Reservoir Dogs

{{Short description|1992 American crime film by Quentin Tarantino}}

{{About|the film|the video game|Reservoir Dogs (video game){{!}}Reservoir Dogs (video game)|the Bliss n Eso song|Reservoir Dogs (song)}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Reservoir Dogs

| image = Reservoir Dogs.png

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| alt =

| director = Quentin Tarantino

| producer = Lawrence Bender

| writer = Quentin Tarantino

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| cinematography = Andrzej Sekuła

| editing = Sally Menke

| studio = {{Plainlist|

Live America Inc.
Dog Eat Dog Productions

}}

| distributor = Miramax Films

| released = {{Film date|1992|1|21|Sundance|1992|10|9|United States}}

| runtime = 99 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $1.2–3 million{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59373-RESERVOIR-DOGS?sid=42970444-4925-491e-8c2f-0758d4687027&sr=11.324329&cp=1&pos=0|title=Reservoir Dogs (1992)|work=American Film Institute|access-date=June 6, 2020|archive-date=June 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606005627/https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59373-RESERVOIR-DOGS?sid=42970444-4925-491e-8c2f-0758d4687027&sr=11.324329&cp=1&pos=0|url-status=live}}

| gross = $2.9 million

}}

Reservoir Dogs is a 1992 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length directorial debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarantino, and Edward Bunker as diamond thieves whose heist of a jewelry store goes terribly wrong. Kirk Baltz, Randy Brooks, and Steven Wright also play supporting roles. The film incorporates many motifs that have become Tarantino's hallmarks: violent crime, pop culture references, profanity, and nonlinear storytelling.

The film is regarded as a classic of independent film and a cult film.{{cite web |first=Scott |last=Tobias |title=The New Cult Canon – Reservoir Dogs |url=https://www.avclub.com/reservoir-dogs-1798215377 |work=The A.V. Club |publisher=The Onion |date=December 18, 2008 |access-date=August 28, 2011 |archive-date=September 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110915034925/http://www.avclub.com/articles/reservoir-dogs,16744/ |url-status=live }} Although controversial at first for its depictions of violence and heavy use of profanity, Reservoir Dogs was generally well-received, and the cast was praised by many critics. Despite not being heavily promoted during its theatrical run, the film became a modest success in the United States after grossing $2.9 million against its scant budget. It achieved higher popularity after the success of Tarantino's next film, Pulp Fiction (1994). A soundtrack was released featuring songs used in the film, which are mostly from the 1970s. It was named "Greatest Independent Film of All Time" by the British film magazine Empire, who in 2008 also named it the 97th-greatest film ever made.{{Cite web |title=Empire Magazine's 500 Greatest Films of All Time (2008) |url=https://www.imdb.com/list/ls528731286/ |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}

Plot

{{multiple image

| direction = vertical

| width = 150

| image1 =Harvey Keitel at the Tribeca Film Festival.jpg

| caption1 =Harvey Keitel as Larry Dimmick / Mr. White, who takes the wounded Orange to the rendezvous and protects him from execution for suspicion of having betrayed the operation.

| image2 =Tim Roth cropped.jpg

| caption2 =Tim Roth as Freddy Newendyke / Mr. Orange, an undercover police officer wounded during the heist, who needs medical attention.

| image3 =MichaelMadsenTM.jpg

| caption3 =Michael Madsen as "Toothpick" Vic Vega / Mr. Blonde, a loose cannon psychopath who kills civilians during the heist and then tortures captured policeman Nash.

| image4 =Steve Buscemi 2009 portrait.jpg

| caption4 = Steve Buscemi plays Mr. Pink, who has hidden the diamonds and believes that the job was a setup, with the police waiting to ambush them.

| image5 = Quentin Tarantino Césars 2011.jpg

| caption5 =Writer/Director Quentin Tarantino plays Mr. Brown, killed by police during the heist.

}}

Eight men planning to rob a jewelry store for a diamond shipment eat breakfast at a diner. To pull off the heist, boss Joe Cabot assembles six strangers to each other who are experienced robbers. Joe Cabot and his son, "Nice Guy" Eddie Cabot, have known some of the team for years, but to shield identities, the rest use aliases: Mr. White, a career criminal; Mr. Blonde, a trigger-happy ex-convict; Mr. Orange, a reputed drug dealer; Mr. Pink, a paranoid neurotic; Mr. Brown, a pseudo philosopher; and Mr. Blue, an even-tempered cohort.

When an alarm is tripped during the heist, after Blonde started to shoot bystanders, the police arrive quickly. Running from police, Pink hijacks a car, killing a couple of police in a shootout. White, who shoots police officers pursuing in a prowler, flees with Orange, who is shot hijacking a car at White’s instruction. Gut shot, Orange bleeds profusely in the back seat of the car driven by White. Despite Orange’s pleadings to be taken to a hospital, White insists that he is not fatally wounded. At their warehouse hideout, White and Orange rendezvous with Pink, who informs them that he has hidden the diamonds nearby. Pink believes that the job was a setup and that the police were waiting to ambush them. White informs Pink that Brown is dead, Blue and Blonde are missing, and Blonde—a loose cannon—murdered several civilians during the heist. White is furious that Joe, his old friend, would employ Blonde, who he describes as a psychopath. Pink argues with White, who feels responsible for Orange being shot, over whether to get medical attention for Orange, and Pink is wary that Joe is not there to get a doctor. The pair draw guns on each other, but they stand down when Blonde arrives with a kidnapped policeman, Marvin Nash.

In flashback, having been paroled after a four-year prison sentence, Blonde meets with the Cabots. To reward him for not giving Joe's name to the authorities, the Cabots offer Blonde a no-show job. Though grateful, Blonde insists that he wants to get back to "real work", and they recruit him for the heist.

