Quentin Tarantino has never been shy about his opinions.
But the legendary director just opened up about something most filmmakers would never admit.
And Quentin Tarantino revealed one truth about his own movies that left fans stunned.
Hollywood’s most honest director breaks down his own work
Most directors in Hollywood won’t give you a straight answer about their favorite lunch, let alone rank their own films.
But Tarantino isn’t most directors.
During an expansive interview on "The Church of Tarantino" podcast, the two-time Oscar winner did something refreshing – he actually told the truth about his own movies.¹
"’Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ is my favorite, ‘Inglourious Basterds’ is my best," Tarantino stated with the kind of blunt honesty that’s vanished from Hollywood interviews.
But he wasn’t done dropping truth bombs.
The director then explained which of his films represents the most personal expression of his creative vision.
"But I think ‘Kill Bill’ is the ultimate Quentin movie, like nobody else could’ve made it," Tarantino continued. "Every aspect about it is so particularly ripped, like with tentacles and bloody tissue, from my imagination and my id and my loves and my passion and my obsession."
That’s the kind of raw creative honesty you’ll never hear from committee-made Marvel directors.
The filmmaker explains his artistic hierarchy
Tarantino didn’t stop at just ranking his films – he broke down exactly why each movie holds its particular place in his personal hierarchy.
"So I think ‘Kill Bill’ is the movie I was born to make, I think ‘Inglourious Basterds’ is my masterpiece, but ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ is my favorite," he explained.
Think about that for a second. Here’s a director who can separate his personal attachment from his professional assessment of his own work.
The "Pulp Fiction" director then switched gears to discuss his screenwriting, revealing which scripts he considers his strongest work.
"I think ‘Inglourious Basterds’ is my best script, and I think ‘Hateful Eight’ and ‘Once Upon a Time In Hollywood’ are right behind," Tarantino said.
But here’s where it gets really interesting – he thinks his directing peaked with material that wasn’t necessarily his favorite story.
"There’s an aspect of ‘Hateful Eight’ that I actually think is probably my best directing of my material, i.e., the material is written and it’s solid. So it’s not like I have to create it, like ‘Kill Bill,’ it’s solid, it’s right there and I actually think it’s my best servicing [of] my material as a director," Tarantino noted.
What this reveals about Hollywood’s creative process
So here’s what’s really happening behind the scenes in Hollywood – and why Tarantino’s honesty is so refreshing.
Most directors today are products of corporate filmmaking systems where everything gets focus-grouped and committee-approved before it reaches audiences. They’re trained to give safe, politically correct answers that won’t offend anyone or hurt box office numbers.
Tarantino represents something different – an artist who built his reputation on personal vision rather than studio mandates. That’s why he can afford to be honest about his own work in ways that Marvel directors or Disney executives never could.
And you know what the best part is? His rankings actually make sense when you think about his career trajectory.
Kill Bill really was pure Tarantino – violence, pop culture references, non-linear storytelling, and martial arts homages all wrapped into one bloody package. No studio executive would have greenlit that vision from an unknown filmmaker.
Inglourious Basterds showed his technical mastery at its peak – taking a World War II story and making it completely his own while still delivering crowd-pleasing moments. That’s filmmaking sophistication.
But Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? That’s a love letter to a lost America, to a time when Hollywood still made movies about American stories for American audiences. No wonder it’s his personal favorite.
The interview also revealed why Tarantino passed on directing the upcoming "The Adventures of Cliff Booth" sequel for Netflix despite loving the script. The idea of making his 10th and final film a sequel "unenthused" him.
"I love this script, but I’m still walking down the same ground I’ve already walked," Tarantino explained. "It just kind of unenthused me. This last movie, I’ve got to not know what I’m doing again. I’ve got to be in uncharted territory."
That’s an artist talking, not a brand manager.
Compare that to Disney executives who’ve turned every successful property into an endless franchise machine. Tarantino could easily cash checks making Kill Bill sequels for the next decade, but he’d rather challenge himself creatively.
You know what? That’s how real filmmakers used to operate back when Hollywood actually cared about making movies instead of managing brands.
¹ Jack Dunn, "Quentin Tarantino Says ‘Inglourious Basterds’ Is ‘My Masterpiece,’ ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ Is ‘My Favorite’ and ‘Kill Bill’ Is the Movie ‘I Was Born to Make’," Variety, August 17, 2025.