Top 100 Movies Of The 1990's: #18 Reservoir Dogs
Box Office: $2.8 Million
Oscar Nominations: None
Oscar Wins: None
MovieRankings.Net: 94/100
Available To Stream: Apple TV ($4)
Reservoir Dogs is Quentin Tarentino's shortest and rawest movie by far on both counts. I don't count Death Proof because I love Tarentino and I'd rather live in a world where I pretend it never existed. Even though it's his first movie and he was only 29 when he made it, his brilliance is right there on the screen. The funny/angry elements of the dialogue. The suspenseful ending. The homages to other great movies. The perfect casting. It's all there.
This is not a movie that people cared about when it came out. It did well at Sundance and got picked up by Miramax but never finished in the top 10 in the box office. The best it ever did was 13th in the box office. But you can understand why it popped at Sundance. It must have been like seeing a prospect hit a towering home run in Single-A. You know this guy is going to be great but he just needs a little more time.
The issue with Reservoir Dogs not being bankable is that it's ahead of its time. It's a chicken and the egg thing. Reservoir Dogs wouldn't be appreciated today without Pulp Fiction. Would Reservoir Dogs have been bigger than Jackie Brown if it was the follow up to Pulp Fiction instead?
Steve Buscemi has had a fantastic career. He's so good as Tony Blundetto in Sopranos and I loved him in Boardwalk Empire and Fargo. But it's his role as Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs that I think of first when I think of him. His rant about tipping is both quintessential Buscemi and Tarantino. That's how guys talk. We may not be that articulate but that's the same energy when a bunch of guys are just shooting the shit.
If Uncut Gems is a non-stop anxiety attack, Reservoir Dogs is a non-stop adrenaline rush. That's so rare for something that's not quite an action movie. This isn't Speed or The Fugitive. It has a ton of dialogue. But it also has the feel that anything could happen at any time. When the cop gets his ear cut off, you realize there truly is no safety net.
Should Michael Madsen have been a bigger star? I really don't know. He's so good in this but is that aura of danger that he carries around also limit him? He's a handsome guy but he's also way too scary to be a leading man. Ray Liotta had a similar energy but seems even less threatening. Michael Madsen is what I imagine every hit man to actually look like.
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Imagine how Tarantino must have felt making this. He's 29 years old and directing a movie with some legit stars like Harvey Keitel and it's pretty fantastic. It must have been such a rewarding feeling having something you're so passionate about be accepted. I'm sure the Oscar love that Pulp Fiction got must have been incredible but it must have been even more special when Miramax bought the rights to distribute Reservoir Dogs.
Quentin Tarantino is my favorite director and I think this is an ideal first film. It's a great movie. It has an edge and rawness that he lost as he became a better storyteller but it fits in perfectly here. How incredible is it that a movie as good as this one is just the beginning of his career?
18. Reservoir Dogs
19. There's Something About Mary
20. Sleepers
21. Schindler's List
22. Rushmore
23. Fight Club
24. Saving Private Ryan
25. True Romance
26. Dumb & Dumber
27. Kingpin
28. Donnie Brasco
29. Heat
30. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
31. Rounders
32. Unforgiven
33. Trainspotting
34. The Game
35. Out Of Sight
36. Carlito's Way
37. Seven
38. L.A. Confidential
39. Speed
40. Gattaca
41. Misery
42. Tombstone
43. Ransom
44. Wayne's World
45. The Insider
46. Back To The Future Part III
47. A Bronx Tale
48. The People Vs. Larry Flynt
49. Eyes Wide Shut
50. The Sandlot
51. Happy Gilmore
52. Contact
53. The Green Mile
54. Man On The Moon
55. Boyz N The Hood
56. Grosse Pointe Blank
57. Independence Day
58. The Rainmaker
59. Go
60. The Firm
61. Magnolia
62. The Talented Mr. Ripley
63. Tommy Boy
64. The Usual Suspects
65. In The Line Of Fire
66. My Cousin Vinny
67. Awakenings
68. JFK
69. Toy Story
70. Home Alone
71. Jerry Maguire
72. Titanic
73. Billy Madison
74. Apollo 13
75. Braveheart
76. Edward Scissorhands
77. Cape Fear
78. The River Wild
79. What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
80. 12 Monkeys
81. Stir Of Echoes
82. Mission: Impossible
83. Total Recall
84. Quiz Show
85. For Love Of The Game
86. Being John Malkovich
87. Men In Black
88. Scream
89. Alive
90. Three Kings
91. Glengarry Glen Ross
92. Die Hard With A Vengeance
93. The Blair Witch Project
94. Twister
95. Dirty Work
96. Election
97. Tremors
98. Any Given Sunday
99. The Wedding Singer
100. Clerks