In the present, White and Pink begin to beat up Nash for information. Eddie arrives and orders them to go with him to ditch the getaway vehicles, leaving Blonde in charge of prisoner Nash and the in-and-out-of-consciousness Orange. Nash denies prior knowledge of the heist, but Blonde resumes the torture, cutting off Nash's ear with a straight razor to the radio playing "Stuck in the Middle with You". When Blonde prepares to set Nash on fire, Orange shoots and kills Blonde. Disclosing to Nash that he is an undercover police officer, Orange says that the police will arrive when Joe comes to the warehouse. Nash replies that he recognized Orange, revealing that Nash protected Orange’s cover under torture. Flashbacks show scenes of Orange gaining Joe's and White's confidence and building rapport with the team.

When Eddie, Pink, and White return, Orange tries to convince them that Blonde planned to kill them all and steal the diamonds for himself. Eddie shoots and kills Nash and accuses Orange of lying, since Blonde proved loyal to his father. Joe arrives with news that the police have killed Blue. Suspecting that Orange is the traitor behind the setup, Joe is about to execute him, but White intervenes, holding Joe at gunpoint and insisting that Orange is not a police officer. Eddie aims his gun at White, creating a Mexican standoff. All three fire. Both Eddie and Joe Cabot are killed, and White and Orange are wounded.

Pink flees with the diamonds, but a crash is heard outside, and gunshots follow. As White cradles the dying Orange in his arms, Orange confesses that he is a police officer. White presses his gun to Orange's head. The police storm the warehouse and order White to drop his gun. After he shoots Orange, White is killed by the police.

Cast

File:Reservoirdog.jpg" by the George Baker Selection]]

{{Cast listing|

Harvey Keitel as Larry Dimmick / Mr. White
Tim Roth as Freddy Newendyke / Mr. Orange
Michael Madsen as "Toothpick" Vic Vega / Mr. Blonde
Chris Penn as "Nice Guy" Eddie Cabot
Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink
Lawrence Tierney as Joe Cabot
Randy Brooks as Holdaway
Kirk Baltz as Officer Marvin Nash
Edward Bunker as Mr. Blue
Quentin Tarantino as Mr. Brown
David Steen as Sheriff #2
Steven Wright as K-Billy DJ (voice)

}}

Rich Turner played Sheriff #1. Nina Siemaszko played police officer Jody McClusky; her scenes were deleted from the theatrical release.{{cite web |date=January 11, 2013 |title='Reservoir Dogs': Where Are They Now? |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/reservoir-dogs-gallery-1.89294?pmSlide=1.101656 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808093113/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/reservoir-dogs-gallery-1.89294?pmSlide=1.101656 |archive-date=August 8, 2016 |access-date=March 19, 2022 |work=New York Daily News}} There is an unseen accomplice of Joe and Eddie who speaks to Eddie on the phone. His name is Dov Schwarz, named after the sound editor on My Best Friend's Birthday.{{cite book|last1=Barnes|first1=Alan|last2=Hearn|first2=Marcus|url=https://archive.org/details/tarantinotozedfi0000barn/page/104/mode/2up?q=Thrill+killers&view=theater|title=Tarantino A to Zed: The Films of Quentin Tarantino|publisher=B T Batsford Ltd|date=March 1, 1996|access-date=March 19, 2022|isbn=0713479906|via=Wayback Machine|page=169}}

Production

Quentin Tarantino had been working at Video Archives, a video store in Manhattan Beach, California, and originally planned to shoot the film with his friends on a budget of $30,000 in a 16 mm black-and-white format, with himself playing Mr. Pink and producer Lawrence Bender playing both Nice Guy Eddie and a police officer chasing Mr. Pink.{{cite magazine | last = Taubin | first = Amy | title = The Men's Room | magazine = Sight & Sound |url= https://archive.org/details/Sight_and_Sound_1992_12_BFI_GB/page/n3/mode/2up |pages=2–4 |volume=2 |number=8 |date=December 1992 |access-date=May 23, 2023}} Bender gave the script to his acting teacher, whose wife gave the script to Harvey Keitel.{{cite news |last=McKenna |first=Kristine |date=October 18, 1992 |title=MOVIES : Leaps of Faith : Harvey Keitel's search for God often involves confronting his darker self; case in point: 'Reservoir Dogs' |pages=Calendar; Page 7; Calendar Desk |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-10-18-ca-681-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=May 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420144352/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-10-18-ca-681-story.html |archive-date=April 20, 2021}} Keitel liked it enough to sign as a co-producer so Tarantino and Bender would have an easier job finding funding; with his assistance, they raised $1.5 million. Keitel also paid for Tarantino and Bender to host casting sessions in New York, where the duo found Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, and Tim Roth.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/empire-classic-feature-reservoir-dogs/|title=The Making of Reservoir Dogs|last=Dawson|first=Jeff|magazine=Empire|issue=44|date=February 1993|access-date=February 10, 2016|archive-date=March 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311161528/http://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/empire-classic-feature-reservoir-dogs/|url-status=live}} Jon Cryer was asked to audition for the role of Mr. Pink, but he backed out at the last minute.{{Cite web |date=April 5, 2016 |title=Jon Cryer dishes 'Pretty in Pink,' 'Superman 4' and Charlie Sheen anecdotes on 'Howard Stern' |url=https://uproxx.com/hitfix/jon-cryer-dishes-pretty-in-pink-superman-4-and-charlie-sheen-anecdotes-on-howard-stern/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004183303/https://uproxx.com/hitfix/jon-cryer-dishes-pretty-in-pink-superman-4-and-charlie-sheen-anecdotes-on-howard-stern/ |archive-date=October 4, 2021 |access-date=October 4, 2021 |website=Uproxx}} James Woods was also considered for Mr. Pink, but his agent turned it down without telling him.{{Cite web |last=Brew |first=Simon |date=2014-02-25 |title=James Woods interview: Videodrome, The Hard Way, Hercules and more |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/james-woods-interview-videodrome-the-hard-way-hercules-and-more/ |access-date=2024-09-06 |website=Den of Geek |language=en-US}} Viggo Mortensen, George Clooney, and David Duchovny also read for roles.{{Cite web |last=Lyttelton |first=Oliver |date=October 23, 2012 |title=5 Things You Might Not Know About 'Reservoir Dogs' |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2012/10/5-things-you-might-not-know-about-reservoir-dogs-250511/ |website=IndieWire}}{{cite web | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/viggo-mortensen-hateful-eight-i-783587/ | title=Viggo Mortensen on 'Hateful Eight': "I Wish It Had Worked Out" | website=The Hollywood Reporter | date=March 23, 2015 }}{{cite web | url=https://collider.com/david-duchovny-quentin-tarantino-reservoir-dogs-audition-comments/ | title=David Duchovny Reveals How Quentin Tarantino Rejected Him During His 'Reservoir Dogs' Audition | website=Collider | date=January 18, 2023 }} Tim Roth's agents originally wanted him to be Mr. Pink or Mr. Blonde, but he preferred Mr. Orange because he would "be an English actor pretending to be American playing a cop pretending to be a robber".{{Cite web|date=March 8, 2019|title=Tim Roth Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=driYdJ95HHs|url-status=live|website=YouTube|publisher=GQ|access-date=November 17, 2021|archive-date=November 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119201125/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=driYdJ95HHs}}

