Could This Be Quentin Tarantino’s Favourite Movie of All Time

When discussing a medium as vast as film, it can seem impossible for one single picture to capture the full spectrum of the human experience. For a filmmaker like Quentin Tarantino, whose encyclopedic knowledge of cinema history is both profound and comprehensive, the task of identifying a favorite is particularly daunting.

He has often shared his admiration for various genres and creators, making the search for his top choice a journey through some of the greatest works ever put to celluloid. Over his long career, the Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill mastermind has frequently highlighted movies that shaped his creative voice or serve as reliable guilty pleasures.

We are all aware of his deep affection for the crime genre, with Michael Mann’s Thief and Brian De Palma’s Blow Out often cited as top contenders. He also holds a deep reverence for Japanese cinema, frequently praising the samurai epics of Akira Kurosawa, while also finding inspiration in European masters like Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Melville.

However, despite these many influences, one film consistently rises to the top of his personal ranking. Tarantino has often admitted that while his preferences might shift slightly depending on the day, he always returns to Sergio Leone’s 1966 masterpiece, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

As the concluding chapter of Leone’s Dollars Trilogy, the film features Clint Eastwood as the iconic drifter “Blondie,” alongside unforgettable performances by Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach. Tarantino’s devotion to this specific spaghetti western stems from the immense impact Leone had on his own directorial style.

He once noted that Leone is the one artist who has been the most influential to his work, citing the filmmaker’s half-as**d operatic quality and the way music often dictates the pace of the narrative. For Tarantino, Leone’s method of directing through grand set pieces is a signature that he has integrated into his own storied filmography.

While he holds the entire Dollars Trilogy and Leone’s later work like Once Upon a Time in America in high regard, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly remains his definitive favorite. He has famously declared it to be the greatest cinematic achievement in the history of cinema.

Although Tarantino’s enthusiasm for movies makes it seem like he has a new favorite every week, this 1966 epic remains the undisputed champion of his heart. In a surprising twist, Tarantino has recently stepped back in front of the camera for a significant acting role in the French drama Only What We Carry.

Directed by Jamie Adams, the film features Tarantino as a publisher living at a chateau, marking his most substantial on-screen performance in thirty years. The project also stars Sofia Boutella, Simon Pegg, and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

While his directorial future remains a topic of intense speculation after he scrapped The Movie Critic, Tarantino has stayed busy behind the scenes as a writer and producer. He recently penned the script for The Adventures of Cliff Booth, a $200 million sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood directed by David Fincher and set for a Netflix release later this year.

Additionally, he is currently developing a new stage play and has expressed a desire to move to London to bring the production to the West End. Now that he has reached the age of 62, Tarantino appears to be re-evaluating his “ten-film rule” while exploring different creative avenues like literature and theater.

Whether he eventually returns to the director’s chair for a final swan song or continues to focus on acting and writing, his influence on the industry remains as powerful as ever. Fans are eagerly waiting to see if his newly rekindled passion for acting will lead to even more surprises on the big screen.

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