Quentin Tarantino has revealed his top 10 favorite films of the 21st century, and some of his choices came as a welcome surprise.<\/p>\n
The famed director named Ridley Scott\u2019s 2001 war film \u201cBlack Hawk Down\u201d as the best movie of the past 25 years during a new episode of \u201cThe Bret Easton Ellis\u201d<\/a> podcast released Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cI liked it when I first saw it, but I actually think it was so intense that it stopped working for me, and I didn\u2019t carry it with me the way that I should\u2019ve,\u201d Tarantino, 62, said of \u201cBlack Hawk Down.\u201d<\/p>\n Quentin Tarantino at the Burbank International Film Festival on Sept. 28, 2025. Getty Images<\/p>\n Ty Burrell and Jeremy Piven in \u201cBlack Hawk Down.\u201d \u00a9Columbia Pictures\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n \u201cSince then, I\u2019ve seen it a couple of times, not a bunch of times, but I think it\u2019s a masterwork, and one of the things I love so much about it is that this is the only movie that actually goes completely for an \u2018Apocalypse Now\u2019 sense of purpose and visual effect and feeling, and I think it achieves it,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n The \u201cKill Bill\u201d director<\/a> added that the film, which follows SSG\u00a0Matt Eversmann (Josh Hartnett) and SPC\u00a0John \u201cGrimesey\u201d Grimes (Ewan McGregor) amid the US military\u2019s disastrous 1993 Battle of Mogadishu<\/a> in Somalia, successfully manages to \u201ckeep up the intensity for 2 hours 45 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI watched it again recently, my heart was going through the entire runtime of the movie; it had me and never let me go, and I hadn\u2019t seen it in a while,\u201d Tarantino explained. \u201cThe feat of direction is beyond extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n Quentin Tarantino at the Vista Theater in Hollywood, California, on Nov. 19, 2025. Getty Images for Epic Games<\/p>\n Gregory Sporleder and Josh Hartnett in \u201cBlack Hawk Down.\u201d \u00a9Columbia Pictures\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n The \u201cPulp Fiction\u201d filmmaker\u2019s top 10 list was rounded out by Lee Unkrich\u2019s \u201cToy Story 3,\u201d Sofia Coppola\u2019s \u201cLost in Translation,\u201d Christopher Nolan\u2019s \u201cDunkirk,\u201d Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s \u201cThere Will Be Blood,\u201d David Fincher\u2019s \u201cZodiac,\u201d Tony Scott\u2019s \u201cUnstoppable,\u201d George Miller\u2019s \u201cMad Max: Fury Road,\u201d Edgar Wright\u2019s \u201cShaun of the Dead\u201d and Woody Allen\u2019s \u201cMidnight in Paris.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat last five minutes ripped my f\u2013king heart out, and if I even try to describe the end, I\u2019ll start crying and get choked up,\u201d he said of \u201cToy Story 3\u201d<\/a> and why he considers it both an \u201calmost perfect movie\u201d and the second-best flick of the 21st century. \u201cIt\u2019s just remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n Although \u201cDunkirk\u201d came in at No. 4 after \u201cLost in Translation,\u201d Tarantino admitted that he wasn\u2019t a fan of the World War II film<\/a> when it was released in 2017.<\/p>\n Tim Allen\u2019s Buzz Lightyear, John Morris\u2019 Andy and Tom Hanks\u2019 Woody in \u201cToy Story 3.\u201d \u00a9Buena Vista Pictures\/courtesy E<\/p>\n Quentin Tarantino named \u201cToy Story 3\u201d his second-favorite film of the 21st century. \u00a9Buena Vista Pictures\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n However, his feelings about the movie have since changed.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I now love about it is that I feel there\u2019s a real mastery to it, and I came around to it watching it again and again and again,\u201d the \u201cOnce Upon a Time\u2026in Hollywood\u201d director shared. <\/p>\n \u201cThe first time, it\u2019s not like it left me cold \u2013 it was so kind of gobsmacking, I didn\u2019t really know what I saw, it was almost too much, and then the second time I saw it, my brain was able to take it in a little bit more, and then the third time and the fourth time, it was just like, wow, it just blew me away,\u201d he added of \u201cDunkirk.\u201d<\/p>\n Fionn Whitehead in \u201cDunkirk.\u201d \u00a9Warner Bros\/courtesy Everett Collection \/ Everett Collection<\/p>\n Quentin Tarantino named \u201cDunkirk\u201d his fourth-favorite film of the last 25 years. \u00a9Warner Bros\/courtesy Everett Collection \/ Everett Collection<\/p>\n As for \u201cThere Will Be Blood,\u201d Tarantino faced backlash for saying<\/a> that the 2007 period drama would have been higher on his list if it weren\u2019t for Paul Dano, 41, in the lead roles of Paul and Eli Sunday.<\/p>\n The \u201cHateful Eight\u201d filmmaker declared that Anderson\u2019s movie, which scored Daniel Day-Lewis an Oscar, \u201cwould stand a better chance to be in No. 1 or No. 2 if it didn\u2019t have a big giant flaw in it, and the flaw is\u00a0Paul Dano.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not saying he\u2019s giving a terrible performance,\u201d he added of Dano\u2019s dual roles. \u201cI\u2019m saying he\u2019s giving a non-entity performance.\u201d<\/p>\n Daniel Day-Lewis in \u201cThere Will Be Blood.\u201d \u00a9Paramount\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n Paul Dano in \u201cThere Will Be Blood.\u201d \u00a9Paramount\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n Tarantino previously revealed his top 11 through 20 favorite films of the 21st century during another episode of \u201cThe Bret Easton Ellis\u201d<\/a> podcast released last month.<\/p>\n Those 10 films included Kinji Fukasaku\u2019s \u201cBattle Royale\u201d at No. 11, followed by Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado\u2019s \u201cBig Bad Wolves,\u201d Jeff Tremaine\u2019s \u201cJackass: The Movie,\u201d Richard Linklater\u2019s \u201cSchool of Rock,\u201d Mel Gibson\u2019s \u201cThe Passion of the Christ,\u201d Rob Zombie\u2019s \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Rejects,\u201d Prachya Pinkaew\u2019s \u201cChocolate,\u201d Bennett Miller\u2019s \u201cMoneyball,\u201d Eli Roth\u2019s \u201cCabin Fever\u201d and Steven Spielberg\u2019s \u201cWest Side Story\u201d at No. 20.<\/p>\n Quentin Tarantino attends the premiere of \u201cThe Perfect Gamble\u201d in Los Angeles, California, on Nov. 12, 2025. Getty Images<\/p>\n Bill Murray in \u201cLost in Translation.\u201d \u00a9Focus Films\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n