Interesting facts about the movie "Reservoir Dogs" (18 photos)

"Reservoir Dogs" is a cult film directed by Quentin Tarantino, which was first released in 1992. I invite you to see footage from the filming of the film and learn some interesting facts about it.





1. Initially, the film "Reservoir Dogs" was not intended to be some kind of large full-length project. Tarantino wanted to make an amateur short film with a budget of $30,000, and involve his friends in the filming. And in fact, it was supposed to be just a black and white heist film in one set.



Quentin Tarantino at work

But Tarantino's friend Lawrence Bender, who became the film's producer, decided to show the script to his acting teacher Peter Flour. Tom was so pleased with the script written by Tarantino that he asked Lawrence who he would like to see in the leading role. Lawrence Bender replied that he sees Harvey Keitel in the leading role.





And it just so happened that Flur’s wife knew Harvey Keitel. So he instructed her to take the script to the actor. After reading the script, Harvey Keitel was simply delighted, so he not only agreed to play the leading role, but also to help with many issues, including the selection of actors. Thus, Harvey Keitel also became a producer.

2. In addition, Lawrence Bender showed the script to director Monte Hellman, who also liked the script so much that he promised to get money to shoot a full-length feature film, and also to become the director of the film. By the way, thanks to him, the budget of the film was increased from 30 thousand to a couple of million dollars. The exact amount is unknown, since everywhere they write that the budget of the film was 1.2-3 million dollars.



From left to right: Steve Buscemi (Mr. Pink), Lawrence Bender (producer), Tim Roth (Mr. Orange), Quentin Tarantino (director and actor of Mr. Brown), Michael Madsen (Mr. Blonde)

Tarantino thanked Hellman for the money, but refused him the director's chair. Tarantino told him that he would be glad to have Hellman in the director's chair on the set of any of his films, but not this one, since Tarantino wanted to direct Reservoir Dogs himself.

Monte Hellman was not too upset and agreed to the post of executive producer of the film.



3. The role of the oldest member of the gang (Mr. Blue) was played not by a professional actor, but by screenwriter and writer Edward Bunker with a criminal past.

4. The order in which scenes were shot depended on the locations. During the first week, scenes were filmed in office spaces. The second week was devoted to dynamic street scenes (chase, shootout, etc.), followed by filming a warehouse scene (in a warehouse), and then a scene dedicated to Mr. Red (Orange).

5. Due to a limited budget, it was not possible to completely block street traffic for filming. Therefore, Steve Buscemi drove away from the police when the traffic light was green.



Quentin Tarantino and Steve Buscemi

6. Harvey Keitel was the only actor who was immediately approved for the role without auditioning. In fact, I talked about this earlier. All he had to do was choose who to play - Mr. White or Mr. Orange. And of course, it will be no secret to anyone that he chose the role of Mr. White.



Also, Tarantino wanted to see actor James Woods in the role of one of the main participants. Quentin contacted his agent several times, constantly increasing the fee, but the agent refused each time.



As a result, after some time, Tarantino finally met with Woods and told him about this story. As it turned out, James Woods did not know about this offer and the agent did not convey anything to him. Woods, having learned about this, was so angry with his agent that he even fired him. Although, maybe this is just a story.



Quentin Tarantino and Harvey Keitel

7. The role of Mr. Blondina, whose name is Vic Vega, was played by actor Michael Madsen. He was also supposed to play Vic Vega in the film Pulp Fiction. But due to being busy with another project, Michael Madsen refused to star in “Pulp Fiction,” so Tarantino cast John Travolta in the role, changing the character’s name from Vic to Vincent, and also slightly changing his plot. Moreover, he made Vincent Vega the brother of Vic.



Tarantino even had the idea of making a separate film about the Vega brothers, but in the end, work on the script ended just before it began. As a result, the project was never brought to life.

Both characters were killed off in different Quentin Tarantino films, but actors Michael Madsen and John Travolta are alive. Look how cute they are hugging each other.



8. To stay within budget, many of the actors had to wear their own clothes, in addition to suits and ties. Also, in the film we see the real Cadillac of Michael Madsen, who played Mr. Blonde.



Chris Penn in his own tracksuit

9. It's funny, but the very warehouse that was filled with the corpses of the main characters at the end of the film used to be a morgue.

10. A certain part of the budget was allocated for the film's soundtrack, and in the end all this money was spent on just one song - "Stuck in the Middle with You". Yes, yes, this is the same song that Mr. Blonde dances to and then deprives the policeman of his ear. And now, when we hear this song, we involuntarily remember this particular scene.



11. At the very beginning of the film, the characters discuss Madonna's song "Like a virgin." Quentin Tarantino's character (Mr. Brown) says that this song is about a girl who only thinks about a lot of male genitals.

When Madonna saw this film, she liked it. However, later she gave Quentin Tarantin her disc with the album "Erotika" (on which this song is), on which she wrote in her hand "To Quentin Tarantino. The song is not about ***. It is about love. Madonna."

12. The fake blood they put on Tim Roth (Mr. Orange) to show him bleeding profusely dried out insanely quickly, so he literally had to be torn off after each scene. Well, then he once again had to lie down there and renew the blood, so that after the shooting he could tear it off again. In general, to say that Tim Roth experienced discomfort during filming is an understatement.



Tim Roth and Quentin Tarantino

13. With a budget of 1.2-3 million dollars, the film grossed 2.8 million dollars. But let’s not forget that at that time income was generated not only from screenings in cinemas, but also from sales of video media.

14. In some scenes where Quentin himself was filming, he seemed to imperceptibly raise his hand. In fact, this is his directorial gesture, meaning that the scene is filmed.



15. In one of the interviews, Steve Buscemi admitted that he was ashamed of Mr. Rosa, that he never leaves money for the waiters as a tip, since the actor himself feels sorry for the waiters. He understands that with their low wages, tips make up almost 50% of their income.

16. The actor who played the cop asked Michael Madsen to actually give him a ride in the trunk of his Cadillac so he could get a better feel for his character. Michael Madsen agreed, and even mocked his colleague by deliberately hitting bumps.

17. When the policeman begged Blonde not to kill him, he shouted that he had a small child. After this phrase, Madsen paused, as he literally felt it himself, because he himself had only recently become a father.



Actors of "Reservoir Dogs" many years later

18. Mr. Orange's room is literally filled with orange things. Here you have the Thing from the Fantastic Four, and an Iron Man figurine (red and yellow colors when mixed make orange), and the inscription on the magazine is orange, and there’s also a glass of Orange juice.



19. The scene in which Mr. Orange tells his legend to the bandits,I was filming in a gay club. According to Tarantino, this is the only nightclub that has agreed to rent out its premises for filming at the best price.