Reservoir Dogs (2007, Blu-ray Disc)

Reservoir Dogs is one of those movies that was pretty good when I first saw it but not so good once I knew what happens. Granted there are still elements I still like, but as a whole it was ehhh okay.

Everyone knows by now what the movie is about right? It s a heist gone bad. The foiled criminals make their ways back to the hideout to figure out what happened and what to do next. Some suspect a rat in their ranks while others think their troubles have been caused by the psychopathic killer that turned the robbery into a bloodbath. As one man bleeds to death on the floor of the hideout the others try to gather enough information to plan their next move.

One unusual bit about the story is that we never see the heist. We see the planning, and we see the aftermath, but we don t know what went on outside of the descriptions given in conversation. It's very much a dialogue-driven movie.

An odd element of the directing, and one of the elements I still like the most, is the sequence of the scenes. Tarentino describes it as a novel which I think is accurate. A novel will often tell events out of chronological order. It s not a flashback as in someone remembering, it s transporting the reader to another moment in time just as if this scene were in its proper place in the book as far as sequence of events goes.

Reservoir Dogs does this a lot (similar in fashion to Pulp Fiction but less disjointed). We start with a kind of overture to the group, very shallow glimpses of their characters and relationship. Then we focus on the core characters and their primary problems. It s enough to make the viewer wonder who these people are and how they arrived at this moment in time. Once that curiosity is established the movie jumps back to moments in time that are pertinent and will weigh on events to come. It s like putting together a puzzle. We start with the boarders. We know the general position of some of the images but not much of the actual picture. Then we start adding faces, one here one there, and filling in the area around them so that we have a better understanding of the context. But whereas most movies would lay down the top row of puzzle pieces then the second row and so forth until the end, Reservoir Dogs adds a face here, a context there, another face, a bit more to that first context, and like that. It s an unusual progression for a movie, but it works nicely.

It's not the story or unusual storytelling style that makes me less fond of the film. One big negative for me is that I don't find the vulgar and violent humor funny. Much of the dialogue is perverted, racist and otherwise derogatory. I'm NOT a politically correct kind of guy. Nobody guarantees you the right to go through life without your feelings getting hurt. So my distaste has nothing to do with that. I just feel that many of the comments in this movie are in bad taste, and I don't enjoy it. The whole Madonna conversation (about large male genitals) is annoying as are the graphic rape descriptions. If I had recalled the severity of the dialogue I probably wouldn't have bought the movie regardless of the price and other positive aspects.

By violent humor I'm referring mostly to the cop torture scene. Mr. Blonde does a funny little dance and cracks some bad jokes as he mutilates the cop. I never realized this was supposed to be funny until I watched the commentary. Tarentino talks about how he tries to control the emotion of the viewer with the dance and jokes juxtaposed against the violence, and evidently he got some laughs out of the audience here. Nothing in it strikes me as funny, though. Instead, I think it's rather chilling. It works for the scene, I'm not saying it doesn't belong, I'm just saying that if part of the appeal is supposed to be the humor, that humor is lost on me and therefore not part of the appeal.

The pacing of the dialogue is very different from most movies. Different is not always good, but in this case it works. Besides the content of some of that dialogue my only complaint is that it can sometimes drag.

The music is also unusual although not to the extent of some of the other elements. There is no instrumental score. The soundtrack is comprised of old pop-rock songs interspersed with radio announcements by Stephen Wright the comedian. Most of the music selections are pretty good although I HATE the Nilsson song about the coconut at the end. During the cop torture scene the radio plays "Stuck In The Middle With You." When inside the warehouse the music fills the air like a score, but when Mr. Blonde goes outside the music fades out then back in as the camera moves back inside. It's a touch I greatly enjoy in the sound design.

So really what it comes down to is that this movie tries some new things with pacing and design. I highly appreciate the composition in that regard. However, some people treat it as the best thing ever because of a few high points, and I just really don't think it's as incredible as people make it out to be.

Content:
Much of this I've mentioned already, but I'll sum it up. There is lots of blood, death, and even mutilation. It's not on Saw's level, but it's a violent film. The dialogue is heavy with profanity, graphic sexual perversion, and racial remarks. There's no nudity or sex, but after hearing some of the descriptions you may feel like you've seen a sex scene.

DVD:
There are multiple DVD's out. Most of them I haven't seen myself, so I'll tell you enough to get started, but if you want to know more you're on your own. There was an old release that appears to be single-disc with few to no extras. That was followed by a limited edition release with several different covers. Each one featured a different member of the group on the cover. They are 2 discs and include a book of quotes and such for whichever character is on the cover. Most of the features appear to be the same as the newer release, but the rehearsal footage for the Sundance Film Festival and the poster gallery don't sound like anything on my version. There appears to be a box set of these available although you'll have to get it used most likely. There is also a non-limited 10th anniversary edition that is 2 discs. This has been the commonly available release for a long time - well, 5 years I guess.