The film contains multiple homages to other films. In a 1992 interview, Tarantino says he likes the title of Reservoir Dogs because "it sounds like in a film by Alain Delon by Jean-Pierre Melville... I could see Alain Delon in a black suit say: "I'm Mr. Blonde".{{Cite web |last=Fitzmaurice |first=Larry |date=2015-08-28 |title=Quentin Tarantino: The Complete Syllabus of His Influences and References |url=https://www.vulture.com/2015/08/quentin-tarantino-the-complete-syllabus.html |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=Vulture |language=en}} Moreover, Le Samouraï is one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite films and influenced him in the creation of the world of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.{{Cite web |date=2024-08-18 |title=Alain Delon, cinematic heartthrob and beloved French actor, has died |url=https://health.wusf.usf.edu/2024-08-18/alain-delon-cinematic-heartthrob-and-beloved-french-actor-has-died |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=Health News Florida |language=en}} The idea of the costumes of the films comes from a discussion between Tarantino and the costume designer Betsy Heimann, about French noir films with Alain Delon.{{Cite web |date=2019-10-23 |title='Reservoir Dogs' And 'Pulp Fiction': The History Behind The Iconic Black Suits |url=https://www.esquire.com/uk/style/a29558457/reservoir-dogs-pulp-fictions-black-suits-history-betsy-heimann/ |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=Esquire |language=en-GB}} Tarantino has said that Reservoir Dogs was influenced by Stanley Kubrick's 1956 film noir The Killing: "I didn't go out of my way to do a rip-off of The Killing, but I did think of it as my 'Killing', my take on that kind of heist movie." The film's plot was also inspired by the 1952 film Kansas City Confidential.{{cite book | last = Hughes | first = Howard | title = Crime Wave: The Filmgoers' Guide to the Great Crime Movies | publisher = I.B.Tauris | year = 2006 | location = London | page = 186 | isbn = 978-1-84511-219-6}} Additionally, Joseph H. Lewis's 1955 film The Big Combo and Sergio Corbucci's 1966 Spaghetti Western Django inspired the scene where a police officer is tortured in a chair.{{cite web|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/django|work=Slant Magazine|access-date=February 5, 2016|title=Django|date=December 20, 2012 |archive-date=February 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224095913/http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/django|url-status=live}} Having the main characters named after colors (Mr. Pink, White, Brown, etc.) was first seen in the 1974 film The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.{{cite web |author=Eder |first=Bruce |date=2008 |title=The Taking of Pelham One Two Three |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/48468/The-Taking-of-Pelham-1-2-3/overview |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913233042/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/48468/The-Taking-of-Pelham-1-2-3/overview |archive-date=September 13, 2008 |work=The New York Times |department=Movies & TV Dept.}} The film also contains key elements similar to those found in Ringo Lam's 1987 film City on Fire.{{cite book | title=What Happens Next: A History of American Screenwriting | url=https://archive.org/details/whathappensnexth00norm | url-access=registration | last=Norman | first=Marc | year=2007 | publisher=Harmony Books | location=New York | isbn=978-0-307-39388-3 | page=[https://archive.org/details/whathappensnexth00norm/page/458 458] | quote=[W]ebsites posted lengthy exegeses comparing Reservoir Dogs side by side with [...] City on Fire [...]. But Tarantino had always advertised his sources; The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, a 1974 thriller [...] and the Reservoir Dogs screenplay title page dedicated the movie to, among others, Roger Corman, Chow Yun Fat, Godard, Melville, and the obscure 1950s action director Andre De Toth.}} Tarantino praised the film City on Fire and mentioned it as a major influence.{{Cite web |title=Before 'Reservoir Dogs, 'there was 'City on Fire' |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1995-04-14-1995104053-story.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229060108/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1995-04-14-1995104053-story.html |archive-date=December 29, 2021 |access-date=December 29, 2021 |website=Baltimore Sun |language=en}}

The film's production experienced several significant difficulties. Tarantino said that everybody "hated" Lawrence Tierney by the end of the first week of production because of his on-set behavior and volatility; he seemed (to some of the cast and crew) to be evincing psychological problems.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/jan/12/quentin-tarantino-bafta | title=Why Quentin Tarantino wants to be the next Howard Hawks | newspaper=The Guardian | date=January 12, 2010 | last1=Child | first1=Ben }} The warehouse scenes were filmed in an unused mortuary filled with caskets, funeral equipment, embalming fluid, and a hearse. Mr. Orange's apartment was a room on the second floor of the mortuary, set to look like living quarters. The building has since been demolished.{{cite web|url=http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/r/Reservoir-Dogs.php|title=Reservoir Dogs|website=Film Locations|access-date=July 22, 2018|archive-date=July 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722130029/http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/r/Reservoir-Dogs.php|url-status=live}}

Tarantino's decision not to film the diamond robbery was twofold: for budgetary reasons, and to keep the details of the heist ambiguous. By not showing the robbery and having the characters describe it, Tarantino explained, the film is allowed to be "about other things", similar to the way in which the burglary in Glengarry Glen Ross and its film adaptation is discussed, described, and debated, but never shown. Tarantino compared the technique to the work of a novelist, and said he wanted the film to be about something not seen and to "play with a real-time clock as opposed to a movie clock ticking".

