Starring: Kirk Baltz, Lawrence Bender, Randy Brooks, Edward Bunker, Steve Buscemi Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Special Edition, NTSC Label: Lions Gate Number of Items: 2 Region Code: 1 Release Date: March 18, 2003 Running Time: 100 minutes Theatrical Release Date: October 23, 1992
Amazon.com essential video: Quentin Tarantino came out of nowhere (i.e., a video store in Manhattan Beach, California) and turned Hollywood on its ear in 1992 with his explosive first feature, Reservoir Dogs. Like Tarantino's mainstream breakthrough Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs has an unconventional structure, cleverly shuffling back and forth in time to reveal details about the characters, experienced criminals who know next to nothing about each other. Joe (Lawrence Tierney) has assembled them to pull off a simple heist, and has gruffly assigned them color-coded aliases (Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink, Mr. White) to conceal their identities from being known even to each other. But something has gone wrong, and the plan has blown up in their faces. One by one, the surviving robbers find their way back to their prearranged warehouse hideout. There, they try to piece together the chronology of this bloody fiasco--and to identify the traitor among them who tipped off the police. Pressure mounts, blood flows, accusations and bullets fly. In the combustible atmosphere these men are forced to confront life-and-death questions of trust, loyalty, professionalism, deception, and betrayal. As many critics have observed, it is a movie about "honor among thieves" (just as Pulp Fiction is about redemption, and Jackie Brown is about survival). Along with everything else, the movie provides a showcase for a terrific ensemble of actors: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, Christopher Penn, and Tarantino himself, offering a fervent dissection of Madonna's "Like a Virgin" over breakfast. Reservoir Dogs is violent (though the violence is implied rather than explicit), clever, gabby, harrowing, funny, suspenseful, and even--in the end--unexpectedly moving. (Don't forget that "Super Sounds of the Seventies" soundtrack, either.) Reservoir Dogs deserves just as much acclaim and attention as its follow-up, Pulp Fiction, would receive two years later. --Jim Emerson
Amazon.com: Quentin Tarantino came out of nowhere (i.e., a video store in Manhattan Beach, California) and turned Hollywood on its ear in 1992 with his explosive first feature, Reservoir Dogs. Like Tarantino's mainstream breakthrough Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs has an unconventional structure, cleverly shuffling back and forth in time to reveal details about the characters, experienced criminals who know next to nothing about each other. Joe (Lawrence Tierney) has assembled them to pull off a simple heist, and has gruffly assigned them color-coded aliases (Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink, Mr. White) to conceal their identities from being known even to each other. But something has gone wrong, and the plan has blown up in their faces. One by one, the surviving robbers find their way back to their prearranged warehouse hideout. There, they try to piece together the chronology of this bloody fiasco--and to identify the traitor among them who tipped off the police. Pressure mounts, blood flows, accusations and bullets fly. In the combustible atmosphere these men are forced to confront life-and-death questions of trust, loyalty, professionalism, deception, and betrayal. As many critics have observed, it is a movie about "honor among thieves" (just as Pulp Fiction is about redemption, and Jackie Brown is about survival). Along with everything else, the movie provides a showcase for a terrific ensemble of actors: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, Christopher Penn, and Tarantino himself, offering a fervent dissection of Madonna's "Like a Virgin" over breakfast. Reservoir Dogs is violent (though the violence is implied rather than explicit), clever, gabby, harrowing, funny, suspenseful, and even--in the end--unexpectedly moving. (Don't forget that "Super Sounds of the Seventies" soundtrack, either.) Reservoir Dogs deserves just as much acclaim and attention as its follow-up, Pulp Fiction, would receive two years later. --Jim Emerson
Bad Dog! I rented this movie because I heard that it was such a gangster classic. Man, whoever gave this movie a rating of classic couldn't be more wrong. Don't get me wrong this movie was full of talent, but the movie itself was just horrible. We jump from the events prior to the diamond heist to the chaos that followed after. We didn't get to see the actual heist or the crews shootout with the cops just them talk about it. I don't know about you, but I personally would rather see the action for myself.
Another reason why i disliked this film was beacuse it left to many questions unanswered, like what how and when did Mr. Blue get killed. And Mr. Brown's deaf was so unbelievable. One minute his driving the getaway car and the next he's dead? HORRIBLE FILM!
"So, are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?" ;] In your travels through 'Film-Land' the road may have many twists and many turns, but eventually it will deposit you in front of a Tarantino flick - whether you choose to remain there is up to you.
Before the much-ballyhooed commercial success of Pulp Fiction Quentin got the alchemy *just right* in Reservoir Dogs, a fantastic movie with a fantastic cast about a bank job (and undercover bust) gone so wrong on so many levels...
