Tarantino's overrated

[eraserhead_99]

Pulp Fiction was brilliant.10/10. But resevoir dogs was just decent(6/10) and I really didn't like jackie brown.maybe a 4/10 at best.

what do you think?

[bob]

I agree, but we're actually on opposite sides here. I own both Jackie Brown and Reservoir Dogs, and like them both, but I think Pulp Fiction is two thirds of a great movie, with the middle section being gratuitously violent, unfunny, and completely devoid of Sam Jackson. That's unacceptable!

But it's really bull that people say he's the best director of all time. C'mon, he's made three films.

[flowrchild]

I don't think Tarantino is over-rated at all. He has made a few really great movies and set the stage for a lot of people to copy his unique style for their own films. I mean, the guy did Pulp Fiction! I could never consider someone over-rated who created such a genius movie.

[bob]

But Tarantino's style is just bits and pieces of other people's style put together in a cohesive package. I mean, I saw a Ringo Lam movie that had the exact same plot as Reservoir Dogs. I like RD better, but that doesn't mean it's original.

As for Pulp Fiction, I stand by my earlier comment.

[Grebdron]

I don't think he's the best ever, but he's got a great style. And I think "over-rated" is over-used. He is much emulated, so he must have something going for him.

[Tom Samborski]

I think he isn't overrated nor underrated. From my perspective, I think he falls in the middle.

[eraserhead_99]

I think he's over-used his once unique style.

Originally posted by bobBut it's really bull that people say he's the best director of all time. C'mon, he's made three films.
I agree. He's certainly not the greatest of all time. And yeah, he's only made 3 films!! You should give that prize, in my opinion, to someone like Kubrick, or Stone, or Scorcese. And personally, I think David Lynch is WAY more creative.

[BubbaStrangelove]

it's all relative

[AxeDamn]

Tarantino, Kubrick, Scorsese and Stone have all made movies that I hated. I guess I didn't hate them because I thought they were shite, but I hated them because I was expecting something awesomely amazing and when I watched them, I thought they were just films I wouldn't call great. Or sometimes even, films I could happily say I disliked.

Yes, Tarnatino is over-rated. Kubrick, Stone etc are not (Perhaps they are under-appreciated by moi). They are given the respect one should give to a veteran film-maker, and have put a lot of work into making films for many years. They have not been crowd-pleasers.

Tarantino is a crowd-pleaser. That's evident from the crowd who are pleased with his work. Maybe he didn't set out to be a crowd pleaser, but he certainly set out to make a big hit, using every opportunity he got.

(writing PF while promoting RD in England, well some of it)
(hiring a media relations guy to get him on every show to talk about his "new film" so everyone would think he was some soert of 'discovered overnight genius')
(lots of other stuff)

Sure, his dialogue impressed me. A lot. But once i realised that it was possible to write exactly as people talked in real life (it actually is VERY impressive dialogue that man writes), I never tried to imitate it.

The bottom line is that in my opinion, Taranntino is not really any better than any other small-time filmmaker who knows how to write dialogue as people speak. He's just the one who did it, and then sold it.

[tylerdurdensays]

Originally posted by eraserhead_99
But resevoir dogs was just decent(6/10)

what do you think?

AHHH!!!! RESERVOIR DOGS, just "decent?" NO FREAKIN WAY, Reservoir Dogs is one of the greatest crime dramas ever!!!!!

"You kill this man you die next."

[Mr_Jinx]

pulp fiction wa shis best film.....just by making that he isnt overrated

[eraserhead_99]

Originally posted by tylerdurdensays
AHHH!!!! RESERVOIR DOGS, just "decent?" NO FREAKIN WAY, Reservoir Dogs is one of the greatest crime dramas ever!!!!!

"You kill this man you die next."

I agree, it was a really good movie. Maybe a 7/10, at best. But it was an amateur work. It was sloppily done and dragged on for long periods of time, making you listen to long pointless conversations. And there were too many sequences in which these people just pointed guns at each other for no real reason except to create ineffective tension. But I still think it's a solid first effort. But hey, that's what makes for horse-racing.

[eraserhead_99]

I've never seen any movie in which someone copied Tarantino's style, if you talking about the different stories. If your talking about people talking like they would normally, there are plenty of movies made before Pulp Fiction like that.

[silentasylum]

that is really a comment that has no merit, i dont exactly know what you mean by overrated. that would be anyone's opinion but you cant take away his sense of originality. resevoir dogs, pulp fiction and true romance is some of the most original work i've seen.

[Lindsey]

Originally posted by eraserhead_99
But it was an amateur work. It was sloppily done and dragged on for long periods of time, making you listen to long pointless conversations. And there were too many sequences in which these people just pointed guns at each other for no real reason except to create ineffective tension.

