Tarantino's Top 10 Films to Watch Before You Die (And Yes, Top Gun Is On The List)

Over time, he offered praise to many dozens of films in his countless interviews, as well as in his recent Video Archives podcast and in his Cinema Speculation book, which hit the shelves on October 25 the last year.

And that's despite trying to talk about works of other filmmakers' as little as possible in public, or focusing on classic old films, because, as he said:

"…I'm only forced to say good things, or else I'm 'slamming' someone. I don't want to do that."

But let's look at a list of well-known masterpieces to which he offered especially glowing praise at some point, in no special order, but starting with the hit of 2022, discussing which actually prompted the comment above:

1. Top Gun: Maverick
2. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
3. The Bad News Bears
4. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
5. The Social Network
6. Carrie (1976)
7. Apocalypse Now
8. Jaws
9. Audition (1999)
10. The Great Escape

What can we take from this sample of Tarantino's tastes? He's not a snob, and he doesn't feel himself to be above liking things which are massively popular and/or new (at one point he even admitted his love of rom-coms.)

At the same time, he's fine with naming fairly obscure films about his personal favorites of all time. He has broad tastes, though somewhat slanted towards dark and even macabre works. And of course, he is still avidly watching newly produced films, from mainstream blockbusters to biographical dramas.

Tarantino's his own filmography obviously draws from the wide variety of films he likes – he's completely open about his influences, too – and through his directing he often pays tribute to the history of cinema.

While watching a lot of films of different times, in different genres and by different directors, is not sufficient to become a filmmaker, it clearly helps. And any film lover should at least consider recommendations of a man, who had proved his understanding of cinema many times as a director.