Throwback Thursday - Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Hey guys, Chuck here. This week for Throwback Thursday, I thought I'd take a look at not only one of my favorite filmmakers at this time, but honestly one of the greatest filmmakers of our time. That filmmaker is Quentin Tarantino. Now, it only feels right to start reviewing his films by reviewing his first feature as director: 1992's Reservoir Dogs. Featuring a stellar cast, brilliant writing, and violence that is truly unforgettable, Quentin Tarantino truly hit the ground running and showed film fans everywhere that he was a filmmaker to watch. So, let's take a look at the first film of the icon known as Quentin Tarantino: Reservoir Dogs.
The film focuses on a group of six career criminals brought together by crime boss Joe Cabot and his son Nice Guy Eddie, all of whom go by an alias due to the nature of the job they were brought together to pull off. The six are as follows: Mr. White, Mr. Blonde, Mr. Orange, Mr. Brown, Mr. Pink, and Mr. Blue. Their task is to enter a diamond shop and steal a satchel of diamonds being brought in from Israel during business hours. Now, it should be noted that we never see the actual heist occur. Instead, we see events that precede the heist, and the aftermath of the heist after the heist went south. The movie opens with all eight men at breakfast at a diner, where Mr. Brown talks about the true meaning of Madonna's hit song Live a Virgin, and Mr. Pink discussing his personal politics against tipping waitresses at a diner. After the opening credits, we see Mr. White, whose real name is Larry, driving back to Joe's warehouse, with Mr. Orange in the backseat bleeding out from a gunshot wound to the stomach. After arriving at the warehouse, Mr. White and Mr. Orange discus waiting for Joe to arrive so that Joe could call a doctor to tend Orange's wound. Mr. Pink suddenly arrives and rants about the job being a setup. After ranting for who a few minutes, Mr. Pink talks with Mr. White about how the job went down. Apparently, a clerk at the diamond store set off the alarm, Mr. Blonde starts shooting up the place, and then the cops, who were planted near the store, show up, causing Mr. Brown's death, while Mr. Blonde and Mr. Blue are MIA. Mr. Pink reveals that he has the satchel of diamonds, and he hid them to make sure that the warehouse was still safe.
After arguing over Mr. White revealing his name and where he was from, apparently Milwaukee, as well as who may have been a police informant, or even an undercover cop, Mr. Pink chooses not to go with Mr. White to take Mr. Orange to a hospital. Mr. Blonde, who had arrived by this point, surprises both men by speaking to break the tension between Mr. White and Mr. Pink. Mr. White then begins to confront Mr. Blonde about his shooting spree during the job. After a bit of back and forth between Mr. White and Mr. Blonde, Mr. Pink breaks the tension, showing that due to his actions, he completely trusts that Mr. Blonde is not working for the police. However, Mr. Blonde, who tells the others that they need to wait at the warehouse for Nice Guy Eddie to arrive, reveals that he has taken a police officer hostage, and that they can interrogate him about the setup while waiting for Eddie, who arrives shortly after. Eddie reveals that, according to a man he spoke to named Dove, Joe is angry about the job going south, and that they needed to get rid off all of the extra cars before Joe arrives. MR. White and Mr. Pink, in spite of arguing over leaving Mr. Orange and the cop under Mr. Blonde's watch, go with Eddie to get rid of the cars and fetch the diamonds.
After Eddie and the other two leave, Mr. Blonde begins to brutally torture and mutilate the police officer, hacking off his right ear with a straight razor, and dousing him with gasoline. Before he can ignite the gasoline, however, Mr. Orange wakes up and shoots Mr. Blonde dead. Mr. Orange reveals to the officer, Marvin Nash, that he is the undercover cop that the others were asking about. Mr. Orange, whose real name is Freddy Newandyke, was working undercover on the job in order to put Joe behind bars. Before the job, we se that Freddy has befriended Mr. White/Larry, and after the job went south, we see that Mr. Brown did pull away, but died from the bullet he took earlier. Larry and Freddy pull a car over, and the woman driving the car shoots Freddy in the stomach, but Freddy kills her in response.
