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Reservoir Dogs

Reservoir Dogs

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Masterpiece of cinema that continues to astonish...
Review: There is nothing a reviewer can add regarding plot, characterization, or overall cinematic excellence when 249 detailed reviews already exist. This debut of Quentin Tarantino in the 10 years since it's release has become a cult film. Hard-core fans can quote dialogue; describe scenes in explicit detail, and dissect this film psychologically. I on the other hand saw the film on its initial release and could only remember a decade later that I enjoyed the film, found it shockingly violent and knew that I would like to view it again. I purchased the 10th Anniversary Special Limited Edition and would use this posting to encourage other movie-lovers who have not become experts on this film to do the same.

Frankly too many experiences, both public and private, have occurred since 1992 for the film to be a detailed memory burned into my psyche. However, perhaps the sum of those experiences permits me to view 'Reservoir Dogs' in a new light. Certainly in those years we as Americans collectively have experienced a deluge of exposure to violence on the screen, as a nation, and many of us in our personal lives. This may explain why I was much less impacted by the violence of this film in 2002. The second look revealed the great humor, the unique time-shuffling (which is surprisingly easy to follow), and the individuality of the anonymous characters, their unique personality traits, and their varied relationships with mostly strangers bound only by their profession.

At the risk of sounding amnesiac, I could barely recall which character related to which color-coded identity. Purchasing the Anniversary Edition, I selected Mr. White (Harvey Keitel's Lawrence 'Larry' Dimmick), though I could not have explained the reason for my choice. After viewing the film anew, I realize subliminally perhaps a woman with her maternal instinct would be most drawn to this more honorable, least sadistic, and basically paternalistic character. Although I once aspirated to become a police officer, apparently my inner self over-rode my goal orientations and I was drawn to Mr. White rather than Mr. Orange.

Maturity in entertainment has allowed viewers in the passing decade to become more at ease laughing at situations steeped with violence, blood, stress, and mayhem. Maturity in years allows one to recognize humor in situations where it might not have been apparent to the younger audience of 10 years ago; although there is no question today's youth recognizes and reacts much easier and more readily to base humor.

The plethora of Special Features on this Anniversary DVD set more than ensures you get your money's work whether you already own the film and/or are intimately familiar with it, or if you are going to watch it again for the first time since it's release. Of course I assume there may be even be a few individuals who have never seen the film at all, but only a few. The commentary is insightful, the professional reviews are revealing, details of how the film came to be made are enlightening, and trivia abounds. The features go on and on. Not to be missed is Tarantino's hilarious tale of the events surrounding the initial screenings of the film at Sundance in 1992; this is a priceless story. You can renew your interest in who shot Nice Guy Eddie. The new interviews with the actors portraying many of the vari-colored Misters offer insights and personal anecdotes that lend new color to their performances. Humorous anecdotes about Lawrence Tierney, hearing the astonishing difference in Tim Roth's English accent versus his very American accent that has you perking your ears up during his dialogue in the film, and watching Steve Buscemi's performance ten years ago in comparison to his work since are worthy of your attention. There is commentary about camera angles and scene lighting that some reviewers have indicated they did not find at all interesting. Since the advent of DVD many individuals never before concerned with this technical information are now viewing films in a whole new light and seeing facets of movies never before consciously visible to our eye. No other DVD selection in my collection offers the richness of inside information contained on these two discs.

Some amazon reviewers have mentined problems with the technical qualities of the DVD. I experienced no problems with the quality of color, the sound, nor the DTS track. I overcame any problem with English subtitles by turning on the closed-captioning feature of my television. Perhaps given how the movie was initially filmed, the lighting, the film stock/speed, etc. what we see on the DVD is what is truly a representation of what is there on the film. This is a raw, gritty film shot in a manner to match the content. I wouldn't change one thing about its presentation.

It cannot be stressed enough that 'Reservoir Dogs' is destined to become a classic. It is a unique, riveting film that deserves to be seen in a new light or for the first time by anyone who considers themselves a fan of great cinema. There is no better way to accomplish this feat than by purchasing the anniversary issue and immersing yourself in all facets of this film. Take a week-end and discover all you want to know, what you may have forgotten, something you may have missed, and what you weren't even aware existed in this ground-breaking debut. This is one Special Edition that truly deserves the description: 'Special'.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: One viewing only.
Review: This is the most viscious movie I've ever seen. It's downright nasty. Too much blood, violence, and profanity. Unless a viewer really hates cops, I can't see how he/she would be entertained by this. Maybe I'm too sensitive, and this movie is definitely not for sensitive people.

