Every Tarantino Movie Drinking Game, Ranked by Chaos
Quentin Tarantino made nine movies. We made nine drinking games. Some of them are a light buzz by the credits. Others will have you reconsidering your life choices before the second act.
We ranked all nine by how hard the drinking game hits. Not by how good the movie is. Not by how many awards it won. By how much you will actually drink if you play the game honestly from opening titles to closing credits.
You've been warned.
9. Jackie Brown
The smoothest Tarantino. The smoothest game. Jackie walks through airports. Ordell says "my brother." Max Cherry puts on the Delfonics. It's a nice evening. The game never spikes because the movie never spikes. That's the whole point. You'll sip steadily for two and a half hours and feel like you spent the night in a 70s lounge. The Cherry Bail Bond (cognac, Cherry Heering, lemon) is probably our favorite cocktail of the whole set.
Play the Jackie Brown Drinking Game
8. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Rick Dalton drinks whiskey sours the entire movie, so you're basically keeping pace with a fictional alcoholic. The game is mellow for most of the runtime because Tarantino spends two hours cruising through 1969 LA. Then the flamethrower comes out and the chug rule hits like a freight train. The Dalton Sour is a bourbon-amaretto sour built to match Rick's blender habit, except ours actually tastes good.
Play the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Drinking Game
7. Reservoir Dogs
A lot of talking in one room. The sip rules trigger on the color-coded names, on Mr. Blonde's ear scene, on the "Stuck in the Middle With You" needle drop. It's a steady burn but never overwhelming. The whole movie takes place in like three locations, so the rules cycle reliably. You'll finish with a comfortable buzz and a newfound respect for Steve Buscemi's tipping monologue.
Play the Reservoir Dogs Drinking Game
6. The Hateful Eight
Three-hour movie. One cabin. One poisoned coffee pot. The sip rules are consistent because these people just keep talking and pouring coffee and nailing the door shut. But the structure is weird. The first half is all sips. Then the chapter cards start hitting. Then the poisoned coffee kicks in and suddenly you're taking shots. The Lincoln Letter cocktail is rye and coffee liqueur with maple syrup. Tastes like being snowed in with seven people who want to kill you.
Play The Hateful Eight Drinking Game
5. Death Proof
Two halves. The first half is a slow bar hangout where you sip every time the jukebox plays or Stuntman Mike's scar catches the light. Then the car crash hits, the movie resets, and the second half is pure adrenaline. Zoe Bell on the hood of that Challenger triggers drink-twice rules that stack fast. The final beatdown is a freeze-frame chug that earns every ounce. The Ship's Mast (bourbon, grapefruit, Aperol, ginger beer) goes down dangerously easy for something named after a car hood ornament.
Play the Death Proof Drinking Game
4. Inglourious Basterds
The tension does the heavy lifting here. The sips come from Landa's performances, from every time he switches languages, every time he smiles before he should. The bar scene and the opening farmhouse scene generate cluster after cluster of overlapping rules. Then the cinema burns and the shots stack. We named the cocktail The Landa Strudel because that scene with the cream will never leave your brain.
Play the Inglourious Basterds Drinking Game
3. Pulp Fiction
The structure works against you. Because the movie jumps timelines, rules that you'd normally space out end up stacking on top of each other. The Royale with Cheese is the sip-level quote trigger that keeps firing. The briefcase glow is a drink-twice. Mia's overdose is a shot. The gimp scene is between you and your drink. The cocktail is literally called The Royale with Cheese and it's a bourbon smash. No notes.
Play the Pulp Fiction Drinking Game
2. Django Unchained
Every single sip rule in this game fires constantly. Django's sunglasses. Dr. Schultz's bounty kill flourish. The dynamite. Every time Django rides a horse in slow motion. Then Candyland explodes and you realize you've been sipping for two hours straight and the shots haven't even started. This one is a marathon. The Candyland Smash matches the energy.
Play the Django Unchained Drinking Game
1. Kill Bill: Volume 1
Eighty-eight people die in the Crazy 88 fight alone. The sip rules trigger on every sword slash, every blood geyser, every time the Bride crosses a name off her list. The anime sequence is a drink-twice. The Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves is back-to-back-to-back rules firing so fast you can't keep up. We played this game during testing and gave up keeping count around the forty-minute mark. If you're brave enough to play it straight through, you have our respect and our concern.
Play the Kill Bill: Volume 1 Drinking Game | Play Kill Bill: Volume 2
The Tarantino Cocktail Menu
Every film got its own cocktail. Here's the full lineup:
| Film | Cocktail | Spirit |
|------|----------|--------|
| Reservoir Dogs | Mr. Blonde's Razor | - |
| Pulp Fiction | The Royale with Cheese | Bourbon |
| Jackie Brown | The Cherry Bail Bond | Cognac |
| Kill Bill Vol. 1 | Hattori Hanzo | - |
| Kill Bill Vol. 2 | Five Point Palm | - |
| Death Proof | The Ship's Mast | Bourbon |
| Inglourious Basterds | The Landa Strudel | - |
| Django Unchained | The Candyland Smash | - |
| The Hateful Eight | The Lincoln Letter | Rye |
| Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | The Dalton Sour | Bourbon |
Whiskey runs through this list like blood runs through a Tarantino movie. Five of the ten cocktails are bourbon or rye based. If you're planning a marathon, stock up.
How to Run a Tarantino Marathon
Pick three. That's the sweet spot. Five hours of Tarantino, three different drinking games, three themed cocktails. Our recommended trilogies:
The Chaos Run: Kill Bill Vol. 1 + Django Unchained + Inglourious Basterds. Clear your schedule and your liquor cabinet.
The Cool Run: Jackie Brown + Pulp Fiction + Reservoir Dogs. Smooth. The vibes are immaculate. You'll quote these for weeks.
The Road Trip: Death Proof + Once Upon a Time in Hollywood + The Hateful Eight. Cars, Hollywood, and a cabin. The settings get more isolated as the night goes on.
Browse all our Cult Classics & Quotable drinking games for more director collections, or check out the full cocktail menu.