Reception

= Box office =

Reservoir Dogs premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 1992. It became the festival's most talked-about film, and it was subsequently picked up for distribution by Miramax Films.{{cite book |last=Levy |first=Emanuel |title=Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of American Independent Film |publisher=NYU Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0814751244 |location=New York |pages=16–17}} After being shown at several other film festivals, including in Cannes, Sitges, and Toronto, Reservoir Dogs opened in the United States in 19 theaters on October 9, 1992, with a first week total of $147,839.{{cite web | title = Reservoir Dogs | url = https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0105236/ | work = Box Office Mojo | access-date = March 7, 2011 | archive-date = December 6, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191206200104/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0105236/ | url-status = live }} It was expanded to 61 theaters on October 23, 1992, and totaled $2,832,029 at the domestic box office. The film grossed more than double that in the United Kingdom,{{cite book |last=Mottram |first=James |title=Sundance Kids: How the Mavericks Took Back Hollywood |publisher=Faber & Faber |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-571-26149-9 |chapter=Reservoir Dogs and the Class of '92 |access-date=November 13, 2015 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oRpFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT55 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506213711/https://books.google.com/books?id=oRpFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT55 |archive-date=May 6, 2016 |url-status=live}} where it did not receive a home video release until 1995.{{cite web |title=Case Studies: Reservoir Dogs |url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/education/case-studies/reservoir-dogs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019153309/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/reservoir-dogs |archive-date=October 19, 2014 |access-date=October 19, 2014 |website=British Board of Film Classification}} During the period of unavailability on home video, the film was re-released in UK cinemas in June 1994.{{cite web|title=12 Famous Movies That Have Been Banned In Certain Countries|url=https://www.nme.com/photos/12-famous-movies-that-have-been-banned-in-certain-countries/389109|website=NME|access-date=October 17, 2015|archive-date=October 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018012735/http://www.nme.com/photos/12-famous-movies-that-have-been-banned-in-certain-countries/389109|url-status=dead}}

= Critical reception =

Reservoir Dogs is regarded as an important and influential milestone of independent filmmaking. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 90% based on 81 reviews, and an average rating of 8.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Thrumming with intelligence and energy, Reservoir Dogs opens Quentin Tarantino's filmmaking career with hard-hitting style."{{cite web | url = https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/reservoir_dogs/ | title = Reservoir Dogs (1992) | publisher = Fandango Media | work = Rotten Tomatoes | access-date = November 19, 2022 | archive-date = June 5, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200605042839/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/reservoir_dogs | url-status = live }} On Metacritic the film has an average score of 81 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".{{cite web |title=Reservoir Dogs |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/reservoir-dogs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726031659/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/reservoir-dogs |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |access-date=March 20, 2018 |work=Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive}} Empire magazine named it the "Greatest Independent Film" ever made.{{cite magazine | last = Dirks | first = Tim | title = Empire's 50 Greatest Independent Films | url = http://www.filmsite.org/independentfilms3.html | magazine = Empire | access-date = February 21, 2008 | archive-date = October 27, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201027151543/https://www.filmsite.org/independentfilms3.html | url-status = live }}

At the film's release at the Sundance Film Festival, film critic Jami Bernard of the New York Daily News compared the effect of Reservoir Dogs to that of the 1895 film L'Arrivée d'un Train en Gare de la Ciotat, when audiences supposedly saw a moving train approaching the camera and ducked. Bernard said that Reservoir Dogs had a similar effect and people were not ready for it.{{cite news |last=Persall |first=Steve |date=August 27, 2002 |title=The 'Reservoir' watershed |work=Tampa Bay Times |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2002/08/27/Floridian/The__Reservoir__water.shtml |url-status=dead |access-date=May 25, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070531202439/http://www.sptimes.com/2002/08/27/Floridian/The__Reservoir__water.shtml |archive-date=May 31, 2007}} Vincent Canby of The New York Times enjoyed the cast and the usage of non-linear storytelling. He similarly complimented Tarantino's directing and liked the fact that he did not often use close-ups in the film.{{cite news |last=Canby |first=Vincent |date=October 23, 1992 |title=Review/Film; A Caper Goes Wrong, Resoundingly |pages=Section C, page 14, column 1 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/23/movies/review-film-a-caper-goes-wrong-resoundingly.html |access-date=May 23, 2023}} Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times also enjoyed the film and the acting, particularly that of Buscemi, Tierney and Madsen, and said "Tarantino's palpable enthusiasm, his unapologetic passion for what he's created, reinvigorates this venerable plot and, mayhem aside, makes it involving for longer than you might suspect."{{cite news |last=Turan |first=Kenneth |date=October 30, 1992 |title=MOVIE REVIEW : 'Reservoir Dogs' Is a Brash Comic Opera of Violence |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-10-30-ca-760-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=May 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406020056/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-10-30-ca-760-story.html |archive-date=April 6, 2019}} Critic James Berardinelli was of a similar opinion; he complimented both the cast and Tarantino's dialogue writing abilities.{{cite web |last=Berardinelli |first=James |title=Reservoir Dogs |url=http://preview.reelviews.net/movies/r/reservoir.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210172237/http://preview.reelviews.net/movies/r/reservoir.html |archive-date=December 10, 2019 |access-date=November 3, 2008 |website=ReelViews}} Hal Hinson of The Washington Post was also enthusiastic about the cast, complimenting the film on its "deadpan sense of humor".{{cite news | last = Hinson | first = Hal | title = Reservoir Dogs | newspaper = The Washington Post | date = October 24, 1992 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/reservoirdogsrhinson_a0a7c1.htm | access-date = March 11, 2008 | archive-date = May 11, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120511223725/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/reservoirdogsrhinson_a0a7c1.htm | url-status = live }}

