Eight Facts You Didn't Know About "Reservoir Dogs"

On December 4th, Reservoir Dogs gets a one-night only screening in theaters across the country, celebrating the 20th (!!) anniversary of its release.  (For screening locations, check www.fathomevents.com.)

The now-classic violent crime film catapulted writer/director Quentin Tarantino to fame.  Reservoir Dogs is now considered a classic heist-gone-wrong film; Empire Magazine once named it the best independent film ever made.  Here are some behind-the-scene facts behind one of the most influential films of the past 20 years:

1.  James Woods was wanted by Tarantino for the film.  The filmmaker, who was looking to cast the intense actor as "Mr. Orange" (played by Tim Roth), called Woods' agent with five offers.  The agent never even alerted Woods--the offers were way below what the actor normally commanded.  A few years later, Tarantino met Woods at a party, and he told the actor how he tried to hire him.  Woods fired his agent the next day.

2.  Shooting and final editing came very close to derailing the film's premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.  The film's final version was completed a mere three days before it unspooled at Sundance.

3.  There are no women in the movie.  Not one speaking part.  In the DVD extras, however, Nina Siemaszko has some scenes as "McClusky."

4.  It's a typical Tarantino film: the "f bomb" is dropped over 270 times.

5.  The film's budget was so long that in many scenes the actors raided their closets and wore their own clothes.

6.  Michael Madsen has that unforgettable sequence where he tortures a cop and cuts off his ear, all to the soundtrack of "Stuck in the Middle."  But Madsen had grave concerns about the scene, and was so disturbed by the violence that he couldn't finish it in one take.  He missed take after take because he would  get too choked up to continue.

7.  The film was originally set for a down-and-dirty 2 1/2 week shoot with a budget of $30,000.  One day Tarantino came home and got a voicemail from Harvey Keitel, asking if he could be in the film.  On Keitel's name alone the director was able to raise $1.5 million in less than a few weeks.

8.   The film was a modest hit in the U.S., grossing $2.9 million. But in Europe it was huge, including a whopping $12 million dollar (U.S.) take in Great Britain.

To purchase Reservoir Dogs on Blu-Ray: