History Creator / QuentinTarantino

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: While most of Tarantino's characters are morally grey, rapists always get a gruesome comeuppance. Unsurprisingly, in real life, Tarantino was upset when he learned a that couple of sexual incidents his boss Harvey Weinstein had been involved in, including one with then-girlfriend Mira Sorvino, were part of a larger, more disturbing pattern of sexual abuse than he had realized (read: they turned out to not be mere isolated incidents), and his response was predictable to those who had seen enough of his movies.

In the early 1990s he was an independent filmmaker whose films used nonlinear storylines and aestheticizing take on violence. He is known for his [[TheMovieBuff absurdly encyclopedic knowledge of film history]]. His films have earned him Academy, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Palme d'Or Awards and he has been nominated for Emmy and Grammy Awards. In 2007, Total Film named him the 12th greatest director of all-time. Known for being ''very'' [[DoingItForTheArt excited about his movies]] in interviews, using many different sources of inspiration with his work and having many {{Shout Out}}s. Notable for his witty dialog and [[ProductionPosse frequently using the same actors]] in his movies, as well as incorporating a bunch of {{Trunk Shot}}s.

Quentin Jerome Tarantino (born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. According to legend, he learned everything he knows about filmmaking from working at a video rental store in Manhattan Beach. Creator/RogerEbert once quipped that the store owner should get a finder's fee based on QT's subsequent career.

* ''The Mighty Peking Man'' (initially released in 1977)

Quentin Jerome Tarantino (born March 27, 1963 in Knoxville, Tennessee) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. According to legend, he learned everything he knows about filmmaking from working at a video rental store in Manhattan Beach. Creator/RogerEbert once quipped that the store owner should get a finder's fee based on QT's subsequent career.

* FootFocus: His films usually feature rather blatant {{fan service}}-y shots of women's bare feet.

* OneLinerEcho: From ''Film/DeathProof'': ''Now, look, You can't look like you're trying to get her out of here before Christian Simonson shows up, but you've got to get her out of here before Christian Simonson shows up."''
* OrbitalShot: Notably used in the opening scene to Reservoir Dogs.

* PopCultureOsmosis: Tarantino's use of certain bubblegum pop hits or movie soundtracks has given certain melodies different associations in the ears of younger movie audiences. For example:
** When Dick Dale's surf rock song "Misirlou" plays, people tend to think of sharply dressed hitmen rather than the beach.
** For instance, when one hears the whistling theme "Twisted Nerve" by Music/BernardHerrmann, most people won't think of the 1968 film thriller ''Film/TwistedNerve'', but rather ''Film/KillBill''.

[[AC: Directed:]]

* AwesomeMcCoolname: If ''Quentin Tarantino'' wasn't a cool enough name, his characters have the most badass names.

* BerserkButton: Asking him to explain and justify the level of violence in his films has become one for him, largely because of how often he has asked it and how little his opinion has changed on it. Famously demonstrated [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrsJDy8VjZk here]].

* Tarantino is also hard at work at a new ''Franchise/StarTrek'' film with high possibilities that this will be his 10th directing film.

Quentin Jerome Tarantino (born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. According to legend, he learned everything he knows about filmmaking from working at a video rental store in Manhattan Beach. Creator/RogerEbert once quipped that the store owner should get a finder's fee based on QT's subsequent career.

* BountyHunter: Dr. King Schultz and Django Freeman from ''Django Unchained'' and John "The Hangman" Ruth and Major Marquis Warren from ''The Hateful Eight''.

* [[WhipPan Whip Zoom]]: Used frequently from Kill Bill onwards.

* AlternateHistory: A more recent theme in his work has been deliberately rewriting historical events as part of the story, as shown in Inglourious Basterds and Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.

* AnachronisticSoundtrack: Of the "more modern than its setting" variety. He used rock music in Inglourious Basterds and hip-hop songs in Django Unchained.

