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Reservoir Dogs
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. The story of a heist gone wrong, the film weaves a taut and menacing path, laced with bursts of absurd and unexpected humor, as an eccentric cast of urban outlaws attempts to identify the rat in their midst. The film established the groundbreaking aesthetic -- smart-ass, hard-edged, and ultravoilent -- that made Tarantino one of the most sought-after directors in the nation. As Newsweek wrote, "Reservoir Dogs leaves little doubt that you are in the presence of major league talent."
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
14 people are currently reading
918 people want to read
About the author
Quentin Tarantino
54 books1,755 followersQuentin Jerome Tarantino is an Academy Award- and Palme d'Or-winning American film director, screenwriter and actor. He rose to fame in the early 1990s as an independent filmmaker whose films used nonlinear storylines and stylized violence. His films include Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill (Vol. 1 2003, Vol. 2 2004), Death Proof (2007), and Inglourious Basterds (2009).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
January 13, 2022
Yes I'm stuck in the middle with you,
And I'm wondering what it is I should do.
It's so hard to keep this smile from my face.
Losing control and running all over the place.
Clowns to the left of me!
Jokers to the right!
Here I am stuck in the middle with you.
I own less than ten screenplays and two of them are by Quentin Tarantino, a filmmaker who manages to capture such great stylised dialogue in his earlier movies. Saying that, after reading this, I can say without a doubt that the screenplay for this movie is pretty basic without the input of not only the actors, but also the astounding soundtrack. So my advice is to not bother with this book, and just go and watch the movie (again). 6 out of 12
2021 read
And I'm wondering what it is I should do.
It's so hard to keep this smile from my face.
Losing control and running all over the place.
Clowns to the left of me!
Jokers to the right!
Here I am stuck in the middle with you.
I own less than ten screenplays and two of them are by Quentin Tarantino, a filmmaker who manages to capture such great stylised dialogue in his earlier movies. Saying that, after reading this, I can say without a doubt that the screenplay for this movie is pretty basic without the input of not only the actors, but also the astounding soundtrack. So my advice is to not bother with this book, and just go and watch the movie (again). 6 out of 12
2021 read
April 16, 2023
what to say that hasn’t already been said before? dangerous, vile and visceral, yet basically still just a great agatha christie whodunnit recast in the hard boiled world of sociopathic crooks for hire who run a heist on a jewelry store, only to have everything that can go wrong, go perfectly wrong in the most violent and shakespearean way.
the goons discover one of them may or may not be who he claims to be, and the riveting mystery is off to a tension filled start. the whole movie is set in the aftermath of the heist gone wrong, and it’s a pot-boiler with vile yet cutting mamet-like dialogue, hilarious observations, defined characters who all ooze with criminal cool, and yet in a story that is devastating in its pitch perfect denouement.
reservoir dogs is towering crime genre classic, and the screenplay presented here is a minor hard boiled miracle.
the goons discover one of them may or may not be who he claims to be, and the riveting mystery is off to a tension filled start. the whole movie is set in the aftermath of the heist gone wrong, and it’s a pot-boiler with vile yet cutting mamet-like dialogue, hilarious observations, defined characters who all ooze with criminal cool, and yet in a story that is devastating in its pitch perfect denouement.
reservoir dogs is towering crime genre classic, and the screenplay presented here is a minor hard boiled miracle.
January 9, 2014
Mr. Brown: Lemme tell you what "Like a Virgin" is about. It's all about this cooze who's a regular fuck machine, I'm talking morning, day, night, afternoon, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick.
Mr. Blue: How many dicks is that?
Mr. White: A lot.
Mr. Blue: How many dicks is that?
Mr. White: A lot.
February 8, 2011
The reading of a screenplay as opposed to watching the film can be a remarkable enlightenment. Never have I found this to be more true than in this book. It is the movie that launched Tarantino into the ranks of the modern film masters, but in the screenplay, you can truly read into his genius of vision. The violent imagery may be a problem for some but it is all done with meaning and consideration to the plot and the overall work.
July 28, 2025
Always curious to return to Tarantino's work -- I was a huge fan in the 90s and 00s but far less so, since then. Ran across this Faber screenplay for $1 and figured, why not; and it was shocking to me that the writing is actually even more effective on the page than on the screen. (This is certainly not a common occurrence for plays / screenplays.) Having seen Reservoir Dogs probably 7-8 times, it was also very interesting to learn which scenes were ad-libbed, which scenes were cut, etc. . . . for example, Mr. Pink's fate (which was left slightly ambiguous in the film, as shot) is actually quite clear in the screenplay.
May 4, 2023
MR. BROWN
Ok, let me tell ya what "Like a Virgin"'s about.
It's all about this cooze who's a regular f**k machine.
I'm talking, morning, day, night, afternoon,
di*k, di*k, di*k, di*k, di*k, di*k, di*k, di*k, di*k.
MR. BLUE
How many di*ks is that?
MR. WHITE
A lot.
Ok, let me tell ya what "Like a Virgin"'s about.
It's all about this cooze who's a regular f**k machine.
I'm talking, morning, day, night, afternoon,
di*k, di*k, di*k, di*k, di*k, di*k, di*k, di*k, di*k.
MR. BLUE
How many di*ks is that?
MR. WHITE
A lot.
October 31, 2025
its a doggy dog world out there fr.
ive never read a screenplay before so this was interesting. crazy how different the words are when written on a page vs said by some good ass actors. i was basically just watching the movie in my head as i read this tbh.
ive never read a screenplay before so this was interesting. crazy how different the words are when written on a page vs said by some good ass actors. i was basically just watching the movie in my head as i read this tbh.
April 11, 2022
Tarantino’s writing is one filled with humor and violence both, making his works truly memorable, to say the least. Reservoir Dogs is definitely well written with a lot of witty comments, but the plot was a bit disappointing at some times. I would recommend it, though, especially to screenplay fans :)
July 2, 2021
سيناريو رائع للسيناريست العظيم كوينتن تارانتينو. السيناريو يتناول الثقافة الأمريكية السائدة آنذاك، ويتناول أيضًا تركيز الشعب الأمريكي على المطربين وإبداعاتهم. يتطور النص لِيَصل إلى جوهر القصة، ألا وهو السطو على الجواهرجي، وتبعات عملية السطو.
October 25, 2022
Beautifully chaotic
January 14, 2018
Reservoir Dogs is m favourite movie, so when I found out there was a book I was overjoyed. However, its not a real novelization but a screenplay. However it is still amazing
August 4, 2025
"If they hadn't done what I told 'em not to do, they'd still be alive." ~Mr. Blonde
March 14, 2015
The screenplay. As in Pulp Fiction, the most character-revealing dialog comes off the subject—talking about the Madonna song, or not tipping. After the opening scene, the structure goes in two directions at once. What just happened to these guys and What's next? heads from present to the future. And how did all this get started? heads from present to past. The story moves forward working these two questions in alternating fashion: scenes of setup or scenes of climax. Ostensibly there's no point to the narrative: it's a jewel heist gone wrong with a Shakespeare like kill-em-all death scene at the end. The point of the screenplay is to be found in the content of the off-the-subject of the jewel heist conversations. Those conversations reveal that it is a satire of misogynist, racist, and pop-culture loving might-makes-right goodfellas. The satire is strange, however, because, who thinks highly of this type of criminal? So what's the text really doing? Attacking those same misogynist, racist, pop-culture loving beliefs in the mouths of whoever espouses them? Does that work? To the extent that the audience has a negative reaction to the misogynism and racism—perhaps. The tack seems to be to make it so obvious that even the subtle forms of those -isms pop out of the background. Okay, then, what does bathing that message in violence accomplish? Is that the image system? Equating misogyny and racism (and pop-culture?) with violence? Ergo, those behaviors are violence. Is that the point?
January 13, 2013
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. The story of a heist gone wrong, the film weaves a taut and menacing path, laced with bursts of absurd and unexpected humor, as an eccentric cast of urban outlaws attempts to identify the rat in their midst. The film established the groundbreaking aesthetic -- smart-ass, hard-edged, and ultravoilent -- that made Tarantino one of the most sought-after directors in the nation. As Newsweek wrote, "Reservoir Dogs leaves little doubt that you are in the presence of major league talent."
About the AuthorBorn in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1963, Quentin Tarantino was an ex-video store clerk whose debut feature Reservoir Dogs (1991) became a huge cult hit. Two earlier scripts - True Romance and Natural Born Killers - were then filmed, while his own Pulp Fiction (1994) won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and an Oscar for Best Screenplay. Subsequently, he has contributed to Four Rooms (1995) and From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), and made Jackie Brown (1998), Kill Bill (2003), Death Proof (2008) and Inglourious Basterds (2009).
June 25, 2025
Reservoir Dogs by Quentin Tarantino is included on The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies of All Time list – it is worth checking that to see how many of those gems you have seen, I have 737 so far, and many of them are reviewed on the plug I am promoting here https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
10 out of 10
We have been talking about Quentin Tarantino at the…sauna, indeed, there is an article in The Economist, about saunas, which are ‘so hot’ right now, they have launched a scheme, business with saunas, where you pay $45 for a session, but you get techno music, therefore, we are much better off with ours for now
Once Upon Time in Hollywood https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... was the topic of discussion recently, because we have Titus in our group, who is a fan of Tarantino, albeit he does not really sees movies, so it is strange to hear him praise those films so much
I for one admire Reservoir Dogs – here is my previous note on the same work https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... - and Pulp Fiction, the latter is also part of TIME’s Best 100 Movies of All-TIME list, and an undisputed magnum opus
Being part of the history of film, as one of the best made, Reservoir Dogs – aka The Professionals of Crime as it is translated in our parts – has been studied, included in documentaries about American Cinema and film in general, and we get to hear some of the inside stories, how it was made, who helped with it
Quentin Tarantino had been a cinephile, he had worked in one of those places that used to rent video cassettes – this is how we got to see some, Top Secret, History of The World by Mel Brooks, during the Ceausescu regime, they would smuggle some and audiences would gather more or less underground to see those
Tarantino had this marvelous script, but he did not have the backing of a major studio – in order to understand how movies were made, back in the day, you could read Easy Riders, Raging Bulls https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... or some other good book on the subject
Nevertheless, the gifted writer did have some luck, because he met Harvey Keitel -Mr. White in the motion picture – who is co-producer and invested the money needed for the production to be color, otherwise the feature would have been in black and white, not necessarily a bad thing, but the way it is, we could call it perfect
The opening scenes are – what else – magnificent, with that splendid dialogue about tipping, society tells you to give here, but not in the other place, why not tip at McDonalds, and give it to waiters, on the other hand, the latter depend on backsheesh, there was a about piece where one explained that if they do not get extra…
They have to put money from their own pocket, then we get to see Mr. Orange aka Tim Roth – perhaps the best role of his career, I do not like him in the parts he took in the past years, maybe decades – losing blood all over the car driven by Mr. White, they get to this meeting place where Mr. Pink aka astounding Steve Buscemi arrives first
Mr. Pink had been upset by the name allocated to him, but the master mind said ‘it is my way, or the highway’, then Mr. Blonde gets in, and there is a conflict between Blonde and White, they get a policeman out of the trunk of a car and the mad Blonde gets to torture the cop, to get information and because he is a sadist
Quentin Tarantino explains in that documentary how he filmed from different angles the scene where the (spoiler alert) ear is cut, and how he opted for the version that does not show all the horrible act, but we have an angle whish is much better, we do not have to see all that blood, to know how terrible this is
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
10 out of 10
We have been talking about Quentin Tarantino at the…sauna, indeed, there is an article in The Economist, about saunas, which are ‘so hot’ right now, they have launched a scheme, business with saunas, where you pay $45 for a session, but you get techno music, therefore, we are much better off with ours for now
Once Upon Time in Hollywood https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... was the topic of discussion recently, because we have Titus in our group, who is a fan of Tarantino, albeit he does not really sees movies, so it is strange to hear him praise those films so much
I for one admire Reservoir Dogs – here is my previous note on the same work https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... - and Pulp Fiction, the latter is also part of TIME’s Best 100 Movies of All-TIME list, and an undisputed magnum opus
Being part of the history of film, as one of the best made, Reservoir Dogs – aka The Professionals of Crime as it is translated in our parts – has been studied, included in documentaries about American Cinema and film in general, and we get to hear some of the inside stories, how it was made, who helped with it
Quentin Tarantino had been a cinephile, he had worked in one of those places that used to rent video cassettes – this is how we got to see some, Top Secret, History of The World by Mel Brooks, during the Ceausescu regime, they would smuggle some and audiences would gather more or less underground to see those
Tarantino had this marvelous script, but he did not have the backing of a major studio – in order to understand how movies were made, back in the day, you could read Easy Riders, Raging Bulls https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... or some other good book on the subject
Nevertheless, the gifted writer did have some luck, because he met Harvey Keitel -Mr. White in the motion picture – who is co-producer and invested the money needed for the production to be color, otherwise the feature would have been in black and white, not necessarily a bad thing, but the way it is, we could call it perfect
The opening scenes are – what else – magnificent, with that splendid dialogue about tipping, society tells you to give here, but not in the other place, why not tip at McDonalds, and give it to waiters, on the other hand, the latter depend on backsheesh, there was a about piece where one explained that if they do not get extra…
They have to put money from their own pocket, then we get to see Mr. Orange aka Tim Roth – perhaps the best role of his career, I do not like him in the parts he took in the past years, maybe decades – losing blood all over the car driven by Mr. White, they get to this meeting place where Mr. Pink aka astounding Steve Buscemi arrives first
Mr. Pink had been upset by the name allocated to him, but the master mind said ‘it is my way, or the highway’, then Mr. Blonde gets in, and there is a conflict between Blonde and White, they get a policeman out of the trunk of a car and the mad Blonde gets to torture the cop, to get information and because he is a sadist
Quentin Tarantino explains in that documentary how he filmed from different angles the scene where the (spoiler alert) ear is cut, and how he opted for the version that does not show all the horrible act, but we have an angle whish is much better, we do not have to see all that blood, to know how terrible this is
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
September 3, 2015
The screenplay, including cut scenes (of which there aren't many; Tarantino apparently had a pretty clear idea of what he wanted from the get-go), is an interesting record of the film, but it's still more fun to watch.
