Tarantino’s debut is a masterclass of perfecting minimal locations, low budget independent production, and an immaculate story that keeps you gripped as you witness the color coded named thieves plot a jewelry heist, deal with the fall out of the robbery, and face the question of: “who is the rat?” QT sets up the story with the group of guys in black and white tuxedos sitting around a table eating breakfast as Tarantino appears as Mr. Brown telling the story of how Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” is about a nymphomaniac that has sex with a guy that makes “it” hurt, which surprises her because she hasn’t hurt like that since she was a virgin. A hilarious moment of introduction as the characters are each introduced without their names being said at all.
Harvey Keitel (Mean Streets, Pulp Fiction, Bad Lieutenant) is Mr. White; Michael Madsen (Species, The Hateful Eight, Kill Bill) is Mr. Blonde; Tim Roth (Planet of the Apes, Pulp Fiction, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law) is Mr. Orange; Chris Penn (Bad Boys, Rush Hour, True Romance) is Nice Guy Eddie, who is the boss’s kid; Lawrence Tierney (Born to Kill, Junior) is Joe Cabot, Eddie’s father; Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire, Fargo, Airheads) is Mr. Pink; Eddie Bunker (Tango & Cash, The Longest Yard) as Mr. Blue; and Tarantino’s appearance for the opening scene, a car crash scene, the planning scene where everyone gets their names, and the title card walk as aforementioned Mr. Brown.
With a twisting story that takes you from an enjoyable breakfast debate that includes the theory of tipping waitresses but not McDonald’s employees (brought up by Mr. Pink), to Mr. Orange bleeding in the backseat while Mr. White drives him to the warehouse everyone is supposed to meet, to Mr. Pink laying out the theory that there’s a rat. From here we learn more about Mr. White and who he really is and how he knows Joe & Nice Guy Eddie. Three characters get these character focuses: Mr. White, Mr. Blonde, and Mr. Orange.
Mr. Blonde emerges as the sociopath of the group that started shooting the pedestrians during the robbery and returns to the warehouse with a cop in his trunk. The torture scene that follows is a classic scene that is oozing with Michael Madsen’s cool guy swagger until the rat makes sure to put him down before he murders the cop. Madsen is quite in his element as Vic Vega (the brother of Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction) and in back-to-back movies Tarantino gives the brothers similar fates. Tarantino even considered doing a movie titled “Double V Vega” that would feature the brothers together, but scrapped that idea because both actors were getting too old for it to be a prequel to both films.
As the original film Tarantino made to start his career, it’s amazing to see Tim Roth be a standout because once his character reveal happens, his transition from being a cop to an undercover to a thief and being recruited is a fascinating experience. The best part also comes from him telling a story known as “The Commode Story.” It works and the cuts between him telling the story to Joe, Mr, White, and Eddie, to his partner practicing to perfect the natural sense of his speech and making the story his own, and the “event” in the bathroom as he’s telling it.
The other standout has to be Steve Buscemi’s Mr. Pink as he always questions everything including tipping, if there’s a rat, why anyone would start killing everyone, why he has to be named Mr. Pink, why can’t he be Mr. Purple, and what the hell is going on and why haven’t we left this warehouse. He’s the conscious of the film and his performance stands out to pass just about everyone else. A close second is Mr. Blonde with his psycho-ass, but Mr. Orange is the good guy. You root for him and you want him to flip Mr. White to be a good guy too, but Mr. White is a bad man and when he discovers that he has been lied to by Mr. Orange, the consequences are dire.
With a climactic finish with everyone in this film ending up six feet under (including Mr. Pink who is killed off-screen, you have to listen to the background while Mr. White holds Mr. Orange in the final scene to hear his shootout before the police burst inside), Tarantino comes out with a bang with his non-linear story structure and his entertaining dialogue and violence; it’s a beauty that supersedes all of the previous films mentioned in this series. If you have never had the chance to watch this film, definitely give it a watch, it’s a fun 90s movie that lets you know that Tarantino is that guy.
Ranked 5th in this order, we are left with four films now: Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds - these last four films are interchangeable from first to fourth. Simply depends on what mood I’m in or what I’ve seen the most recent. Now let’s get into the best films Tarantino has put on screen, in my opinion.
