Fist of Doom

I did a search and was surprised this kind of thread hadn't been done for movies (at least I couldn't find any). Figured I'd run this up the flagpole.

Anyways, QT seemed like a good one to start with. He's popular around here and has a relatively small filmography. I'll focus on his major projects, but feel free to discuss his other stuff as we go along.

First up...



RESERVOIR DOGS

Released: 1992
Written by: QT
Directed by: QT

Ash Ketchum

Lawrence Tierney's last great role:



When he was a young tough guy in DILLINGER (1945):


Trivia note: when I saw RESERVOIR DOGS in a Chelsea (Manhattan) theater, they ran the trailer for Walter Hill's TRESPASS (1992) and when Ice T says something like "Who are those white guys?" some asshole in the audience booed. Meanwhile he probably laughed at the racial taunts in DOGS.

Mabuse

What do you want me to say that hasn't been said? It was the first time that I heard movie characters speak the way I think, and the way my friends and I spoke. The opening shit about Madonna was so frank and timely that I thought my ears were broken the first time I heard it. I couldn't believe that 'tough guys' would be talking about something so timely and in such a frank manner.

The music. The energy. Tim Roth during the "pot dealer" scene in the bathroom. Everything amazing. I'd seen Linkleter, the Cohens, and Raimi, (and in hindsight I'd already scene Natural Born Killers and True Romance but I didn't yet know the connection) but it was this film that made me know that there was a truly new voice and it was simpatico with my life and way of thinking.

Crocker Jarmen

On my 15th birthday in the summer of 1993, my father rented a couple of laser discs, one was the brilliant Leolo and the other was Reservoir Dogs. Probably the greatest double-feature of my movie viewing life.

I became obsessed with Reservoir Dogs. I bought the VHS at the mall and showed to it half a dozen friends in high school. We had a free period after lunch so we'd sign a VCR/TV out of the library, park it in an empty classroom and watch the movie over and over.

nasesco417

I saw Reservoir Dogs for the first time during a free preview weekend of some subscription channel. It just happened to be starting as I was flipping channels and saw that the channel was open. I was probably 13 at the time. I remember being absolutely blown away. Unlike any movie I had ever seen up to that point, and still one of my all time favorites to this day.

Paff

I was watching an episode of Mad About You, the 90s Paul Reiser/Helen Hunt sitcom. In the episode, Paul ran into a guy he screwed over in film school, and that guy was now working the token booth at a subway station. I thought this guy was the skeeviest, ugliest actor I'd ever seen, and luckily I'd never have to see him on screen again.

Then I popped in the movie I had rented for the evening, Reservoir Dogs. And much to my shock, there was that same ugly actor, now ranting about tipping.

That was the night I became a fan of both Steve Buscemi, and Quentin Tarantino.

Fist of Doom

What a resounding success this thread has been! My thoughts on RD, FWIW...

This is a pretty amazing cast for a first time director. Tim Roth is especially good. I love the scene where he's practicing his "restroom" story.

QT's films would get bigger after this, so it's nice to see him in "lean and mean" mode. The flashbacks are really well integrated into the story. The movie plays out like a stage play.

Oh, and I don't think any of us can listen to "Stuck in the Middle With You" the same way anymore.

Fist of Doom

TRUE ROMANCE

Released: 1993
Written by: QT
Directed by: Tony Scott

james2025a

True Romance is a superb movie. I think it might be the best thing he has ever done, even though he didn't direct. For me Tarantino started off really strong with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. True Romance really pushed his name further as a good writer of dialogue and idea man. Natural Born Killers, even though flawed and at times messy in the hands of Stone, was an interesting movie. Jackie Brown has its moments, but after watching it recently i found it rather dull. A restrained movie, and i know it gets a lot of respect, but it does not do a lot for me anymore. After that is when we get the downhill fast period. The Kill Bills, Inglorious Bastards, Django....they all have one thing in common. Some singular great scenes and/or actor performances, but really shit movies overall. The moment when this fully realized itself to me was in the theater scene in Bastards where they started playing the Bowie song. I knew what the director was doing (trying to be stylized cool in his choices for music and scene creation) but it came off as really out of place and wrong. I have not mentioned Death Proof simply because that movie is widely recognized as a massive turd. I despise that movie with a vengeance. And its a shame as i love Kurt Russell.

