Tarantino

by Jim Smith

Tarantino burst onto the scene in 1992 with Reservoir Dogs , creating a brand of hip-talking, hypnotically shot, ultraviolent indie cinema that reinvigorated mainstream American film and spawned many imitators. Now take a detailed look at the pictures Tarantino directed, the scripts of his made into films by other directors—including True Romance and the controversial, heavily rewritten Natural Born Killers , and his other work, including both his episodes of ER and his projects as an actor, producer, and presenter. Explore the significance of the director's use of favorite actors, anachronisms, borrowed music, and reference points, and how they relate to recurring themes such as heritage, personal responsibility, and redemption.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Jim Smith, the laziest (yet still professional) teacher in town, is a head of school, education consultant, Independent Thinking Associate, speaker and bestselling author.

Reviews

[Dang Ole' Dan Can Dangle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid overview of Tarantino's work up to Kill Bill Vol 2. Provides insight into Tarantino as a person, the process of his films from a production standpoint, and even the dissection of each film by the author.

Included are comments on all of Tarantino's directed films, and also his screenplay work and brief work on television.

Very informative for those not very familiar with the man's work, and can be used as a great guide or reference point (albeit a slightly outdated one). I found some interesting things in it but for the most part I was already familiar with most of the content.

If you're interested in film-making in general, or are an aspiring film-maker, I'd pass on this (though it still couldn't hurt to read it) unless you're a big Tarantino fan.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very interesting. It had some information about QT's characters that I never even thought of before and I have read many books about Tarantino.

There were a few things I didn't care for such as the author's supposition of certain ideas.

Overall, a Tarantino fan should read this book.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geeky. Sycophantic. Rich with detail.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good summary of the work of Mr Tarantino.

[adam lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

really well written and a lot of interesting stuff (my personal feeling from Pulp Fiction got totally reinvented), too bad it ends with Kill Bill Vol. 2