Throughout the history of independent films, there was always an argument on when it really started. Some would say it began with sex, lies, & videotape from Steven Soderbergh since it was the first American independent film to garner some kind of international success along with a degree of box office in the U.S. Soderbergh may have put independent films to the forefront but not entirely by himself. Prior to that seminal film, there were some great independent visionaries in the U.S. like John Sayles and Jim Jarmusch. The breakthrough of sex, lies, & videotape helped pushed the independent film movement while film icon Robert Redford held the Sundance Film Festival to break out new filmmakers and actors. In 1992, one film stole the show among a bunch of little films about a heist gone bad that wouldn't just push independent films more into the mainstream but would mark the beginning of one of the greatest filmmakers of the decade, Quentin Tarantino.

Tarantino in the late 80s and early 90s was a video store clerk who learned his craft of writing and filmmaking through watching all the movies he loved with friends Roger Avary and Lawrence Bender. Tarantino had worked on screenplays that would include future projects like Natural Born Killers and True Romance, which the latter he sold to filmmaker Tony Scott. The money Tarantino used for the sale of True Romance would inspire him to make his directorial debut on a heist film he based on an obscure Hong Kong thriller City of Fire along with Stanley Kubrick's The Killing. Entitled Reservoir Dogs, this film would prove to be a seminal breakthrough not just for Tarantino but a revival of heist films and a bigger push for indie cinema.

Written and directed by Tarantino, Reservoir Dogs is set in an abandoned warehouse in the aftermath of a heist gone badly. There are four criminals, a boss, and his son with one of the criminals mortally wounded. Immediately, they wonder who was the informer and what happened to the two other criminals involved in the heist. Filled with pop culture talks, extreme violence, intense character study, and a smooth soundtrack of 1970s pop hits; Reservoir Dogs is a crime film that remains fresh since its 1992 release. Starring Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Lawrence Tierney, Eddie Bunker, Quentin Tarantino, Kirk Baltz, Michael Sottile, and the voice of comedian Steven Wright. Reservoir Dogs is just a seminal crime film with great one-liners, intense violence that keeps you guessing right till the end.

The film begins just before the opening credits where an aging crime boss named Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney) and his son Nice Guy Eddie (Chris Penn) are with their six criminal-for-hire men for breakfast. Mr. Brown (Quentin Tarantino) talks about what the song Like A Virgin by Madonna is about while Mr. White (Harvey Keitel) asks about the little black book Joe is looking at. Joe leaves so everyone can give out tips in which Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) protests the theory of tipping while Mr. White insists that tips are an essential to the lives of the waitresses. Mr. Pink gives in since Joe is paying for their breakfast as the gang leaves for the heist.

Hours later, the heist has gone bad with Mr. White driving a car trying to speed up for a mortally wounded Mr. Orange (Tim Roth) who got shot in the stomach. They reach into the abandoned warehouse where everyone is supposed to meet. Mr. White tries to comfort Mr. Orange by telling him he isn't going to die. Minutes later, Mr. Pink arrives suspecting that he and the gang were set up by cops. They check on Orange where Mr. Pink and Mr. White recollect their memory where for one minute, there were no cops and the next minute, there were a bunch of police cars outside. Things went crazy when Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) began to shoot all the people at the jewelry store and things went out of control. The heist was supposed to involve a large stash of jewels that Mr. Pink did get by shooting his way out, despite being hit by a car and killing a few cops. Mr. White was relieved that Pink took the jewels and hid them somewhere.

With Orange now passed out due to his wounds, Pink also suspects that someone tipped the cops and is an informer. Immediately, Pink and White suspect each other while Pink also suspects Orange as the informer but White doesn't think so since he actually took a shot. White also tells Pink that Brown is dead during the getaway from the cops and the two don't know what happened to Mr. Blue (Eddie Bunker). Pink, obsessed with professionalism, is upset that White tells Orange his first name where the two threaten to kill each other, which by this point, Mr. Blonde arrives. White is infuriated at Blonde's killing spree at the bank where he kidnapped a cop named Marvin Nash (Kirk Baltz). They beat the guy until Nice Guy Eddie arrives who is trying to take care of things for his dad because he knows Joe is upset at what happened. Eddie wants two of the guys to come with him to get the jewels while one of the guys stay to watch for Nash and the passed-out Orange.

The story of the informer is revealed as he gets help from an undercover agent named Teddy (Michael Sottile) who gives him a thing called the commode story that impresses Joe. Joe hires him where he gives all the hired criminals names and the result of the botched heist. When Nice Guy Eddie returns with the jewels, he is upset at what just happened at the warehouse where Joe arrives to name the informer and all hell breaks loose.

The genius behind Reservoir Dogs isn't just the comic violence or witty, pop-culture driven dialogue but something else that's often overlooked throughout the film, which is character study. Tarantino likes to emphasize a lot on his knowledge of pop culture, trivia, and disguise with violence but he never gets enough credit for character development and study. The reason he's one of the finest storytellers in films is the fact that he lets his characters in his films have a moment to shine while studying their intentions and personalities. Tarantino is very smart in his approach to that idea of character study by letting the audience figures what to think while being entertained. Even with the film's ending, we don't really know who gets out alive and who ends up dead and is the informer really a criminal at heart? There are all of these questions with many of them revealed at the end.

Tarantino's ability as a storyteller is shown more in his ability as a director. Tarantino brings an intimate, stylized approach to directing by having the cameras move with the characters whenever they're being playful or in scenes out of the warehouse, have the cameras move very slowly to emphasize the restrained dramatic scale of its actors. The film's violence may be extreme at the time but being it was the 1990s, violence was indeed taken to an extreme. There are definitely gushes of blood in some scenes along with a lot of violent behavior between the characters but its done more in a playful kind of way where its entertaining while being realistic in its reflection of 1990s American society.

Helping Tarantino carry that vision is cinematographer Andrezej Sekula who brings a grayish, dirty look in the warehouse scenes while having more color and real-time look in the exterior Los Angeles sequences. Even in the meetings of Joe at his house, there's an intimate, Godfather like quality in its look.

With production designer David Wasco and costume designer Betty Faith Heimann, the film does have that look of a straightforward, simple heist film with the men in cool black suits and skinny black ties. The warehouse definitely has an intimacy despite its bleak colors. With the fast-paced editing of Sally Menke, the film has a rhythm that is very fast and consistent to stylistic tone of the film.

Adding more juice to the film's coolness is the music from music supervisor Karyn Rachtman who compiles probably one of the best soundtracks ever assembled. With classic 70s song by George Baker Section, Stealer's Wheels, Harry Nilsson, Blue Swede, and many more cuts, the film is an ode to the days of bad*ss movies of the 1970s with comedian Steven Wright providing some nice introductions to the songs of the 1970s with his cool, baritone voice with the dialogue written by Roger Avary.

In the smaller supporting performances, Kirk Baltz is brilliant as the kidnapped cop who loses his ear while Michael Sottile is cool as the cat who teaches the informer how to act like a criminal. In the smaller roles of the criminals, Eddie Bunker is excellent in his brief time as Mr. Blue with his old school rhetoric while Quentin Tarantino shines in the film's opening scene along with the scene where he's called Mr. Brown where he says, "Mr. Brown, that's close to Mr. Sh*t". Lawrence Tierney is fierce and disarming as Joe Cabot with his hard-nosed demeanor and tough-guy attitude while proving that he's boss of the whole thing in a performance that is nothing sort of brilliance from the late film legend.

One of the best character actors of his generation, Chris Penn is without a doubt, one of the best supporting performances as Nice Guy Eddie with his dirty mouth one-liners and tough-guy attitude while showing that when Joe is not around, he pretty much can handle the responsibility. While older brother Sean may be an icon among his peers, Chris deserves kudos since he is a great character actor who knows how to play smarmy jerks to perfection.

British actor Tim Roth is extremely amazing in his role as Mr. Orange by playing a slick criminal who knows his way around while befriending Mr. White. Roth delivers coolness to his performance with his quick-wit while in most of the scenes; he's very quiet only paying attention to what's going on. Steve Buscemi is just nothing short of awesomeness in his role as Mr. Pink with his theories of tipping, setups, and professionalism while he even has a bad, tough-guy attitude that would make him one of indie films most ubiquitous actors. Hell, who couldn't enjoy this line, "Why am I Mr. Pink?" "Why? Cause you're a f*ggot".

Michael Madsen is just nothing short of amazing as Mr. Blonde with his laid-back attitude beneath his killer persona while having all of this street talk and a psychotic demeanor that wonders if he's just nuts or just someone who snapped. Madsen just rules in his screen time by playing it cool and with a nice dance to follow. Harvey Keitel is the film's best performance as the veteran criminal with intelligence and tough-guy attitude while showing some sympathy in scenes with the wounded Tim Roth. Keitel is jus nothing short of excellence in the role of a criminal who knows everything and maybe too many things.

Twelve years since its release, Reservoir Dogs remains a landmark film that helped spawn the career of Quentin Tarantino while reviving veteran Harvey Keitel's career while bringing more spotlight to actors like Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, and Michael Madsen. Since Tarantino's arrival to cinema, he's been imitated but never duplicated, as Reservoir Dogs remains a cornerstone in not just independent films but also crime dramas. With its catchy one-liners, gruesome violence, nice attitude and cool music, Reservoir Dogs is a film that will never get old.

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Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age