Edward Bunker?

Rating: Null/10 (15 August 2004)

spoilers
In my on-going effort to catch up on 'famous' movies that I still have not seen (the ultimate of which has to be Casablanca which I saw, for the first time, last year), I bought and watched a VCD of Reservoir Dogs over the weekend (still haven't seen Pulp Fiction). It's always difficult to comment on a movie that was a hit over ten years ago.
After movies like Memento, 21 Grams (or, for that matter, Pulp Fiction which I have not yet seen), it's difficult to talk about temporal displacement as something new and wonderful. And yet, Reservoir Dogs did it so well that this film stands on its own: its achievement is timeless, so to speak. The unique thing also is that through three separate, titled, accounts of Messrs. White, Blonde and Orange, the story unfolds with neat asymmetry (an oxymoron?), but at the same time striking clarity.
Similarly, Mr. Tarantino's penchant for blood and violence is no longer a news item. Their use in Reservoir Dogs, however, is apt and effective, and totally in tune with the story.
Some compared the shooting scenes to John Woo's. Whether the influence is subliminal or intentional, it is superficial. None of Woo's male bonding heroism is seen in Reservoir Dogs at all. On the other hand, having seen Collateral just the day before Reservoir Dogs, I made another connection: two abrupt, resolute shootings - Eddie shooting the tortured policeman in the chair in Reservoir Dogs and Vincent shooting the half dead L.A. hooligan on the ground in Collateral.
There's some excellent acting by the gang. Harvey Keitel (White) as the professional, Michael Madsen (Blonde) as the psychopath and Steve Buscemi (Pink) as the aggressive nerd (another oxymoron?) have been perfectly cast leads. Tim Roth (Orange) as the mole and the pair of Lawrence Tierney and Chris Penn as the underworld father and son provide excellent support.
Mr. Tarantino was quite generous to Mr. Bunker (no relations to Archie, for those who remember, a fictional character who was at one time the most famous Bunker in the U.S.). Of the eight at breakfast who get their names (together with their faces) in the opening credits, six have main or important supporting roles. Tarantino's appearance is cameo but then he is the director. However, Mr. Bunker, as a character (Mr. Blue) who gets killed rather than developed, is lucky.