Reservoir Dogs R1 DVD

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Reservoir Dogs
10 Year Anniversary Special Edition
Distributed by
Artisan Home Entertainment

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  • Cert: R
  • Cat.no: 12050
  • Running time: 100 minutes
  • Year: 1992
  • Pressing: 2002
  • Region(s): 1, NTSC
  • Chapters: 22 (WS) / 7 (4:3)
  • Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1
  • Languages: English
  • Subtitles: Spanish
  • Widescreen: 2.35:1, Standard: 4:3
  • 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
  • Macrovision: Yes
  • Disc Format: DVD 18
  • Price: $26.98
  • Extras:Audio commentary, 5 deleted scenes, new interviews, theatrical trailer,Tributes and Dedications, Class of ’92 featurette, Small Dogsfeaturette on the action figures, Noir Film Web, K-BILLY interactiveradio, Reservoir Dogs style guide, Securing the Shot Featurette, postergallery.

    Director:

      Quentin Tarantino

Screenplay:

    Quentin Tarantino

Cast:

    Mr. White: Harvey Keitel
    Mr. Orange: Tim Roth
    Mr. Pink: Steve Buscemi
    Mr. Blonde: Michael Madsen
    Nice Guy Eddie: Sean Penn
    Joe Cabbot: Lawrence Tierney
    Mr. Brown: Quentin Tarantino
    Mr. Blue: Eddie Bunker

Believe it or not, I just recently saw this movie.I saw it on a murky VHS tape last Friday, 4 days before the release of thisspecial edition. Immedietly upon watching it, I understood why it has such afollowing. To tell you the truth, I’m ashamed for not seeing it sooner.

Reservoir Dogs starts off with a simple diner conversation between eightgentlemen. A thoughful insight on a popular Madonna song and anotherview on tipping. After that we’re treated to a cool title shot of thesepeople. Six are dressed in suits and sunglasses. These six also gavealias names of color. Why, you ask? Because they’re professional theivesand they’re just about to do a big job.

Immediately after that shot we’re thrown into a gruesome scene. One ofthe men is bleeding to death, Mr. Orange. Mr. White is driving the carand keeping him from losing it. The bank heist has obviously goneterribly wrong and we’re seeing the bloody repercussions. The fallbackplace for the heist is a warehouse on the edge of town. When Mr. Whitelays Orange down, Mr. Pink bursts in. They tell accounts of what happenedand how they were set up.

Over the course, a few more involved show up and there is an undercovercop in the midst. The story is told in well done flashbacks but nevershow the actual heist. This is the first movie I’ve seen which pulls offflashbacks well. I’d tell you more of the plot but there are alot ofcool twists and turns that are better left untold.

All you need to know is, it’s full of smart dialogue and likeable/unforgettablecharacters. It may seem wierd upon first viewing but everything falls intoplace the second time around. A great movie that is definitely worth a view.

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For some reason, Artisan has put included a full frame transfer on thesecond disc. This is ridiculous because most people who will buy this arethe film buffs and could care less about a cropped, zoom in 4:3transfer. It’s laughable actually. More on this at the bottom of thereview.

Anyway, you’ve probably heard about this anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreentransfer. Many reviews have been circulating around with comparisons tothe former non-anamorphic release. Many pics indicate how deeply coloredthe former release is with this new washed out transfer. On the mostpart, these reports are true. I’ve never seen the old release but thesepics are pretty convincing. Upon watching this transfer it looks likeArtisan threw this in the washer, dumped 4 gallons of cheap detergent onit and left it there. The image is pretty washed out but it’s not THATbad.

There are a few scenes which look really good and it gives the transfer a niceclean look. However, a couple of scenes are awful. The cool title shot now looks like somebody blocked all lighting and put a smoke screen overthe whole scene. Most exterior scenes, like Mr. Pink running from thecops, look too gray and dull. The suits, once black look lighter. It’swatchable but a little dissapointing. On another note,

I reviewed Artisan’s Van Wilder disc which streeted a week before this and thecolors were washed out on that too. Artisan better calibrate theirmonitors before they mess up again. I’d give this is an average 2.5rating but it gives it a clear look which is the only saving grace. Ifyou’re a true purist and you don’t need an anamorphic transfer, find theold release in a bargain bin and put that disc in this case.

