4. Inglourious Basterds
Inglourious Basterds was without question the longest-gestating of any of the director's films, given that he had suggested it for years before a final script was written (and promptly leaked onto the Internet long ahead of release). More successfully than Django Unchained, he manages to mesh his signature style with an important period of history, depicting nine American WW2 soldiers - known as the "Basterds" - as they trek across France killing Nazis, while tyrannical, feared Nazi Colonel Hans Landa, nicknamed "The Jew Hunter" (Christoph Waltz), prowls the land for Jews who are in hiding. With its immaculate cast (including Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Melanie Laurent and Mike freaking Myers), Basterds is superbly performed but is perhaps most notable for its exceedingly clever script, which mines high tension out of Landa's bloodhound-like mentality towards the Jews. Though dealing with a very serious, regrettable period of history, the film is still embossed in riotous humour, leading to a thrilling finale which has Tarantino deliver the end to the war that we all would have wanted, with Hitler having his face machine-gunned into meaty chunks. A perfect mixture of pulp and smart storytelling, Inglourious Basterds is a modern classic.