But you got to remember that Tarantino was originally going to shoot this movie in black and white with his friends, until Keitel got involved into this project. Once it got going, the budget was very low and so was everything else.

Just on those terms, the movie is awesome. It's not some 10 million dollar movie, it's Tarantino's first successful film.

IMO, Tarantino's NOT overrated. He's the best director out there and I love him :)

[James Logan]

Yes, he is overrated. He's one of the 15 best screenwriters out there, no questions asked, and he has a knack for dialogue and complexe plots and turns. But as a director, he's just plain good. He's not great, far from it. I personally loved PULP FICTION, thought RESERVOIR DOGS was just ok (saw it once a long time ago and haven't seen it since) and thought JACKIE BROWN was just decent too. The best director out there? Not even close. And KILL BILL doesn't look all that good at all either if you ask me.

[ToasT]

When people rave about Tarantino, they really don't say, "the best director of the past 20years." They usually just praise his screenwriting abilities. He has an amazing knack for dialogue and plots. Which is definetly needed for screenplays. Saying that, I believe he is a very talented director. He knows what he wants and how to do it, and he definetly picks the right people for his roles.

For example:
Steve Buscemi ---> Mr. Pink
Samuel L. Jackson ---> Jules...
Pam Grier ---> Jackie Brown
Robert DeNiro ---> the guy he plays

(I can't remember names)

[The Delfonics]

I think Tarantino is over rated in the sense of being a good writer. He does a good job at directing with his little tricks but films like Resevoir annoy me

[Girlntereptid13]

i personally really love tarantino, and don't think he is overrated, although the word has kind of become a cliche... i think 'pulp fiction' was his best, almost flawless, 'reservoir dogs' his second greatest, and even though everyone hated 'jackie brown', i thought it was ok, especially because of jackson... i wouldn't go as far as calling him the best flimmaker of all time, especially because he hasn't made so many movies yet, but i think he might be heading that way... at first i thought i agreed about him just being a marvelous screenwriter and an ok director, but i had to consider things like 'natural born killers', which he wrote but stone directed. if you watched the movie you can tell it could've been a great movie had tarantino directed it, but stone utterly ruined every little gem of orginality it had... so overall, i think that at least with his own screenplays, he should direct them, and with the fact that i think his movies are great that would make him a great director...

[RogueSpear]

Originally posted by BubbaStrangelove
it's all relative

Exactly!

Personally, I don't think Tarantino's anything special. I thought Reservoir Dogs was decent but didn't live up to the hype. Pulp Fiction was pretty bad IMO, the only decent parts being with Bruce Willis. And what I saw of Jackie Brown was all that great either.

So, pretty much all that means is that I don't like Tarantino and a lot of other people do. And I doubt either of those opinions will ever change.

[Gregorious8]

Well let's all just see how Kill Bill turns out.

[TheDeadWalk]

As far as I see it, the only thing that makes Tarantino over-rated is the fact that he doesn't have enough movies under his belt.

I don't care if the movies he made were all oscar winners. He has to produce more than just a couple films to see if his creative genius is really there, or if he was like the guy who invented the pet rock and that was the only fuckin' thing he could do all his life.

Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction, and Reservoir Dogs were all great movies in my eyes.(Hell I liked from Dusk till Dawn to be honest) I hope this "Kill Bill" is a great flick and will look forward to seeing if Tarantino can keep up the good work.

Once he's done around 8 to 12 well known movies and has entertained with them, then I will disagree with this post.

[Razorblade Smile]

Hmmm. Over-rated by whom exactly? By the Hollywood community? By the Academy panel? By the Shmoes at JoBlo's? Is he being over-rated as a Director, a writer, a producer or all 3?

For the most part, he is really only recognized (by the masses) for one film. And because of that, he became a household name. Maybe that classifies him as over-rated, maybe it doesn't. Not sure.

His other films wouldn't have achieved the notoriety that they have had it not been for Tarantino's name being stapled to it.

Res Dogs was an Indie sleeper hit, and most people never even heard of it until after the popularity of Pulp Fiction broke out.

No one probably would have even watched Four Rooms had they not known that Tarantino was involved with it.

And Jackie Brown...while decent, is not nearly as memorable a film as some of his other work. And naturally, it couldn't compare to his accomplisments with Pulp Fiction (Although I suspect fans thought that it would).

Like Tom Samborski said, I think Tarantino falls somewhere in the middle.

[MickeyKnox]

Tarantino has to do more movies to express his creativity he has only done 4 he needs to get on the ball and start making more movies.

