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Yet while that is a fantastic needle drop, Inglourious Basterds is filled with many others: The film opens by finally putting “The Green Leaves of Summer” in a good war movie. Written by the legendary composer Dimitri Tiomkin for John Wayne’s ham-fisted The Alamo (1960), Tiomkin’s reflective melancholy, and as covered here by Nick Perito, begins with a surprisingly restrained sense of ennui from a director who usually prefers going for the jugular. Perito’s version also gives the piece an appropriately Parisian affectation for a fairytale set in Nazi-Occupied France. That fairytale, often shaped in the image of Spaghetti Westerns of yore, also provides Tarantino with his best playground to date for mining obscure Morricone pieces, including the achingly beautiful “Un Amico,” which finds a wistful sense of triumph even in the film’s most tragic scene. – DC
7. Death Proof (2007)
There’s only one way to properly enjoy Death Proof, a film which is (probably rightly) dismissed as the director’s weakest effort, and that’s as part of the full Grindhouse double feature. The movie simply doesn’t stand up on its own. There is, however, no wrong way to enjoy the Death Proof soundtrack, which for this writer’s money, is the best Tarantino ever assembled.
From the smoldering, desperate version of “Baby It’s You” by forgotten early ‘70s rockers Smith, to Joe Tex’s heartbreaking “The Love You Save (May Be Your Own),” to the stomping perfection of obscure mod-rock “Hold Tight!,” to the absolute peak of closers with the bizarrely perfect “Chick Habit,” Death Proof showcases banger after banger guaranteed to liven up any late night drive. When tunes that strong are combined with soundtrack snippets from flicks like Blow Out and Thunder Alley, and you have something thoroughly unique, and that works as a full album experience much in the way his Pulp Fiction soundtrack does. – MC
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6. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
The soundtrack to Kill Bill: Vol. 2 is not as dynamic or cohesive as the accompaniment to Kill Bill: Vol. 1, but it holds together masterfully as an international mixtape. The diverse moods, genres, and international flavor come together in a wash of versatility. Most of the attack comes from orchestral instrumentals, with Asian, Spanish, and Italian film-friendly composers. We get three Ennio Morricone Spaghetti Western score tracks, including the stunning “L’Arena” from Il Mercenario (1968), alongside Luis Bacalov’s theme to Summertime Killer.
Ultimately, like the film, this is only half of the story. The first part was fast, frenetic, and filled with catchy tunes. The Kill Bill: Vol. 2 soundtrack gets cerebral. Bessie Smith’s recording of W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues” sonically connects with Lole Y Manuel’s “Tu Mirá” as much as it does Johnny Cash’s “A Satisfied Mind.” But you have to use your imagination to pull Chingon’s “Malaguena Salerosa,” from Shivaree’s “Goodnight Moon,” the opening track. With a few scattered lines of dialogue in the grooves, and an unlisted track, which comes out of nowhere, the highlight is an exception. Malcolm McLaren’s “About Her” reanimates The Zombies’ “She’s Not There,” between female vocals from somewhere else, and the song acts as the movie in miniature, with a broken goodbye. – Tony Sokol
5. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Quentin Tarantino has an ear for music. He can afford it. He has an extra one sliced off the cranium of Officer Marvin Nash (Kirk Baltz) for the personal amusement of Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) in Reservoir Dogs. The scene bound that act to Stealers Wheel’s “Stuck in the Middle with You” forever in the minds of cinephiles. Tarantino films steal songs, and this is the prime example of a double-crossing heist. Those songs never sound the same again, Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell” conjures images of Vincent Vega and Mia Wallace’s twist in Pulp Fiction. The opening credits title sequence of Tarantino’s debut feature also indelibly linked The George Baker Selection’s “Little Green Bag” to dangerous men in identical black suits.
