Is Tarrantino overrated?

Richard Dower

Fair enough he made two great movies...but since Pulp Fiction i really don't think he's done that much of interest. Jackie Brown was nowhere close to his early work....Kill Bill (both) were a joke, i feel that the mystique surrounding him is unfounded and i also find he's got his head up his own ass and thinks he's that all.

Watching him at Cannes thinking he'll win for Inglorious etc.

Discuss.

abouttobebanned

Jackie Brown was great. I thought the Kill Bills were brilliant. The episode he directed of CSI was the best one they ever had. Death proof I didn't like the look of so didn't watch. Inglorious Basterds looks pretty good. All his films look cool and have awesome soundtracks. The dialogue in all of his films is close to perfection. He's ok.

Neo#

Ive enjoyed all his films with Pulp Fiction being the masterpiece. I think Kill Bill would have been a lot better as just one film with not enough of a plot for two whole films. I think the upcoming Inglorious Basterds will tell us a lot.

Running Bing

If anything he is now underrated. Its the trend now to have a go at him.


At the end of the day two great films and a top quality film* is more than most directors get. Kill Bill was not everybody's cup of tea but at least it was something different and fresh (would be nice to see more director go against the grain and try something different) and its still early days yet.


*Jackie Brown is criminally underrated simply because of who the director is and what preceded it. If any other unknown director had made JB it would be looked upon as an absolute gem.

nyarlothothep

Jackie Brown was a pretty decent film imo. Its like when a band follows up a phenomenal album with a very good album.

He's an auteur and there aren't many around in Hollywood. He's got a style of writing and directing which is totally unique. Kill Bill, I remember seeing part 2 and while I didn't like it that much at the time its left a good lasting impression, the overall style and mood in the sense of resurrecting old kung fu movies and the 70s exploitation aesthetic is really cool imo.

Looking forward to Inglorious Bastards.

Driver 8

I wouldn't say he's overrated, but i do feel he's squandered a lot of obvious talent on some very disappointing films since Jackie Brown.

In every film since, the screenwriting seems to consist of every character speaking like Tarantino, and the faux grindhouse stuff really was tiresome, shallow and reeked of an in joke for him and film nerds of his ilk (and i would very seldom use film nerd as a negative term )

Tarantino is like Charlie Kaufman or Wes Anderson though, by which I mean his "hipness" will deflect most criticism of his work. He actually seemed to have matured as a writer and film maker by Jackie Brown, but ever since, the film's have been fairly adolescent.

JP Liz

Is Tarrantino overrated?

Hell No!

Otis Driftwood

Kill Bill Vol 1+2 are outstanding films.

They are his tribute to the movies he grew up on - kung fu and exploitation/revenge movies like Thriller : A cruel picture.

PF and RD are both fantastic movies.

JB suffers from having his name attached to it.

Hell,even Death Proof was enjoyable in a cheesy throw back kind of way.

So to answer your question,no,no he isnt overrated.

unreggd

abouttobebanned wrote: »

Death proof I didn't like the look of so didn't watch

I made this mistake too! FAIL!

Death Proof is a great film, with one of the best [and IMO the best] car chases EVERRRRRRR

watch it!


I don't think he's overrated at all

Though sometimes his passion for work can make him come across as so

Kinetic^

nedtheshed wrote: »

Kill Bill Vol 1+2 are outstanding films.

You're clearly taking the piss here. First was mediocre but the 2nd was absolute ****e. The 2 were completely overhyped as per all of his movies.

AARRRGH

I thought the Kill Bill movies were terrible. They were like kids movies, the kind of things 13 year old boys think are great.

Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Jackie Brown are good movies, but they are not masterpieces. Do they envoke an emotional response? Not really.

He'll be remembered as someone who made a couple of entertaining violent movies, but that's it.

bnt

I really don't have a problem with the guy. He brought in a healthy dose of stylistic flair when cinema needed it. He doesn't get rated as highly as e.g. Scorsese or Kubrick, but highly enough, so that's a no to the question.

PS: if you're going to start a thread on someone, how about checking the spelling of his name?

dlofnep

I'd say he's rated fine. He has some brilliant work, and also some not brilliant work. Who doesn't?

liah

unreggd wrote: »

I made this mistake too! FAIL!

Death Proof is a great film, with one of the best [and IMO the best] car chases EVERRRRRRR

watch it!


I don't think he's overrated at all

Though sometimes his passion for work can make him come across as so

I don't know if it was necessarily the best car chase ever, since I don't watch car chase films, but it certainly was a decent film.

