“Are you gonna bark all day, little doggie?  Or are you gonna bite?”

If one needed to sum up who Quentin Tarantino was in one word, I think the best one would be “pioneer.” He ushered in a new wave of film that is replicated over and over again, ad nauseum, until the entire pool is over saturated with Tarantino wannabees. He’s been nominated for his writing and his directing, and landed some of the once thought pastured actors Oscar nominations.

And now, his work is being released on 4K with an upgrade in visuals and audio.

The first film, Reservoir Dogs, came out in 1992. It was a low-budget independent film that had an excellent cast of underrated and oftentimes forgotten actors - Harvey Keitel leading the pack, but followed closely by Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, the late Chris Penn, and of course Steve Buscemi. Tarantino directs the graphic Reservoir Dogs but excludes a major, pivotal aspect of the narrative. A jewelry heist goes terribly wrong and those involved reconvene at an abandoned garage to discuss (violently) the possibility of an undercover cop being in their company. Tarantino tells this story without ever showing the actual heist. All of the events are mostly told through dialogue and some flashback scenes to build the narrative and the planning of the heist.

Tarantino names his characters after colors, to keep anonymity amongst them. Keitel plays Mr. White, Roth as Mr. Orange, Madsen as Mr. Blonde, Tarantino as Mr. Brown, and Buscemi as Mr. Pink. Screenwriter and occasional actor Eddie Bunker filled in the final role as Mr. Blue, but the story barely touches on this character, which brings up the question of his purpose, if not only for dying. These six men are brought together by Lawrence Tierney’s Joe, and his son Fast Eddie played by Penn. The players are chosen, the setting selected, to pull it off they need to work together.

Obviously that doesn’t happen. The non-linear narrative of Reservoir Dogs presents gaps that the audience needs to use assumptions to fill in. Each character is independent of the group narratively. Mr. White represents the main character (if there really is one), a man who doesn’t want to be doing this, but involves himself with it out of desperation and respect. Keitel is a kindred spirit at first, but his animosity shows through quickly. Reservoir Dogs opened to the public with a lot of disgust but admiration. A good portion of that admiration comes from the limited budget, but the compelling story and great cast.

The disgust came from Tarantino’s breakthrough scene. It will forever be remembered as what made Tarantino a director to be remembered. Madsen, as Vic Vega, tortures Marvin Nash, a cop he’s abducted from the heist. Madsen’s cool throughout the whole movie. But as Pink and White step out for a moment, and with Orange laying in a pool of his own blood after being shot escaping the heist, Blonde decides to get some answers from Nash. Tying him to a chair, and beating on him, he decides the best way to torture a man is by cutting his ear off. The scene was deliberately disturbing, and caused many audiences to exit the theater upon first viewing. The realism displayed in this scene was shocking even to horror icon Wes Craven. Blonde douses his piggy with gasoline and dances around to “Stuck in the Middle With You” by Stealers Wheel. Depicting such a horrific torture was a cruel but effective way for Tarantino to engage the audience.

Reservoir Dogs came at a time when film was fairly balanced. There weren’t a lot of independent films being produced, but there were some moderate successes. The early 90s were oversaturated with buddy cop movies and sequels (still true today a little bit). Tarantino’s debut ushered in the era of the indies. There were independent films and filmmakers before, but the blowback from Reservoir Dogs sent studios into a gold mine. Nurturing these young filmmakers by giving them a few million dollars to make a 99 minute heist film that made 8 times its budget was a brilliant idea. It was followed by copycats and starving filmmakers who needed a boost.

Reservoir Dogs also resurrected Harvey Keitel and Tim Roth’s careers, and made a name out of Buscemi and Madsen.  The cast is incredible, no one drops the ball. Spending most of the movie on the floor, Roth’s cries of pain are excruciating and one of the most gut wrenching whimpers I’ve ever heard. Buscemi shines the brightest in my opinion as Mr. Pink. Buscemi was a small time actor essentially before Reservoir Dogs, but afterwards he became the go-to Supporting Actor man, and found relevant roles in many Coen Brothers’ films. His squirmy scum-of-the-Earth personality added comic relief at times, but also kept things interesting with his point of view.

Reservoir Dogs has obvious connections to other Tarantino films as well. Vic Vega is presumably the brother of Vincent Vega, portrayed by John Travolta in Pulp Fiction. Mr. White mentions an “Alabama” in reference to Alabama from True Romance. Much like how Kevin Smith created a whole universe for his characters, Tarantino did it with subtlety and Easter egg knowledge. If you miss it, you wouldn’t be the first person.

The film is now available on 4K Ultra HD thanks to Lionsgate and Columbia Pictures. K-Billy Super Sounds of the 70s continues . . .

30th Anniversary Edition / 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital

Home Video Distributor: Lionsgate Films
Available on Blu-ray - November 15, 2022
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
Discs: 4K Ultra HD; Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free; blu-ray locked to Region A

They were perfect strangers, assembled to pull off the perfect crime. Then their simple robbery explodes into a bloody ambush, and the ruthless killers realize one of them is a police informer. But which one?

Video:

From Lionsgate and Columbia Pictures, the new 4K transfer of Reservoir Dogs is an uptick in quality the film deserves.  There isn’t much information at all in regards to the source of this new 2160p master, so I’m going to assume it’s a higher res print from that source. The good news is, it looks beautiful! Contrast is rich and striking. The blacks are immersive and rich with no signs of crush or artifacts. Film grain is intact (or very impressively applied). Highlights and the whites of the snow blaze off the screen. The HDR10 application is judicious and effective, with a teeny tiny caveat: the skin tones, though effectively warm, can sometimes dip too far into browns in certain scenes. It’s a great and mostly consistent presentation and the best the film has ever looked on home media.

Audio:

The English TrueHD 5.1 surround track is a treat.  Dialogue is rendered crisp, clean and centered. This is a solid mix, only lacking from the inclusion of more contemporary environmentals and overhead inclusions.

Supplements:

Commentary:

• None

Special Features:

The special features are on the BR disc.  They feature three featurettes:

• Deleted Scenes
• Playing it Fast and Loose
• Profiling Res Dogs

	Movie
	Video
	Audio
	Extras
Composite Blu-ray Grade

MPAA Rating: R for strong violence and language
Runtime: 99 mins
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Harvey Keitel; Tim Roth; Michael Madsen
Genre: Crime | Thriller
Tagline: A Quentin Tarantino Film.
Memorable Movie Quote: "Shit... You shoot me in a dream, you better wake up and apologize."
Theatrical Distributor: Miramax
Official Site:
Release Date: October 23, 1992
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: November 15, 2022.
Synopsis: When a simple jewelry heist goes horribly wrong, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant.