Quentin Tarantino weighs in on one of cinema's big questions: what is the best Tarantino movie?

Tarantino's Ultimate Picks: The Director Decides Which of His Films Reigns Supreme. Every film lover has an opinion about which Quentin Tarantino movie stands above the rest, but now the man behind the camera has broken his own silence, revealing which of his films he considers his masterpiece, his personal favorite, and the one he was born to make. At age 62, Tarantino looked back at his career on a recent podcast with a rare vulnerability and candor. He named his World War II epic Inglourious Basterds as his masterpiece, a film that fuses audacious storytelling with a rewriting of history, brimming with suspense, wit, and dark humor. For Tarantino, this is the pinnacle of his craft—a film he believes represents the height of his screenwriting and the sharpest expression of his vision. But when it comes to his favorite, his heart lies with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. This sun-drenched love letter to 1969 Los Angeles, following the fortunes of a fading actor and his loyal stuntman, is the film Tarantino feels the deepest connection to. It's evocative, nostalgic, and layered with the director's passion for cinema's golden age. Yet, he describes Kill Bill as the “ultimate Quentin movie”—the project that only he could have conjured, a fever dream stitched together from his obsessions, passions, and the wildest corners of his imagination. For Tarantino, Kill Bill is not just a film, but the reason he became a filmmaker in the first place. He reflects on his method, noting that he's always written his own scripts, and singles out Inglourious Basterds as his best-written work. However, he points to The Hateful Eight as the film where he believes his directing most fully served his own material, bringing his written word to life with precision and flair. Tarantino's creative journey is marked by an insistence on new challenges. He's declined to direct a sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, despite writing the script and producing, because he felt it would be too much a retread of familiar territory. For his final film, he wants to enter uncharted waters, searching for that spark of uncertainty that has always driven his work. Though rumors swirled about his last film, The Movie Critic, he ultimately abandoned it. The reason? It felt too similar to what he'd already achieved, especially in recreating period Los Angeles. Tarantino craves risk, not repetition. Now, as he prepares a play for London's West End and contemplates his tenth and final movie, he remains steadfast: he wants to retire on a high note, not with a lackluster encore. For him, every film must be an adventure, an exploration—a bold step into the unknown, with nothing left to prove but everything left to imagine.