The American heist thriller film Reservoir Dogs was released in 1992 and was Quentin Tarantino's first film of any length. Tarantino wrote the screenplay and directed the picture. In addition to Tarantino, the cast of the movie includes Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, and Michael Madsen.
It is the first of Tarantino's films that does not have any association with Miramax, the company that would release his subsequent films after this one.The story of the movie is on a gang of thugs who hatch a plot to rob a jewellery shop that specialises in diamonds. It has been said that the movie is a blatant ripoff of the Hong Kong action picture City on Fire, which was released in 1987 and was directed by Ringo Lam and featured Chow Yun-fat.
During the production of Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino acknowledged that he was profoundly impacted by the film City on Fire. During an interview with Film4, he stated, I'd seen City on Fire maybe 20 times when I wrote the story for Reservoir Dogs. I took it without permission.
When I saw the movie, all I can think is, God, I wish I'd written that.Tarantino has also stated that the work of Lam and Chow Yun-fat served as a source of motivation for him while he was making Reservoir Dogs. He stated the following in an interview with Entertainment Weekly: I adore Ringo Lam films, and I love Chow Yun-fat films.
And I did nothing except steal from them.The parallels between the two films have been brought to the attention of reviewers. The New York Times wrote in a review of the movie Reservoir Dogs: The film's debt to City on Fire is so obvious that it might as well be listed in the credits.
According to an article published in The Guardian, The influence of City on Fire on Tarantino's debut picture is tough to exaggerate.The use of slow-motion in the opening scene, the inclusion of pop songs on the soundtrack, the focus on a group of criminals preparing a heist, and the use of violence are all elements that are shared by the two films.The two films share some similarities, but they also have some key variances that set them apart from one another.
The movie Reservoir Dogs is more of a dark comedy, whereas City on Fire is more of a criminal drama. Both City on Fire and Reservoir Dogs are set in California, whereas City on Fire takes place in Hong Kong. And although the central relationship in City on Fire is that between two law enforcement officers, the central relationship in Reservoir Dogs is that between the criminals.
Tarantino has stated that he did not intend to make a copy of City on Fire, despite the fact that the two films share many parallels. He stated this in an interview with Charlie Rose: I didn't set out to make a Hong Kong movie. I simply went out to create the finest movie that I was capable of.