History YMMV / ReservoirDogs

* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: The film is considered Tarantino's first great work, but some people loathe it for the similarities between it and the 1987 ''City on Fire'', even calling it a complete rip-off, as Tarantino never credited Lam. Tarantino at first denied he had seen the movie when called out on the similarities, [[LyingCreator but then revealed he was actually a big fan -- he even had a poster of it in his room]]. Many have lambasted Dogs for [[OlderThanTheyThink not being as original as its fans think]].

%%ZCE* TearJerker: The final scene between Mr. White and Mr. Orange.

* AccidentalAesop: Don't let your personal relationships and biased perceptions of people get in the way of doing your job. For that matter don't let your emptions effect your critical thinking.

* AccidentalAesop: Don't let your personal relationships and biased perceptions of people get in the way of doing your job.

* WTHCastingAgency: Some of the replacement voice actors are... a little out there, namely Creator/ScottMenville and Creator/KharyPayton (aka [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans Robin and Cyborg]]) as Mr. Orange and Mr. Blue.

* SignatureScene: The torture scene with Mr. Blonde [[spoiler:slicing off Marvin Nash’s ear]], complete with Stealers Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle With You" playing in the background.
* SongAssociation: The above-mentioned SignatureScene is so ingrained in pop culture that basically every use of "Stuck in the Middle with You" in media since is part of an allusion to this film.

* TearJerker: The final scene between Mr. White and Mr. Orange.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: There's a divide between "Little Green Bag" and "Stuck In The Middle With You."

** Was Mr. Blonde's loyalty and respect towards the Cabots sincere or, given that Joe and Eddie were clearly important figures in the criminal underworld, was it simply a case of PragmaticVillainy? Eddie claims that Blonde could've avoided prison altogether if he gave Joe's name to the authorities, but he could've just as easily refused to avoid mob retaliation or simply to troll the police.
** Speaking of Mr. Blonde, was his defense of the waitress in the opening scene a surprising PetTheDog moment for him, or was he just doing it to mess with Mr. Pink? Notably he's not as vocal about his stance on tipping as most of the others.
** Some believe that Mr. White was actually in love with Mr. Orange and use it to justify [[spoiler: him betraying all of his close friends to protect Orange]].

* CultClassic: Made only $2.8 million at the box office (though this was still about double its shoestring budget), but is widely known and beloved these days, especially once Tarentino's ''Film/PulpFiction'' was a smash hit and audiences doubled back to his first film.

* {{Fanon}}: There are two popular, but mutually exclusive, theories about this movie's connection to ''Film/PulpFiction'', which many fans accept as canon.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The film was released in America with almost no promotion, so it did not do that well at the box office. In England, however, it was such a huge hit that Creator/QuentinTarantino would be mobbed as he walked down the street in London. (The fact that a home video release had to be put on the backburner on account of the James Bulger controversy certainly helped matters.) British filmmakers have been "influenced" by it since. Creator/MichaelMadsen joked in an interview that whenever English people recognise him, they stop and yell, "[[FunetikAksent FOCKING HELL, IT'S MISTER BLOHND!]]"

** Mr. Pink suggests that he be called Mr. Purple instead so that he doesn't sound gay. Purple later became heavily associated with gay and lesbian symbols.

** Mr. Orange has an intimate knowledge of Marvel comics, casually discussing ''ComicBook/TheFantasticFour'' (while specifically comparing Joe Cabot to Ben Grimm) and having a poster of ComicBook/SilverSurfer in his home. This is quite amusing since Tim Roth would go on to play The Abomination in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, a being who coincidentally ''becomes'' orange after his transformation. The Marvel allusions further become funnier after Mr. White's radio plays "Hooked on a Feeling"; a song that would become immensely popular after ''[[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014 Guardians of the Galaxy]]'' would use it years after this film came out.

** Mr. Orange and Mr. White in particular, as they get pretty damn emotionally intimate for two people who don't know each other too well (there's even a scene that features a SecurityCling.)
** Mr. Blonde and Nice Guy Eddie, mostly in the scene where Mr. Blonde visits the Cabots after getting out of prison: they wrestle in front of a portrait of St. Sebastian (a subject historically associated with gay men) and talk for so long about ''not'' wanting to have sex with each other that one might begin to suspect the opposite. There's also the fact that Blonde is only on the heist because of Eddie's suggestion to bring him in, even though he really shouldn't be there given his psychopathic tendencies.

* JerkassWoobie: Mr. White; he's a hardened criminal who won't hesitate to kill if need be, but he still have some sense of a moral code, and does whatever it takes to protect Mr. Orange, seeing him as a good kid who got shot in the gut because of him.
* MagnificentBastard: Detective Holdaway is the man responsible for giving Officer Freddy Newandyke a cover story to gain acceptance into mobster Joe Cabot's heist gang. His trickery allowing Freddy to join Joe's gang as "Mr. Orange", Holdaway's dramatic flair and masterful planning aid in the eradication of Joe's criminal outfit, even letting the gangsters operate and kill within their safehouse to lure out Joe.

** In a DeletedScene, Mr. White is mentioned to have crossed it by killing three people just because someone who had worked on a job with him was a cop. [[spoiler:This foreshadows the violent conclusion which results from Mr. Orange confessing he's a cop.]]

* SongAssociation: The above-mentioned SignatureScene is so ingrained in pop culture that basically every use of "Stuck in the Middle with You" in media is part of an allusion to this film.
* StrawmanHasAPoint: Mr. Pink had the right idea in that the gang should have found another location the minute the heist went bad. Even if the undercover cop scenario wasn't a factor the level of carnage the gang made to escape would no doubt leave a trail to their hideout.

* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: The film is considered Tarantino's first great work but some people loathe this movie for the similarities between it and the 1987 ''City on Fire'', even calling it a complete rip-off as Tarantino never credited Lam. Tarantino at first denied he had seen the movie when called out on the similarities [[LyingCreator but then revealed he was actually a big fan - he even had a poster of it in his room]]. Many have lambasted Dogs for [[OlderThanTheyThink not being as original as its fans think]].

* {{Squick}}: The "Signature Moves." THANK GOD THE GRAPHICS SUCKED! Mr. Pink and Nice Guy Eddie [[PistolWhip beat up hostages with their guns]], [[EyeScream Mr. Blue puts out a cigar in the hostage's ''eye,'']] [[{{Fingore}} Mr. White cuts off fingers with a cigar cutter]], and Mr. Blonde... two words: [[EarAche RAZOR and ear]].

** Mr. Orange has an intimate knowledge of Marvel comics, casually discussing ''ComicBook/TheFantasticFour'' and having a poster of ComicBook/SilverSurfer in his home. This is quite amusing since Tim Roth played ComicBook/TheAbomination in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.

* WhatAnIdiot:
** Mr. White in the ending. Look, Mr. Blonde [[AssholeVictim was a dick]] and he deserved [[spoiler: to get shot 10 to 12 times by Mr. Orange]], but he's on your team! Shouldn't you be more concerned that [[spoiler: a member of your team was killed]]? Also, Orange said that [[spoiler: [[BadLiar Blonde tried to make off with the diamonds]], despite Blonde being a loyal friend of the Cabots]]. And then you pull a gun on Joe despite the overwhelming evidence of Orange [[spoiler: being a rat]].
** Lots of the problems involving Orange would have been solved if he was just sent to the hospital. [[spoiler: On the other hand, this would've totally screwed up both his sting and the thieves' getaway, but they weren't aware of this at the time.]]
** Really, Mr. Blonde? You think it's a good idea to kidnap a cop, [[EarAche torture him]], then try to set him on ''fire'', all while you and the rest of your partners are wanted for a bank robbery that left several people dead, ''THANKS TO YOU''?! If you'd lit that fire, the movie would have been over already...
** Then there's Joe for hiring you in the first place! A psychopath, [[AxCrazy who shoots people for no reason]], [[PrisonRape raped people in prison]], and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking wears cowboy boots!]]; this heist was doomed even ''without'' TheMole.
** See StrawmanHasAPoint. Things would've probably gone a lot better for the thieves had they abandoned the warehouse hideout the minute the heist went wrong. Nice Guy Eddie and Blonde insisting that they stay put ultimately made the already compromised situation worse.
** For the whole main cast: wearing the suits you're about to go rob a bank with in a ''public diner''! Even Eddie Bunker, a former criminal who played Mr. Blue, said that was something he would've never done.

** Speaking of Mr. Blonde, was his defense of the waitress in the opening scene a surprising PetTheDog moment for him, or was he just doing it to mess with Mr. Pink. Notably he's not as vocal about his stance on tipping as most of the others.
** Some believe that Mr. White was actually [[HoYay in love with]] Mr. Orange and use it to justify [[spoiler: him betraying all of his close friends to protect Orange]].

** Mr. Orange has an intimate knowledge of Marvel comics, casually discussing ''ComicBook/TheFantasticFour'' and having a poster of ComicBook/SilverSurfer in his home. This is quite amusing since Tim Roth played a character in [[Film/TheIncredibleHulk a Marvel movie]].

** Lots of the problems involving Orange would have been solved if he was just sent to the hospital. [[spoiler: On the other hand, this would've totally screwed up both his sting and the thieves' getaway.]]

** Mr. Blonde and Nice Guy Eddie, mostly in the scene where Mr. Blonde visits the Cabots after getting out of prison: they wrestle in front of a portrait of St. Sebastian (a subject historically associated with gay men) and talk for so long about ''not'' wanting to have sex with each other that one might begin to suspect the opposite. There's also the fact that Blonde is only on the heist because Eddie suggesting bring him in, even though he really shouldn't be there given his psychopathic tendencies.

* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: The film is considered Tarantino's first great work but some people loathe this movie for the similarities between it and the 1987 ''City on Fire'', even calling it a complete rip-off as Tarantino never credited Lam. Tarantino at first denied he had seen the movie when called out on the similarities [[LyingCreator but then revealed he was actually a big fan - he even had a poster of it in his room]]. Many have lambasted Dogs for [[OlderThanTheyThink not being as original as its fans think]] and there is even an [[http://www.impossiblefunky.com/qt/ Anti-Tarantino webpage]].

** Lots of the problems involving Orange would have been solved if he was just sent to the hospital. [[spoiler: On the other hand, this would've totally screwed up both his sting and the thieve's getaway.]]

*** Then there's Joe for hiring you in the first place! A psychopath, [[AxCrazy who shoots people for no reason]], [[PrisonRape raped people in prison]], and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking wears cowboy boots!]]; this heist was doomed even ''without'' TheMole.
** For the whole main cast: wearing the suits you're about to go rob a bank with in a ''public diner''! Even Eddie Bunker, a former criminal who played Mr. Blue, say that was something he would've never done.

* HoYay: Mr. Orange and Mr. White in particular, as they get pretty damn emotionally intimate for two people who don't know each other too well (there's even a scene that features a SecurityCling.)
** Mr. Blonde and Nice Guy Eddie as well, mostly in the scene where Mr. Blonde visits the Cabots after getting out of prison: they wrestle in front of a portrait of St. Sebastian (a subject historically associated with gay men) and talk for so long about ''not'' wanting to have sex with each other that one might begin to suspect the opposite. There's also the fact that Blonde is only on the heist because Eddie suggesting bring him in, even though he really shouldn't be there given his psychopathic tendencies.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The film was released in America with almost no promotion, so it did not do that well at the box office. In England, however, it was such a huge hit that Creator/QuentinTarantino would be mobbed as he walked down the street in London. (The fact that a home video release had to be put on the backburner on account of the James Bulger controversy certainly helped matters.) British filmmakers have been "influenced" by it since.
** Creator/MichaelMadsen joked in an interview that whenever English people recognise him, they stop and yell, "[[FunetikAksent FOCKING HELL, IT'S MISTER BLOHND!]]"

*** Creator/SteveBuscemi would later play a literal purple character in WesternAnimation/MonstersInc

* NightmareFuel:
** Mr. Blonde is pretty damn creepy when he's in his psychopathic behaviour.
** [[spoiler: The infamous ear cutting scene.]]
* SignatureScene: The torture scene with Mr. Blonde [[spoiler:slicing off Marvin Nash’s ear]], complete with Stealers Wheel’s "Stuck in the Middle With You" playing in the background.

* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: ''Reservoir Dogs'' is considered Tarantino's first great work but some people loathe this movie for the similarities between it and the 1987 ''City on Fire'', even calling it a complete rip-off as Tarantino never credited Lam. Tarantino at first denied he had seen the movie when called out on the similarities [[LyingCreator but then revealed he was actually a big fan - he even had a poster of it in his room]]. Many have lambasted Dogs for [[OlderThanTheyThink not being as original as its fans think]] and there is even an [[http://www.impossiblefunky.com/qt/ Anti-Tarantino webpage]].

---> '''Pink:''' This is bad, this is bad, this is bad..."\\
'''Pink looks at the injured Orange, then at White:''' Is it bad?

* AccidentalAesop: Possibly, "don't let your personal relationships and biased perceptions of people get in the way of doing your job."

* AccidentalAesop: Don't let your personal relationships and biased perceptions of people get in the way of doing your job.

* DracoInLeatherPants: Mr. Blonde is one of the film's most popular characters, despite being a mass murdering cop killer.

* HarsherInHindsight: In an ironic moment, Mr. Pink declares that out of all the robbers, Mr. Blond is the only one he completely trusts due to the latter's cold-blooded murder of a young black girl during the robbery. Pink believes this is proof Blond isn't an undercover policeman because a cop would never do that. Cut to the late 2010s, when the UsefulNotes/BlackLivesMatterMovement began in earnest in response to scandals involving police murdering unarmed, defenseless black people that had become regular events in the news.

** Creator/PamGrier is mentioned. Creator/QuentinTarantino would later cast her in the lead role in ''Film/JackieBrown''.

** This film wouldn’t be the last time [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo a mobster tortured a hostage while doing a strange dance to a catchy song]].

** Mr. Blonde and Nice Guy Eddie as well, mostly in the scene where Mr. Blonde visits the Cabots after getting out prison: they wrestle in front of a portrait of St. Sebastian (a subject historically associated with gay men) and talk for so long about ''not'' wanting to have sex with each other that one might begin to suspect the opposite. There's also the fact that Blonde is only on the heist because Eddie suggesting bring him in, even though he really shouldn't be there given his psychopathic tendencies.

* HarsherInHindsight: In an ironic moment, Mr. Pink declares that out of all the robbers, Mr. Blond is the only one he completely trusts due to the latter's cold-blooded murder of a young black girl during the robbery. Pink believes this is proof Blond isn't an undercover policeman because a cop would never do that. Cut to the late 2010s, when scandals involving police murdering "unarmed" black criminals become regular events in the news.