I respect Tarantino as a director, but something about his style bugs me. What do the rest of you think?

[1]

Totally in agreement there Corben.

Although I think it's a geographical/cultural thing in some way; i.e. it's an American thang!

Although also agree about basterds: Chapter One was some of the best cinema I've seen recently.
It's possible we'll see more mature films from him in the future, now that he's made money and a name with the childish slasher/blood splatter crap....

In the end though, to me he's just a Sergio Leone wannabe...

[Dr. Benway]

I agree with the general sentiment - I don't consider him a genius, adept yes, but not a genius. His work is strictly pop culture, cartoonish, blocky, basic, and therefore easily digested.

I find that certain scenes in films by Tarantino are memorable - Jules sucking down the Sprite in Pulp Fiction - but Tarantino films never make me think for days afterwards, which is an effect I savour after watching a truly good movie - I cogitate on the visuals, sound and meaning.

Taratino produces punchy, simple entertainment - not masterworks.

[TiE_Shepherd]

For example, Planet Terror was a bit of a joke...

You do realize that Tarantino didn't direct Planet Terror right?

[CorbenT]

I know, Rodriguez did, but he was still influencial in its making. Plus the fact that he acted in it shows that he must have had a lot to do with its creation.

[fishops]

Tarantino's whole career is an homage to 70s exploitation cinema. If you're unfamiliar with the genre, you probably won't get most of his references.

Also, I'm pretty sure you've mixed up Planet Terror with Death Proof.

[HueyNRolf]

Whatever happened to watching a movie for entertainment?

I get a bit tired of comments like 'character development' 'thought provoking' etc. Sure a movie can be good because it's intellectual, but it doesn't have to be. The other one that makes me groan is 'wasn't as good as the book' sheesh.

As for Tarantino, love those movies. I heard a critic refer to Jackie Brown as a flop. What the F?
That's one of, if not, the best ones. I rate it right up there with Pulp Fiction.

[paperkut12]

Well I'm a pretty big fan of Tarantinos films, with the exception of Death Proof. I actually enjoyed Planet Terror more rather than the drawn out nature of Death Proof and it's annoying uninteresting characters(except of Stuntman Mike).

I don't think his films are strictly for pop culture or basic in any way. Sure he barrows a bunch from other films, but who doesn't. At the end of the day to me his films are enjoyable and his stand out being dialouge, style and characters.

[nxb]

I like watching movies for entertainment and I think making them has spoiled some of that. Either way, I don't think he has made a good movie since Pulp Fiction. His earlier work was well done but the new stuff has been total crap. Inglorious Bastards was bad and so were all of the Kill Bill movies.

[spideralex90]

I think he has alot of joke movies as you stated, but films like Inglorious Basterds, Pulp Fiction, and Reservoir Dogs, show his actual genius. I like the ones i listed, but Kill Bill and Planet Terror, not so much.

[nxb]

I don't get the misspelling of Inglorious Bastards or why people call him a genius.

[1]

...or why people call him a genius.

...are you SURE you're American?
Darn, there goes my theory. A shame too, as it was holding up fine until YOU came along!

[dWyZaK]

Haha omg, Tarantino is a genius, full stop, you guys dont get it, right, but you surely understand that if the majority of the industry someone works in is calling someone a genius, then, ya know, most likely, he's a genius, and guess what, he is.

He's one of the most respected directors on the planet too.

What's there not to understand?

Its not like he's Micheal Bey or whatever the guys name is, knocking out massive mega budget trash to philistines.

Huey has it nailed, its about entertainment.

Please.

[nxb]

but you surely understand that if the majority of the industry someone works in is calling someone a genius, then, ya know, most likely, he's a genius, and guess what, he is.

So he is a genius just because they say so? I don't know about hollywood's opinion on ANYTHING being credible.

...are you SURE you're American?

Check my ip

[HueyNRolf]

I know Kill Bill gets a lot of flack, but I really enjoyed it.
That scene where she's landing in Tokyo and the approach takes the plane over the city. Absolute nonsense; Tokyo international (Narita) is in BF nowhere. Of course this was a reference to the old Hong Kong flicks where the planes landing at Kai Tak really did weave through the buildings on approach. And then the people on the plane had katanas... hilarious, considering even back then you couldn't take nail clippers onboard. Kill Bill had tons of subtle jokes like this, very entertaining.

The borrowed aspect is part of the appeal, I think, and this goes for the soundtrack where popular music is licensed in favor of having a score written. This he does very well. Kubrick was also very good at this.

