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Quentin Tarantino month: Reservoir Dogs

A review by Brooks Rich

Think about some of the greatest films ever made. How did they start off? In The Godfather we have the great I believe in America scene where a man begs Don Corleone to kill the men who wronged his daughter. In 2001 we have the evolution of humans from apes when they touch the monolith. In Jaws we have the brutal attack of a woman by an unseen monster that lurks beneath the surface of the ocean. In Reservoir Dogs we have a gang of tough guys about to pull off a heist sitting around a table at a diner and discussing the works of Madonna. This was the world's introduction to Quentin Tarantino. The first lines of dialogue are spoken by the man himself, preaching about the meaning of Like a Virgin.

For those who haven't seen Reservoir Dogs, oh my God go and watch that film immediately. This is easily one of the greatest debut films ever by a filmmaker and there are legit arguments to be made that this is the best debut feature film of a director of all time. It tells the before and after of a jewel heist that goes very wrong and the response of the surviving crooks as they arrive at the prearranged meet up. Of course one of them has a bullet in his gut and there is an undercover cop in their midst.

I'm going to say a song title and then we're going to discuss it's meaning in the film. Stuck in the Middle with You. Yeah. Anyone who has seen this film is now thinking about Michael Madsen dancing around with a knife as this song plays on the radio as a part of "K-Billy's Super Sounds of the Seventies Weekend." Tarantino is a master at picking music for this movies and Reservoir Dogs soundtrack selection set the tone not only for the film but for his entire filmography.

As a young struggling screenwriter, Tarantino wrote three scripts that he thought could be his first film, Reservoir Dogs, Natural Born Killers, and True Romance. Reservoir Dogs was the one he directed for his debut film and when asked to direct True Romance, he said no, that's written to be my first film and I've already directed my first film.

Reservoir Dogs put Tarantino on the map with critics and film fanatics in the know. It was a major hit critically but the real atom bomb was still to come.



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