My Favorite Tarantino Production???

Rating: 10/10 (31 January 2011)

There are so many perspectives on which to praise "Reservoir Dogs". First and foremost, it has the edgy realism that began to slip away in the "Kill Bill" films (which I still very much praise and enjoy), and was completely discarded in his recent film "Inglourious Basterds". It's like recently Tarantino let his fame go to his head and just went all out without thinking about if what he showed on screen made any real sense. This film of his, basically his first three, are the ones I admire the most. Not to mention the way the story is told, it's just very intriguing from the start. We see only brief glimpses of what actually happened at this bank job that apparently went very, very, bad. The cast was phenomenal throughout and this film had the chemistry to really make the tension play out realistically and brutally later on. The atmosphere is solid and full of well acted malice and is pretty unpredictable. In fact, amidst all the insane and gruesome scenes which some may struggle to sit through ("Can you hear me now?")is a very nicely paced plot that in reality is probably one of the greatest crime/thriller pieces ever written.
The talent here is undeniable, and every performance is just awesome. The ones I really admired the most were that of Harvey Keitel as Mr. White, and definitely Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink. And where as I believe every individual character stood out quite well, the two that stirred up the most in me was Tim Roth as the nefarious Mr. Orange, but over all Michael Madsen as the sadistic Mr. Blonde. I will never forget Madsen as the soda sipping psychopath. Tarantino does well himself I must admit, and kudos to the often over-looked performance of Kirk Baltz as the unfortunate Officer Marvin Nash.
With its tremendously talented cast breathing life into these characters we know so little about, coupled with its very involving story and well placed music, it all comes together as arguably Tarantino's most refined work.