Some time later, Larry, Mr. Pink, and Eddie return to find Mr. Blonde dead, and Eddie kills Marvin. After hearing Freddy's story, that Mr. Blonde was going to kill both Freddy and Marvin, kill Eddie and the others when they returned, and taken the diamonds for himself, Eddie reveals that Mr. Blonde, whose real name was Vic Vega, was just paroled after serving a prison term after being caught in a Cabot warehouse. Had Vic said Joe's name, he could've walked. Instead, he goes to prison, does his time, and the Cabot's paid him back by setting him up at a work place where he doesn't have to be there, but is on payroll and makes money from it anyway. Joe arrives and breaks the truth, that Freddy was an undercover cop, planted the other cops at the place of the job, and led both Mr. Brown and Mr. Blue to their deaths (we don't see Mr. Blue's death). Joe then looks to kill Freddy, but Larry aims his gun at Joe, which leads Eddie to point his own gun at Larry. After some words, Joe shoots Freddy, Eddie shoots Larry, and Larry kills both men. Mr. Pink, who was unharmed, grabs the diamonds and leaves, only to be confronted by the cops outside. While it is unclear what happens to him, we actually see Freddy reveal the truth to Larry: he is a cop. The police enter the warehouse, and an angry Larry kills Freddy, leading the police to killing him, ending the movie.
Reservoir Dogs is memorable for a number of things. One of those things is the cast. Whether it's Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, or actors who have sadly passed away since the film's release like Lawrence Tierney, Chris Penn, and Eddie Bunker, the cast of the film was fantastic. Heck even Quentin Tarantino himself has a role in the film as Mr. Brown. The most memorable performances, for me at least, were Harvey Keitel as Mr. White, Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink, Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde, Chris Penn as Eddie, and Tim Roth as Mr. Orange. All of these guys were fantastic, and really made me a fan of the film. Another memorable part of the film is the level of violence on display. One of the most grueling scenes is where Mr. Blonde slashes at a police officer with a razor, cuts his ear off, and douses him in gasoline, all while the Stealer's Wheel song Stuck in the Middle With You is playing on the radio. While I'm talking about it, the soundtrack, which is mostly songs from the 70's, is really good. Tarantino picked some really good songs for this movie, and I enjoyed the soundtrack quite a bit. And finally, the writing was excellent. Reservoir Dogs, in spite of its non-linear storytelling approach, which directors like Christopher Nolan have done since, is very well written with memorably clever dialogue written by a genuine genius of cinema. I cannot praise this film enough, and I have to give Reservoir Dogs a rating of 5/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you guys--you know what? Let's have a little more fun with this, and spend the next week reviewing the rest of Tarantino's films that I have in my collection. Starting tomorrow will be Tarantino Week, where I'll be taking a look at the films that Tarantino made after the release of Reservoir Dogs. Unfortunately, both Jackie Brown and Death Proof will not be amongst them, as I feel that Death Proof should be reviewed alongside Planet Terror as part of the double feature release known as Grindhouse, and while I did enjoy Jackie Brown the one time I watched it, it's not one of my favorites from Tarantino. So stay tuned as Tarantino Week kicks off with Pulp Fiction.
The film focuses on a group of six career criminals brought together by crime boss Joe Cabot and his son Nice Guy Eddie, all of whom go by an alias due to the nature of the job they were brought together to pull off. The six are as follows: Mr. White, Mr. Blonde, Mr. Orange, Mr. Brown, Mr. Pink, and Mr. Blue. Their task is to enter a diamond shop and steal a satchel of diamonds being brought in from Israel during business hours. Now, it should be noted that we never see the actual heist occur. Instead, we see events that precede the heist, and the aftermath of the heist after the heist went south. The movie opens with all eight men at breakfast at a diner, where Mr. Brown talks about the true meaning of Madonna's hit song Live a Virgin, and Mr. Pink discussing his personal politics against tipping waitresses at a diner. After the opening credits, we see Mr. White, whose real name is Larry, driving back to Joe's warehouse, with Mr. Orange in the backseat bleeding out from a gunshot wound to the stomach. After arriving at the warehouse, Mr. White and Mr. Orange discus waiting for Joe to arrive so that Joe could call a doctor to tend Orange's wound. Mr. Pink suddenly arrives and rants about the job being a setup. After ranting for who a few minutes, Mr. Pink talks with Mr. White about how the job went down. Apparently, a clerk at the diamond store set off the alarm, Mr. Blonde starts shooting up the place, and then the cops, who were planted near the store, show up, causing Mr. Brown's death, while Mr. Blonde and Mr. Blue are MIA. Mr. Pink reveals that he has the satchel of diamonds, and he hid them to make sure that the warehouse was still safe.