** References to the Netherlands.

** Grindhouse-type exploitation films; particularly in the horror, action, martial arts, {{Blaxploitation}}, and western genres. If he's not making an outright homage to this type of movies (Death Proof), he's somehow mixing elements from all of them into one movie.

* TheOner

* WouldHitAGirl: Because he despises rape doesn't mean he won't get rough with a woman when the situation calls for it. A notable example is a scene where Budd spits on the Bride in ''Film/KillBill''. Tarantino doubled for Michael Madsen in that scene partly because he didn't think Madsen would be able to get it right, and partly because Uma Thurman insisted on it. And then there's also Thurman's infamous [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quentin_Tarantino#Uma_Thurman's_car_accident car accident]] that occurred during the filming of the same movie, due to Tarantino's reckless engrossment in its production.

* CanonWelding: Tarantino has created a largely common universe of his films by including subtle cross-references (for instance, characters commonly refer to others; Mr. White mentions Alabama and Mr. Blonde has Scagnetti as a parole officer, Vic Vega and Vincent Vega are brothers, Jimmie from ''Film/PulpFiction'' and Mr. White from ''Film/ReservoirDogs'' have the same last name, etc.) and cameos, but he says that his movies are divided into ''two'' universes.

** In ''Film/DjangoUnchained'': Ace Speck asks Schultz what kind of doctor he is. The top of Schultz' cart has a giant tooth bouncing on a spring. Also:

** In ''Film/TheHatefulEight'', someone asks how "Six-Horse Judy" got her nickname, and is told it's because she can control six horses at once, a feat uncommon for men and unheard-of for women.

*** Revenge plays a big part of ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' for Django. First against the Brittle brothers, then later against the people of Candieland. Django also often expresses the desire to kill white people as revenge for the suffering of the black slaves.

* WouldHitAGirl: Because he despises rape doesn't mean he won't get rough with a woman when the situation calls for it. A notable example is the scene where Budd spits on the Bride in ''Film/KillBill''. Tarantino doubled for Michael Madsen in that scene partly because he didn't think Madsen would be able to get it right, and partly because Uma Thurman insisted on it. And then there's also Thurman's infamous [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quentin_Tarantino#Uma_Thurman's_car_accident car accident]] that occurred during filming of the same movie, due to Tarantino's reckless engrossment in its production.

* CoolCar: Once claimed on ''Radio/TheHowardSternShow'' that the ''Pussy Wagon'' is sitting in his driveway. [[http://lolsnaps.com/funny/48290/ Story checks out]].

* NWordPrivileges: Some of Tarantino's white characters have them. Some don't, but use the word anyway, as racists. His tendency to feature this trope in his scripts has gotten him in hot water in the past, though he generally had the support of his black cast members in regards to the practice (leading to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOlNHXQCT_4 a somewhat notable moment]] during a Creator/SamuelLJackson interview where Jackson dared him to say the word out loud without resorting to the TWordEuphemism, and when the reporter was embarrassed and couldn't bring himself to say it even at Jackson's express invitation, Jackson laughed and refused to let him ask the question about it).

* NWordPrivileges: Some of Tarantino's white characters have them. Some don't, but use the word anyway, as racists.

* WouldHitAGirl: Because he despises rape doesn't mean he won't get rough with a woman when the situation calls for it. A notable example is the scene where Budd spits on the Bride in ''Film/KillBill''. Tarantino doubled for Michael Madsen in that scene partly because he didn't think Madsen would be able to get it right, and partly because Uma Thurman insisted on it.

* BrandX: Big Kahuna Burger, Red Apple cigarettes, Acuna Bros. Tex-Mex. He also has a tendency to revive dead brands from his own childhood like "Fruit Brute" cereal (he held onto a box after it was discontinued, which has made several appearances).

In the early 1990s he was an independent filmmaker whose films used nonlinear storylines and aestheticizing take on violence. He is known for his [[TheMovieBuff absurdly encyclopedic knowledge of film history]]. His films have earned him Academy, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Palme d'Or Awards and he has been nominated for Emmy and Grammy Awards. In 2007, Total Film named him the 12th greatest director of all-time. Known for being ''very'' [[DoingItForTheArt excited about his movies]] in interviews, using many different sources of inspiration with his work and having many {{Shout Out}}s. Notable for his witty dialog and [[ProductionPosse frequently using the same actors]] in his movies, as well as incorporating a bunch of {{TrunkShot}}s.

