Written by Hoadman - July 18th, 2004
Reservoir Dogs: Ten Year Special Edition DVD (1992)
Starring: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, and Michael Madsen
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Rated: R
Rating: * * * *
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Writer/ Director/ Actor Quentin Tarantino is a true visionary. Films like Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, and Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2 can surely attest to his unsurpassed creativity, but usually lost somewhere in that mix is Tarantino's first film, Reservoir Dogs. Reservoir Dogs single handedly revived a struggling independent film industry in the early 90's. Tarantino made the film for $1.2 million dollars, which is next to nothing in Hollywood terms. It's also the reason Reservoir Dogs appeared on a mere 61 screens nation wide in it's first release. The film might have never made it on to the big screen if it wasn't for winning the acclaimed Sundance Film Festival in 1992.
If you've been living under a rock for the last decade, here's the film's basic premise. Reservoir Dogs revolves around a group of perfect strangers, assembled to pull off a extremely dangerous diamond heist in broad daylight. Harvey Keitel (Mr. White), Steve Buscemi (Mr. Pink), Michael Madsen (Mr. Blonde), Tarantino (Mr. Brown), Eddie Bunker (Mr. Blue) and Tim Roth (Mr. Orange) are assembled to pull off the perfect crime, but when things go terribly wrong, they begin to question who among them is an informant. The audience never actually sees the heist itself. Instead, Tarantino attempts to turn the gangster genre on its head. We watch the characters interact through his smartly written dialog, and sparingly used violence. Reservoir Dogs isn't a tame flick by any means. It's actually pretty intense. The word "fuck" is used 252 times, 17 people are killed, and an ear is cut off. Not bad for a running time of 100 minutes. Here's a famous scene:
Joe: And you are Mr. Pink.
Mr. Pink: Why am I Mr. Pink?
Joe: Cause you're a faggot, ok?
Mr. Pink: How about I be Mr. Purple?
Joe: No, You can't be Mr. Purple.
Mr. Pink: Why not?
Joe: Someone on another job is Mr. Purple!
Mr. White: Who cares what your name is?
Mr. Pink: Oh yeah that's easy for you to say you've got a cool sounding name. How about we trade, OK? You're Mr. Pink.
Artisan has really packed this DVD with loads of extras, and it's totally worth the $9.99. Help support independent films and filmmakers , go get Reservoir Dogs, you wont be disappointed.
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