Quentin Tarantino's 8 best movies – from Reservoir Dogs to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

The film that kicked off Tarantino's career, Reservoir Dogs caused quite a splash when it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 1992, instantly marking the director out as a key voice in the then-booming American Independent Cinema movement. Starring many actors who would go on to make numerous appearances in his films – including Tim Roth and Michael Madsen – the film deals with the aftermath of a botched jewellery store heist, while also including various flashbacks to events before it all went wrong.

Although in some ways atypical for a Tarantino film – the action mostly takes place in one room and the film has a relatively short runtime of 99 minutes – it nonetheless features many of the trademarks that would go on to make his style so recognisable, including some inspired song choices and unforgettable violence, most notably a key scene of ear removal scored to Stealers Wheel's Stuck in the Middle with You. And from the very first scene the film serves as a nice introduction to Tarantino-esque dialogue, full of profanity and pop culture references.

The only film on this list not to have been directed by Tarantino (Tony Scott was the man behind the camera) this terrific romantic crime film is nonetheless worthy of inclusion on the basis of his excellent script – with much of the dialogue instantly recognisable as his work. Interestingly, Tarantino himself has called the screenplay his most autobiographical work and although he initially expressed reservation about the changes made by Scott – especially to the ending – he eventually conceded that the alterations made sense.

The film stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as a pair of young lovers who find themselves on the run from the Mafia, with a veritable galaxy of stars popping up through the runtime, including Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken, and Samuel L Jackson – by no means the last time the latter would act from a Tarantino script.

After the huge success of his directorial debut, expectations were sky-high for Tarantino's second film – and he well and truly knocked it out of the park with Pulp Fiction, which won the Palme d'Or at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for seven Oscars, winning for Best Original Screenplay. More ambitious and expansive than its predecessor, the film tells the intersecting stories of various residents of LA – from a pair of conflicted hitmen to a washed-up boxer preparing to throw his last fight.

Including perhaps more iconic scenes than any other film on this list, and some of the most distinctive Tarantino dialogue ever filmed, the movie is also notable for its many wonderful performances – with John Travolta, in particular, excelling in a role that would help to revive his then-stalling career. Samuel L Jackson, Tim Roth, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel and Bruce Willis are among the many other A-listers to feature.

Notable for being the only Tarantino film adapted from an existing text, Jackie Brown has also often been cited as perhaps the most mature work in Tarantino's filmography. Taking inspiration from and paying homage to the blaxploitation films of the 1970s, it stars Pam Grier as the titular flight attendant, who finds herself facing a dilemma after she's caught smuggling gun money.

With more of the same snappy dialogue that had already seen him emerge as one of the most exciting American filmmakers of his generation, the film also further enhanced Tarantino's reputation as someone known for revitalising the careers of actors – with veteran star Robert Forster earning an Oscar nod for his turn as bail bondsman Max Cherry. The soundtrack, meanwhile, is as good as ever - including several classic funk tracks.

For better or for worse, the two Kill Bill films are probably Tarantino at his most indulgent. Originally intended as one movie, he eventually decided to release it in two separate instalments, telling the epic tale of an assassin – known only as The Bride – who wakes up from a four-year coma and sets out to take revenge against her attacker and his many associates.

As ever, Tarantino leans heavily on influences from film history – on this occasion borrowing from everything from martial arts flicks to Eurotrash horror to anime to Spaghetti Westerns – as Uma Thurman dispatches an impressive number of adversaries in astonishingly violent fashion. Naysayers would dismiss the film as style over substance, but there's so much style that it's hard not to be drawn into the spectacle, and Thurman is spectacular in the lead role. The second part doesn't quite hit the heights of the first, but it's worth watching both to get the full picture.

The first entry in what has become a trilogy of alternative history tales from Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds reimagines the Second World War from the perspective of various characters plotting to assassinate the Nazi leadership.

The director was once again able to rely on an impressive cast – with Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent and Michael Fassbender among those shining in key roles. But the star of the show in this case is undoubtedly Oscar winner Christoph Waltz, who plays the chilling SS officer Hans Landa with a real ruthless menace.

The opening scene is a masterpiece of suspense in itself, while the film also includes all the vengeful violence you'd expect. Tarantino's love for the art of cinema is also as clear as ever – with key character Shosanna Dreyfus working as the proprietor of a cinema that plays a key part in Hitler's imagined downfall.

Tarantino has never exactly hidden his love for the Spaghetti Western, and this 2012 effort is his film most clearly inspired by the genre. Once again taking an act of revenge as its central theme, the film follows the titular freed slave (Jamie Foxx) as he teams up with a bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) and sets out to free his wife from a vicious plantation owner – played by a terrifyingly villainous Leonardo DiCaprio.

There's plenty of Tarantino's trademark violence – both of the cathartic, cartoonish variety and of a more brutal, realistic sort – alongside some excellent comic relief, including a brilliant scene depicting a large group of incompetent Ku Klux Klansmen. And Samuel L Jackson also shows up in one of his most memorable Tarantino performances to date – as a head servant who remains fiercely loyal to his master.