"So, are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?" ;]
ANOTHER GREAT MASTERPIECE This is another great masterpiece from the great director Quentin Tarantino , great story , great acting , not as good as Pulp Fiction in my opinion but still a great movie and highly recommended.
Every dog has its day; this day is mighty sweet... One of my favorite films, and definitely Tarantino's finest (I love `Pulp Fiction' but in all seriousness I just like this one better), `Reservoir Dogs' is a landmark in modern cinema. I'm ashamed that this was not the film to garner Tarantino his first Oscar nomination for, while `Pulp Fiction' may be a more intricate work, `Reservoir Dogs' is a stronger work. At times `Pulp Fiction' can seem to be all over the place (the script is pure genius, don't get me wrong, but you have to admit it really pushes it sometimes) `Reservoir Dogs' is a much cleaner film in that it follows its main objective very closely and allows the audience to keep focus and never find themselves lost.
`Reservoir Dogs' follows a group of criminals after a jewelry heist they were all in on goes terribly wrong. Mr. Orange (you'll notice that none of the men know each others names and all refer to one another by colors) is bleeding to death, Mr. White is trying to get a handle on the situation, Mr. Pink is panicking out of control, Mr. Brown is apparently dead, Mr. Blue is missing and Mr. Blonde, who apparently started the bloodbath that was the heist, seems determined to make matters worse. As we are introduced to these men and given a little background information on them we are caught up in the same game as the criminals, trying ourselves to uncover the rat, the leak, the man responsible for tipping of the cops.
There you have it; that's the movie in a nutshell. What makes `Reservoir Dogs' so amazing though, is that that is not all there is. It may seem like your average gangster type film, but it's not. Tarantino masterfully uses his humor, his values and his visual stylings to bring us a gangster flick that is superior to most all other gangster flicks. In fact, I'm tempted to go ahead and say that Scorsese only wishes he could direct this kind of masterpiece.
Ouch.
The violence is extreme if not mostly implied rather than grotesquely embellished. The heart of this film is not the blood spilled but the blood running through the veins of these mad men. When these men are faced with the possibility of a rat within their midst we begin to see their true colors. There is a certain code of honor that swallows these criminals whole, and then that code is broken they start to unravel one by one.
The film hinges strongly on the performances by the ensemble cast, most notably that of Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen and Tim Roth. Michael Madsen is effortlessly collected as the ruthless killer Mr. Blonde. His calm veneer gives way to the psychotic madness running loose behind his gaze. When he snaps you tell yourself that you saw it coming yet you're so utterly winded by it that you can't believe all that you're taking in. Steve Buscemi (who won the Independent Spirit Award for this performance) is marvelously on edge throughout the entire film. His nerves are shot through his skin as he prances around as if on broken glass trying to figure a way out for himself. It's a brilliant performance, one that is eye-catching and very real. Tim Roth has that explosive opening sequence where he's covered in blood and screaming for his life in the backseat of the car and that scene alone is award worthy in its own right, but he continues to build his characters pain and guilt and fear so that he becomes a fully fleshed out participant in the film instead of merely falling into token gimmicky territory.
And then there is Harvey Keitel.
In an ensemble piece with no clear leading actor, Keitel ultimately dominates the audience's attention with his marvelous portrayal of Mr. White. White becomes the moral centerpiece of the film and really the one character that establishes the point of this film. His dedication and loyalty to his partners, especially to that of the dying Mr. Orange is noteworthy and moving. He conquers all emotions, from irritation to sympathy to desperation to mortal disappointment, always following through one-hundred-percent to deliver a rich and commanding performance. His final scene is devastating to watch because you know everything that is running through his head at that very moment.
Quinton Tarantino is a brilliant director, we all know this. The opening sequence alone cements that belief. As White, Orange, Brown, Blue, Blonde and Pink sit at a diner with Joe, the man responsible for setting up this rendezvous, and Eddie (Joe's son), they discuss the meaning behind Madonna's classic `Like a Virgin' and the end result is one of the most entertaining scenes in Hollywood history, and a scene done so efficiently and so masterfully that it alone should have garnered Tarantino a directing Oscar.
From his smash hit `Pulp Fiction' to his stunning follow up `Jackie Brown' to his marvelous `one-two-punch' that is `Kill Bill', Tarantino is always on point and ahead of his game. His visual flare is uncompromised and incomparable and his sick sense of genius shines through with reckless abandon on everything he touches. `Reservoir Dogs' marks the beginning of his illustrious career, and honestly, it is the best thing he's ever done.
Reservoir Dogs (15th Anniv) The movie, of course, was excellent, as it was when it was released. I would have thought that a 15th anniversary edition would have had either more interesting or at least equally intense extra features. This however, was not the case. You can't go wrong with the movie, though.
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