Quentin Tarantino Isn’t Impressed by Prestige TV Shows ‘Using Cinematic Language’: ‘It’s Still Television’

Many of the film industry’s top talents continue to bring their skills to television, but Quentin Tarantino isn’t convinced that TV will ever be as effective of a medium as film.

“Everyone talks about how great television is now. And it’s pretty good, I gotta say,” Tarantino said during a new appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” alongside his “Pulp Fiction” co-writer and “Video Archives Podcast” co-host Roger Avary. “But it’s still television to me. What’s the difference between television and a good movie? Because a lot of TV now has the patina of a movie. They’re using cinematic language to get you caught up in it.”

Tarantino answered his own rhetorical question by telling a story about his recent experience binge-watching “Yellowstone.” He explained that while he was initially entertained by the show, he felt that its dramatic structure never built towards any kind of dramatic climax. Rather than the complete experience of watching a film, he felt like the show just produced an endless stream of storylines that could theoretically go on forever.

“I didn’t really get around to watching ‘Yellowstone’ the first three years or so. Then I watch the first season and I’m like ‘Wow, this is fucking great!’ I’ve always been a big Kevin Costner fan, he’s fucking wonderful in this.’ And I get really caught up in the show, I’m having a great time watching,” he said. “And the first season, I’m kind of talking like, ‘Oh, this is like a big movie.”

He continued, “While I’m watching it, I’m compelled. But at the end of the day it’s just a soap opera. They introduce you to a bunch of characters, you learn their backstories, you know everybody’s connection with everyone else… and then everything else is just your connection to the soap opera.”

Tarantino contrasted the experience of watching shows like “Yellowstone,” which he says he forgot about immediately after finishing, to watching films. In his opinion, movies are memorable in a way that most TV shows can’t be, no matter how cinematic they look.

“I’ll see a good Western movie and I’ll remember it the rest of my life. I’ll remember the story, I’ll remember this scene or that scene. It built to an emotional climax of some degree,” he said. “There’s a payoff to it. But there’s not a payoff on this stuff. There’s just more interconnectional drama. And while I’m watching it, that’s good enough. But when it’s over… I don’t remember any of the details of it.”