Not to say there isn't any humor in this film. But not enough to redeem its nastiness.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ENTERTAINGINGLY GRIPPING AND SHOCKING
Review: Reservoir Dogs is by far one of the greatest, cleverest, and eye opening crime thrillers to come out of this or any decade. Tarantino is nothing short than a terrific actor, writer, and director. His talent is nothing short of outstanding. Although this film is his typical movie, its story of distrust and loyalty is absolutely electrifying and enjoyable, with fine performances from all especially Keitel and Buschemi. Also check out Mr. Blonde whose performance deepens the plot, violence, and criminology. Also contains a harrowing, gut-wrenching scene of a tortured cop and one of the greatest endings to any movie I have ever seen. AN ABSOLUTE KNOCK-OUT! WILL LEAVE YOU BREATHLESS!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Disturbing movie...
Review: I bought this movie because I'd heard so many great things about it. My aunt absolutely loves it! I thought it was funny in parts and very disturbing in others. It was pure Quentin Tarantino: gangsters, pseudo-70's setting, and strange plot twists. As much as I liked this movie, I have only ever watched it once because the violence disturbed me so much.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome as hell! Mr. Blonde kicks!
Review: This movie is awesome. I've seen it about a 1000 times, n ill neva get sick of it. Full of classic lines. Trust me, despite how good "Pulp Fiction" and "Jackie Brown" were, this is Tarantino's best film. My favortie "Dog" was Mr. Blonde. I can't picture anyone else in that role but Michael Madsen. He's cooly psychotic, the type of guy who if you're a deranged person like me you want to meet. Mr. Pink is also great. Steve Buscemi is excellent. In fact, I can't even start to imagine anyone else in this movie. Truly great, and not as encreadibly "graphic" as everyone says. You see blood, but a lot is in the distance. In fact the most graphic scene isn't the infamous "ear" scene, but when Mr. Orange is in the car driving to the wearhouse. Check it out!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: WHY AM I MR. PINK?
Review: CLASSIC! THATS THE WORD THAT COMES TO MIND WHEN I THINK OF THIS MOVIE NOT ONLY DOES IT HAVE A GREAT STORY THE CAST IS ALL TOP NOTCH. MY ONLY COMPLANT WITH THIS MOVIE IS THAT THERE IS NO SCENE OF THE HEIST OTHER THAN THAT THE MOVIE STILL KICKS EVEN WITHOUT THAT SCENE BUT WATCH LIVE IT LOVE IT!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Stylish Tarantino filth. Don't take that the wrong way...
Review: ...'cause I mean that as praise. Now how you can, in keepin' with the true meanin' of the term, call this movie a "film noir" is beyond me (Where's the femme fatale? Where're the rainy nighttime settings?) but is' pretty obvious with a title like 'Reservoir Dogs' that is' not gonna be the most spiritually redeeming story in the world. That kinda goes without sayin'. An' since I saw this AFTER 'Pulp Fiction' I already had an inkling of the kinda work Quentin Tarantino was puttin' forth. The general plot ain't nothin' new: A group of bank robbers are brought together to pull a big job that winds up goin' totally awry an' leads to mistrust an' violence within their circle when they begin to suspect one'a them is an undercover cop. What IS new (or I guess I should say WAS new, because since this movie's come out I seen more copycats than I could keep up with) is the style an' approach to the material. These guys're smarmy, arrogant fellas, but with real self-assertive, easy going, an', well, above all, likeable personalities. They discuss the logistics of Madonna's early work, try an' figure out which actresses starred on which cheesy '70s cop shows an' movies, an' sing along to pop-rock oldies on the local radio station while goin' on rants about how they "haven't heard that song since it was new". They've got the same lil' eccentricities an' annoyances an' moods as the rest'a society. In fact, the only thing that sets these guys apart, is that they steal an' kill for a livin'. Other than that, they're really the kinda people you wouldn't mind playin' poker with or bettin' on the Super Bowl with or e'en jus' shootin' the breeze with over a few brewskeys. An', oh yeah, that makes it all the more difficult when e'ything goes haywire in a bank robbery an' they one-by-one begin to convene at a warehouse to find out everyone's either dead, dying or paranoid with fear an' turnin' their guns on each other.

Harvey Keitel seems to have the most complex character as he tends to show compassion an' good nature while alternately sayin' things like "If it's between your life an' ten years, an' YOU'RE in MY way..." The story unfolds in out-of-sequence bits an' builds to a pretty startling conclusion. This was a landmark of a debut for Tarantino an' e'en though people dog him for rippin' things off from other directors, to me it seems more like he's moldin' aspects of his favorite genres, favorite directors, favorite films, television shows, music, etc. an' mixin' it up into a gumbo of jus' pure uninhibited entertainment. Is' what breakin' new ground is all about, an' though I think he delved much more into his creativity on 'Pulp Fiction' an', to a lesser extent, 'Jackie Brown', he hadda start somewhere.

I ain't even mean to get all insightful like 'at for THIS one, but y'all know how I do. How 'bout if I do this: Forget all that nonsense you jus' read an' take it all up in one sentance. This is jus' a good movie. Thas' a lil' clearer. An' by the way, Michael Madsen as Mr. Blond completely stole every scene he was in (underrated actor alert!).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A classic on a criminal clique!
Review: This movie does not contain that much action but the dialogue is great and holds well. The action takes place near the end which is kind of important because without the action the truth would not be revealed to some of the characters. Anyways it's about 5 guys planning to do a heist , except one of them is a cop. So the movie goes through each character's angle on the heist until each angle equals a scene in which a face off takes place with every character going against eachother to find out why their perfect plan whent so horribly wrong. This film is a must have for Tarantino fans everywhere and a definte must see for anyone looking for a film that makes you assume the roles and actions but makes you keep on guessing the whole time!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great movie - Shame about the DVD
Review: I love RD. I own a previous version of this DVD, but I could not resisit the special edition of my favourite movie, so I bought it.

I was shocked to find the the DVD video and audio quality is inferior to the previously released regular edition. These are the technical problems that I found with the DVD:

Washed out colors. Colors are terrible on the movie. Interior scenes are a bit better, but external scenes are just terrible.

Inferior DTS track. It just sounds terrible and mudy. I had problems understanding conversations in the movie using DTS. In a dialogue driven movie, this is terrible. The Dolby track is a bit better, but not much better than the regular version Dolby track.

No English Subtitles. This I find very wierd. The original version contained English subtitles.

I recommend that you leave this one. Pick up the original version, it is bound to be chaper.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great movie, but a question about the DVD
Review: I'm not going to launch into my review of the movie, beacuse everything has been said here, but I'm just confused as to why there are Spanish subtitles, and none in English. The captioning doesn't work on this DVD either. And I agree also that commentary from QT would have been excellent. Check out the special edition of True Romance if you want to hear excellent commentary by him. Other than the problem with the captioning, great DVD.


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