Everyone knows Tarantino is inspired by other films and sometimes "lifts ideas" from them, primarily exploitation films and the asian cinema. Is it homage or cinematic thievery?

He is a visionary mastermind. Everyone assumes that he only borrows from Japanese cinema but he has borrowed from plenty of great movies. Everything from Mean Streets (which he refers to as one of his top ten favorite films of all time) to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Plus, when he worked in a video store all he did was watch films. He admits he saw a ton and a lot were bad but he is a master at taking what was good from what he saw and bringing it to life on the big screen. He has been able to borrow from so many different genres and he is still doing it now. Now he says he would kill to do a Godzilla or direct a James Bond film, now how cool would that be?

He is a master writer, weaving story lines that interject with other characters while exercising their strengths and weaknesses, and an even better director because he knows exactly how to get the very best from everyone he works with. He is truly in the top tier of directors/writers we have today and one of the most special and truly brilliant people of our time

I hate to disagree with someone who has so much passion for a filmmaker, but in my opinion, I think Tarantino's career has consisted of some pretty good dialogue in Resrvoir Dogs & Pulp Fiction, resulting in mildly amusing films, and being the beneficiary of hype at Miramax studios.
I have studied him pretty closely, and my verdict is...C- for the early coupla yrs; D- for everything since...

Whats life without controversial issues, hey A?

I love Tarantino's work. He has a great way of paying homage to past films, while putting his own spin on things. I'd rank him among my top 10 favorite filmmakers. Pulp Fiction came out when I was about 19 or 20, and it probably had more impact on my interest in film than any other movie I can think of.

I've enjoyed nearly every Tarantino film I've seen, so far. "Reservoir Dogs" had a great story & all, but I found it more racist than anything else. Other than that, I have enjoyed his movies very much. If I recognize something from another movie, I see it more as a homage, than as theft. He didn't steal an old idea & claim it for his own, like Carlos Mencia. He proclaims where the idea came from. You can see his influences because he wants you to.

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Originally posted by FragileKidA:
Now he says he would kill to do a Godzilla or direct a James Bond film, now how cool would that be?

I'm already a "Godzilla" fan, & to have Tarantino do it? I can only imagine it going back to its original Japanese roots with lots of dialogue & bloody action! I'm not a 007 fan, but I would pay to see that Bond adventure!

I can cite creative differences Ishy but I simply adore all of Tarantino's work. Now, when he directs what he has written it comes out beautiful. Sometimes as an actor he falters, but as a filmmaker, he reigns supreme. Easily one of my top filmmakers, he is at that point in his career where he can do whatever he wants. The thing about him though, and he has stated this numerous times, is that he makes movies for the pleasure of pleasing people, for the aesthetic, not for the paycheck. Even after he had mastered three previous films, he had a list of actors and composers he wanted for his Kill Bills and they turned him down. One of my favorite actors is Warren Beatty and Tarantino actually wrote the part of Bill with him in mind. He really wanted him so bad; rumour has it that Beatty did show up for the first two weeks of shooting but that Tarantino kept wanting him to act like David Carradine did back in the old days Beatty looked at him and said, "If you want him so bad, then get him" and left. What a jerk huh? By the way, when the heck is he going to make another movie? I love Bugsy, Dick Tracy, Reds, Bonnie and Clyde, Shampoo, Bulworth and all of his other stuff. Story is that Tarantino—being a fan of spaghetti westerns and their music—wanted Ennio Morricone to write the entire score for Kill Bill. Keep in mind that Tarantino shot both movies at the same time and it was going to be a glorious three and a half affair until pressure from the studio forced him to release it as two films. On that note, why can Peter Jackson take three and a half hours on the last LotR but Tarantino can't on his work? Anyways, he even flew into Italy to meet with the famed composer but no dice, he didn't want to do it. Imagine that film with that score, wouldn't that have been gorgeous? He was able to use some of Morricone's stuff but along with the RZA, he picked the rest of the stuff.

I don't know how much of the aforementioned adds to my argument that Tarantino is an amazing person but it shows that he knows what he is doing all of the time. His head may be racing at 100 MPH but he always brings his A-game. Just look at the one scene he directed for Sin City, as good as Robert Rodriguez is, wasn't that the best-directed scene of that tremendous film?

Ohhhhh FKA, I reeeaalyy feel awful disagreeing with you, cos I know how much it can infuriate a body to have someone dismiss an much loved artist...but......

Yr mention of Beatty running from the set just makes me admire Beatty's taste more..Those Bill films are dreadfully written and abysmally directed, sorry!

And Morricone, another personal hero of mine just went up another notch for declining to have any part of those Asian Xeroxes..(ooooh, mean, ain't I?.. ).

From what i have read of Tarantino as a man, he comes across as a media whore, and a filmmaker desparately short of ideas . But I always say, trust the art, not the artist, so enjoying a film from an absolute mongrel, like say, Mel Gibson, is still possible if the film is good.

But when will Tarantino do anything good again?...the Sin City segment is fine, but mothing special, which only goes to prove that he is better making shorts than features.

All this critique is good natured of course. I just like debating films and filmmakers.

personally i do enjoy a lot of his work. i like his wise decision at the end of kill bill vol. 2 not to make it into some huge bloodbath, and i have no problem really with him being inspired by other films. but i would like it a bit more if people actually understood that tarantino didn't make steve austin, but he did make the 6 million dollar man out of him

I went nuts for Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. It got a little samey after that. I caught a little of Kill Bill but wasn't too impressed. I found Dusk till Dawn quite entertaining, but I'd have to file that one under 'guilty pleasures'.

On the subject of whether Tarantino is a plagerist - I saw an interview with him where he said 'if you're going to steal an idea, make it better than the original' (or words to that effect). I think his argument holds water. I consider Reservoir Dogs to be far superior to City on Fire.

Apart from the scripts, I think the genius element in Tarantino's films is the casting. The choice of actors is always off-beat but it somehow works - on Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction at least.