July 30, 2020
what if we kissed in an abandoned warehouse after our jewelry heist went bust and i tenderly held you in my arms and combed your hair as you slowly bled to death from an agonizing gutshot that was kind of my fault 😳 ⁽ᵃⁿᵈ ʷᵉ ʷᵉʳᵉ ᵇᵒᵗʰ ᵇᵒʸˢ⁾
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 2, 2017
Reservoir Dogs is brilliant, and I think even better on the page, where it's fully digestible. I think Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown are better scripts, but this is definitely a fun one!
August 8, 2023
This is my first time reading a movie script so I went with an obvious choice that is my favorite director/writer of all time Quentin Tarantino and his first movie Reservoir Dogs nonetheless. Despite being the one that brought him to the stardom today. To read all the iconic lines and scenarios, word for word was an absolute blast from start to finish when not only I can pictured actors doing their lines perfectly, I can also put my own spin on some scene when reading out loud. After re-watched the movie later on for good measure, I come to a conclusion that the movie was better in every posible way yet it still pretty damn impressive for a newcomer like Quentin to come up with a script this good in the first place. Instant 4 stars
November 9, 2021
Rly interesting to read the screenplay of a film I thought would make a p great play, and it hasn’t coaxed me from that viewpoint. Insightful in what he chose to leave out from the film, what he added in whilst filming, + the dialogue rly does #jumpsoffthepage ! The interview at the start is great too, coming just after he’d finished first draft of pulp fiction and talking about his process and relationship w pop culture - cool stuff, man. Really easy to get thru, which I was sorta worried about as I was concerned I’d just want to watch the film throughout, but it stands up as a text separate from it!!! Solid 8/10
August 4, 2024
Saw this in a cinema in Camden with my fiancee over 30 years ago. Picked this up cheap in a secondhand store last month. It's still fresh, still surprising, still joyous. There's a neat interview with QT at the beginning which must be 30 years old. I keep wondering whether I will bump into him on the streets of Tel Aviv one day and I would love to have this with me so that he can sign it for me. The best part is seeing in print the answer to the classic 90s question of "Who shot Nice Guy Eddie?" I won't spoil it for you here.
September 12, 2017
Gripping. Entertaining to read. It takes a lot of efforts to convert page into screen. Full of twists, surprises and Asian crime movie references. Tarantino's second screenplay highlights Actions in bold. Full of strong characters, it is a case study on how to lead the plot of story by dialogues and write character driven screenplay.
August 31, 2020
You know this is just the movie. But there are a few changes like who say certain lines. Here's an example. Quentin Tarantino wanted to play Mr.Pink when he was writing the screenplay, so all of the lines that Mr.Brown has in the movie were all the original lines that Mr.Pink had. Of course it gets five stars because it's Quentin Tarantino. But like I said It's basically just the movie.
Read
April 15, 2021This is the first screenplay I’ve read, so I’m not really sure about a rating. It’s one of my all time favourite movies, so of course I found this interesting. I think Tarantino is a fantastic writer and film maker with a clear vision. I’ll definitely be picking up the Pulp Fiction screenplay next!
September 10, 2024
Preferred the True Romance screenplay as a few things went over my head here. Nonetheless it was still a very quick, gripping read with a dialogue firing between characters as fast as the bullets from their guns.
January 7, 2018
The screenlay contains scenes which were left out from the movie!
June 7, 2018
What is left to say about Reservoir Dogs? The script flows at a thunderous pace. Barely any spec script elements, just straight scenes. Much stripped back from the final finished film.
Read
June 17, 2019Finito nel 01/gen/1970 00:00:00
November 8, 2019
POLICE FORCE (OS)
Freeze! Get out of the car and lie face down on the ground!
MR. PINK (OS)
Don't shoot!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews