It's natural for a filmmaker's style to evolve across their entire career, no matter how iconic their stylistic choices may be. and Spaghetti Westerns.
Tarantino has dabbled in just about every genre that inspired him throughout his career. Each film builds on the previous one in of style and themes. However, it's hard to say whether his growth has been entirely positive and whether his most recent film, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, will hold up as well as his feature film debut.
RESERVOIR DOGS: Small Scale, Big Energy
On a modest budget of $1.2 million USD, Tarantino manages to paint a vivid picture of a criminal operation that exists just beyond the camera's lens. The magic of Reservoir Dogs' world is that this entire vision is conveyed mostly through characterization and a fantastic cast. Reservoir Dogs a testament to Tarantino's unique approach to dialogue and world-building.
The film is equal parts engaging and inspiring, particularly for young filmmakers to see how a rich story can be told with a smaller budget. Reservoir Dogs is without a doubt one of the all-time greatest feature film debuts.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD: Tarantino Gets Personal
Whenever a filmmaker makes a movie about characters involved in the movie business, it's natural to assume that the final product is deeply personal. Through the eyes of the fading star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), Once Upon A Time In Hollywood captures a shift in Hollywood, specifically the industry's changing focus from rough cowboys and soldiers to younger, hipper leading men starring in less adventurous scenarios.
One can easily interpret this film as being a commentary on Tarantino's own career. In many ways, he is an old school director caught in the middle of a changing industry. Each year, an increasing number of films rely on franchises with a uniform style and a popular source material rather than a director with a very specific vision — things Tarantino would obviously notice and be concerned about.
RESERVOIR DOGS: The Inventive Action (Or The Lack Thereof)
It's funny to think that at one point Tarantino had to hold back from showing a full-on action scene. Despite the fact that the film's heist takes place entirely off-screen, Tarantino still manages to instill a visceral sense of tense violence into the film's atmosphere.
While the film is still over the top in a uniquely Tarantino way, Reservoir Dogs is without a doubt among his most reserved films. The main action is left up to the audience's imagination, and a focus is placed instead upon the day-to-day lives of the criminals who committed it.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD: It's A Romantic Realization
It's no surprise that Tarantino is absolutely in love with the '60s and '70s. Every one of his films is essentially an elaborate homage to a specific style of filmmaking from that era, especially those considered to be lesser than the mainstream successes.
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is Tarantino at his most indulgent for Hollywood at the very end of the 1960s. Every image and sound in the film oozes loving respect for a now bygone era that some would refer to as Hollywood's Golden Age.
RESERVOIR DOGS: It Put Tarantino On The Map
There's always something special about a filmmaker's debut feature — especially a filmmaker who has had an undeniable influence on the medium. Reservoir Dogs is a special debut because it was way ahead of its contemporaries.
It's almost hard to believe that a director's first feature film could so strongly influence the following decade of crime movies, but that's exactly what Tarantino did with Reservoir Dogs. After his debut, every studio was trying to cash in on the popularity of quirky action movies with eccentric criminals who talk too much.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD: Tarantino Is Now An Experienced Auteur
By the time of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood's release, Tarantino has directed eight (the two-part Kill Bill counts as one) consistently stylish and critically beloved films; a feat few filmmakers could pull off. At this point, Tarantino is an experienced filmmaker doing what he does best.
As a director, Tarantino has very few (if any) duds in his filmography. Each entry to his oeuvre speaks to his unique tastes and sensibilities, and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is arguably his most ambitious exercise in the love of the medium. There's no denying that Tarantino loves making movies, and each film he makes pushes his creative boundaries further.
RESERVOIR DOGS: It's Culturally Iconic
Since Reservoir Dogs' release, the film has ascended to Tarantino's monologue about "Like A Virgin," the standoff between Mr. White and Mr. Pink, and Mr. Blonde's unforgettable torture scene are instantly recognizable even among casual fans.
Due to how recent it is, it's hard to determine if Once Upon A Time In Hollywood will share a similar legacy or not. One thing is certain, though: movie fans will never listen to Stealers Wheel's "Stuck In The Middle With You" the same way again. Thanks, Mr. Blonde!
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD: The Riffs Off Of The Icons
Although Reservoir Dogs is more iconic, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is unique in that it uses the Hollywood icons of the past to add texture to its era and setting. Tarantino's techniques have always shown off that he is a movie fan, but Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is the first of his works to directly confront the iconography of the films that inspire him.
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood features countless direct references to the era of filmmaking that Tarantino borrows from, including Bruce Lee, Sharon Tate, the export of American actors for spaghetti westerns, and many more. While it's still unclear how Hollywood will stand the test of time, it is full to the brim with classic characters and imagery.
RESERVOIR DOGS: It Adds A New Twist On A Classic Concept
The heist movie is one that has been done countless times. Everyone is familiar with the tropes: a team of criminals, each with their own individual specialty, double-crosses, shoot outs, a massive score, you name it. Generally, filmmakers are able to innovate within the heist genre as well as Tarantino did with Reservoir Dogs.
Reservoir Dogs is a heist movie that never shows the heist. Viewers see the lead-up, the aftermath and even the later double-cross, but they must fill in the events of the heist itself with their imagination. This is a brilliant concept for a tired genre.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD: It Has A Little Bit Of Everything
In a way, every one of Tarantino's films is a love letter to his favorite era of Hollywood. Each of his films represent a different side of that time, be it the western, the Kung Fu movie, or the exploitation crime film. However, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is the only one that attempts to encapsulate all of these aspects in a single film.
Throughout Hollywood, there are hints of the western in Rick Dalton's performances as the quintessential cowboy. Bruce Lee makes an appearance in a lightly Kung Fu flavored fantasy from the mind of Cliff Booth. The crimes of the Manson family are thwarted, rewriting a tragic event in gruesome, indulgent detail. Cliff Booth's Status as a World War Two veteran might even be enough to satiate fans of Inglourious Basterds. Simply put, there's something for every Tarantino fan in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
