Reservoir Dogs Limited Edition Steelbook [4K UHD and Blu-ray] Review

5 star remastering of a genre redefining moment.

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.

With an amazing cast and fantastic soundtrack provided by The Super Sounds of the Seventies radio station (also written by Tarantino) it was a breath of fresh air (and blood). It is now available in the UK on 4K Limited Edition Steelbook courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

“You’re gonna be okay. Say the goddam words. You’re gonna be okay. Say it!”

Reservoir Dogs tells us the tale of a group of hardened criminals brought together by old gangster Joe (Lawrence Tierney – Born To Kill, Dillinger) for a simple diamond heist. The men are mostly strangers to each other, with the exception) of Joe’s son Eddie (Chris Penn – Footloose, Starsky and Hutch) and Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen – Kill Bill Vol. 1, The Hateful Eight), a close friend of the family. As the film opens we see our crew sitting together dissecting the songs of Madonna and discussing the relative merits of tipping.

In true Tarantino style and in a precursor to his next big film Pulp Fiction, we jump forward in time to witness the aftermath of this job. Mr. White (Harvey Keitel – Lansky, The Last Man) is driving away from the scene with a gut shot Mr. Orange (Tim Roth – Dark Water, Rob Roy), who is panicking that he’s bleeding out.

They head back to the rendezvous point, an abandoned warehouse, where they are soon joined by Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi – Big Fish, Ghost World) who tells them he believes they have a mole. Mr. Blue (Eddie Bunker – Tango and Cash, Distant Cousins) and Mr. Brown (Quentin Tarantino) are missing and when Mr Blonde arrives with a cop (Kirk Baltz – The Cutlass) in his car boot, they set about trying to find out who has betrayed them.

“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.”

Reservoir Dogs has enjoyed an excellent 4K resoration and looks as bloody as ever. You can still see no more of the implied violence than you ever could, but the gruesome aftermath is crispier than ever.

The acting is of course as great as you would expect for such a glittering cast and it’s very nice to see these films brought up to date and released for new generations to enjoy (although they will by no means find it as shocking as we did upon it’s original release).

An amazing start to a highly succesful career and no doubt we will see more of Tarantino’s genius converted to 4K in the future. A must own for fans and a great start for anyone who has yet to sample his work.

“Are you gonna bark all day little doggy, or are you gonna bite?”