Reservoir Dogs: The Screenplay

by Quentin Tarantino

Book Overview

Quentin Tarantino's films have single-handedly revived and redefined American noir, bringing to Hollywood a new energy, irony, and cool. Tarantino has won awards and accolades around the world, earned a devoted following among critics, actors, and audiences, and paved the way for a new generation of young filmmakers. Tarantino's directorial debut, Reservoir Dogs, hit the screen with a freshness and brutal edge that left critics and audiences stunned...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802136850
• ISBN13: 9780802136855
• Release Date: August 2000
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.3"

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A Must Film School Teaching Tool

Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" is a MUST teaching tool for film schools. This is precisely what we want to tell students how they can make great films with bare minimum resources and lots of creativity. The entire film was shot in a funeral home warehouse (cheap rent)which was used for shooting most scenes and for turning an upstairs room into Mr Orange's flat. There was no big budget for grand sets,costumes, pretty girls and handsome faces but the right mix of creativity, talents, a fine script, the strong performance of the right cast and crew delivers miracles!! The Tarantino phenomenon begins with "Reservoir Dogs", the film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino which won him worldwide acclaim and gave him his first break. Eight to eighty years old are fascinated by the riveting story and moved by the unlikely friendship developed between Tim Roth/Mr Orange (the undercover cop) and Harvey Keitel/Mr White (the veteran criminal who unknowingly took Mr Orange under his wing, cared for him while he was badly wounded and got himself mortally wounded protecting Mr Orange in a shootout which saw him killing his longtime criminal friends Joe Cabot and Nice Guy Eddie for the sake of Mr Orange in a scene made famous by Mr White's line:"Kill that man, you die next.") In the end, because of honour and friendship, Mr Orange told Mr White the truth and was executed point blank by a sobbing Mr White who was in turn brought down by a shower of bullets from the arriving police. The stunned audience will forever carry the powerful image of Cop and Criminal embraced in Death. It is not just the plot that captivates our imagination, it is Tarantino's ability to make us captive audience witnessing scenes of violence and suspense while he eases our tensions with the light-hearted K-Billy's Supersounds of the Seventies(think the ear-hacking torture scene of Marvin Nash, the cop tied to a chair by Mr Blonde). Well, who can ever forget the violent ear-hacking scene accompanied by Stealers Wheel's delightful "Stuck In the Middle With You". Ingenious! Brilliant!! It is great that the Reservoir Dogs Screenplay has this watershed,climactic scene of Tim Roth/Mr Orange shooting Mr Blonde as its cover. Think the horror and helplessness of the audience when the psychopathic Mr Blonde hacked off the ear of the cop tied to a chair to the tune of "Stuck in the Middle with You" and doused him in petrol and Mr Orange delivered the surprise fatal rounds of shots to save the poor cop just in time, much to our relief. It was only then that we discovered the undercover role of Mr Orange. For Reservoir Dogs fans, this has to be one of the most coveted and treasured items. The screenplay not only provides the entire script with all the dialogue of the movie, hence "Dogs" fans can recite the lines along with their heroes or even before they deliver the lines at movie-screenings, the introductory article "The Miscegenated Cinema of Quentin Tarantino" by Stanley Crouch also mak

"If you kill that man, you die next."

"Reservoir Dogs" is one of my favorite movies. Just the acting, the writing, the mood, the setting, the characters....just everything about it I loved! After reading the screenplay for "Pulp Fiction," I decided to pick this up. "Reservoir Dogs: The Screenplay" is a must-have for any "Reservoir" fan.Tarantino's writing is so clever and realistic. These people talk like real people! If you see movies about criminals, they're always talking about the heist, how big and bad they are, and what they would do if the cops would try to take them down. Have you ever heard a criminal trying to explain the orgin of Madonna's "Like a Virgin?" Have you heard a criminal explain why he doesn't believe in tipping? Or, have you ever seen a criminal dance to the song "Stuck in the Middle with You?" just before brutally torturing a cop? Of course not! That's why the material works and is so original. We actually believe these characters created out of fiction are real. And that's what's so great about it.Here's a quick description of the story: Things go horribly wrong when perfect strangers plan to pull off the perfect caper. As it turns out, they were set up...but by who? Now, they must uncover the rat in the house before the cops are able to get them. In a crime/noir where no one is safe and everyone fears each other, ANYTHING is possible.The book includes photos from the movie, as well as things that were either cut out from the movie or added in later. Pretty cool, if you ask me. That way, it's like you're experiencing it for the very first time.Tarantino is a master when it comes to writing and directing. If you loved the movie, then you are bound to enjoy "Reservoir Dogs: The Screenplay," filled with humor, suprises, and a shocking conclusion.

Strikingly original and well told.

This maximum script by Oscar-winning writer Quentin Tarantino offers a vivid portrait of the finished film, even if you haven't seen it! This is a brilliant scenario, with an informal introduction to boot, but it Tarantino's style of writing and his management of characters that makes it click. Enjoy.

QUENTIN-SENTIAL SCREENPLAYS

Ah yes...Tarantino's first script entitled True Romance which he sold for 30,000 dollars is a genius effort of great proportion and the writing, you will notice in subsequent films and scripts,is common for him. Certain terms will show up later on in other movies. And as for Reservoir Dogs,his second greatest film ever,he used the money from True Romance's script to make this ingenius mob classic complete with terms used in his other films including one or two from True Romance.