Quentin Tarantino Shares His Ultimate Favorite James Bond Film

Quentin Tarantino has always been open about his love for classic movies. He has said that his filmmaking style is built from watching the great directors who came before him, like Spielberg, Scorsese, and Coppola.

Growing up in the sixties, he spent a lot of time soaking in their work, which later helped him create his own bold and unique films. Even though Tarantino became famous for movies like Pulp Fiction, he has always had a soft spot for James Bond.

With over twenty Bond films released during his childhood, the spy franchise has been a constant presence in his life. In a 2004 interview on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Tarantino shared his admiration for the early Sean Connery movies. He even said that his favorite Bond film is the 1963 classic From Russia With Love. “I just love that one,” he said, showing how much the film inspired him.

Tarantino once had a plan to direct a Bond movie himself. His idea was to take on Casino Royale right after Pierce Brosnan finished Die Another Day. He even ran into Brosnan to pitch the project, hoping the actor would agree to one final gritty and stylized mission. “I wanted to bring Bond back to being dangerous and real,” Tarantino told Leno.

He said the Bond movies at that time had started to feel like spoofs of the original character, and he wanted to give the franchise a more authentic, thrilling edge. He was willing to follow the rules of longtime producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, promising he wouldn’t do anything to ruin the series. But the project never happened.

The Fleming estate had already sold the rights to the Broccolis, and they had locked everything down to prevent outside directors from changing the formula. Tarantino later told Deadline that his version would have been a standalone period piece set in the sixties, but the timing didn’t work out.

Even without a Bond movie, Tarantino has stayed busy. Recently, he made headlines when a teaser for The Adventures of Cliff Booth appeared during the Super Bowl. Tarantino didn’t direct the film—his longtime friend David Fincher did—but he wrote the script. The movie is a $200 million sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

The new film will see Brad Pitt return in his Oscar-winning role, joined by Elizabeth Debicki, Timothy Olyphant, and a large supporting cast. Tarantino has been keeping details about his actual final movie project secret since he scrapped The Movie Critic last year, but fans are eager to see what he will do next.

Do you think a 1960s-set James Bond movie directed by Quentin Tarantino would have been a masterpiece, or is the Daniel Craig era closer to what fans really wanted? Share your thoughts in the comments.