I usually HATE (like, with a passion) dated-looking car chase and action flicks. Seriously. Nobody can ever convince me to watch them. But for some odd reason that I can't quite put my finger on, I decided to put on Grindhouse one night, and much to my surprise, I really enjoyed Death Proof. I'm not sure what it was that made me enjoy it.

As for Planet Terror, that was another one that was completely out of my genre range that I really enjoyed. I usually don't watch "urr urr argh GORE!" zombie flicks, unless they're like 28 Days Later style. Especially figured I'd hate one that involved the military, a girl with a minigun for a leg, and some evil guy with a posh accent. But I ended up liking it, a lot.

Grindhouse was a pairing of films that went against every single one of my tastes in terms of films: car chases, mindless action, urr-urr zombies, over-gore, campiness. It took it all, threw it in my face, and made me like it.

If a pairing of movies like that can make such a prejudiced person as me enjoy it, it must be something at least halfway decent, because I'm stupidly fussy when it comes to the quality of films I watch and the genre.

Otis Driftwood

Kinetic^ wrote: »

You're clearly taking the piss here. First was mediocre but the 2nd was absolute ****e IN MY OPINION. The 2 were completely overhyped as per all of his movies.

Fixed your quote.
They are 2 very enjoyable throwback movies.The first is all about the action/violence and the second is more Tarantinoesque ie dialogue driven.

Maybe I love them because I also love 70s kung fu and grindhouse movies,I dunno.Id say more people loved them than hated them though.

Anyway,its gone to the stage now that its "cool" to critisise Tarantino's work.

Basq

I've enjoyed everything Tarantino has done to be honest... some more than others obviously but definitely one of my favourite directors.

No.. he's not the most inventive but I do think he's pretty consistent.

He does seem a bit up himself though!

seanybiker

jackie brown was alright. Kill bills where cack. He is good but not great. So yeah in my opinion he is over rated. I change me mind about him all the time though.

krudler

I'd equate him to Stephen Sommers (directed the Mummy and Van Helsing), takes ideas from other, better movies and jams as many of them into his own movies as possible, take as many obscure 70s movies and rip off ideas wholesale from them , or just rip off entire movies altogether, Reservoir Dogs is basically a remake of City on Fire, Kill Bill is a mishmash of 70s kung fu and Japanese movies (Lady Snowblood), an insane amount of references to other movies, tv shows and even comic books (the DIVAs squad are all names after Captain American villains, O-Rens henchman wears a Kato mask from The Green Hornet etc etc etc), he can put a great soundtrack to a movie no doubt, but he's yet to make anything remotely original that wasnt cobbled together from other movies

James T Kirk

Didn't someone say once "Talent borrows, genius steals", or something like that?
Anyways, Reservoir Dogs was like a blast of fresh cinematic air when it came out, with it's crisp Don Siegel-like style. And you can't ignore his skill at dialogue. Yes, he borrows/steals all over the place. But ya can't deny that he makes nothing less than damn fine, cool and funny films. He has earned his place, imo.

Galvasean

nedtheshed wrote: »

Anyway,its gone to the stage now that its "cool" to critisise Tarantino's work.

That was SO two years ago. :rolleyes:
Nowadays all the cool kids have realised that while he's not the God of cinema he was once made out to be, neither is he the talentless hack some would have you believe. :cool:
His movies tend to cater for specific tastes (what movies don't?). It's a case of if you're in to the particular style he's currently going for you'll love it. If not, you'll probably hate it.

Running Bing

krudler wrote: »

I'd equate him to Stephen Sommers (directed the Mummy and Van Helsing)

Lol, stopped reading after that tbh.

krudler

Running Bing wrote: »

Lol, stopped reading after that tbh.

try reading the rest, informed opinions are fun;)

Kinetic^

nedtheshed wrote: »

Fixed your quote.
They are 2 very enjoyable throwback movies IN MY OPINION.The first is all about the action/violence and the second is more Tarantinoesque ie dialogue driven.

Maybe I love them because I also love 70s kung fu and grindhouse movies,I dunno.Id say more people loved them than hated them though.

Anyway,its gone to the stage now that its "cool" to critisise Tarantino's work.

FIXED YOUR ****ING QUOTE! :rolleyes:

How is it cool to criticise someone? That's some of the most retarded shit I've ever heard. I liked Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs and to a lesser extent Jackie Brown. I don't go around thinking "Oh I'm cool because I don't like Kill Bill".

destroyer

AARRRGH wrote: »

He'll be remembered as someone who made a couple of entertaining violent movies, but that's it.

Thats a bit harsh isn't it? Surely PF and RD are more than just a
couple of entertaining violent movies

Saruman

I liked all of his movies I have seen. No one has mentioned From dusk till dawn on this thread yet. Great movie, the Vampire plot twist came out of no where when I saw it first (never heard of it before that).