The sound is presented in three options. Dolby digital 5.1, 2.0 surroundand a DTS 5.1 track. All tracks are good and get loud when needed. Youcan hear what happens to Mr. Pink in the end a lot clearer now. This isgreat overall.

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Artisan has spread the extras out among two discs. Why? Because of theawful full frame transfer on disc two. They should have dumped the fullframe transfer and put the extras on this second disc. This would haveleft some more space on disc 1 for the widescreen transfer and thusmight have looked better. I remember the same thing happening with TheMummy: Ultimate Edition a while back. All extras are presented inanamorphic 16:9 widescreen except the Critic’s Commentary. This is howit breaks down:

Disc 1:

  • Audio Commentary:This is a wierd track since snippets from the castprotrude in from interviews. The director of photography is the only onewatching the movie and it sounds out of place when an interview fromTarantino pops up. They should have got everyone in one room and had anawesome commentary track. Dissapointing.
  • Deleted Scenes:12 minutes total. 3 scenes are here as well as 2angles on the infamous ear shot. They’re all presented in messy fashionbut these are pretty interesting still. The last angle actually showsthe ear being cut off instead of cutting away.
  • New Interviews:Runs a total of 54 minutes. Interviews with Chris Penn(who is interviewed in the back of a moving semi for some reason),Michael Madsen, the producer, Tim Roth, the actor who played Marvin Nashin the film (can’t remember his name), and Quentin Tarrantino are here.These are pretty fun and offer interesting insights onto the film.However, these are badly cut. You know when someone is interviewed andthey start rambiling? The editor has to go in and cut certain dialougesnippets and loop them in. This happens so much it gives you a headache.This could have been avoided if it weren’t for the full frame transferon disc two.
  • Theatrical trailer:Exactly what is says and it’s pretty cool.

    Disc 2:

  • Tributes and Dedications:Runs 54 minutes total and features Tarantinotalking about his favorites like Pam Grier and Roger Corman. Tributesare also given to Lawerence Tieney and Eddy Bunker.
  • Class of ’92:A 29 minute long featurette on Sundance Film Festival in1992. Features interviews with the creators of the top films of thatyear and such. Mildly interesting.
  • Critic’s Commentary:Select critics watch certain scenes of the movieand express why they like it so much. Runs a whopping 94 minutes total.The scenes from the movie are presented in full frame with unremovableSpanish subtitles.
  • K-BILLY Interactive Radio:A cool and different feature. It’s anactual radio with selectable stations featuring music and interviewsegments. Now many but still cool. And if you go all the way to theright knob and click, you’ll be treated to an easter egg.
  • Film Noir Web:An 8 minute and 29 second featurette on the genre ofNoir. Also includes a guide to film noir.
  • Small Dogs:An interesting featurette that runs about 4 minutes thatshows the maing of the action figures.
  • Securing the Shot with Bily A. Fox:A 4 minute long featurette showingcertain locations and telling the stories about them. Pretty cool andinteresting.
  • Reservoir Dogs Style Guide:A worthless 20 second vignette showing howto be like the Dogs themselves. Driving with Style, Dressing with Style.Should have been used as a TV spot if you ask me.
  • Poster Gallery:A gallery which shows the three posters used for theatrical release.

    So that’s it. An overwhelming amount of interviews huh?

    More interesting stuff. Artisan has released this movie in 5 differentcovers, each with cool slipcases showcasing whichever character. Mr.White, Blonde, Pink, Orange, and Brown cases are available. I don’t whyanyone would ever buy the pink case. I chose the Mr. White cover sinceit’s the normal one in the bunch. The menus are animated, with cooleffects on the first disc. But pop in the second disc and you’ll see apretty crappy menu complete with eerie music that doesn’t fit the moviewell. Oh yeah and for some reason, not that I care since I hate fullframe, the full frame version only has 7 chapters. Very weird.

    Overall, this is a pretty good release with a few problems. Too manyinterviews and an average transfer might make owners of the old discthink twice. Maybe for the 25th anniversary we’ll get something trulyspectacular.

    FILM CONTENT
    PICTURE QUALITY
    SOUND QUALITY
    EXTRAS


    OVERALL
    Review copyright © Traveta, 2002.

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