There???s no event in cinema like the release of a brand new Quentin Tarantino movie ??? so we???re celebrating the arrival of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in style. Before it hits your local Vue on 14 August, see eight classic Tarantino films on the big screen, from the cult classics to the monster hits.

The cool debut

Still cool, still original, still shocking. The hit of raw talent that is Reservoir Dogs (6 August) is the Tarantino film you probably didn???t see at the cinema first time round. If not, you need to: its monochrome stylings and slinking soundtrack (Stuck in the Middle with You! Little Green Bag!) will crackle on our big screens.

The modern masterpiece

Twenty-five years later, Pulp Fiction (7 August) is untouched as the most influential indie movie ever. See it again to enjoy the dance sequence, “Royale with Cheese” and all the rest one more time – and to marvel at how clever the time-hopping, almost circular storytelling is. A flat-out masterpiece that’s even better than you remember.

The lost classic?

The connoisseur’s choice, the one that most rewards a re-watch, and the film that properly shuts up haters who say QT can’t make real movies: Jackie Brown (8 August) brought Pam Grier back out of obscurity and showed that Tarantino can be effective without being extreme – although the threat of violence is expertly wielded.

The sharpest action

Yellow jumpsuits are optional for Kill Bill Vol 1 (9 August), the movie where Tarantino’s magpie fandom goes international: Uma Thurman is the unstoppable sword-wielding avenger in a messy homage to Japanese martial arts epics. It features Quentin’s most exquisitely horrible acts of choreographed violence.

The thoughtful sequel

Of course Tarantino wouldn’t do something as simple as just split a long movie in half: Kill Bill Vol 2 (9 and 10 August) does finish the first film’s story but is a completely different beast. Meditative, almost bloodless and even sad and a little spiritual in the end, Vol 2 brings meaning to all Vol 1’s craziest moments. See ’em both.

The Nazi-killer

From the title down, Inglourious Basterds (11 August) is Tarantino doing whatever the hell he wants, ripping up the conventions of Nazi-battling war films to produce an outrageous revenge epic. It’s hard to believe now, but Christoph Waltz was unknown before he froze our spines and won an Academy Award as an SS colonel: milk and strudel have never been consumed more menacingly.

The money-spinner

Pop quiz: what’s Quentin’s highest-grossing movie? Correct! Django Unchained (12 August) won Christoph Waltz a second Oscar for his second Tarantino movie, and made Jamie Foxx a mighty hero as a slave turned bounty hunter in the filthy 1850s. But don’t let its commercial success trick you into thinking it’s any tamer than the others – this is a classic QT revenge fantasy.

The fateful eighth

The peak of Tarantino’s historical-bloodbath period, The Hateful Eight (13 August) is a beautifully nasty, concentrated Western, set inside a cabin in Wyoming in 1877. That room’s filled with fantastic creations, from Samuel L Jackson proving that nobody delivers QT dialogue better, to a fierce Jennifer Jason Leigh and a hilarious Walton Goggins. Grab a bag of jelly beans and enjoy…

The new thrill

Revisiting Tarantino’s old classics is the perfect warm-up for this: out on 14 August, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood sees the old master recruiting Margot Robbie and reuniting with Brad Pitt (Inglourious Basterds) and Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained) for a shaggy, savvy, ultimately terrifying tour around the dark side of Tinseltown in 1969. The ending will be argued over for years to come – for now, though, rest assured that like all Quentin Tarantino movies, seeing Once Upon a Time on the big screen when it’s fresh is an experience you won’t forget.