GoldenJCJ

90s Tarantino can't be beat. Reservoir Dogs, True Romance, Pulp Fiction, and Jackie Brown are all top notch Tarantino! I think his only misfire of the 90s is Natural Born Killers and from what I understand Oliver Stone made a lot of changes to what Tarantino wrote. Not to mention its got nutty Stone directorial flares all over it.

True Romance ranks right up there with Reservoir Dogs, perhaps even higher.

Supermallet

Reservoir Dogs was great for the time, but doesn't hold up IMO. It feels too artificial, like the dialogue exchanges are bits instead of natural. I chalk this up to Tarantino's relative inexperience, because it's not a problem he ever had again.

True Romance is far and away Tony Scott's best film, and just a great screenplay. Fantastic cast and so from the heart. The only other Tony Scott movie I even enjoy is Enemy of the State so it just shows how great of a writer Tarantino is.

islandclaws

True Romance has one of the worst scores I have ever heard on a theatrical film.

inri222

For me it's a tie between TR and The Hunger. None of his other films even come close.

It was ripped off by Hans Zimmer from Terence Malick's Badlands.

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TimeandTide

Reservoir Dogs Was browsing at a local video joint for a couple titles to watch on a lonely Friday night and thought the VHS box art and title looked interesting enough. Picked up RD and John Woo's The Killer. Ended up watching the double feature back-to-back. Instilled in me a love of QT, Film Threat magazine, John Woo, HK cinema, and a passion for movies in general. Definitely a turning point for me.

True Romance Another favorite. Features some of my favorite QT dialogue, characters, and scenes. My second favorite QT movie, just a tad behind Pulp Fiction.

Crocker Jarmen

Tarantino's script for True Romance was written non-linear. I think the first scene is Drexel killing the drug dealers, then Clarence visits his father with his new bride Alabama, then we see Clarence's friend auditioning for the movie and Clarence coming to visit him, from there it starts flashing back to how Clarence met Alabama...

Scott did a cut-and-paste to re-organize the script, putting the scenes in chronological order, likely to its betterment. Tarantino wrote good, individual scenes, but I think Scott deserves the lion's share of the credit for True Romance's success as a movie.

Why So Blu?

Damn, Charlie Sheen was young!

GoldenJCJ

Charlie Sheen was young. He was 7 when Badlands came out...starring his father Martin Sheen.

Why So Blu?

I know.

Fist of Doom

It's been years since I watched True Romance. The scenes that stick out to me are the ones with Gary Oldman, Dennis Hopper, and James Gandolfini. Shows what a great actor can do with a small role.

Up next, the one that changed it all...



Pulp Fiction

Released: 1994
Written by: QT
Directed by: QT

Solid Snake

It's a great looking BD. Otherwise... it's a great fucking film.

GoldenJCJ

I just re-watched PF a couple of weeks ago for the first time in 10 years or so. IMO, one of the biggest problems with PF is that it had soooo many knockoffs and was made into soooo many spoofs throughout the 90s that it almost diminishes the film itself. Through no fault of its own, of course.

However, watching again after all these years where the knockoffs and spoofs have all but disappeared it's a lot easier to see the film for the film. It truly is a masterpiece. One of those rare examples where an incredibly high rated film actually deserves the praise.

I really wish Tarantino would use Travolta again for one of his movies.

Mabuse

Why do you feel this way? Yes it's a rip off of a Carl Orff piece. Is that why you object? Or do you not like how it sounds? Because rip off aside, I think it sounds beautiful.

Yes, Tony Scott (or someone) took Tarantino's very non-linear script and straitened it out. But I don't share your certainty that it bettered the film. Pulp Fiction would come out right afterward and blow everyone's mind with its nonlinear story. Perhaps True Romance would have been the breakthrough that Pulp Fiction was.

mrhan

There was a fan edit assembled using QT's version awhile back. It's probably still up at the usual places.

Throwing Copper

My favorite memory of Pulp Fiction (after I'd seen it in theaters 3 times in about a week) was an old buddy of mine from high school telling me about his opinion.

I'll preface this by saying he did not make the honor roll in school.

He comes up and says it was one of the worst movies he'd seen. He was like "John Travolta dies and then comes back from the dead."

I just responded with "Yeah, that was pretty weird."

Crocker Jarmen

When I saw Pulp Fiction on opening night, there was a guy sitting behind me completely flustered by John Travolta "coming back to life". During the Bonnie Situation, every two or three minutes he would say, "Wait a minute, he was killed! This doesn't make any sense!" After the tenth or so time I finally turned around and said, "This is a flashback," and that quieted him down.