Tarantino's harsh view of 1980s Hollywood does not mean he rejects all of its movies. Blow Out, The Thing, and Back to the Future offer three documented, very different references for exploring a decade he often discusses with particular intensity.
A criticized decade that also includes favorites
In November 2022, NME reported Tarantino's comments on Video Archives about the 1980s as one of the periods of Hollywood he appreciated least. It was a broad judgment made in the context of a film conversation, not a claim that no worthwhile movie was released during those years.
The distinction is clear in his praise for specific works. A decade brings together industries, genres, and careers that are too different to reduce to a single trend. Even within Hollywood, a tragic thriller, a horror film, and a family adventure can coexist. The three references in this selection belong to that territory and have received identifiable comments from the director.
The comparison with his preferences for 1970s cinema helps place a shift in sensibility, but it does not force history into a single downward slide. The interest lies in finding which films cut across his negative view of the period and what specific experience each one offers.
It is also best not to call this selection a ranking. The statements come from different moments and do not establish an order among the titles. If one appears first here, that is due to the structure of the article, not to any secret hierarchy attributed to Tarantino.
Blow Out and The Thing: two ways of not being able to trust
Blow Out, by Brian De Palma, was released in 1981. Michael Sragow's essay published by Criterion in 2011 records Tarantino's praise for Travolta's final close-up. That reference makes it safe to include the film among his 1980s favorites. The profile of Brian De Palma develops the connection in more detail.
The film turns a recording into a problem of knowledge. Listening closely can reveal a crime, but finding proof does not guarantee that the public version of events can be changed. The viewer follows an investigation whose technical appeal is tied to the vulnerability of the people involved.
As an entry point into 1980s cinema, Blow Out shows that polished visual craftsmanship does not imply optimism. Artifice can be used to build tragedy. The film explores the distance between having the tools to record the world and having enough power to intervene in it.
The Thing, by John Carpenter, arrived in 1982. Tarantino acknowledged its importance for Reservoir Dogs and The Hateful Eight in Time Out in January 2016. The documented connection refers to suspense and suspicion within an isolated group, beyond Kurt Russell's presence in both filmographies.
Here, uncertainty affects bodies. A companion may cease to be recognizable as such even while retaining the same appearance. The story forces viewers to interpret behavior and turns the need to cooperate into a risk. The tension comes from a question that no practical decision can fully eliminate: who can still be considered part of the group.
Viewed together, both films present different problems of trust. In one, evidence threatens an official version; in the other, verifying an identity can put everyone in danger. That comparison belongs to the analysis of the works. It does not mean Tarantino grouped them under a single theory of the decade.
Back to the Future and the pleasure of precise construction
In his October 2022 conversation with Jimmy Kimmel, Tarantino included Back to the Future among the movies he considered perfect. NME reported the selection. The praise introduces a different tone: Robert Zemeckis's 1985 adventure offers humor, family emotion, and a narrative machine that rewards attention.
Time travel allows a small action to have consequences in two moments in history. An object, a line, or a behavior can return with a different meaning. The audience learns the rules and enjoys anticipating their effects. The precision does not lie in everything being complicated, but in the elements being connected in a way that can be followed.
The film also brings together an extraordinary problem and understandable desires. Marty needs to return to his own time, but to do so he must intervene in his parents' lives when they were not yet the people he knows. The science-fiction device makes it possible to view the family from an unexpected distance.
That contrast with Blow Out and The Thing shows the range of the exceptions. These are not three works that share the same tone or worldview. They share the ability to shape an intense experience through clear rules, attention to the viewer, and dramatic consequences that do not depend solely on visual spectacle.
The journey therefore offers three concrete entry points: listening to an image, distrusting an appearance, and following the consequences of a temporal shift. Each film shows why a negative judgment about an era can coexist with a lasting enthusiasm for works born within it.
Check out the selection of Tarantino-recommended movies.