That brings me to the 15th anniversary edition. This is the one I have so it's the one I can tell you the most about. Like the movie it does some great and creative things, but doesn't quite hit the mark on all fronts.

The packaging is one of the most creative I've ever seen. It claims to be limited edition packaging, but as of right now I see no signs of it changing. First is a metal tin. Though it looks more like a flask in this form, it is the gas can used in the movie. The lid pops off and inside is the DVD folder and some ad flyers. The folder is a matchbook. I don't just mean that it has a matchbook printed on it, I mean that right down to the little flap at the bottom that locks the cover down this thing is shaped just like an oversized matchbook. And how many times can I say the word matchbook in two sentences? The matchbook (sorry, I HAD to say it again after that) is from the burger joint in the movie, and though it has the movie type stuff printed on it otherwise could be a prop in a move about people with enormous hands. There's even an image of matches printed on the bottom DVD. The upper flap has some movie images.

There is no insert or chapters list.

Lots of previews play before you can get to the interface on both discs. Oh, how annoying. It's the first strike against the release. They were doing so well with their creative packaging (and NOT stacking the DVD's thank you very much) and then had to get annoying with the forced previews. True you can skip past them, but that doesn't keep them from being annoying. They got my money, I own Saw 2, but I'll still have to sit through the ad to make me want to buy it every time I put in this DVD.

The menus feature animation, music, and dialogue. Each menu screen focuses on a quote from the movie. The only thing I don't like is that there is no variety in the music. Every time you make a selection or change menu pages the music starts over. It gets old after a while.

Video is 2.35 anamorphic. Audio is 5.1 EX Dolby, and DTS.

There is one full commentary featuring Quentin, a number of the crew and several cast members. There is a lot of focus on getting the movie off the ground.

There are 3 other critic commentaries for only some of the scenes. The first one, Amy Taubin is pretty dull. She states little more than the obvious and uses the full actor name each time she mentions them (as in "the Tim Roth character") even when referring to them several times in short succession which gets annoying. Somebody teach this woman some pronouns! The next, Peter Travers, is interesting and energetic with a lot of music focus. The last, Emanuel Levy talks about film standards, conflict over violence, racism and such.

Another movie-length feature is the pop-up facts. There s too much time between pop-ups with some that are interesting and some dull. They contain a lot of info about continuity between different Quentin stories.

5 deleted scenes include a lengthy check of Mr White's background, an argument between the cops, a bit in the car on the way back from the diamond pickup, and a couple of more explicit torture shots.

Another feature focuses on critics thoughts which boils down to various people talking about various aspects and the influence it had. Once again some are interesting, some dull.

A collection of character profiles include videos and look at the characters' motivations. It also includes a text version and a play all option. It looks at 4 of the characters. It would have been more interesting if it had included all of them.

A tipping guide looks at what the various characters would tip in chart format.

A bit called Dolls looks like it might be an animatic. It s the ear scenes acted out with dolls.

Some audio bits include a convict interview; a criminal talking about the realism of the movie from his standpoint. Is it real or staged? Either way it s long and dull.
A Gerry Rafferty interview has the singer talking about Stuck In The Middle With You and its use in the move. He gives a history of him and the band. It s interesting but drags towards the end.
A group of Stephen Wright outtakes as the radio announcer is not as funny as I expected.

A bit called Style is a very short, pointless group of shots from the movie.

There are a couple of behind the scenes features. One is about scouting locations which focuses a lot on the history and character of the building used.

A bit on the Sundance Film Festival tells the truth about it and how the winners win. It includes various other directors and talks more about them than the movie.

A group of dedications look at the influences on the movie with a few remembrances of participants that are no longer living. The Lawrence Tierney one is probably the most interesting including the difficulties of working with him, he was a colorful character, and includes a great story from Chris Penn who has himself passed on.

One on Eddie Bunker looks at his real life crimes and days of fighting the justice system. The Pam Grier one is the only one to actually talk about this movie.

Other extras are a trailer, video game previews, and some movie previews.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Despite my distaste of some of the elements I don t hate this movie. From a certain perspective it has merit, but those merits wouldn t include a lot of morality. There s a lot of creativity and originality here, I m just not going to have too much else positive to say. The DVD likewise shows some creativity. There is a lot of content, but some of it is boring and pointless. So ultimately it averages out to a 3* rating.