Monday 13 June 2011

"I want my scalps!" ~ FAVOURITE VIOLENT SCENES IN TARANTINO FILMS

      Quoting QT himself, "Violence is one of the most fun things to watch." And no one quite does violence like him. From his famous Mexican stand-offs, to hilarious bloodfests, to just two men facing each other-talking... QT has become the master of modern-day violence.
These are my favourite violent scenes in Tarantino films:


Honourable mentions- Mickey and Mallory break out of prison, Ordell kills Beaumont.

13) The scene when Soshanna, Emmanuelle and the Basterds burn down the cinema on Nazi night- Soshanna's giant burning face, and Hitler dying are my favourite parts.

12) The scene when we see the Bear Jew- Eli Roth comes bearing this big baseball bat, which he uses to beat the truth (and crap) out of a Nazi captain.

11) The scene when Virgil and Alabama fight- The mere size of James Gandolfini is frightening as hell, and he really throws poor teensy Patricia Arquette around...but like all QT girls, she doesn't give up easy and gets back at him- blood and gore and all.

10) The scene where Mr. Blonde cuts off the ear- Listening to "Stuck in the Middle With You", we all watch in horror as the sexy, yet mental Michael Madsen tortures the policeman Marvin and cuts his ear off for his personal amusement.

9) The scene which shows O-Ren Ishii's backstory- A sudden scene which depicts Lucy Liu's character's truly horrific past, in bloody anime fashion.

8) The scene where the Bride fights with Elle- Two super-sexy, super-deadly blondes fight- throwing one another around a small trailer, with a very unexpected finale.

7) The Sicilian scene- Two veteran actors, Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper, sit face-to-face, while the latter insults the former's race...surrounded by men with guns. The tension builds up like crazy, and while we all know how this will end, we are just blown away by the dialogue and the chemistry.

6) The scene when Zoe, Kim and Abernathy try to re-enact the car-scene from Vanishing Point- The challenge was to sit on the hood of a white 1970 Dodge Challenger with nothing but leather straps, but a murderous Stuntman Mike comes along and try to foil the plans of these three very determined, very skilled, very strong women. And then they go after him for revenge.

5) The bar scene- Two not-so elderly (and faaaaiiine) actors, Michael Fassbender and August Diehl, sit face-to-face, in a bar full of Nazis and a couple of Basterds, and talk, play, and well- shoot each others' balls. Again, the atmosphere is tensed like hell, and one little "numerical" mistake from Fassy causes a great volient scene to take place.

4) The scene when the Bride fights the Crazy 88- It's one vengeful mother against a whole lot of crazy body guards, including the insane Gogo and expert Johnny Mo. What makes this scene so impactful is how it goes black and white at the right moment, and the night-vision part, and ofcourse the music. I personally think it was a stroke of genius making it B&W, because that just makes it easier for us to understand all the movements, while not being completely overwhelmed by the blood.

3) The original Mexican stand-off scene- This would become a QT trademark in the years to come, but the very first time, and where it is most memorable was in Reservoir Dogs, when Mr. White, Mr. Orange, Nice Guy Eddie and Joe all stand in a circle, pointing their guns at each other. And then the shooting begins!

2) The scene when the Bride fights O-Ren Ishii- Against the backdrop of a serene snow-covered Japanese garden, two of the deadliest women that ever were, fight with their samurai swords. O-Ren's words are often sharper than her sword. I just love everything in the scene- from the snow falling, to the weird tapping of the fountain, to just the amount of power between these two women...by far the best QT fighting scene ever.

1) The scene when Jules and Vincent go to extract a briefcase for their boss- This scene is Samuel L. Jackson (dunno if that made any sense). His standing tall in front of Brett- discussing the Big Kahuna burger, scolding him about the "whats" and well of course, reciting the passage from the Bible, before he and Vincent engage in a total shoot-out. I won't be surprised if this is the most famous QT scene ever...it's just that superb.


          Now I know this was a violent scenes-only post...but these scenes are pretty iconic, and synonymous with QT too:

- The Jack Rabbit Slims Twist Contest- Mia and Vincent dancing is one of the things I love about films. It is so random, yet so historic. I am learning this dance... I really am.

- The entire buried alive scene- From the Pai Mei flashback, to the actual escaping from the coffin, which alone is one of the most uplifting scenes ever, I absolutely lurve this whole sequence.

- The introduction of the Basterds- Lt. Aldo Raine puts together a team of Nazi-killing Jews and gives them a speech about what their job is- unimaginable cruelty to the Nazis and the debt of 100 Nazi scalps that they each owe him. When the film had come out, I could recite the whole speech...bit out of practice now, but I do still adore it.


Also done:
Favourite Characters in Tarantino Films
Favourite Villains in Tarantino Films
Favourite Couples in Tarantino Films

9 comments:

  1. Epic list! Why haven't I heard of this Tarantino week of yours yet? Tarantino is a BAMF. I'm glad you mentioned the Sicilian scene, definitely badass. And of course Jules recitation of the bible is a classic. And I'm weirdly pleased that I'm not the only one who finds Michael Madsen attractive. I swear, I watched all of Free Willy on TV yesterday just because that man was in it. Great post!

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  2. @M- Thank you! I dunno why you hadn't heard of it, but it's always nice to hear from another QT-lover :)
    Madsen is a beast...As much as I love Thelma and Louise for the women...I was soooo attracted to him throughout, definitely more than Mr. Pitt.

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  3. I agree! I know Pitt was supposed to be "the hunk", but c'mon. Madsen was such a batshit insane sweetheart. Also, I gave your QT week a shout out at my blog! :D Keep rockin'!

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  4. Yeah, I love every one of these scenes.
    Tarantino sure knows how to craft a perfect scene, even if he does tie them together a bit haphazardly, he is still a masterful director.

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  5. @ M- Yes I will!

    @Jack- Thank you. QT is a genius...'nuff said.

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  6. Haha! Enjoyed reading it.

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  7. Oh God, such classic shit there. I kept getting further and further down the list, wondering what could possibly be number 1. Excellent choice.

    ENGLISH MOTHERFUCKER, DO YOU SPEAK IT!?

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    Replies
    1. Haha thanks.
      That scene was just all kinds of awesome.

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