Roger Ebert was less enthusiastic, as he felt that the script could have been better and said that the film "feels like it's going to be terrific", but Tarantino's script does not have much curiosity about the characters. He also said that Tarantino "has an idea, and trusts the idea to drive the plot." Ebert gave the film two and a half stars out of four and said that while he enjoyed it and that it was a very good film from a talented director, "I liked what I saw, but I wanted more."{{cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=October 26, 1992 |title=Reservoir Dogs |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/reservoir-dogs-1992 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210163122/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19921026%2FREVIEWS%2F210260301%2F |archive-date=February 10, 2008 |access-date=September 2, 2012 |work=Chicago Sun-Times}}

The film has received substantial criticism for its strong violence and language. One scene that viewers found particularly unnerving was the ear-cutting scene. Madsen himself reportedly had great difficulty finishing it, especially after Kirk Baltz ad-libbed the desperate plea "I've got a little kid at home."{{cite news | last= D'Angelo | first= Mike | title= Reservoir Dogs | url= https://www.avclub.com/reservoir-dogs-1798229427 | newspaper= The A.V. Club | date= January 23, 2012 | access-date= April 20, 2020 | archive-date= November 11, 2013 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131111041906/http://www.avclub.com/articles/reservoir-dogs,67998/ | url-status= live }} Many people walked out during the film. During a screening at Sitges Film Festival, 15 people walked out, including horror film director Wes Craven and special makeup effects artist Rick Baker.{{cite book | last = Clarkson | first = Wensley | title = Quentin Tarantino – Shooting From The Hip | publisher = Piatkus | year = 1995 | location = London | pages = 180–181 | isbn = 0-7499-1555-2 }} Baker later told Tarantino to take the walkout as a "compliment" and explained that he found the violence unnerving because of its heightened sense of realism. Tarantino commented about it at the time: "It happens at every single screening. For some people the violence, or the rudeness of the language, is a mountain they can't climb. That's OK. It's not their cup of tea. But I am affecting them. I wanted that scene to be disturbing."{{cite news |last=Hartl |first=John |date=October 29, 1992 |title='Dogs' Gets Walkouts and Raves |pages=Arts; Entertainment; page F5 |newspaper=The Seattle Times |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19921029/1521437/dogs-gets-walkouts-and-raves |url-status=live |access-date=January 18, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090126084703/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19921029&slug=1521437 |archive-date=January 26, 2009}}

= Analysis =

Reservoir Dogs has often been seen as a prominent film in terms of on-screen violence.{{cite book | last = Gormley | first = Paul | pages = 137–139 | title = The New-brutality Film: Race and Affect in Contemporary Hollywood | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Ex-3dDhaS1wC&q=%22reservoir+dogs%22 | publisher = Intellect Ltd | date = August 1, 2005 | isbn = 1-84150-119-0 | access-date = October 3, 2020 | archive-date = March 3, 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220303003605/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ex-3dDhaS1wC&q=%22reservoir+dogs%22 | url-status = live }}{{cite journal | doi = 10.1525/fq.1993.46.4.04a00030 | last = McKinney | first = Devin | title = Violence: The Strong and the Weak | journal = Film Quarterly | publisher = University of California Press | pages = 16–22 | volume=46 | issue = 4 |date=Summer 1993 | issn = 0015-1386 | jstor=1213142}}{{cite journal | last = Brintnall | first = Kent L. | title = Tarantino's Incarnational Theology; Reservoir Dogs, Crucifixions and Spectacular Violence | journal = Cross Currents |volume=54 |number=1 |pages=66–75}} J. P. Telotte compared Reservoir Dogs to classic caper noir films and points out the irony in its ending scenes.{{Cite journal |last=Telotte |first=J. P. |date=1996 |title=Fatal Capers, Strategy and Enigma in Film Noir |journal=Journal of Popular Film and Television |volume=23 |issue=4 |page=163|doi=10.1080/01956051.1996.9943702 }} Mark Irwin also made the connection between Reservoir Dogs and classic American noir.{{Cite journal |last=Irwin |first=Mark |date=March 1998 |title=Pulp and the Pulpit: The Films of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez |journal=Literature and Theology |volume=12 |issue=1|pages=70–81 |doi=10.1093/litthe/12.1.70 }} Caroline Jewers called Reservoir Dogs a "feudal epic" and paralleled the color pseudonyms to color names of medieval knights.{{cite journal|last=Jewers |first=Caroline |title=Heroes and Heroin: From True Romance to Pulp Fiction |journal=The Journal of Popular Culture |volume=33 |number=4 |date=2000 |pages=39–61, 45–46 |doi=10.1111/j.0022-3840.2000.3304_39.x |url= https://www.proquest.com/docview/195363594 |access-date=June 27, 2023|id={{ProQuest|195363594}} |url-access=subscription }}

Critics have observed parallels between Reservoir Dogs and other films. For its nonlinear storyline, Reservoir Dogs has often been compared to Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon.{{cite news |last=de Vries |first=Hilary |date=September 11, 1994 |title=Cover Story: A Chat with Mr. Mayhem: Quentin Tarantino |pages=Calendar, p. 6, Calendar desk |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-11-ca-37458-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=May 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629155709/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-11-ca-37458-story.html |archive-date=June 29, 2019}} Critic John Hartl compared the ear-cutting scene to the shower murder scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and Tarantino to David Lynch. He furthermore explored parallels between Reservoir Dogs and Glengarry Glen Ross. Todd McCarthy, who called the film "undeniably impressive", was of the opinion that it was influenced by Mean Streets, Goodfellas, and Stanley Kubrick's The Killing.{{cite magazine | last = McCarthy | first = Todd | title = Reservoir Dogs | url = https://variety.com/1992/film/reviews/reservoir-dogs-1200429146/ | magazine = Variety | date = January 27, 1992 | access-date = March 11, 2008 | archive-date = March 7, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080307063523/http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=review&reviewid=VE1117794411&categoryid=31&query=reservoir+dogs&display=reservoir+dogs&cs=1 | url-status = live }} After this film, Tarantino himself was also compared to Martin Scorsese, Sam Peckinpah, John Singleton, Gus Van Sant, and Abel Ferrara.

