4 Frequent Collaborators


Like many other directors, Tarantino has his list of frequent collaborators, so much so that every time he announces a new project, some of them are immediately assumed to be part of it. The actor who has appeared in most Tarantino movies is, unsurprisingly, Samuel L. Jackson, appearing in Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill: Volume 2 (both Kill Bill movies are counted as one), Inglourious Basterds (where he serves as the narrator), Django Unchained, and The Hateful Eight. Other frequent collaborators of Tarantino are Michael Madsen, Harvey Keitel, and Uma Thurman.

3 Fictional Brands


Quentin Tarantino has come up with fictional brands that pop up in all of his movies, and they have become part of the Easter eggs to look out for whenever he releases a new project. First is Big Kahuna Burger, which was first seen in Reservoir Dogs, as that’s where Mr. Blonde’s beverage is from, but the most memorable appearance of Big Kahuna Burger is in Pulp Fiction, in the above-mentioned scene where Jules intimidates Brett and takes a bite from his burger. The other brand that appears in almost every Tarantino movie is Red Apple Cigarettes, first seen in Pulp Fiction at Honey Bunny and Pumpkin’s table and later seen as Mia Wallace’s (Uma Thurman) brand of choice, and used in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’s end credits scene as Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) starred in a commercial for the brand.


2 References To Other Movies


Quentin Tarantino has been quite honest about taking inspiration from other movies to write and make his own, but sometimes these inspirations and references have led to accusations of plagiarism. Reservoir Dogs, for example, takes its plot from the 1952 movie Kansas City Confidential, the characters being named after colors is taken from the 1974 movie The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, and its final minutes are very similar to the 1987 movie City on Fire. Other examples are Pulp Fiction’s famous dance scene, inspired by Jean-Luc Godard’s Bande à Part, Django Unchained is inspired by the 1975 movie Mandingo, and both Kill Bill movies take elements from Game of Death, Lady Snowblood, and The Bride Wore Black.

1 The Tarantino Movie Universe


In addition to making references to other movies, the works of Quentin Tarantino include references to his past movies as they are all part of the same universe. The Tarantino Shared Movie Universe is divided into two levels: the “realer than real” universe (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood) and the “movie-in-a-movie” universe (both Kill Bill movies and Death Proof), these being the movies that those in the first level watch. Because of these, some characters appear in different movies (such as Earl and Edgar McGraw) and others are related, as is the case of Pulp Fiction’s Vincent Vega and Reservoir Dogs’ Blonde/Vic Vega, and Jimmie Dimmick (Tarantino) and Mr. White. Quentin Tarantino’s tenth (and possibly final) movie will surely have links to its respective level in the Tarantino Shared Movie Universe, as well as some (if not all) of the above mentioned tricks.