Quentin Tarantino's Favorite Movie Of The 21st Century Is A Classic War Drama

Whenever an acclaimed movie director talks about their own favorite films, it always seems to be big news. And few directors are as excited to share their favorites as Quentin Tarantino, who, despite having just nine films under his belt, may be one of the greatest and most beloved directors of his generation. Tarantino recently discussed his favorite films of the 21st century — with the 2001 war drama "Black Hawk Down" topping his list.

Appearing on "The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast" (via The Express), Tarantino says he enjoyed the movie on first watch, but the film's sheer intensity prevented it from sticking with him. More recent rewatches, however, changed his mind. "I think it's a masterwork," he explained. "And one of the things I love so much about it is ... this is the only movie that actually goes completely for an 'Apocalypse Now' sense of purpose and visual effect and feeling, and I think it achieves it."

Tarantino added that the intensity that once bothered him is now an aspect of the film that impresses him, thanks largely to director Ridley Scott. "I watched it again recently, my heart was going through the entire runtime of the movie," he said. "It had me and never let me go, and I hadn't seen it in a while. The feat of direction is beyond extraordinary." We ranked "Black Hawk Down" at No. 50 on our list of the best war movies of all time, but for Tarantino, it's tops for this century.

It's not uncommon for sitting U.S. presidents to receive private screenings of new movies, since it's probably not feasible for the leader of the free world to head to the local movie theater on a regular basis. Director Ridley Scott screened "Black Hawk Down" for White House staff in 2001, but George W. Bush wasn't in attendance; it was attended by then-Vice President Dick Cheney and a host of top military brass. Considering the film dramatized a real-life 1993 military operation in Mogadishu, Somalia (while leaving out a lot of the true story), Scott says that screening the film made him anxious.

"I didn't have much of an exchange with them, rather a 'good film' comment and that's about it," Scott told Deadline in 2019. "At the time of the actual events in Mogadishu, Clinton had just come in weeks before that, and he removed the American army." That change in orders led to conflicting feelings about the operation among the military, many of whom didn't want to abandon the mission, according to Scott: "They had a reason to be there, and they wanted to finish that job." 

Scott said he was on edge while screening the film, hoping that he'd told the story in a way that was both true to life and morally correct. "I want to believe that the special forces' reason for being in there was for the right reasons," he said. "I hope that was right."

While "Black Hawk Down" topped Quentin Tarantino's list of his favorite films of the last 25 years, the rest of the list was varied and eclectic, with family favorite "Toy Story 3," the dark drama "There Will Be Blood," and action spectacles like "Mad Max: Fury Road" all receiving attention. But "Black Hawk Down" wasn't the only war movie on his list, and the other came in at the No. 4 spot — the 2017 Christopher Nolan WWII epic, "Dunkirk."

"The first time I saw it ... I just dealt with the spectacle of it all," Tarantino said on "The Rewatchables" podcast (via IndieWire). "It wasn't until the third time that I could see past the spectacle and into the people the story is about. I finally could see through the trees a little bit."

Like most of Christopher Nolan's movies, the film uses a little bit of narrative trickery. This time, he tells three loosely related narratives during the infamous Battle of Dunkirk, which come together in unique and sometimes surprising ways. "The style is an immersive experience, but by the third or fourth viewing, you get past the style, and you realize the magician's tricks," Tarantino explained. "In the case of 'Dunkirk,' it rewards Nolan's efforts to see it more ... Nothing doesn't work."