Is he the most brilliant filmmaker of his generation or a lazy, arrogant con man? Five years have passed since the last Quentin Tarantino film, and it's at least another year before his next one, "Kill Bill." How has his short list of credits aged in that time? This week let's look at four brand-new deluxe 2-disc DVD sets to find out.
"Reservoir Dogs" (1992, Artisan, $26.98)
Tarantino came out of nowhere with perhaps the most astonishing, explosive debut film since John Cassavetes' "Shadows," even if it only played to small, enthusiastic crowds in art houses. Tarantino's complete command of dialogue, performance, camera and complex storytelling was evident from the start.
The film focuses on a failed jewel heist but maintains suspense without ever showing the actual robbery. Most of the action takes place in a warehouse, though Tarantino makes you think you've seen more than he's actually shown.
When Michael Madsen, playing the sadistic "Mr. Blonde," cuts off the hostage cop's ear, the audience squirms. But up on the screen, Tarantino discreetly swings his camera over to a loading dock and a sign that says "Watch Your Head."
The film also makes hugely imaginative use of flashbacks, explaining the origins of certain characters, and even showing scenes of "fictional" stories that never took place (such as Tim Roth's men's room tale).
Viewed 10 years later, the film seems excessively gory; pools of blood spill and coagulate all over the warehouse floor. It's a bit nauseating, but still brilliant.
I recently spoke to Madsen from Los Angeles about the 10th anniversary of the film. He says that no matter how popular it was here, the reception in England was overwhelming. He still can't walk down the street there without being recognized.
"I got more attention in Europe than in America," he says. "I get chased around by the paparazzi in London and even in Paris. I had a few car chases. I had to go out the back door when I was leaving for the set."
On his successful portrayal of such a vicious character, he says, "I read a biography of James Cagney when I was a little kid. He said that whenever you play someone very mean, you should find a lighter side."
Artisan's new DVD contains deleted scenes, a tribute to the late Lawrence Tierney, who plays the gang's gravelly ringleader, interactive K-Billy radio and more.
"True Romance" (1993, Warner Brothers, $26.99)
Tarantino's first produced screenplay, "True Romance," cost 10 times more than "Reservoir Dogs" and took a year longer to make and release.
Starring Christian Slater, "True Romance" plays like a boy's fantasy. He meets up with a beautiful call girl named Alabama (Patricia Arquette); she falls in love with him, quits the business and marries him. He tries to get her clothes from her dangerous pimp (Gary Oldman) but ends up with a suitcase full of cocaine instead.
Meanwhile, he watches kung-fu movies, reads comic books, shoots guns, wears sunglasses, gets a tattoo, talks to Elvis and recites the coolest dialogue in town.
Slick Tony Scott ("Top Gun," "Days of Thunder") directed the movie, and despite his best efforts, he can't quite ruin the B-grade enthusiasm in the screenplay. He does, however, get crackerjack performances from an amazing supporting cast, including Oldman, Michael Rapaport, Val Kilmer, Brad Pitt, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Chris Penn, Tom Sizemore, Bronson Pinchot, Saul Rubinek and James Gandolfini.
The new DVD includes three full-length commentary tracks: one by Scott, one by Tarantino, and one by Slater and Arquette together. It also includes selected commentary tracks by Pitt, Hopper, Rapaport and Kilmer, deleted and extended scenes, a (horrible) alternate ending, and more.
"Pulp Fiction" (1994, Miramax, $29.99)
Tarantino's second film as director exploded as a full-fledged movie phenomenon, enticing even confused mainstream moviegoers to trundle down to the theater and see what all the fuss was about.
The film revolves around three stories, but the timelines are all twisted up, causing one major character to die halfway through the film and return alive for the final third.
Once again, Tarantino purposely leaves out the expected scenes, such as Bruce Willis' boxing match in which he kills his opponent, but steers the story into totally unexpected areas, such as Willis saving his boss Marcellus Wallace's (Ving Rhames) life, and a lengthy monologue by Christopher Walken.
A masterpiece of design, "Pulp Fiction" gets away with plenty of delightful throwaway moments and detours, in-jokes and references. It takes its time -- no other movie has included an "uncomfortable silence" quite like the one between John Travolta and Uma Thurman -- but never loses its punch or its constant energy.
The DVD comes with much-coveted deleted scenes, including one with legendary character actor Dick Miller, a "Siskel & Ebert" TV special on Tarantino, short documentaries and much more.
"Jackie Brown" (1997, Miramax, $29.99)
In 1999, I chose "Pulp Fiction" as the movie of the decade. Two years later, I still regard it as a masterpiece and would still call it the movie of the '90s on a technical level, but I believe now that "Jackie Brown" is Tarantino's greatest and most accomplished film.
I gave "Jackie Brown" a lukewarm review in 1997, but seeing it twice more I find that it's more of a slow burn in contrast to "Pulp Fiction's" sudden flare-up. It takes longer to sink in.
Pam Grier stars in her most adult role as an aging airline stewardess who gets in trouble smuggling illegal gun money. To save herself, she constructs an elaborate swindle involving her employer (Samuel L. Jackson), his blond girlfriend (Bridget Fonda), a dim-witted ex-con (Robert DeNiro), a cop (Michael Keaton) and a middle-aged bail bondsman (Robert Forster) who has developed a crush on Jackie.
Tarantino plays around with timelines again to some extent, but the real focus here is the rich characters. Before, his characters spoke crackling dialogue and we loved listening to them; here they have real soul. The lovely scenes between Grier and Forster especially sparkle and hum.
The DVD comes with a huge, wonderful gallery of trailers for most of Pam Grier's and Robert Forster's films, deleted scenes, Siskel & Ebert's TV review, short documentaries, and much more.
In 1992, I was sure that Tarantino could not give us anything more pleasurable, that he had no new tricks left to learn. Now I'm sure that, if "Jackie Brown" is any indication, the best is yet to come.
Indeed, Madsen insists that Tarantino is the real thing: "He's a great friend. He's been very influential to me. When times were rough, I can tell you that Quentin was one of the only guys who returned my phone calls. He looked after me."
E-mail: janderson@sfexaminer.com