In the early 1990s he was an independent filmmaker whose films used nonlinear storylines and aestheticizing take on violence. He is known for his [[TheMovieBuff absurdly encyclopedic knowledge of film history]]. His films have earned him Academy, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Palme d'Or Awards and he has been nominated for Emmy and Grammy Awards. In 2007, Total Film named him the 12th greatest director of all-time. Known for being ''very'' [[DoingItForTheArt excited about his movies]] in interviews, using many different sources of inspiration with his work and having many {{Shout Out}}s. Notable for his witty dialog and [[ProductionPosse frequently using the same actors]] in his movies, as well as incorporating a bunch of TrunkShots and [[AuthorAppeal feet]].

In the early 1990s he was an independent filmmaker whose films used nonlinear storylines and aestheticizing take on violence. He is known for his [[TheMovieBuff absurdly encyclopedic knowledge of film history]]. His films have earned him Academy, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Palme d'Or Awards and he has been nominated for Emmy and Grammy Awards. In 2007, Total Film named him the 12th greatest director of all-time. Known for being ''very'' [[DoingItForTheArt excited about his movies]] in interviews, using many different sources of inspiration with his work and having many {{Shout Out}}s. Notable for his witty dialog and [[ProductionPosse frequently using the same actors]] in his movies. [[NeverLiveItDown He's also into women's feet.]]

** The second is a set of films that the characters in the above universe watch — the stuff so crazy over-the-top that it qualifies as escapism for people who live in a world where ''Film/PulpFiction'' happened. These are ''Film/KillBill'', ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'', ''Film/NaturalBornKillers'', and possibly ''Film/{{Machete}}'' and ''Film/PlanetTerror'' because of cameos of Earl and Edgar [=McGraw=] in both movies. Interestingly, the title character in ''Film/{{Machete}}'' appears in another of Creator/RobertRodriguez's films...''Film/SpyKids''. According to Creator/DannyTrejo, they're the same person. [[BellisariosMaxim How this works is probably better left unquestioned.]]

* ''Film/ItsPat''--cowriter, [[UncreditedRole uncredited]], for his friend Julia Sweeney (who had a cameo in ''Pulp Fiction'')
* ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'' -- A pair of hardened criminals (Tarantino and Creator/GeorgeClooney) abduct a preacher and his family, then get ambushed by vampires in Mexico. Directed by Creator/RobertRodriguez--Tarantino's close friend in the business. Tarantino also produced.

* ''Film/TheRock'' -- Wrote a late draft of the screenplay. Again, pop culture references appear, particularly early on. Pay attention in particular to the scene where Creator/NicolasCage defends records as being superior to [=CDs=]--[[AuthorTract which is said to be exactly what Tarantino believes]].

* ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'' as a dead Nazi being scalped. Also seen from behind in ''Nation's Pride'' as the American soldier who says, "I implore you, we must destroy that tower!" [[InsertCameo His hands]] also [[spoiler:strangle Bridget von Hammersmark.]]
* ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' as an Australian slave trader with a questionable accent [[spoiler:who gets tricked and blown up by Django.]]

* ActionGirl: Tarantino's appreciation for tough chicks is one of his personal fondnesses. The Bride (and almost all of the female characters from ''Film/KillBill''), the second group of women from ''Death Proof'', ''Film/JackieBrown'' and ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''' Shoshanna Dreyfus are all examples. Action Girls are also referred to in other films. In ''Pulp Fiction'', Creator/UmaThurman's character once appeared in a TV pilot entitled "[[ShowWithinAShow Fox Force Five]]." In ''Film/ReservoirDogs'', the thieves talk about strong Pam Grier characters.

* AffablyEvil: Many of his antagonists - and ''protagonists'' as well, since they tend to be gangsters or criminals - are pleasant, polite, soft-spoken people, who have {{Seinfeldian Conversation}}s about the minutiae of life in between crimes and/or murders. Arguably this reaches its crescendo with [[Film/InglouriousBasterds Hans Landa]], who's a ''frigging Gestapo officer'' and also one of the most genial people in the film.
* AnachronicOrder: Tarantino is arguably the director most responsible for popularizing this trope in American cinema; for a brief period it was referred to as "Quentinuity".

** Whenever he uses music from his personal record collection he uses his own LP's with all the scratches and other audio noise to give it a personal feel. (On the officially released soundtracks he uses the official recordings.)

* BlackAndGrayMorality: The majority of his protagonist, at their worst, could easily pass as VillainProtagonist. The only reason we'd root for them is if the people they're up against is utterly reprehensible.
* BloodyHilarious: Whenever violence breaks out in his works ([[OnceAnEpisode and it usually does]]) expect to always at least be somewhat over-the-top and sometimes bordering on cartoonish (though he occasionally does play it for NauseaFuel).

* CanonWelding: Tarantino has created a largely common universe of his films by including subtle cross-references (for instance, characters commonly refer to others; Mr. White mentions Alabama and Mr. Blonde has Scagnetti as a parole officer, Vic Vega and Vincent Vega are brothers, Jimmie from ''Film/PulpFiction'' and Mr White from ''Film/ReservoirDogs'' have the same last name, etc.) and cameos, but he says that his movies are divided into ''two'' universes.
** The first is an [[spoiler: alternate reality where Hitler was shot down in a theater, causing Americans to be obsessed with pop culture and extremely violent]], which consists of ''Film/PulpFiction'', ''Film/ReservoirDogs'', ''Film/TrueRomance'', ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'', ''Film/DeathProof'' and probably ''Film/FourRooms'', ''Film/TheHatefulEight'', ''Film/DjangoUnchained'', and, assuming the latter, then ''Film/{{Shaft}}'' and its sequels (as Tarantino has claimed that Broomhilda von Shaft and Django are the ancestors of John Shaft) and Franchise/{{Zorro}} (as Tarantino and Matt Wagner collaborated on a graphic novel crossover between the two characters).
** The second is a set of films that the characters in the above universe watch - the stuff so crazy over-the-top that it qualifies as escapism for people who live in a world where ''Film/PulpFiction'' happened. These are ''Film/KillBill'', ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'', ''Film/NaturalBornKillers'', and possibly ''Film/{{Machete}}'' and ''Film/PlanetTerror'' because of cameos of Earl and Edgar [=McGraw=] in both movies. Interestingly, the title character in ''Film/{{Machete}}'' appears in another of Creator/RobertRodriguez's films...''Film/SpyKids''. According to Creator/DannyTrejo, they're the same person. [[BellisariosMaxim How this works is probably better left unquestioned.]]

* DoubleStandardRapeMaleOnMale: Averted. Despite the violent and deliberately trashy plots of many of his films, men raping men is portrayed as no less hideous or evil than men raping women in the two cases it's happened so far, [[spoiler: Marsellus by two creepy guys in ''Film/PulpFiction'' and Sanford Smithers' son being raped by Warren, [[UnreliableNarrator if it happened]], in ''Film/TheHatefulEight''.]]

* GallowsHumor: A lot of the comedic moments in his films follow truly awful or violent acts, so they can defuse the tension of the scene. Think Mr. Blonde's snark after [[spoiler:cutting off the cop's ear]] or when Vincent Vega [[spoiler:shot Marvin in the face.]]

* HalfwayPlotSwitch: ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'' and ''Death Proof'' both change gears jarringly. ''Film/DeathProof'''s switch was a deliberate homage to [=grindhouse=] films, where directors would often cut together two completely unrelated films, often unfinished, to make one whole product.

* OneLinerEcho: From Film/DeathProof: ''Now, look, You can't look like you're trying to get her out of here before Christian Simonson shows up, but you've got to get her out of here before Christian Simonson shows up."''

** For instance, when one hears the whistling theme "Twisted Nerve" by Music/BernardHerrmann most people won't think of the 1968 film thriller Film/TwistedNerve, but rather Film/KillBill.

** In ''Film/PulpFiction'' [[spoiler: Marsellus Wallace is being raped by two creepy guys in a basement. Yet Butch comes back to save him and kills one of them with a sword, while Marsellus shoots the other one in his crotch and informs him that he's gonna call up some of his gang members to torture him for hours, basically getting "medieval on your ass."]]
** In ''Film/KillBill'' The Bride was raped multiple times while she was in a coma. She gets her revenge, though, in the most badass way possible!
** In ''Film/TheHatefulEight'' [[spoiler:Warren claims to have forced Smithers' son to perform fellatio on him. While it's implied that [[ButForMeItWasTuesday he doesn't even remember Smithers' son]] and is just [[UnreliableNarrator trying (successfully) to provoke Smithers into drawing his weapon on him]], it's still treated as a MoralEventHorizon and Warren eventually suffers DeathByIrony when he is shot in the groin.]]
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: While most of Tarantino's characters are morally grey, rapists always get a gruesome come-uppance. Unsurprisingly, in real life Tarantino was upset when he learned a couple of sexual incidents his boss Harvey Weinstein had been involved in, including one with then-girlfriend Mira Sorvino, were part of a larger, more disturbing pattern of sexual abuse than he had realized (read: they turned out to not be mere isolated incidents), and his response was predictable to those who had seen enough of his movies.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Despite the extraordinary violence and brutality, a lot of his works could be considered quite idealistic. Villains often show human sides, characters often act in noble ways [[HonorBeforeReason even when it would be best to be pragmatic]] and people who show kindness or honor are rewarded in some way, [[RedemptionEqualsLife usually by surviving the film]]. This is arguably most apparent in ''Film/PulpFiction''.

** ''Film/ReservoirDogs'' has [[spoiler: a torture scene set the tones of the bubblegum hit "Stuck In The Middle With You".]]

** The fight between the Bride and O-Ren Ishii in Film/KillBill is set to [[spoiler: a funky disco cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by Santa Esmeralda.]]
* SpeechCentricWork: His films typically feature large amounts of dialogue, often of the [[SeinfeldianConversation Seinfeldian]] variety. This was particularly notable in ''Deathproof'', which features very long periods of dialogue before the action finale. Tarantino explained that this was part of his grindhouse pastiche, because grindhouse films often padded their running time with dialogue to save money.
* TaughtByExperience: He didn't go to film school and learned everything he knows about film from watching and making Them.

** One of the bandits mentioned in ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' is Crazy Craig Koons, a member of Smitty Bacall's gang -- and a possible ancestor of Captain Koons from ''Film/PulpFiction''.

* TranquilFury: In his first interview since the Weinstein scandal broke, Tarantino acknowledged he had known at least some details regarding Harvey Weinstein's sex drive in part thanks to an incident he had learned of years before involving then-girlfriend Mira Sorvino, and also because Uma Thurman had told him about unpleasant experiences with the producer during the production of ''Film/KillBill'', and is angry not just with Weinstein regarding the true extent of it but also with himself for not doing anything about it sooner, before encouraging men who had worked with Weinstein to come out earnestly with their stories.

** Tarantino LOVES shooting on celluloid film rather than digitally, and it's showing more than ever now that ''The Hateful 8'' has been shot in Ultra Panavision 70, a super-wide 70mm film format that Tarantino seems to be taking advantage of it as much as possible with lots of gorgeous SceneryPorn of snowy mountains and forests.

** Tarantino LOVES shooting on celluloid film rather than digitally, and it's showing more than ever now that ''The Hateful 8'' has been shot in a super-wide 70mm film format; Tarantino seems to be taking advantage of it as much as possible with lots of gorgeous SceneryPorn of snowy mountains and forests.