A frequently cited comparison has been to Tarantino's second and more successful film Pulp Fiction,{{cite journal | doi = 10.1177/026327698015002004 | last = Botting | first = Fred |author2=Scott Wilson | title = By Accident: The Tarantinian Ethics | journal = Theory, Culture & Society | volume = 15 | page = 89 | year = 1998 | issue = 2 | s2cid = 143804267 }} especially since the majority of audiences saw Reservoir Dogs after the success of Pulp Fiction. Comparisons have been made regarding the black humor in both the films, the theme of accidents, and more concretely, the style of dialogue and narrative that Tarantino incorporates into both films.{{cite news | last = Crouch | first = Stanley | title = Film Comment; Pulp Friction: Director Quentin Tarantino's Movies are Best Known for their Wit and Mayhem, but What You Don't Hear About is their Original Take on Race | work = Los Angeles Times | pages = Calendar; Page 5; Calendar Desk | date = October 16, 1994 |url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-16-ca-51005-story.html |access-date=May 24, 2023 }} Specifically the relationship between white people and black people plays a big part in the films{{mdash}}though underplayed in Reservoir Dogs. Stanley Crouch of The New York Times compared the way the white criminals speak of black people in Reservoir Dogs to the way they are spoken of in Scorsese's Mean Streets and Goodfellas. Crouch observed the way black people are looked down upon in Reservoir Dogs, but also the way that the criminals accuse each other of "verbally imitating" black men and the characters' apparent sexual attraction to black actress Pam Grier.

In February 2012, as part of an ongoing series of live dramatic readings of film scripts being staged with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), director Jason Reitman cast black actors in the originally white cast: Laurence Fishburne as Mr. White; Terrence Howard as Mr. Blonde; Anthony Mackie as Mr. Pink; Cuba Gooding Jr. as Mr. Orange; Chi McBride as Joe Cabot; Anthony Anderson as Nice Guy Eddie (Joe Cabot's son); Common as both Mr. Brown and Officer Nash (the torture victim of Mr. Blonde), and Patton Oswalt as Holdaway (the mentor cop who was originally played by Randy Brooks, the only black actor in the film). Critic Elvis Mitchell suggested that Reitman's version of the script was taking the source material back to its roots since the characters "all sound like black dudes."{{cite news|last=Breznican|first=Anthony|title=Laurence Fishburne as Mr. White! Inside the all-black (almost) 'Reservoir Dogs' reading|url=http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/02/17/laurence-fishburne-as-mr-white-inside-the-all-black-almost-reservoir-dogs-reading/|access-date=April 9, 2012|newspaper=Entertainment Weekly|date=February 17, 2012|archive-date=April 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423013330/http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/02/17/laurence-fishburne-as-mr-white-inside-the-all-black-almost-reservoir-dogs-reading/|url-status=live}}

Accolades

The film was screened out of competition at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.{{cite web|url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/30/year/1992.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Reservoir Dogs |access-date=August 17, 2009 |work=festival-cannes.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807002342/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/30/year/1992.html |archive-date=August 7, 2012}}

It won the Critic's Award at the 4th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in February 1993, which Tarantino attended.{{cite web|url=http://yubarifanta.com/archive.php?num=1993&langue=21002 |title=Archive: Yubari International Fantastic Adventure Film Festival '93 |website=yubarifanta.com |access-date=February 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040407040236/http://yubarifanta.com/index_pc.php?ct=archive.php&langue=21002 |archive-date=April 7, 2004 |url-status=dead}} The film was also nominated for the Grand Prix of the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics.{{cite news |last=De Decker |first=Jacques |date=January 10, 1994 |title=Le Grand Prix de l'UCC, "Raining Stones" vainqueur |language=fr |page=8 |journal=Le Soir |url=http://archives.lesoir.be/le-grand-prix-de-l-ucc-raining-stones-vainqueur_t-19940110-Z07P9M.html |url-status=dead |access-date=October 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602065253/http://archives.lesoir.be/le-grand-prix-de-l-ucc-raining-stones-vainqueur_t-19940110-Z07P9M.html |archive-date=June 2, 2013}} Steve Buscemi won the 1992 Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male.{{cite book|last1=Wiener|first1=Tom|title=The Off-Hollywood Film Guide: The Definitive Guide to Independent and Foreign Films on Video and DVD|date=August 13, 2002|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|location=Reservoir Dogs|isbn=9780679647379|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BvLNn3boZjoC&pg=PT526|access-date=May 11, 2016|archive-date=August 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819010247/https://books.google.com/books?id=BvLNn3boZjoC&pg=PT526|url-status=live}} Reservoir Dogs ranks at {{Abbr|No.|Number}} 97 in Empire magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Films of All Time.{{cite web |title=The 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time |url=http://www.empireonline.com/500/80.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011071232/http://www.empireonline.com/500/80.asp |archive-date=October 11, 2011 |access-date=August 17, 2011 |work=Empire |publisher=Bauer Media Group}} In 2024, Reservoir Dogs was ranked second on the list of the Sundance Film Festival's Top 10 films of All Time based on a survey conducted with 500 filmmakers and critics in honor of the festival's 40th anniversary.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-01-16 |title=Alliance of Women Directors Announces Inaugural Rising Director Fellowship Class – Film News in Brief |url=https://variety.com/2024/film/news/film-news-in-brief-jan-16-2024-1235873931/ |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Bergeson |first=Samantha |date=2024-01-16 |title='Whiplash' Named Top Sundance Film of All Time in Festival Poll of Over 500 Filmmakers and Critics |url=https://www.indiewire.com/news/breaking-news/sundance-top-10-films-all-time-whiplash-1234944417/ |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}

AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes & Villains:
Mr. Blonde – Nominated Villain

Home media

In the United Kingdom, release of the VHS rental video was delayed until 1995 due to the British Board of Film Classification initially refusing the film a home video certificate (UK releases are required to be certified separately for theatrical release and for viewing at home). The latter is a requirement by law due to the Video Recordings Act 1984. Following the UK VHS release approval, PolyGram released a "Mr Blonde Deluxe Edition",{{cite web|title=Reservoir Dogs [VHS] [1993]|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000057QG8|website=Amazon UK|date=November 6, 1995|access-date=September 10, 2017|archive-date=March 3, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303003549/https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000057QG8|url-status=live}} which included an interview with Tarantino and several memorabilia associated with the character Mr. Blonde, such as sunglasses and a chrome toothpick holder.

Region 1 DVDs of Reservoir Dogs have been released multiple times. The first release was a single two-sided disc from LIVE Entertainment, released in June 1997 and featuring two versions of the film: the original letterbox 2.35:1 widescreen version and an open matte 1.33:1 full screen version.{{cite book|last1=Holm|first1=D.K.|title=Quentin Tarantino: The Pocket Essential Guide|date=December 1, 2004|publisher=Summersdale Publishers|isbn=978-1-84839-866-5|page=48|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NAL0CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA48|access-date=October 17, 2015|archive-date=October 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018012735/https://books.google.com/books?id=NAL0CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA48|url-status=live}} Five years later, on August 27, 2002, Artisan Entertainment (who changed their name from LIVE Entertainment in the interim) released a two-disc 10th anniversary edition on DVD and VHS featuring multiple covers color-coded to match the nicknames of five of the characters (Pink, White, Orange, Blonde, and Brown) and a disc of bonus features such as interviews with the cast and crew.{{cite web |last=Rivero |first=Enrique |date=May 23, 2002 |title=Dogs' DVD Develops Multiple Personalities |url=http://www.hive4media.com/news/html/product_article.cfm?article_id=3168 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020604225155/http://www.hive4media.com/news/html/product_article.cfm?article_id=3168 |archive-date=June 4, 2002 |access-date=September 10, 2019 |website=hive4media.com}} However, the full screen version on the second disc was a pan and scan transfer from the 2.35:1 widescreen version, as opposed to open matte like the 1997 DVD.

For the film's 15th anniversary, Lionsgate (which had purchased Artisan in the interim) produced a two-disc anniversary edition with a remastered 16:9 transfer and a new supplement, but not all of the extra features from the 10th Anniversary edition.{{cite web |title=DVD Review: Reservoir Dogs (15th Anniversary Edition) |url=http://www.monstersandcritics.com/dvd/reviews/article_1215898.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601064458/http://www.monstersandcritics.com/dvd/reviews/article_1215898.php |archive-date=June 1, 2008 |access-date=May 27, 2008 |website=monstersandcritics.com}} In particular, the interviews with the cast and crew were removed, and a new 48-minute-long feature called "Tributes and Dedications" was included.

Lionsgate Home Entertainment celebrated the 30th anniversary of Reservoir Dogs with a 4K Blu-ray release, which was released in the U.S. on November 15, 2022.{{Citation |title=Reservoir Dogs 30th Anniversary 4K Blu-ray |url=https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=31134 |access-date=August 22, 2022}}

Soundtrack

The Reservoir Dogs: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was the first soundtrack for a Tarantino film and set the structure his later soundtracks would follow.{{cite news|last=Stovall |first=Natasha |title=Jackie Brown Original Soundtrack |work=Salon |url=http://www1.salon.com/music/sharps/1997/12/22sharps.html |date=December 22, 1997 |access-date=March 25, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208103310/http://www.salon.com/music/sharps/1997/12/22sharps.html |archive-date=February 8, 2011 }} This includes the extensive use of snippets of dialogue from the film. The soundtrack has selections of songs from the 1960s to '80s. Only the group Bedlam recorded original songs for the film. Reasoning that the film takes place over a weekend, Tarantino decided to set it to a fictional radio station 'K-Billy' (presumably KBLY)'s show "K-Billy's Super Sounds of the Seventies Weekend", a themed weekend show of songs from the seventies. The radio station played a prominent role in the film.{{cite news |last=Strauss |first=Neil |date=September 29, 1994 |title=The Pop Life |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/29/arts/the-pop-life-382523.html |url-status=live |access-date=May 5, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207213029/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07E2DD1E3AF93AA1575AC0A962958260 |archive-date=December 7, 2008}} The DJ for the radio was chosen to be Steven Wright, a comedian known for his deadpan delivery of jokes.{{cite news | last = Howe | first = Desson | title = Reservoir Dogs | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/reservoirdogsrhowe_a0af27.htm | newspaper = The Washington Post | date = October 23, 1992 | access-date = May 2, 2013 | archive-date = November 8, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121108073933/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/reservoirdogsrhowe_a0af27.htm | url-status = live }}

