References, Homages and Inspirations

We all either love or hate when Tarantino pulls ideas from an array of films to include in his own. Sometimes they are glaringly obvious and other times the reference is so obscure that it passes by without most viewers catching them. He does this in many ways, as obvious as an almost direct copy of a scene, to something as subtle a minor characters name or a well placed prop.

I thought we might list and discuss some of these examples here.


I recently watched A Special Cop in Action (1976) so it’s a good starter. This Italian poliziotteschi film stars Maurizio Merli in his third appearance as the Dirty Harry like Commissioner Betti and is full of great car chases. This clip is a bit chopped up but the theme is also used in Death Proof (2007) during the ending chase scene. These Italian crime films are full of crazy car chases and brutal action so I can see how QT would have often drawn from them. Franco Micalizzi‘s theme fit perfectly in the ending chase scene of Death Proof in my opinion.

A Special Cop in Action
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1Q-91LASM0&t=2s

Death Proof (start at 11:46)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy-sCbu_g3g

Below is a link to a trailer for a great documentary on the poliziotteschi genre if anyone is interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn6jDlQOKm0