Top 5 – Performances in Quentin Tarantino Movies

Quentin Tarantino is one of my all-time favorite directors.  With classics like Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), and Inglorious Basterds (2009), he has cemented himself as one of the greats.  His films are always wildly original, with a slew of violence, fascinating dialog, and unique characters.  One of the things Tarantino does best is get great performances from all of his actors.  He has started, resurrected, and heightened actor’s careers.  So before his eighth feature, The Hateful Eight, comes out this Friday, let’s look at the best performances in Quentin Tarantino movies.

5 – Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Reservoir Dogs has a great ensemble, featuring Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, and a few more.  But the most memorable character and performance in the film is Michael Madsen as the cool and terrifying Mr. Blonde.  Madsen has never been better as the trigger happy, ear-slicing psychopath who has no problem solving a problem with killing someone.  He’ll crack a joke, and then shoot you and Madsen plays his instability perfectly.  Reservoir Dogs is one of Tarantino’s best casts and Madsen is the true stand-out.

4- Pam Grier as Jackie Brown in Jackie Brown (1997)

Tarantino has always been one to write strong female characters, and Jackie Brown is probably his strongest and that is all due to Pam Grier.  Grier, who made a name for herself in 70’s as blaxploitation icon Foxy Brown, gives a career best performance as a woman struggling to get her life together.  Grier fleshes out all of Brown’s emotions.  She’s mixed up with a gangster, a bail bondsman, and the authorities, and Grier shows both her vulnerability and strength during every situation.  Jackie Brown could have fallen off the rails, but it is carried by Grier and ends up being one of Tarantino’s most underrated movies.

3- Samuel L. Jackson as Jules Winfield in Pulp Fiction (1994) 

Most people pick John Travolta as the best performance from Pulp Fiction.  And while Travolta is very good, it is Samuel L. Jackson who steals the movie.  Jackson is a powerhouse as Jules.  It is the performance that launched Jackson into stardom and made him the actor that he is today.  With his towering presence, loud voice, and ability to go from having a cheeseburger with you to saying Bible verses and killing your whole crew, yet also realizing when a miracle has happened, Jackson commands the screen, making him one of the most memorable characters in Tarantino’s world.  Jackson has never been this good since.

2- Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds (2009)

Talk about a show-stopping performance, Waltz is the first thing people think about when they think about Inglorious Basterds.  His first performance in the United States, Waltz gives a tremendous performance as the highly intelligent, deceptive Nazi Colonel.  Some scenes, he’s hilarious, others, he’s as threatening and intimidating as you’d expect a Nazi solider to be.  It is a complex, rounded character that only Waltz could have played.  It is one of the most impressive and brilliant debut performances I have ever seen.

1- Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie in Django Unchained (2012) 

What makes DiCaprio number one on this list is that it is a performance unlike anything DiCaprio had done before.  Tarantino makes an inspired choice, casting the once teen heart-throb as a despicable human-being of no soul or moral compass.  DiCaprio ignites Django when he enters, fully committing and literally giving blood to a performance that not a lot people would want to play nor could play.  He becomes the evil, flamboyant slave owner and reads Tarantino’s dialog as perfect as any actor before him.  Candie goes from being a Southern gentlemen to one of the most horrifying humans to ever be on screen.  It is one of DiCaprio’s finest performances and the best performance from the Tarantino arsenal.

What are your favorite performances in Quentin Tarantino movies?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter @kevflix or on Facebook on my page, Kevflix.