Reservoir Dogs is the 1992 debut film of director and writer Quentin Tarantino. It portrays what happens before and after a botched jewel heist, but not the heist itself. Reservoir Dogs stars an ensemble cast with Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Quentin Tarantino, Eddie Bunker, Chris Penn and Lawrence Tierney. Tarantino has a minor role, as does criminal-turned-author Eddie Bunker. It incorporates many themes and aesthetics that have become Tarantino's hallmarks: violent crime, pop culture references, memorable dialogue, profuse profanity, and a nonlinear storyline.
The film has become a classic of independent film and a cult hit. It was named "Greatest Independent Film of all Time" by Empire. Reservoir Dogs was generally well received and the cast was praised by many critics. Although it was never given much promotion upon release, the film was a modest success by grossing $2,832,029, which made its budget back. However, it did become a major hit in the United Kingdom; grossing nearly 6.5 million pounds, and it achieved higher popularity after the success of Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. It is often criticized for its high degree of violence and profanity, and audience members reportedly walked out during a torture scene.
A soundtrack titled Reservoir Dogs: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released featuring songs used in the film, mostly from the 1970s. In 2006, a video game was released to mediocre reviews. The video game—like the film—caused controversy for its violence.
* Harvey Keitel as Mr. White: A professional criminal and thief. His real name is revealed to be Lawrence Dimmick. Mr. White is portrayed in the movie as a criminal who does not hesitate to kill but is still human enough to care about innocent bystanders, as is evident by his line, "The choice between doing ten years and killing some stupid motherfucker ain't no choice at all, but I ain't no madman either." He blindly believes in Mr. Orange and takes a bullet for him in the final Mexican standoff. After Mr. Orange reveals his true identity, Mr. White, in a state of rage and grief, shoots him in the head. He is then shot in turn by the police, who had just arrived to the scene.
* Tim Roth as Mr. Orange: An undercover police officer, his real name is revealed to be Freddy Newandyke. Later scenes reveal the story of how he went undercover, including the fake "commode story" he told the robbers to gain status and trust. He is shot in the abdomen by a woman trying to defend herself (instinctively firing back, killing her) and spends most of the film bleeding on the warehouse floor. He takes a second bullet during the Mexican standoff and is shot dead by Mr. White after he reveals to him that he is a police officer.
* Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink: The only major character whose real name is never revealed, also the only major character to survive the film, although faint sound effects after his departure imply he does not escape justice. Mr. Pink often reminds the other robbers to be "professionals" and is the only person present to stay out of the Mexican standoff. Off-camera it is suggested he is arrested by the police arriving outside to apprehend the gangsters in the warehouse. Mr. Pink is notable for his anti-tipping monologue from the beginning of the film.
* Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde: His real name is Victor Vega, also known as Vic or Toothpick Vic. He is a sadistic psychopathic criminal who indiscriminately shot several civilians during the robbery. He also gleefully tortures a policeman for his own pleasure—slashing the young officer's face, cutting off his ear and dousing him with gasoline—only to be stopped from burning him alive by Mr. Orange, when he shoots Vega several times in the chest, killing him. Vic Vega is the brother of Vincent Vega from Tarantino's film Pulp Fiction.
* Chris Penn as "Nice Guy" Eddie Cabot: The son of Joe Cabot. Eddie does not take part in the heist; he is also the only one who does not initially believe the heist was a setup. He shoots Mr. White in the Mexican standoff between Eddie, Mr. White, and Joe Cabot, and Mr. White in turn shoots and kills Eddie and his father Joe.
* Lawrence Tierney as Joe Cabot: The mastermind of the heist and father of "Nice Guy" Eddie Cabot, Joe is killed by Mr. White during the final standoff. Mr. Orange, during his meeting with fellow cop Holdaway, compares Joe to The Thing from the Fantastic Four.
* Quentin Tarantino as Mr. Brown: Tarantino plays a small role as he often does in his films; Mr. Brown's real name is also not revealed. He had the opening lines of the film in Mr. Brown's insight that "Like a Virgin" is a "metaphor for big dicks". He is shot in the head and killed by the cops.
* Edward Bunker as Mr. Blue: A small role played by ex-criminal Eddie Bunker. Despite not having much screen time, he is often referenced by the other characters since nobody saw what happened to him after the heist. Near the end of the film, Joe reveals that Mr. Blue was killed by the police.
The Reservoir Dogs: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was the first soundtrack produced by Quentin Tarantino and set the structure his later soundtracks would follow. This includes the use of snippets of dialogue from the film. The soundtrack has selections of songs from the 70s. The radio station "K-Billy's Super Sound of the Seventies" played a prominent role in the film.[38] The DJ for the radio was chosen to be Steven Wright, a comedian known for his deadpan delivery of jokes.
An unusual feature of the soundtrack was the choice of songs. The film uses music from the 1970s. Tarantino has said that he feels the music to be a counterpoint to the on-screen violence and action. He also stated that he wished for the film to have a '50s feel while using '70s music. A prominent instance of this is the torture scene to the tune of "Stuck in the Middle With You".
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