Reservoir Dogs: Tenth Anniversary Edition

-Artisan (1992)

Summary:

A group of gangsters cope with the results of a failed diamond heist.

My Thoughts:

I had heard a lot about Reservoir Dogs, but never really made an effort to check it out. It wasn't until I fell in love with Pulp Fiction that I decided that I had to see it. This is Tarantino's first big film outing, and even though it doesn’t match the greatness of Pulp, it still is an awesome film.

Dogs begins with one of most memorable scenes in any of Tarantino’s works. Mr. Brown, played by Mr. Quentin, argues that the song "Like a Virgin" is about girl was a slut that couldn't feel anything sexually, until she met a man with an enormous penis who actually hurt her as if she was a virgin again. Oh, yeah this is an R rated film through and through by the way. This bit of dialogue and the conversation about tipping the waitress are prime examples of Tarantino's greatest strength of writing smart and unusual dialogue. There are bucket loads of great lines and great scenes all built upon a solid foundation of a gripping story that follows.

One of the best twists of the film is that it's a heist film that never actually shows the heist. Only the build up and the after effects are shown. In fact, the film starts out by letting you know how badly the robbery went with Mr. Orange, played by Tim Roth, laying the back of a car in a pool of his own blood. The car is driven by Mr. White, played by Harvey Keitel, who’s attempting to keep Orange from going into shock as he makes his way to the gang’s meeting place.  At this location we meet Mr. Pink, played by Steve Buscemi. Pink convinces Mr. White that they were sold out and one of them must be a cop. From then on out it's a puzzle to figure out who the cop is and what must be done next.

Reservoir Dogs is chock full of twists and turns that will make you keep your eyes glued to the screen. The pacing and length do seem to slow at times, but it is very rarely that this happens. It continues to cut back and forth through individual stories and back again to the warehouse until the whole thing is pieced together in an ending that is very Shakespearian in its own way. If anyone doubts the power of Tarantino as a highly skilled director, then they have to see Reservoir Dogs. It proves that he is the master of interwoven and character driven stories in this film, while Pulp Fiction is like the cherry on top.

Reservoir Dogs isn't for the squeamish in any way. The most gruesome scene is by far the torture scene of a police officer. The beating of the cop help serves to remind the viewer how awful these people really are, and to illustrate how crazy Mr. Blonde is. The actual event of the ear cutting is never shown, but the imagination of the viewer makes it that much worse. Still, I have to agree with one of the critics on the bonus disc, this scene probably prohibited a greater commercial success. It also makes me feel icky on the inside.

The picture quality is fantastic, and while I wasn't overly amazed with the sound quality, it is available in a Dolby Digital or DTS mix. Sigh, I hope I don't have to stress that if you can, listen to the DTS mix. Do it for the children!

Extras:

This edition comes as a two disc set. Both of the discs are loaded with worthwhile extras.

To start with, the packaging for the disc is a great bonus in itself. The edition comes in several slip covers that are themed for each of the thieves. Not only that, but depending on which color you get, there's a booklet with a few photos and quotes based on the respective color. For this review I used the Mr. Pink edition that came with a Mr. Pink booklet. This is the only time in my life where I actually considered getting multiple versions of the same DVD.

Disc 1

The first disc consists of the film in widescreen and some of the extras. The menus are simply awesome, from the use of color and sound and motion for style. They also are kept simple, which always works out for the best.

The commentary track is unusual to say the least. Instead of having the production team watching the film and commenting on it, it’s made up of a series of interviews discussing the film and what’s happening in the respective scenes. With this method it's easier to keep those discussing the film on track and without them wandering off on other subjects, which happens sometimes on commentary tracks, but it’s not as fun because you lose a lot of the spontaneity of having everyone in the room at the same time going off of what each person is saying.

"Original Interviews" is a collection of interviews that are highly entertaining and informative.

The deleted scenes are pretty decent, but nothing all that special. They are worth a look just to see the solitary female character that ended up on the cutting room floor.

The theatrical trailer is just a trailer, but always a welcome addition.

Disc 2

This disc's menu system is completely different from the first disc. The menus are cool looking, but are a lot more suited for a horror film than for a crime drama. I didn’t understand all the creepy visuals and sound effects at all.

This disc also includes the full frame version of the film along with the second set of extras.

“The Critics Commentaries” is three sets of commentaries by different film critics. If you're into film criticism then these should really be up your alley, but if you don't even give two craps about analyzing the structure of film then you might not want to check this out.

“K-Billy Radio” is a collection of some odd audio bits such as a recreation of an interview of a convict who saw the film, some recording session K-Billy takes with Steven Wright, and oddly enough, a Reservoir Dogs scene done with the toys.

The bonus material contains some interesting stuff for fans of filmmaking and film history. One such section is the “Class of '92”, a series of interviews with Quentin Tarantino and other filmmakers about the Sundance Film festival that Reservoir Dogs was screened at. Another extra in this section is the “Sundance Filmmakers Lab”. This is what I take to be the product of a filmmaker’s class and is well worth a watch; it's a sort of cheap version of a few scenes from Reservoir Dogs. It’s done very well, but it looks like a porno because of the look of sets and the use of crappy video. Not that I've watched a lot of porno or anything…

Believe it or not, there’s even more bonus material. “Tributes and dedications” is a section devoted to the first page of the script and explains who each of the people on the list are and why Tarantino picked each one. I like the fact that they talked to Chris Gore, the editor in chief of my favorite, but now defunct magazine Film Threat that only exists as a web page now.

There’s a dedication to Lawrence Tierney that simply cannot be missed. It's one of the funniest documentaries that I've ever seen. There’s also an interview with Edward Bunker, who plays Mr. Blue, that’s fantastic. Bunker relates some great stories from his colorful, crime filled past that are mesmerizing.

The tribute section has some interviews with people who are mentioned in the film itself such as Pam Grier and Rodger Coreman that are pretty good in their own right.

“Film Noir Web” is a great resource about the style of Film Noir. It covers filmmakers, writers, actors, directors, and almost everyone or everything else involved in Film Noir. I couldn’t believe how much information is actually provided on this disc.

“Small Dogs” is a mini-documentary about the making of the Reservoir Dogs figures that’s a decent watch.

“Securing the Shot” has some behinds the scenes footage with a commentary by the location scout.

One of the weakest features was “Reservoir Dogs Style Guide”, which seems like intro for a section of a featurette that they never finished.

Last, but not least there is a “Poster Guide” that has three viewable posters.

Whew, what a lot of stuff. Simply put, there's an amazing amount of extras and a ton of thought was put into the making of this edition.

Score:

Film:  9

Extras:  9.5

Edition: 9.5

-Paul