Reservoir Dogs Reservoir Dogs Reservoir Dogs is a 1992 American black comedy heist film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarantino, and criminal-turned-author Edward Bunker, as diamond thieves whose planned heist of a jewelry store goes terribly wrong. The film depicts the events before and after the heist. Kirk Baltz, Randy Brooks and Steven Wright also play supporting roles. It incorporates many motifs that have become Tarantino's hallmarks: violent crime, pop culture references, profanity, and nonlinear storytelling. The film is regarded as a classic
Reservoir Dogs wife gave the script to Harvey Keitel. Keitel liked it enough to sign as a co-producer so Tarantino and Bender would have an easier job finding funding; with his assistance, they raised $1.5 million. Keitel also paid for Tarantino and Bender to host casting sessions in New York, where the duo found Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, and Tim Roth. "Reservoir Dogs" was, according to Tarantino, influenced by Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing". Tarantino said: "I didn't go out of my way to do a rip-off of "The Killing", but I did think of it as my "Killing," my take on that