Leland Elliot asks: >Hey, can anyone out there tell me about a horrible rumor I've heard? It >has been passed by me by several people that Quentin Tarantino apparently >stole a lot of his inspiration (not to mention actual shot by shot >structures and plot) for Reservoir Dogs from a Japanesse film named.....? > And there's what no one can me, the name of the film that Japanesse >film. I of course want to see the flim and judge for myself. Has anyone >else heard of what I am speaking? Say it ain't so. This would seem to be so. The film in question is CITY ON FIRE, a Hong Kong actioner from the late 80's. FILM THREAT was the first publication I am aware of that did more than reprint the rumor. They did a shot by shot comparison with stills. At issue are a number of action scenes including, but not limited to, H. Kietel's double-pistoled firing at a police car and the three-way standoff. Apparently, the wounded undercover cop and bungled heist plot points are also direct lifts. This article appeared one or two issues back. I'm not near my magazines, but will post the citation soon. I have not yet seen CITY ON FIRE, but it should be available at video stores in larger metropolitan areas. It seems to have been available at the one at which Tarantino worked! It should be noted that the "lifted" ideas in RESERVOIR DOGS are, reportedly, only the first act of CITY ON FIRE. DOGS has other influences too -- most notably, the code-named criminals inspired by THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123. Of course, none of this diminishes the quality of DOGS, just its supposed "originality". One could go on about how when "genre" pictures are lauded, they often have a bit more originality ascribed to them than they should -- usually because of the critics' unfamiliarity with the conventions and "canonical" texts of the genre... ---------------------------------------------------------------- Keith R. Crosley [log in to unmask] Director, Technical Communication Research Systems, Inc. 2995 Wilderness Place "Never trust anyone over 300." Boulder, CO 80301 ----------------------------------------------------------------