Reservoir Dogs - Ten Years Special Edition DVD Review
Posted by Ashish on 10.14.2002
The original masterpiece from Quentin Tarantino. A guy gets his ear cut off to the tune of Stuck in the Middle of You, how can you not like that?
Reservior Dogs – Ten Years Special Edition
Release Date: August 27th, 2002
Reservoir Dogs is a somewhat underrated, but masterful introduction into director Quentin Tarantino’s unique film style. While it was Pulp Fiction that made Tarantino one of the biggest directors in Hollywood, Reservoir Dogs exemplifies the style and does so in a way that may actually be better that Pulp.
Reservoir Dogs does have an earlier DVD release, but it lacked an anamorphis transfer and was pretty bare-bones.
The Film
The story of Reservoir Dogs, just as Pulp Fiction, is pretty ordinary. A group of criminals are put together to pull off a big robbery at a jewelry store. The group includes Mr. Pink, Mr. Orange, Mr. Brown, Mr. Blonde, Mr. White, and Mr. Blue (codenames so that nobody knows their real names) and as the movie progresses, we are “introduced” one by one to each character and his role in the robbery. As expected, the robbery does not go as planned and Tarantino presents the crazy story in typical Tarantino fashion -- plenty of flashbacks and fast forwards so that the audience is sometimes confused as to whether what they are watching is in the past or present. A mystery also arises, as the group finds out that one of them is actually an undercover cop. Finding out who, and making sense of the entire mess of a situation, is one of the main plotlines of the film
Of course, the most notable trademarks of Tarantino films are violence and witty dialogue. Both are here. This movie rivals Pulp Fiction in violence and features plenty of blood, gore, gun shooting, etc. As for the dialogue, it often makes for hilarity and gives the movie a very “hip” feel.
The cast, made up of Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, and even Quentin Tarantino himself, do an amazing job and really click on all cylinders. The performances of Roth, Keitel, Madsen, and Buscemi especially stand out and make for many memorable scenes.
Video Quality
The original DVD featured a non-anamorphic transfer, and while this one has upgraded to an anamorphic transfer, the video quality itself is still average at best. The colors are sometimes very dull and Artisan really needed to go back and polish off the edges.
The DVD features the widescreen and fullscreen versions, presented in 2.35:1 and 4:3. While the quality could have been better, it is still very acceptable and not as bad as some have claimed. The colors are a little dull but you will not find many other problems such as noise, break-ups, etc.
Sound Quality
This movie has been remastered and presented in DTS Digital Surround Sound, 5.1 Dolby Digital, and 2.0 Dolby Digital. It’s all here. Much of the movie is dialogue, but the surround sound effects do pop up numerous times and enhance the experience. The surround sound effects are not over powering, but are nice when they are used. The dialogue is also much clearer through the center channel and much of the soundtrack, including Stuck in the Middle of You, sounds extremely good with the 5.1 remix.
Special Features
Here is where the new DVD version really shines. This 2-disc set is jam packed with features including:
Deleted Scenes
Interviews with Quentin Tarantino, Lawrence Bender, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Michael Madsen, Eddie Bunker, Kirk Baltz, and others.
Tributes to Lawrence Tierney and Eddie Bunker
A look back at who inspired Tarantino to make this film
A look back at the ’92 Sundance Film Festival (where Reservoir Dogs made its debut)
Audio commentary for certain scenes
Original trailer
Poster gallery
And that is not even all, folks. This DVD set is literally packed with features that could take up your entire day. The interviews with Tarantino, Roth, Penn, Madsen, etc. are very entertaining. The commentary is a disappointment, since it doesn’t run for the entire movie and is not recorded exclusively for the DVD.
The 5 deleted scenes are great, as most deleted scenes of classic movies are, including the infamous alternate angle of the “Ear” scene which is about as graphic as you can get. Another interesting feature is that the DVD has a section where various critics comment on the movie. Some of the extras are somewhat pointless, such as the one that looks at the development of Reservoir Dogs action figures, but there is more than enough here to keep fans of the film busy.
The Film: 9.0
Video Quality: 6.5
Audio Quality: 7.5
Special Features: 9.5
The 411: Reservoir Dogs is a classic film that really deserves to be ranked right up there with Pulp Fiction. The entire cast does a knock-out job. This 2-disc set is packed to the gills with special features that really add to the enjoyment of the movie. The video quality is a little disappointing, but the audio is top notch. Overall, this is a great DVD set for fans of this film.
