4 months ago 02nd Jul 09:04
The film was well received by the critics; however it did enjoy more success after the release of Pulp Fiction. However the film was criticised for it strong language and explicit violence in particular Matthew Madsen's ear cutting scene.
Next up for the director was a second sold script as Oliver Stone took on Natural Born Killers, but changes Tarantino didn't agree with made him disown his script.
Because of the success of Reservoir Dogs Hollywood came calling and the new filmmaker was offered a series of high budget projects such as Men in Black and Speed but Tarantino stuck to his independent film roots choosing instead to work on Pulp Fiction.
Released in 1994 the story focuses on Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), two hit men on duty for "the big boss," Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), whose gorgeous wife, Mia (Uma Thurman), takes a liking to Vincent.
In the second, a down-and-out pugilist (Bruce Willis), who is ordered to take a fall, decides that there's more money in doing the opposite. The final chapter follows a pair of lovers (Amanda Plummer and Tim Roth) as they prepare to hold up a diner.
The film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival and it went on to win the top prize the Palme d'Or and went on to be nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, and won Best Original Screenplay for Tarantino and Roger Avary.
The success of the film changed the way independent filmmaking was seen by Hollywood forever as it became part of the mainstream.
He worked on episode four of movie Four Rooms but it wasn't until 1997 that he completed his third feature film Jackie Brown.
Jackie Brown is based on the novel Rum Punch by American novelist Elmore Leonard, although Tarantino made significant changes to the story and characters. Pam Grier plays Jackie Brown, a middle-aged airline flight attendant who gets coerced by ATF agent Ray Nicolette (Keaton) to help them bring down arms smuggler Ordell Robbie (Jackson) and his accomplices: ex-con bank robber Louis Gara and unemployed good-time girl Melanie Ralston (De Niro and Fonda).
While it received critical recognition, with Forster earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and Jackson and Grier being nominated for Golden Globe Awards the film didn't repeat the success of his previous release Pulp Fiction and it is still the least know of Tarantino's movies.
Fans of the filmmaker would have to wait seven years until a Tarantino movie made it to the big screen. But in 2004 Tarantino returned to the Cannes Film festival with Kill Bill Vol 1.
A female assassin, referred to as "The Bride" (Uma Thurman), is attacked on her wedding day. Dead are her soon-to-be husband and unborn child. However, she doesn't die. Four years later, she wakes up from a coma looking for revenge.
Although her ultimate target is her former boss, Bill (David Carradine), it's quite clear that The Bride is saving the best for last.
And before she can track him down, she must methodically take out the minions who ruined her life.
Volume 2 picks up where the first film left off, as The Bride (Uma Thurman) resumes her quest to track down her former mentor, Bill (David Carradine), and exact revenge.
But before she gets to Bill, she must first take out the remaining minions who helped to slaughter her best friends and fiancé. First up is Budd (Michael Madsen), a quiet but dangerous country boy who lives in a trailer.
Next is Elle Driver (Darryl Hannah), a one-eyed vixen who doesn't appear to have a heart--or a conscience. As The Bride makes her way closer to Bill, scenes from her past are revisited, including her training with the angry and brutal Pai Mei (Gordon Liu). Finally, The Bride locates her man, sparking a truly unforgettable confrontation.
Both the films were met well critically and performed well at the box office with Vol. 1 grossed $180,949,045 worldwide, and later Kill Bill Vol. 2 grossed $152,159,461 worldwide.
However Death Proof, Tarantino's last project didn't fair well with the critics or with at the box office, a double feature alongside Planet Terror in America the films were released separately in the UK.
But what has made Tarantino so successful is his determination not to bow to current demands of Hollywood studios and keep the idea of independent filmmaking at the heart of all of his work whether that be directing a film, writing a script or helping to get another project, such as Hostel, off the ground.
Femalefirst Helen Earnshaw
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