I have been thinking about this for a long time and while watching the documentaries on the Once Upon a Time in the West dvd today, I noticed how similiar QT is to Sergio Leone. Both Tarantino and Leone’s films are films about films. For example, Once Upon a Time in the West pays homage to the films of John Ford and other classic westerns, while Kill Bill pays homage to Sergio Leone and other 60’s/70’s style films. Leone’s films and Tarantino’s films usually begin with a stylistic pre-credit sequence, followed by the Credits scene accompanied with a rousing song. While Leone was fond of American westerns and payed homage to them in his films, he often satirized them and poked fun just like Tarantino pokes fun at the Crime and Kung-Fu genres. Sergio Leone only directed 6 films (not including his help on the Roman gladiator epics) and Tarantino so far has only directed 4 films, and will most likely not direct more than 9 or 10. Sergio Leone admired John Ford and used him as a key inspiration for many of his films just as Quentin Tarantino admired Sergio Leone and used him as a key inspiration. Tarantino’s films are filled with moments of unsettling and comical violence similiar to Leone’s films.Both men are well respected and obsessed with their work, and are credited with reinventing certain genres.
The list goes on and on…
Well since Leone is like your favorite director, I minus well say Quentin Tarantino is a modern day John Woo.
Qt is a collaberation of directors (not just one).
Modern day John Woo? John Woo is modern 
I know that Tarantino copies or pays “homage” to several different directors, but in terms of his films and his cult status I believe that he is most like Leone.
Well I woundn’t know cause of my lack of Leone films I’ve watched 
There’s only one Quentin Tarantino, but I see more Martin Scorsese and Brian DePalma in his works than Sergio Leone. Either way, he’s definitely unique.
[quote]
Qt is a collaberation of directors (not just one). [/quote]
i agree with this. he has that leone feel, yet he also has that de Palma feel to his movies too. his movies are a hybrid of other directors with his own original dialouge.
Maybe not as much in the directing style, but more of what Tarantino has done for film. Tarantino revitalized the crime genre and made it fresh, inspiring many copy-cats. Just like Leone revitalized the Spaghetti-Western genre and also inspired many rip-offs.
But both men have something about them that is unspoken, that i feel makes them similiar.
I think Tarantino uses some Leone styles…Leone has periods in his films where we’re just watching the characters doing stuff, or looking at eachother, or walking, and all we hear is noise from around. Tarantino does this often, thats what I dig aboot both their movies.
Tarantino is his own style. It might be similar to other directors, but it isn’t the same. Tarantino is origional, I just don’t see where people get this “tarantino is borrowing from other direcotrs” crap. He does, but he’s more his own style then anyone elses.
woah, woah, woah! comparing Tarantino to Sergio “The fucking master” Leone? I love Tarantino, and he is a great director, but Leone is the fucking genius, especially in technical aspects. I don’t think Tarantino has even reached half the level of expertise…
Holy Jee Wilikers, what have i done Batman? :o
i think you can compare anyone that you want. and i wasn’t saying that QT is on the same level, he is definitely not, but i was just stating that i believe that Tarantino is our generation’s Sergio Leone. in terms of what he has done for film and the energy that he puts into each film and a few other things, i believe they are much alike.
maybe its just me
I get your point and totally agree with you. Sure, their styles cannot be directly compared, but there is definately some silmilarity there. It just can’t be explained by words.
Or maybe even Kurosawa?
Tarantino has made movies that I call my all-time favorites. Seb is right, however, Leone is the master of all masters. Quentin can never achieve such status, at least while still breathing. After his death… Well that’s a different story.
If there’s still someone here who hasn’t seen Once Upon a Time in the West, The Man with No Name-trilogy or Once Upon a Time in America, SHAME ON YOU! Go to the nearest rental and see them now. NO! Go to the shop and BUY them.
I get what your saying and agree. I bought once upon a time in the west and was blown away by it. I love this film.
…quentin is a modern day quentin tarantino. he has no equal. cliche? yes, but true. just put on jackie brown. that movie is so good it’s invisible. sometimes brilliance is so extreme that you don’t quite realize it as it passes through you. the writing, the performances…staggering. god doesn’t make movies, film makers make 'em so that means qt is an actual god of movie direction walking the earth…
http://www.callumhouston.com
You mean like Cain from Kung Fu?
All the great directors learned from their idols. Tarantino’s style is I think a solid combination of guys like De Palma and Scorsese. From all the Leone pictures I’ve seen I think the biggest simularity between the two is their ability to tell a great story. We may have to wait until Inglorious Bastards to say if QT is a modern day Sergio Leone. QT doesn’t steal from other directors. Brian De Palma doesn’t “steal” from his personal idol, Hitchcock. I think it’s called inspiration. The split-screen and long shots from De Palma, and I think the violence in QT movies is much like the violence in Scorsese movies.
Not to put anyone’s opinions down or anything but Leone and Tarantino though somewhat similar, I think are also very, very different. And this is what makes QT’s style his own. Leone was known for creating films that looked BIG. And those many, many wide and long shots helped with that. The violence in Leone pictures was always very quick, a matter of a few seconds. There would be more emphasis on the build-up than to the violence inself. QT doesn’t have a large build-up, most of the time. Sometimes. It’s usually “bang” there it is but like Leone it’s also over pretty quick. There are of-course exceptions. To what you may think is violence and what is action. But he takes that style from Scorsese I think.
The end of Kill Bill felt a little like Leone, obviously intended. The fight between The Bride and Oren Ishii. QT used those wide shots and paced it out slower than other directors might. Remember that little bucket that fills up with water. That reminded me of the windmeel at the beginning of Once Upon A Time In The West. Man I love that stuff.
In terms of revolutionizing a thought-dead genre, I don’t think he’s the Sergio Leone of our era. Directorially, I don’t see any kind of resemblance, or at least any noteworthy ones. Tarantino movies are very dialogue-oriented, while Sergio Leone movies don’t feature much at all. There’s only about 15-20 pages of dialogue in Once Upon a Time in the West after all
maybe this is a little obvious, but if i was gonna compare anyone to leone, it would be robert rodriguez. his emphasis is much more on mood like leone, where qt is more script-character driven. even so i wouldn’t call anyone a modern-day leone. i don’t know if yo ucan give anyone that kind of credit.
[quote] Leone’s films and Tarantino’s films usually begin with a stylistic pre-credit sequence, followed by the Credits scene accompanied with a rousing song. quote]
i read tarantino saying that the opening sequence thing he does was actually influenced by scorcese’s use of the phil spector classic ‘be my baby’ at the start of mean streets.
also i reckon that the whole section in goodfellers where the guys trying to organise dinner while picking up his bro, dropping off guns, being chased by a fbi helicopter and looking like death while a cool fucking soundtracks playing, proper reminds me of tarantino movies too, maybe its just the captions (i.e. like ‘8 minutes later’ or whatever it was in pulp fiction)
I’m not knocking your choice of directors or anything, but I really didn’t think any of Sergio Leone’s stuff was all that great. “Once Upon a Time in America” was probably one of the worst gangster flicks I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen the Godfather Part III. Sergio Leone was actually offered the chance to direct “The Godfather” but declined because he wanted to direct his own gangster movie. That gangster movie ended up being “Once Upon a Time in America.” He must be kicking himself now. QT definetly has all of these other directors beat though.