[dearcatastrophe]

where was the genius of reservoir dogs? all it really was amounted to a cheap remake knockoff of City on Fire.
some of the best things he did were co-written by Avery, and that isn't happening any more.

i think planet of terror was totally rodriguez, especially if you look at it as compared to his early movies, i doubt quentin at much to do about it.
the best thing about rodriguez i saw was on the spy kids dvd, it was technique on shooting film with no budget.
i did like IB but it was just entertaining, it wasn't the most amazing thing i've seen lately.

[antman]

I agree that pulp fiction and res dogs were both pretty good. His others , not so good. He seems to try to resurect a lot of out of work actors. And does a pretty good job at it.

@ Huey, Are you serious? The planes had to fly through a city and weave buildings to land? I hate Flying when the runway's out in the open, never mind dodging buildings. THATS CRAZY!

[vadis]

Besides Inglorious Bastards, I have never been able to view one of his films the whole way through as there is always something about them which annoys me.

Then why continue seeing his work?

[HueyNRolf]

@ Huey, Are you serious? The planes had to fly through a city and weave buildings to land? I hate Flying when the runway's out in the open, never mind dodging buildings. THATS CRAZY!

Absolutely Antman, Kai Tak was infamous, only the best pilots could fly that destination and they loved it.
Built a long time ago by the British, it was the worst place to put an airport. The approach involved flying straight at a target painted on a rock face and turning 90 degrees to line up up on the runway, by which time there was little time for correction. The double whammy was that the runway was built on reclaimed land sticking out into the sea. If you drifted off you ended up in the drink. Regrettably Hong Kong has a new, and unexciting airport now... I never had the chance to land at Kai Tak.


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyU9OLqQ8XA"]YouTube- Planes over Hong Kong Landing Kai Tak Airport 1998 香港 å•Ÿå¾·æ©Ÿåla´[/ame]


This pilot earned his wings for this one:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTl1nQ9bO1Y"]YouTube- Crazy Landing at Kai Tak![/ame]

[Erik Bien]

While I never had the dubious pleasure of flying into Kai Tak, I lived on St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands my freshman year of high school. The airport was built on virtually the only flat stretch of land. Pilots would approach over the sea and set down hard and fast, because at the end of the (rather short) runway was a fence, a busy road and then a gas station. A few years before we arrived, an American Airlines passenger jet had overshot and plowed straight into the gas station, with predictable carnage.

Until the runway could be extended with man-made land, the solution was to fly into Puerto Rico or St. Croix and switch to prop planes for the last hop to St. Thomas, so small each passenger was weighed with their hand luggage to determine seat assignments which would properly balance the plane. The one we took had a large I-beam running across the middle of the passenger compartment you had to step over — a fellow passenger informed me it had been retro-fitted "to keep the wings from falling off" when slamming in for a typically hard St. Thomas landing!

[antman]

Thats crazy, You would think putting a gas station at the end of a runway, especially under those conditions would be a no brainer. I would imagine the owner had a hell of a time getting an insurance company to give him a policy. I remember seeing some scary approaches by pilots flying in Vietnam during the war. Many were landing on steel perforated planks fitted together on valley floors and even on some rather steep hill sides. The c130 was great for quick take offs and landing on short runways. Hell, they were even launching those planes off aircraft carriers. I still see those beasts flying around where I live. It's like a bus with wings, only much bigger.

[CrazyEight]

Tarantino is a genius. He is the best dialogue writer out there, and his movies are always bad ass. He had relativly nothing to do with Planet Terror, the whole thing was that Tarantino does one of the films, and Robert does the other. He had a cameo, but that is just because him and Robert are friends. Planet Terror was written, directed, shot, and edited by Rodiguez, not Tarantino.

[antman]

There's no doubt in my mind that if some of the people on this very forum had his budgets to work with they could put out films just as good or better than tarantino. Hitchcock was a genious, not Tarantino.

[dWyZaK]

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

OMH how delusional are you.

If they could, they would be doing.

[MalfunctioningHuman]

Tarantino is what it is. You either like his movies or you don't. When Pulp Fiction came out it was almost universally praised, and I still think it is an awesome movie. Like anything else, movies (and directors) can be overrated. I think Tarantino is excellent, but I wouldn't consider him a genius. There are few geniuses. Hitchcock, Spielberg, Polanski, Ford, Chaplin, Almodovar... You get the idea. Tarantino could still become a genius some day. He needs to correct course, and get back to the trajectory of excellence marked by Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction...