EXTRAS....Some fine deleted scenes and alternate takes of the ear cutting scene. Also a Criminal Minds type profiling of the members of the gang that I found psychologically interesting. From the old SD DVD, there was also included a 'Playing it Fast and Loose' Documentary and an interesting 'Pulp Factoids' extra that pops up little tidbits of info during the course of the film. I discovered this feature after I had finished watching the film. Next time I watch it, I will be sure to have it turned on. But this new UHD image looks fantastic while keeping its very filmic roots. There is no way this film has the digital car-washed-out look, which would make Tarantino lose his mind. The film grain is very much intact and heavy at times, which was the intended purpose and even the early source of this 1992 film. The color palette is warm, just like Tarantino intended. The browns, oranges, yellows, ambers, and somewhat warmer beige and grey walls look fantastic. The Dolby Vision enhancement makes those gushes of red blood really pop when they pour from orifices and stain the white button-down shirts. The practical makeup applications reveal pinks and purples for bruising very well too. For all its zeitgeist quaking influence, however, how does Reservoir Dogs fare thirty years later, viewed at a time when its innovation and daring will no doubt feel more conventional? Thankfully, Reservoir Dogs has never been a film solely defined by its originality. Underneath all the hallmarks that would go on to define Tarantino and his career, it is a gripping story filled with, ugly, tragic, humorous and flawed characters.

The color coded names they use are of course Tarantino's tribute to the great 1974 thriller "Taking of Pelham 123". One of those six men is a traitor - and another one hides an even bigger, uglier, more horrible secret. For many of them this is the last day of their lives... Nothing more will be said. One thing you can't accuse Quentin Tarantino of is subtlety. Reservoir Dogsburst onto the scene in 1993 paving the way for one of the more controversial auteurs of recent years. You could easily take issue with a white, middle class, male director who mixes huge amounts of racism and misogyny into his stories. His stories are inherently masculine, violent and exploitational… and fun as hell. Reservoir Dogs is no different.

Reservoir Dogs Review

In 1992, Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) came bursting onto the scene with a crime thriller so unlike anything else that had come before that it changed the face of the genre overnight. Most all are familiar with this film and have discussed its storyline, music, acting, directing and everything else...so I won't. I will just review the transfer of this film to Blu Ray. If you're a Tarantino fan, this is one for you if you don't already have it. It firmly established him as a director while still early in his career and he has made many great movies since. Quentin Tarantino cast his net far and wide when he conceived of the idea of Dogs, though it is recognised that most of his inspiration came from the Asian market, more specifically City on Fire (1987) from which large chunks are ‘homaged’ wholesale. And adding his own personal thoughts on the world (tipping, Madonna’s Like a Virgin etc) by giving his characters their wit and snappy dialogue; and The whole point of Reservoir Dogs, and its simple plot was to give Tarantino an opportunity to display his skills at writing dialogue. It certainly does that. There is very little film grain throughout, but don’t worry, the transfer hasn’t been DNR’d to death. It looks wonderfully rich, filmic and organic, with a very good encode to boot. Overall, the 4K presentation of the film is absolutely beautiful.

By this stage, Reservoir Dogs surely needs little introduction. The debut film from Quentin Tarantino already felt like an established classic when it was first released in 1992; as the decades have rolled on, not only has film itself remained a consistent high point of Tarantino’s career, but the cinematic language, style and tone that it introduced have seemingly never left us. For 90s cinema especially, and perhaps even for cinema in general, Reservoir Dogs stands as a Rubicon moment, a definitive before and after that helped herald in a stylistic shift that shunted film towards its modern era. Cast:Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, Chris Penn, Edward Bunker, Kirk Baltz, Quentin Tarantino, and Lawrence Tierney Reservoir Dogs is Zavvi's first Mondo Steelbook release, and is every Steelbook collector's dream! This limited edition Steelbook comes with a translucent sleeve so you can protect the fantastic, blood-stained artwork by Mondo illustrator Tyler Stout.Reservoir Dogs is a magnificent film: a violent, bloody, intense character study of criminals in the aftermath of a heist that went horribly wrong and turned into a bloodbath. Whilst director Quentin Tarantino’s influences are well known, his razor-sharp script and shooting style, demands attention and the film still feels fresh and new, and maintains its visceral impact 30 years later. Another thing, used earlier, but NEVER on such scale, was to take low life characters and make them have really elaborated conversations on all kind of unexpected topics. And it worked BIG TIME. I mean, everybody panics. Everybody. Things get tense, it’s human nature, you panic. I don’t care what your name is you can’t help it.” This is an absolutely amazing, ground breaking film and I adored it! Below, more of my impressions, with some very limited SPOILERS.

Lionsgate are releasing Reservoir Dogs in a limited edition 4K steelbook on the 21st November. Any 4K release of a Tarantino film is an interesting proposition, as the director himself has professed a preference for watching films on VHS. In a recent Sight and Sound article, he stated that a higher resolution isn’t always desirable, criticising the ‘clean’ digital look of modern restorations compared to the more dirty, yet organic feel of the film prints used on many VHS masters. His earliest films were more subtle affairs, with Reservoir Dogs perhaps being the smallest. Play-like in scope, the majority of the story takes place in one room, with a The Thing like approach to paranoia amongst a group of men.VIDEO....The transfer of the video is very clean with strong colors despite a muting of the entire color grading throughout the film. Contrast is excellent and details, even some of the very small ones, are clearly defined. The lines of the tiny tiles in the meet-up building are easy to see without a blurring of lines despite the depth of field which brings them slightly out of focus. I saw no dirt or artifacting at any time in the watching of this Blu Ray. Shot on film, naturally there will be a slight patina of grain but it is difficult to really see and is not a viewing problem in the slightest.