After arguing over Mr. White revealing his name and where he was from, apparently Milwaukee, as well as who may have been a police informant, or even an undercover cop, Mr. Pink chooses not to go with Mr. White to take Mr. Orange to a hospital. Mr. Blonde, who had arrived by this point, surprises both men by speaking to break the tension between Mr. White and Mr. Pink. Mr. White then begins to confront Mr. Blonde about his shooting spree during the job. After a bit of back and forth between Mr. White and Mr. Blonde, Mr. Pink breaks the tension, showing that due to his actions, he completely trusts that Mr. Blonde is not working for the police. However, Mr. Blonde, who tells the others that they need to wait at the warehouse for Nice Guy Eddie to arrive, reveals that he has taken a police officer hostage, and that they can interrogate him about the setup while waiting for Eddie, who arrives shortly after. Eddie reveals that, according to a man he spoke to named Dove, Joe is angry about the job going south, and that they needed to get rid off all of the extra cars before Joe arrives. MR. White and Mr. Pink, in spite of arguing over leaving Mr. Orange and the cop under Mr. Blonde's watch, go with Eddie to get rid of the cars and fetch the diamonds.
After Eddie and the other two leave, Mr. Blonde begins to brutally torture and mutilate the police officer, hacking off his right ear with a straight razor, and dousing him with gasoline. Before he can ignite the gasoline, however, Mr. Orange wakes up and shoots Mr. Blonde dead. Mr. Orange reveals to the officer, Marvin Nash, that he is the undercover cop that the others were asking about. Mr. Orange, whose real name is Freddy Newandyke, was working undercover on the job in order to put Joe behind bars. Before the job, we se that Freddy has befriended Mr. White/Larry, and after the job went south, we see that Mr. Brown did pull away, but died from the bullet he took earlier. Larry and Freddy pull a car over, and the woman driving the car shoots Freddy in the stomach, but Freddy kills her in response.
Some time later, Larry, Mr. Pink, and Eddie return to find Mr. Blonde dead, and Eddie kills Marvin. After hearing Freddy's story, that Mr. Blonde was going to kill both Freddy and Marvin, kill Eddie and the others when they returned, and taken the diamonds for himself, Eddie reveals that Mr. Blonde, whose real name was Vic Vega, was just paroled after serving a prison term after being caught in a Cabot warehouse. Had Vic said Joe's name, he could've walked. Instead, he goes to prison, does his time, and the Cabot's paid him back by setting him up at a work place where he doesn't have to be there, but is on payroll and makes money from it anyway. Joe arrives and breaks the truth, that Freddy was an undercover cop, planted the other cops at the place of the job, and led both Mr. Brown and Mr. Blue to their deaths (we don't see Mr. Blue's death). Joe then looks to kill Freddy, but Larry aims his gun at Joe, which leads Eddie to point his own gun at Larry. After some words, Joe shoots Freddy, Eddie shoots Larry, and Larry kills both men. Mr. Pink, who was unharmed, grabs the diamonds and leaves, only to be confronted by the cops outside. While it is unclear what happens to him, we actually see Freddy reveal the truth to Larry: he is a cop. The police enter the warehouse, and an angry Larry kills Freddy, leading the police to killing him, ending the movie.
Reservoir Dogs is memorable for a number of things. One of those things is the cast. Whether it's Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, or actors who have sadly passed away since the film's release like Lawrence Tierney, Chris Penn, and Eddie Bunker, the cast of the film was fantastic. Heck even Quentin Tarantino himself has a role in the film as Mr. Brown. The most memorable performances, for me at least, were Harvey Keitel as Mr. White, Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink, Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde, Chris Penn as Eddie, and Tim Roth as Mr. Orange. All of these guys were fantastic, and really made me a fan of the film. Another memorable part of the film is the level of violence on display. One of the most grueling scenes is where Mr. Blonde slashes at a police officer with a razor, cuts his ear off, and douses him in gasoline, all while the Stealer's Wheel song Stuck in the Middle With You is playing on the radio. While I'm talking about it, the soundtrack, which is mostly songs from the 70's, is really good. Tarantino picked some really good songs for this movie, and I enjoyed the soundtrack quite a bit. And finally, the writing was excellent. Reservoir Dogs, in spite of its non-linear storytelling approach, which directors like Christopher Nolan have done since, is very well written with memorably clever dialogue written by a genuine genius of cinema. I cannot praise this film enough, and I have to give Reservoir Dogs a rating of 5/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you guys--you know what? Let's have a little more fun with this, and spend the next week reviewing the rest of Tarantino's films that I have in my collection. Starting tomorrow will be Tarantino Week, where I'll be taking a look at the films that Tarantino made after the release of Reservoir Dogs. Unfortunately, both Jackie Brown and Death Proof will not be amongst them, as I feel that Death Proof should be reviewed alongside Planet Terror as part of the double feature release known as Grindhouse, and while I did enjoy Jackie Brown the one time I watched it, it's not one of my favorites from Tarantino. So stay tuned as Tarantino Week kicks off with Pulp Fiction.
Comments
Post a Comment