The First Movie Quentin Tarantino Ever Saw and Why It Changed Everything for Him

Quentin Tarantino has always been the king of mixing high-brow art with the gritty charm of B-movies. Two years after his explosive start, he released Pulp Fiction, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

The film featured a massive ensemble cast with stars like John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, and Uma Thurman, and it remains a favorite for both serious film critics and casual viewers today. This success is largely due to Tarantino’s incredible knowledge of cinema history, as he often pulls inspiration from everything, from classic westerns to cheesy horror flicks.

Sometimes, however, his influences come from much deeper in his childhood than even he realized. During a conversation with Italian host Fabio Fazio, the director shared that the very first movie he saw was the 1967 spy drama Deadlier Than the Male.

At only five years old, Tarantino found himself blown away by the film, particularly a scene where the female leads kidnap and hold a man prisoner. Even though he was too young to fully grasp the s****l politics of the moment, the imagery stuck with him for decades. It wasn’t until many years later, after he had already become a famous director, that he bought a copy of the film to rewatch.

As he was screening it, he reached that specific scene and suddenly realized, This is the first movie I ever f*****g saw! It was a full-circle moment for a filmmaker who has built his entire career on paying homage to the movies that shaped his perspective. While Deadlier Than the Male was mostly made to capitalize on the James Bond craze, it clearly helped plant the seeds for Tarantino’s own cinematic style.

As of February, Tarantino is keeping fans on their toes with a flurry of new activity. While he famously canceled his planned tenth film, The Movie Critic, to ensure his filmography remained perfect, he hasn’t stepped away from Hollywood entirely.

He recently finished writing the script for The Adventures of Cliff Booth, a sequel to his 2019 hit Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Interestingly, he decided to pass the directing torch for this project to his friend David Fincher, marking a historic collaboration between two of cinema’s biggest names.

The new film, which wrapped production in January, stars Brad Pitt as he reprises his Oscar-winning role as the legendary stuntman and fixer. The cast is rounded out by major names like Elizabeth Debicki, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Scott Caan, with Netflix reportedly paying a staggering $200 million budget to bring it to life.

Do you think Quentin Tarantino’s decision to let David Fincher direct The Adventures of Cliff Booth will give the story a fresh energy, or do you wish he were the one behind the camera for his own characters? Share your thoughts in the comments.