Since 1993 and the hit crime thriller Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino has been one of the most acclaimed auteurs of modern Hollywood. He has written and directed 10 movies—nine when counting the two Kill Bill films as one movie, as he does—and has stated he will only write and direct one more movie.
With the recent release of his novelization of Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, audiences have another outlet for their Tarantino fix. This makes it a good time to look back at the other film projects he’s been involved in beyond his directorial efforts, including hits like From Dusk Till Dawn. Here are his best films where he served as an actor, writer, producer, or in other non-director roles.
Four Rooms (1995) - 6.8
This black comedy anthology film is set on New Year's Eve at a Los Angeles hotel named Mon Signor. Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, The Hateful Eight) plays Ted, a bellhop who has strange encounters in four hotel rooms that night, each from a different writer and director including Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez, and Tarantino himself.
While it's no surprise this film is a mixed bag, the segments from Rodriguez and Tarantino still hold up. In the segment 'The Man from Hollywood," Tarantino directs and plays director Chester Rush, who has the poor bellhop gather wood, a doughnut, twine, three nails, a club sandwich, a bucket of ice, and a hatchet. Once he's gotten that, Ted is forced into a sadistic and violent "game."
Planet Terror (2007) - 7.0
An experimental bio-weapon is released in Texas and turns most of the population into crazed flesh-eating monsters. A ragtag group including a stripper, veteran mechanic, sheriff, a doctor, and more, must band together to survive and find out who released the bio-nerve.
This was originally released as part of the Grindhouse double feature, alongside Deathproof (2007), written and directed by Tarantino. Not only did Quentin Tarantino work as a producer on Planet Terror, but he featured in two other cameos.
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) - 7.2
Tarantino performed three roles for this movie, of equal importance. First, he wrote the screenplay, based on a story by Robert Kurtzman. He then appeared as one of the central characters, Richard Gecko, and Tarantino also served as a producer for the film. This mash-up of horror and action is a modern classic and was directed by Robert Rodriguez, who frequently collaborates with Tarantino.
After they carry out a bloody bank heist, Seth and Richard Gecko kidnap a family in an RV with the intent of using them to sneak across the border. They stop at a biker bar which is inhabited by a secret community of thirsty vampires, and the criminals and their hostages must team up if they are to survive till dawn.
Desperado (1995) - 7.2
A lonely drifter named El Mariachi wanders into a Mexican border town with a guitar case full of guns. Mariachi quickly learns that the town is under the cruel grip of a drug lord named Bucho who employs everyone from bookstore owners to young children. If that weren't enough, El Mariachi learns that Bucho is the one behind his girlfriend's murder.
Quentin Tarantino plays a smaller part in this collaboration with director Robert Rodriguez. Credited as Pick-up Guy, Tarantino gets to tell a long terrible joke similar to Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction before he meets a brutal end fit for one of his own movies.
Natural Born Killers (1994) - 7.3
Mickey and Mallory Knox are on a killings spree across the United States, and it has inspired the violent imaginations of people around the world thanks to immoral journalists like Wayne Gale. In pursuit of the killers is detective Frank Scagnetti, who may be a match for the Knoxs' violence and brutality.
Tarantino wrote the original script and still has a "story by" credit in the finished film. Director Oliver Stone and additional screenwriters changed Tarantino's original vision substantially, and, as mentioned by ScreenRant, Tarantino has urged people not to watch it. While Tarantino's dislike of the movie is understandable considering it wasn't his original story, the end product still contains many of Tarantino's distinct trademarks.
Crimson Tide (1995) - 7.3
In Russia, nationalists capture nuclear missiles and plan to launch them at the United States and Japan. One of the nuclear submarines, the U.S.S. Alabama, mobilized in response is ordered to launch their payload, but another order doesn't finish coming through due to equipment malfunction. The Captain is going to carry out the initial order, but the new first officer wants to wait for the new order and must fight for control of the sub.
Tony Scott (True Romance) directed this tense action drama with a script by Michael Schiffer. Tarantino was hired on to doctor the script, and to great effect. He took the finished script and refined it, and his touch can be felt in the dialogue especially, with his signature pop culture references.
Iron Monkey (1993/2001) - 7.5
Dr. Yang Tiachun helps the poor by giving away free medical treatment by day, but, at night, he dawns a mask and steals from the rich to give to the poor as the Iron Monkey. Wong Kei-Ying is mistaken for the masked vigilante, but, when his innocence and martial skills are proven, his son is held hostage until he stops the Robin Hood antics. However, the arrival of an evil Shaolin Monk forces them to team up if they are to survive.
It's no secret that Tarantino is a fan of Kung Fu movies, so he was brought on to produce the American release of this film for Miramax in 2001. As the producer, he oversaw the repackaging of Iron Monkey for English-speaking audiences. This included an English dubbing, re-editing it, and composing a new soundtrack.
Hero (2002) - 7.9
Nameless, a martial arts master, receives an audience with the Qin Emperor after he comes bearing the weapons of the three deadliest assassins after the Emperor's life. He recounts his encounters with the dangerous trio during his audience with the Emperor.
There was no involvement from Tarantino during the making of this critically-acclaimed martial arts film. However, this is one of a number of foreign and indie films that received the "Quentin Tarantino presents" moniker, essentially an official recommendation to increase viewership in the United States, that would appear on advertisements and home video packaging.
True Romance (1993) - 7.9
Clarence Worley, an avid pop culture fan, is spending his birthday alone at the movie theatre when a less-than chance encounter with a call girl, Alabama Whitman, leads to a quick romance. They head for California to sell the drugs they mistakenly stole when escaping her pimp, but the original owners want their product back and send a team of killers to get it back.
Expertly directed by Tony Scott and written by Quentin Tarantino gives a more pure mix of Scott's great action, with the witty referential dialogue from Tarantino. Unlike Natural Born Killers, Tarantino is a fan of the finished film, and True Romance is filled with Tarantino's trademark style.
Sin City (2005) - 8.0
This stylistic crime anthology is based on Frank Miller's comic of the same name and was directed by Robert Rodriguez. The four stories follow a man seeking vengeance for the death of a woman named Goldie, a cop fighting a corrupt city to stop a child murderer, a vigilante disillusioned by the corrupt police, and a hitman who only cares about money.
Quentin Tarantino was brought on as a special guest director for one of Rodriguez's best films. In the segment "The Big Fat Kill," Tarantino took over director duties for the scene where the vigilante takes a ride with and talks to the severed head of a sadistic police officer, though short Tarantino's style is present.