Madonna, guns, blood, and gems

Rating: 10/10 (26 March 2000)

Some people say "Reservoir Dogs" was too violent, offensive, and crude. But others say because of the fact that this movie is violent, offensive, and crude makes it one of the greatest movies of all time. I fall in the later of the two groups.
The smart moviegoers make reference to "City on Fire" and how "Reservoir Dogs" either resembles, borrows, or rips off from. I don't doubt this but I hadn't heard of "City on Fire" until "Dogs" made it big so Lamb better be kissing Tarantino's shoes for making him a hit. I'm sure Lamb is a good director but not too many American film buffs are familiar with the Hong Kong action genre. The majority of America's insight on HK movies go as far as John Woo's "Face/Off" and maybe Chow Yun-Fat because of "The Replacement Killers" and now Jet Li because of "Romeo Must Die" and "Lethal Weapon 4". I'm a big fan of all three men's work but I'm also a big fan of Tarantino's work.
Bottom line: Give QT the credit he deserves. Maybe his movie resembles Lamb's but does that mean that these two movies are the only one's with: diamond heists, Mexican standoffs, undercover cops, and guns? So maybe the storylines are similar but Lamb lacks in one area, he's not Tarantino.
"Reservoir Dogs" works not just because of the story but because of a lot of other elements. Each and every character in this movie has style (even Mr. Blue who had no more than 5 lines) and they all work off each other. What makes this movie great isn't the story but the character's and what they have to say. From Mr. Brown's "Like A Virgin" speech to Mr. White's "Let's get a taco" diatribe there's nothing but witty lines and it's this wit that made Tarantino a star.
Was this movie too violent, offensive, and crude? HELL YEAH! But isn't that what Tarantino wanted? He wanted us to be shocked, disgusted, and offended because it made the movie memorable. You may hate this movie but you'll never forget Mr. Blonde hacking off Marvin Nash's ear. There are critics out there who say Tarantino's a racist because he uses the word "nigger". So does that make Blacks racist because they call each other that? They'll say no because it's just an expression to them and the same is true with OT. Tarantino grew up around Black people and watching Black based movies, one of his favorite actresses is Pam Grier, does that make him a racist? So if you were squeamish by the blood, offended by the words than you just proved that Tarantino's a great writer and movie maker.