Movies from Quentin Tarantino

Hapkido

Korea, 1934. During the Japanese occupation, there is open warfare between rival martial arts schools. There is a fight in the marketplace, and three Chinese students can't stand the unfair way of students that side up with the invasors, when they gang assault one of the fighting men. Between the three, they send the aggressors away. Retaliation is heavy: their school is destroyed, and they are banished. They return to China, and start their own school, and set out on good-will visits to the other martial arts schools, only to find that everybody in their neighbourhood is already dominated by the Japanese. They have many kung fu fights to win, before they eventually manage to establish peace.
Quentin Tarantino
Director, Screenwriter
But then, you know, also I'd go to see the, you know, the -"J.D.'s Revenge," or "Cornbread, Earl and Me," or some kung fu movie - "Lady Kung Fu." And, you know, I loved those movies.
Movies from Quentin Tarantino

Cornbread, Earl and Me

The unintentional shooting by police of a star basketball player has profound personal, political and community repercussions in this acclaimed adaptation of the novel Hog Butcher by Ronald Fair. This was one of the more thoughtful urban dramas produced at the height of the "blaxploitation" craze. Also released under the title Hit the Open Man, it features the screen debut of Laurence Fishburne, who was barely a teenager at the time.
Quentin Tarantino
Director, Screenwriter
But then, you know, also I'd go to see the, you know, the -"J.D.'s Revenge," or "Cornbread, Earl and Me," or some kung fu movie - "Lady Kung Fu." And, you know, I loved those movies.
Movies from Quentin Tarantino

J.D.'s Revenge

A college student is possessed by a 40's era gangster.
Quentin Tarantino
Director, Screenwriter
But then, you know, also I'd go to see the, you know, the -"J.D.'s Revenge," or "Cornbread, Earl and Me," or some kung fu movie - "Lady Kung Fu." And, you know, I loved those movies.
Movies from Quentin Tarantino

The Bodyguard

Karate master and anti-drug vigilante Chiba returns to his home in Japan, where he holds a press conference announcing his intention to wipe out the nation's drug industry. He also offers his services as a bodyguard to anyone who is willing to come forward and provide information about the drug lords' activities. He is soon approached by a mysterious woman claiming to have important information and asking for Chiba's protection. She seems to be legitimate, but is she really what she appears to be?
Quentin Tarantino
Director, Screenwriter
That passage was used once in a Sonny Chiba martial arts movie. I watched the movie … The Bodyguard, all right … And it was … said just the way Sam Jackson says it … the path of the righteous man, you know, it's just all very bad ass.”
Movies from Quentin Tarantino

The Drifting Avenger

Ken, son of a former samurai settles with his family in the west from Japan. Soon his family is killed in front of him by stagecoach robbers, making him aim to get revenge. Marvin an experienced gunman befriends Ken and becomes his mentor.
Quentin Tarantino
Director, Screenwriter
Then Butch spots the appropriate weapon of honor and vengeance: a samurai sword. Tarantino’s screenplay specifies that Butch holds the weapon “Takakura Ken-style,” referring to the Japanese star of movies such as 1968’s The Drifting Avenger.
Movies from Quentin Tarantino

Body and Soul

Charley Davis, against the wishes of his mother, becomes a boxer. As he becomes more successful the fighter becomes surrounded by shady characters, including an unethical promoter named Roberts, who tempt the man with a number of vices. Charley finds himself faced with increasingly difficult choices.
Quentin Tarantino
Director, Screenwriter
Part of the fun of Pulp,” Tarantino said, “is that if you’re hip to movies, you’re watching the boxing movie Body and Soul and then suddenly the characters turn a corner and they’re in the middle of Deliverance. And you’re like, ‘What? How did I get into Deliverance? I was in Body and Soul, what’s going on here?'”
Movies from Quentin Tarantino

Deliverance

Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's turned into one huge lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a river-rafting trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.
Quentin Tarantino
Director, Screenwriter
“Part of the fun of Pulp,” Tarantino said, “is that if you’re hip to movies, you’re watching the boxing movie Body and Soul and then suddenly the characters turn a corner and they’re in the middle of Deliverance. And you’re like, ‘What? How did I get into Deliverance? I was in Body and Soul, what’s going on here?'”
Movies from Quentin Tarantino

Kiss Me Deadly

One evening, Hammer gives a ride to Christina, an attractive hitchhiker on a lonely country road, who has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum. Thugs waylay them and force his car to crash. When Hammer returns to semi-consciousness, he hears Christina being tortured until she dies. Hammer, both for vengeance and in hopes that "something big" is behind it all, decides to pursue the case.
Quentin Tarantino
Director, Screenwriter
“I wanted Butch to be a complete fucking asshole. I wanted him to be basically like Ralph Meeker as Mike Hammer in Aldrich's Kiss Me Deadly. I wanted him to be a bully and a jerk, except that when he's with his girlfriend, Fabienne, he's a sweetheart.”
Movies recommended by Quentin Tarantino
11 movies

Tarantino's Favorite Films of All-Time

Handwritten list he provided to Empire magazine in 2008.
Quentin Tarantino
Director, Screenwriter
Handwritten list he provided to Empire magazine in 2008.