[NotKeyserSoze]

Tarantino did a lot that was worth his reputation - although he stole old ideas, every good director does. He just reworked the ideas, added his trademark hamburger etc dialogue, and made himself a cult figure overnight with Reservoir Dogs. He's good at what he does, and he isn't giving into any franchise nonsense. He directs, script, leaves a firm print on all his work and isn't about to sell out to anybody. I say hooray for him.

Incidentally, I prefer Pulp Fiction to his other two. Jackie Brown had one too many double entrendres, Reservoir Dogs was truly Tarantino-by-numbers. And the Crouching Tiger look of Kill Bill's trailers makes me a little nervous... but I think I'll have a little faith in the man who caused Lock Stock to happen.

[NotKeyserSoze]

Originally posted by MickeyKnox
Tarantino has to do more movies to express his creativity he has only done 4 he needs to get on the ball and start making more movies.

Though I'd love to see him directing more, fact remains he's scripted tons of stuff. From Dusk Till Dawn was more him than Rodriguez, and Natural Born Killers (and True Romance) were really his films, or they sure felt it. Don't have to direct to leave your mark.

And I'm glad he hasn't overworked himself - it wouldn't be long before his creativity ran dry. And with so many directors, it has indeed run dry. Kill Bill could be the only really inventive thing of 2003, if it's good enough.

[Lady Summerisle]

Tarantino may ber "overrated" as a filmmaker, but you can't deny he changed the crime drama format.

He also wrote the great TRUE ROMANCE.

His involvement in FROM DUSK TIL DAWN , is unmissable.

Out of all the filmmakers of the 1990's, Tarantino did a lot for the pop culture and the actors involved in them. Look at who he got:

HARVEY KIETEL
A pre-Battlefield Earth JOHN TRAVOLTA
MICHAEL MADSEN
TIM ROTH
PATRICIA ARQUETTE pre-Stigmata
LAWRENCE TIERNEY
SAMUEL L. JACKSON
PAM GRIER
ROBERT FORSTER (Max Cherry is one of the coolest)
Many other awesome icons, Steve Buscemi is one that will live in geek cult status forever (unless he keeps doing stuff like DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE).

[ToasT]

Originally posted by NotKeyserSoze
And the Crouching Tiger look of Kill Bill's trailers makes me a little nervous... but I think I'll have a little faith in the man who caused Lock Stock to happen.

I really hate it when people refer to traditional style martial arts in todays films as "Crouching Tiger" style. It is in the traditional martial arts style of the movies he watched as he was growing up. This film seems like Tarantino is paying homage to the kung-fu and samurai films he idolized as a teen.

[NotKeyserSoze]

I'm not saying he isn't paying homage to old martial arts stuff - it just looks like he's doing it in the same method as Crouching Tiger. What was that movie if not a homage, anyway.

[BubbaStrangelove]

Maybe Tarrantino isn't overrated. Maybe it's his fans who are over exaggerative.


I hope one day I can make a movie that everyone loves so that people can tell me I don't deserve the praise. :D

[Grim H.]

I own Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and Jackie Brown. I think they're all great, but Jackie Brown isn't as good. I still dont' think Tarantino is overrated, he's one of my favorite directors. Pulp Fiction is my second favorite film.:D

[thirdeye]

As many of you guys know Quentin Tarantino is a well know fan of Hong Kong Cinema, i think "Kill Bill" is just his way to pay an homage.

This film seems like Tarantino is paying homage to the kung-fu and samurai films he idolized as a teen

Personaly i think he knows what he is doing.

[KornKidJedi]

QT is NOT fucking overrated. I do not think he's the best director of all time. He's one of the best directors of all time. I also think he's the best director of the 1990's. Pulp Fiction is my number one favorite film of all time. It's the most important and greatest film of the 1990's. If you do not think so,just watch Forest Gump. Reservoir Dogs is NOT okay nor decent. Reservoir Dogs is a masterpiece independent classic film and Pulp Fiction is a Classic Epic. Jackie Brown is GRRRRRRReat. Jackie Brown proves that Tarantino is a mature filmmaker and that he'll always be making different diverse films. I'm so excitied about Kill Bill. Anyone, who thinks it's not that good or exciting,just your Michael Bay flicks.

[Jerk Shapiro]

Nah. He's not overrated. He's the man. Nuff' said.

[ToasT]

Originally posted by NotKeyserSoze
I'm not saying he isn't paying homage to old martial arts stuff - it just looks like he's doing it in the same method as Crouching Tiger. What was that movie if not a homage, anyway.

Crouching Tiger wasn't homage to anything. Just another traditional Chinese Kung - Fu film, like Wing Chun and Tai-Chi Master.