Why is reservoir dogs so popular

From that opening scene onwards, dialogue crackles off the screen: it's tough and gritty, littered with swearing and politically incorrect epithets — but it feels real, brimming with long, authentic-sounding anecdotes and sparkly one-liners that weave a believable world before our eyes.

Enshrining itself almost immediately in the hallowed halls of pop culture iconography, the scene where Mr Blonde Michael Madsen dances around a warehouse to Stuck In The Middle With You before slicing a cop's ear off still leaves a searing impression.

Never mind that the camera actually pans to the left, not showing the act explicitly: it was enough to generate walkouts in early screenings including, reportedly, horror director Wes Craven , and ensure the film's reputation as an exciting and violent excursion into new cinematic territory. Part of what keeps Dogs so fresh after so long is its nonlinear narrative, a favourite tactic of Tarantino's.

It's not quite as structurally daring as Pulp Fiction , but the film still jumps back-and-forth with merry abandon, offering backstory for Mr Orange, Mr Blonde and the Cabots, and even offering hints of the heist's chaotic aftermath in echoes of Stanley Kubrick's The Killing , a significant influence. Heavily influenced by a similar tactic in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three , the colour aliases add to the film's enduring mythology, ensuring the characters are instantly recognisable.

They've have become a source of fascination for fans in the 25 years since release, with many internet head-scratchers pondering the deeper meaning behind each colour; one commentator even compared the film to a "feudal epic" and paralleled the pseudonyms to colour names of medieval knights.

Then again, it may just be that it's quite funny to see Steve Buscemi complain about being called Mr Pink. Tim Roth's character, a deep-cover detective who infiltrates a gang only to have figurative and literal blood on his hands the woman he shoots is in fact Tim Roth's dialect coach, Suzanne Celeste , adds the film's most important wrinkle.

Orange's relationship with White provides the film's humanity; Orange acts as the audience surrogate, reminding us that for all their stylish suits and witty wisecracks, these are still Bad Dogs. The bungled jewel robbery at the centre of the film is never seen on screen, save for a few glimpses of the police chases that followed.

This was initially due to the film's tiny million-dollar budget — but it works for the story, too. The main action is left up to the audience's imagination, and a focus is placed instead upon the day-to-day lives of the criminals who committed it.

It's no surprise that Tarantino is absolutely in love with the '60s and '70s. Every one of his films is essentially an elaborate homage to a specific style of filmmaking from that era, especially those considered to be lesser than the mainstream successes.

Every image and sound in the film oozes loving respect for a now bygone era that some would refer to as Hollywood's Golden Age. There's always something special about a filmmaker's debut feature — especially a filmmaker who has had an undeniable influence on the medium. Reservoir Dogs is a special debut because it was way ahead of its contemporaries. It's almost hard to believe that a director's first feature film could so strongly influence the following decade of crime movies, but that's exactly what Tarantino did with Reservoir Dogs.

After his debut, every studio was trying to cash in on the popularity of quirky action movies with eccentric criminals who talk too much. By the time of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood 's release, Tarantino has directed eight the two-part Kill Bill counts as one consistently stylish and critically beloved films; a feat few filmmakers could pull off. At this point, Tarantino is an experienced filmmaker doing what he does best. As a director, Tarantino has very few if any duds in his filmography.

Each entry to his oeuvre speaks to his unique tastes and sensibilities, and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is arguably his most ambitious exercise in the love of the medium.

There's no denying that Tarantino loves making movies, and each film he makes pushes his creative boundaries further. Since Reservoir Dogs ' release, the film has ascended to the level of being culturally iconic. White and Mr. Pink, and Mr. Blonde's unforgettable torture scene are instantly recognizable even among casual fans. Thanks, Mr. Although Reservoir Dogs blazed a blood-spattered trail for independent cinema in the early s, it almost skipped cinema entirely.

According to Harvey Keitel, who plays Mr. White, Tarantino at one point considered turning his original script into a play, rather than a movie. The actor dropped this bombshell while discussing the movie's unusually long rehearsal process at its 25th-anniversary bash, held as part of last year's Tribeca Film Festival. Reservoir Dogs may have skipped the stage back then, but the movie has since been adapted for theatre on more than one occasion, which is hardly surprising since its low-budget ethos makes it a great fit for the medium.

So many huge stars auditioned for a part in Reservoir Dogs and some of the big names that Tarantino turned down might surprise you. Samuel L. Jackson, who would go on to appear in no fewer than six of the director's movies, was overlooked for the part of Holdaway, and Agent Mulder himself, David Duchovny, was told thanks, but no thanks. George Clooney and Christopher Walken also read for parts, but perhaps the most unlikely auditionee of all was acclaimed singer Tom Waits.

Tarantino recalled his encounter with the songsmith during the movie's 25th-anniversary celebrations at the Tribeca Film Festival. Tom Waits came in and read.

No one had ever told me my work was poetic before. A script sharper than Mr. Blonde's razor is one of the key weapons in Reservoir Dog 's arsenal, and it took Tarantino less time than you might think to get those award-winning words down on the page. The filmmaker penned the first draft in just three-and-a-half weeks, and it spanned pages. Those who saw this early treatment clamoured to direct the movie, knowing that it had the potential to be something special.

Among them was the filmmaker's friend and collaborator, the late Tony Scott, who was eager to take on the project. Tarantino had other ideas, though, as he was determined to make Reservoir Dogs his directorial debut. Compared to most movies, it was smooth sailing for Tarantino and co. Shooting took place between July and August in Los Angeles, a place which isn't exactly cool during the summer.

Throw a stuffy warehouse full of searing strobe lights into the mix and Reservoir Dogs was practically filmed in an oven. This was a major issue for Roth when he was forced to lie in a pool of fake blood for an extended period. The heat made the red stuff solidify, pinning him to the deck.

It took several minutes to prise Mr. Orange from the floor, which makes the inclusion of "Stuck in the Middle With You" on the movie's soundtrack even more fitting. The best Tarantino characters are compelling to watch even when they're discussing the most inane things.

Take Jules and Vincent's ramblings about the differences between European and American fast food in Pulp Fiction , for instance. Reservoir Dogs' opening scene finds the suited gang analysing the lyrics of Madonna's "Like A Virgin" over breakfast, and Mr. Like most of the world's adult population, Madonna has seen the movie and, according to Tarantino, she enjoyed it, but was quick to pour cold water on Mr.

Brown's interpretation of her lyrics. The pop legend sent the filmmaker a signed copy of her "Erotica" album along with the message: "To Quentin, it's about love. Most Tarantino fans will know that his movies take place within the same universe.