He did not direct it but he wrote it.
He was one of the directors of Sin City I believe too.

Outkast_IRE

First of all for all the kill bill haters out there Tarrantino himself said that he wanted to release it as one movie and edit it down to perfection instead he was forced into the position of releasing it as two movies both of which had scenes he didnt want to use. I think hes learned his lesson since then and will be very careful about whats forced upon him in the future.

Overall i think kill bill is a generally good film, but if it was released as he originally intended in a one movie edited down format it could of been much more impressive.

I think hes a good writer so what if he borrows from other films , thats not a bad thing if it leads to a great movie . Hes the first one to admit what inspired him and what films he watched and was inspired by.

I hope inglorious bastards is good its prob the film im looking forward to most this year.

Basq

Saruman wrote: »

He did not direct it but he wrote it.

He also wrote the absolutely magnificent 'True Romance'.

lalee17

'From Dusk Till Dawn' was awful.

Basq

lalee17 wrote: »

'From Dusk Till Dawn' was awful.

I thought it was great.. until the

vampire plotline came in

..

lalee17

I liked the idea of it until *that bit* too, he just ruined it!!

irish_bob

from dusk till dawn is great but true romance is a cool classic , christopher walkens 5 min is worth the price of admission alone

man has 17 ways of lieing , womans got 20

irish_bob

from dusk till dawn is great but true romance is a cool classic , christopher walkens 5 min is worth the price of admission alone

man has 17 ways of lieing , womans got 20

ps

is it just me or is pam grier super hot in jackie brown

Denerick

Tarantino is OK. Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs are among the top 20 films of the 20th century, but his other films pale by comparison (And yes I've seen them all, got a Tarantino movie collection for Christmas a few years back) Someone else said it before, Kill Bill 1 and 2 were the kind of films 13 year old boys think are cool. Its nonsense.

Another weakness of his films is that all his characters talk and think like Quentin Tarantino. His ego is too present in all of his films.

I share the admiration that everyone has for his soundtracks though. That man is a genius for picking music to suit a scene.

Nick_oliveri

Planet terror shat all over Death Proof. That is all.

Running Bing

Denerick wrote: »

Tarantino is OK. Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs are among the top 20 films of the 20th century

What do you have to do to be classed as a good director:eek:

Denerick

Running Bing wrote: »

What do you have to do to be classed as a good director:eek:

P.H.D. in Film Studies.

thebman

I think he is very good at what he does. Better than most. I'll give a movie a chance because his name is attached to it as I've liked most of his other stuff.

I'm not going to say I loved something just because he was involved though which is the point at which I think someone over rates his work.

I really enjoyed the Kill Bill movies but there are parts that could have been done better.

Death Proof had a scene of people talking for what seemed like forever that should have been cut. Was watching it on DVD with a few friends and after a while everyone was looking at each other as if to say come on! I enjoyed the rest of the movie.

DreamerDeceiver

i never liked tarantino's work... and yes, for me, he is pretty much overrated...
but on the other side, I'm waiting for his Inglorious Basterds

thebman

James T Kirk wrote: »

Didn't someone say once "Talent borrows, genius steals", or something like that?
Anyways, Reservoir Dogs was like a blast of fresh cinematic air when it came out, with it's crisp Don Siegel-like style. And you can't ignore his skill at dialogue. Yes, he borrows/steals all over the place. But ya can't deny that he makes nothing less than damn fine, cool and funny films. He has earned his place, imo.

I think saying that he steals is very harsh andat odds with the comment about his dialog.

He wouldn't have any dialog if he just stole stuff :P

The word is influenced by and it is a justified distinction to make IMO as you can't see other works and not be influenced by them in some way.

TheDoc

I would more so say he is overhyped then over rated.

I personally only ever like Resevoir Dogs and Pulp fiction. Everything else was bollox imo.

But it seems every film that comes out with his name attached is a hand knitted jumper from Jesus Christ himself...

Maybe he hit big too early?

Denerick

TheDoc wrote: »

I would more so say he is overhyped then over rated.

I personally only ever like Resevoir Dogs and Pulp fiction. Everything else was bollox imo.

But it seems every film that comes out with his name attached is a hand knitted jumper from Jesus Christ himself...

Maybe he hit big too early?

Someone else put it well when they said having two fantastic films is enough, frankly. But he is definately overhyped.

Liam O

Personally I really liked Kill Bill. It's just pure unadulterated fun and action, what's not to love?

Greyfox

Pulp Fiction is definitely one of the 3 best films ever made, almost every line of dialogue in the film sparkles!