An unusual feature of the soundtrack was the choice of songs; Tarantino has said that he feels the music to be a counterpoint to the on-screen violence and action.{{cite web |last=Breen |first=Marcus |date=December 1996 |title=Woof, Woof: The real bite in Reservoir Dogs |url=http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/AHR/archive/Issue-Dec-1996/breen.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080303144739/http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/AHR/archive/Issue-Dec-1996/breen.html |archive-date=March 3, 2008 |access-date=March 10, 2008 |website=Australian Humanities Review}} He also stated that he wished for the film to have a 1950s feel while using '70s music. A prominent instance of this is the torture scene to the tune of "Stuck in the Middle with You".{{cite web |last=Jardine |first=Dan |title=The Killing Fields (on Reservoir Dogs) |url=http://www.thefilmjournal.com/issue10/reservoirdogs.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214055601/http://www.thefilmjournal.com/issue10/reservoirdogs.html |archive-date=December 14, 2007 |access-date=March 10, 2008 |website=The Film Journal}}

Video games

A video game based on the film was released in 2006 for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 2.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2006/09/15/reservoir-dogs-mark-release-territory|title=Reservoir Dogs Mark Release Territory|website=IGN|author=IGN Staff|date=September 15, 2006|access-date=November 28, 2024|archive-date=November 28, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241128081722/https://www.ign.com/articles/2006/09/15/reservoir-dogs-mark-release-territory|url-status=live}} Only Michael Madsen reprised his role from the film. The game was received unfavorably, with GameSpot calling it "an out and out failure".{{cite web |url=http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/reservoirdogs/ |work=GameSpot |title=Reservoir Dogs |access-date=March 10, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014153606/http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/reservoirdogs/ |archive-date=October 14, 2007 |publisher=CNET Networks, Inc. |date=October 24, 2006}} It caused controversy for its amount of violence and it was banned in Australia,{{cite press release |title=Reservoir Dogs computer game Refused Classification |work=Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification |date=June 28, 2006 |url=http://www.classification.gov.au/Public/Resources/Documents/2006%20media%20releases/ReservoirDogs.pdf |access-date=July 7, 2006 |first=Brinsley |last=Marlay |publisher=Department of Communications and the Arts, Australian Government |archive-date=May 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501124233/http://www.classification.gov.au/Public/Resources/Documents/2006%20media%20releases/ReservoirDogs.pdf |url-status=dead }} Germany and New Zealand.{{cite press release |title=Reservoir Dogs Computer Game Banned |publisher=New Zealand Office of Film and Literature Classification |date=July 7, 2006 |url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0607/S00059.htm |access-date=July 7, 2006 |work=Scoop Independent News |archive-date=July 16, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060716092216/http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0607/S00059.htm |url-status=live }}

Another video game, Reservoir Dogs: Bloody Days, was released in 2017.{{Cite web |last=Kollar |first=Philip |title=There's a new Reservoir Dogs video game, and it actually looks cool |work=Polygon |date=March 10, 2017 |url=http://www.polygon.com/2017/3/10/14879234/reservoir-dogs-bloody-days-gameplay-reveal-quentin-tarantino-video-game-time-back-system |access-date=March 10, 2017 |publisher=Vox Media, Inc. |archive-date=March 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311193639/http://www.polygon.com/2017/3/10/14879234/reservoir-dogs-bloody-days-gameplay-reveal-quentin-tarantino-video-game-time-back-system |url-status=live }}

On December 14, 2017,{{Cite web |title=Payday 2™: Reservoir Dogs Heist Out Now |url=https://www.starbreeze.com/2017/12/payday-2-reservoir-dogs-heist-out-now/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010080120/https://www.starbreeze.com/2017/12/payday-2-reservoir-dogs-heist-out-now/ |archive-date=October 10, 2019 |access-date=October 10, 2019 |website=Starbreeze |language=en-US}} Overkill Software added a heist to Payday 2 inspired by Reservoir Dogs in which the player is contracted to rob a jewelry store in Los Angeles with the Cabot family. It is unique in that the heist is played in reverse order, with day two occurring prior to day one, similar to how the film's plot is out of chronological order.

Remakes

Kaante, a Bollywood film released in 2002, is a remake of Reservoir Dogs, combined with elements of City on Fire.{{cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2002/jul/27gupta.htm |title=Who is the surprise package of Kaante? |date=July 27, 2002 |work=Rediff.com |access-date=November 16, 2014 |first=Sanjay |last=Gupta |author-link=Sanjay Gupta (director) |archive-date=October 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021090412/http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2002/jul/27gupta.htm |url-status=live }} The film also borrows plot points from Heat and The Killing. Tarantino has been quoted as saying that Kaante is his favorite among the many films inspired by his work.{{cite news |last=Jha |first=Subhash K. |author-link=Subhash K. Jha |title=Tarantino likes the cop-y & robber tale |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/lucknow-times/Tarantino-likes-the-cop-y-robber-tale/articleshow/2029668.cms |access-date=January 31, 2015 |newspaper=The Times of India |location=Mumbai |date=May 11, 2007 |archive-date=October 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018012735/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/lucknow-times/Tarantino-likes-the-cop-y-robber-tale/articleshow/2029668.cms |url-status=live }} Tarantino later screened Kaante at his New Beverly Cinema alongside Reservoir Dogs and City on Fire.{{cite news |last=Gaekwad |first=Manish |date=May 23, 2017 |title='Kaante' goes to Hollywood, where it always wanted to belong |work=Scroll.in |url=https://scroll.in/reel/832509/kaante-goes-to-hollywood-where-it-always-wanted-to-belong |url-status=live |access-date=August 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106175855/https://scroll.in/reel/832509/kaante-goes-to-hollywood-where-it-always-wanted-to-belong |archive-date=January 6, 2019}}

Tarantino revealed in June 2021 that he had at one point considered remaking Reservoir Dogs as his tenth and final directed film, though he quickly iterated that he "won't do it".{{Cite web|date=June 26, 2021|title=Quentin Tarantino Considered A Reservoir Dogs Reboot As His Final Film|url=https://screenrant.com/quentin-tarantino-final-movie-reservoir-dogs-reboot/|access-date=June 27, 2021|website=ScreenRant|language=en-US|archive-date=June 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210626225305/https://screenrant.com/quentin-tarantino-final-movie-reservoir-dogs-reboot/|url-status=live}}