I absolutely loved Kill Bill Vol 1 and have it in my all time top 10 best films ever as the film ends with by an absolute mile the best fight sequence ever, I really enjoyed Vol 2 as well but I'll admit it did drag a little bit at times.

I'm dying for Inglorious bastards because the one thing that your guarenteed with QT is that his films will be different, wheter good, great or bad I know this film will be a very diffreent experience to probably every other war film I've ever seen and I'd say great dialogue and a great soundtrack

When I personally go on about QT it's more because I love his unique way of making films and how obsessive he is about his passion rather than how great his films are. People hype on about him because at least when you go to see a QT film your going to see something different to the last 50 films you've seen!

True Romance (I know he only wrote it) and Resevoir dogs were brilliant and I really enjoyed his episodes of CSI and ER as they felt like "Tarantino" productions. Jackie Brown was a tad dissapointing but still very good and I thought Planet Terror was good. I liked his performance in From dusk till dawn too.

Greyfox

He's definitely not overratted or overhyped it's just that us QT fans just love to bore people senseless with how much we love his work...just like the man himself loves to talk and talk and talk some more about films

MissHoneyBun

Meh it's always 'cool' to knock people who are successful at what they do.
Has Tarrantino written, directed and produced successful films? Yes. Several. Whether the naysayers like it or not, the fact remains, the guy has had some hugely successful films.

I think that speaks for itself so I'm not gonna enter into petty arguments to determine whether he's overrated or not. A film preference is always gonna be a personal thing so of course not everyone's gonna be a fan but at the end of the day, the facts and figures regarding some of his movies speak for themselves. And I'm sure Mr Tarrantino didn't haul people into cinemas by the scruff of the neck so try telling his legions of fans that he's overrated and er, good luck with that.

bigeasyeah

Yes very much so.

Karl Hungus

MissHoneyBun wrote: »

Meh it's always 'cool' to knock people who are successful at what they do.
Has Tarrantino written, directed and produced successful films? Yes. Several. Whether the naysayers like it or not, the fact remains, the guy has had some hugely successful films.

I think that speaks for itself so I'm not gonna enter into petty arguments to determine whether he's overrated or not. A film preference is always gonna be a personal thing so of course not everyone's gonna be a fan but at the end of the day, the facts and figures regarding some of his movies speak for themselves. And I'm sure Mr Tarrantino didn't haul people into cinemas by the scruff of the neck so try telling his legions of fans that he's overrated and er, good luck with that.

Success does not preclude something from being awful, nor does it elevate something beyond criticism. Norbit made more money than No Country For Old Men. Does the fact that Norbit was successful tell us anything about the quality of the film? No, it doesn't.

Saying it's 'cool' to knock those who are successful is just a fallacy, it's a nonsense retort. It's not a knock to think someone is over-rated, someone is not trying to appear 'cool' by stating a valid criticism, or stating their honest opinion.

Yes, I think Tarantino is over-rated. I still enjoy his films, but I think he's highly unoriginal and gets a lot more praise than he deserves. Does it matter what his legions of fans think? It's not going to have any baring on what I think when I see one of his films.

eagle eye

Tarantino is a class act.

Some poeple don't like that there is not much glitz and glamour in his movies. Some people just don't get his movies. Everyone of his movies is full of smart dialogue and lots of tricks as well.

He is brilliant though.

moviesrme

Good topic OP. I would not be a Tarantino worshipper but thinking now on his contributions I have to say there are some indelible ones. Remember Daryl Hannah in Kill Bill with the one good eye and just as you were marvelling at its beauty and the scene proceeded on; next thing Uma tears it out and Hannah crushes it under her own foot and goes crazy but cant see now etc. Visceral stuff! A recurring theme with Tarantino. Reminds me a bit of Hitchcock (the wrong man; Henry Fonda) ie Its about the visuals and the feel.
Deathproof is a similar themed film, this time sex. Come to think of it Tarantino is a bit of a genius really. I'm kinda minded to dig up some of those films again!

Magic Eight Ball

With regards to Jackie Brown, I think it’s unbelievably underrated.
Personally I find it has aged a lot better then Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.

For me, Jackie Brown is in the top two Tarantino movies.

Pigman II

He's not overrated. His problem is that he makes movies for himself and doesn't particularily care what the schmucks in the audience think about them. QT enters his variety of projects because they interest him and hopes they will like them but he doesn't make movies FOR them. This is why I think so many people are jumping off the Tarantino bandwagon of late. They'd prefer him to just 'do a Guy Ritchie' and remake Pulp Fiction again and again until the end of time.