If Tarantino didn't exist, Hollywood would have invented him by now. A filmmaker defined by his on-screen influences rather than any surging internal impulse, he's an artist fed by the cultural crackle, tuned into and turned on by the busy flash and flicker of what's in and what's on.

So, coming to his fierce debut, it's no surprise that Reservoir Dogs is big on the derivative. As anybody who's seen The Killing knows. Or City On Fire. Or The Taking Of Pelham One, Two, Three. They're great ingredients, though, and Tarantino's smart-mouth script proceeds to cough all over them. Loudly. With added volume.

Motored by profane, funky, fuck-quacked dialogue, chewed on by a swinging cast, it's a heist-gone-wrong thriller by name, pitch-black comedy by nature and a bucking bronco of audience manipulation. Go on: you name one movie - - just one - - that can make you wince in ice-cold revulsion (that ear slicing) then make you laugh at the twist of a lens (Michael Madsen yelling into said ear).

Now the barking's died down over the contentious violence, all that remains is awe: this is, after all, a one-location stageplay so brilliantly composed, so visually dynamic, you can only really watch it in widescreen. Oh - - and just for the record: Joe shoots first. Then Mr White. Then Nice Guy Eddie. Definitely. Ah, crisp DVD slow-mo, how we love you...

DVD Extras:

Jabber-chin Quentin likes to talk. But not on this DVD. The commentary included here is strictly tag-team: cast and crew interviews edited together, the talkers rarely commenting on what you're watching. All of which makes that long-awaited QT yak-track a bit lacking, though he's sharp and fast when he does speak up. You want more. Which leads us to the diamonds stashed elsewhere...Not only is this a comprehensive package, it's a surprising one, too. Tucked in here are neat primer documentaries on film noir (John Boorman on Point Break; Mike Hodges on Get Carter) along with a Dedications&Tributes section on Dogs' many inspirations. There's Corman. There's Godard. And there's One Big Teddy Bear, a homage doc to concrete yob Lawrence Tierney AKA Reservoir Dogs' Joe. If he strikes you as the kind of guy who gargles boulders, well... Madsen recalls a party where Tierney walked through a kitchen wall; Chris Penn shivers over the time Tierney came to his house; and QT nearly had his head watermeloned in a spat during filming (catalyst: "Get your fat fuckin' ass off my fuckin' set!"). It's a terrific extra on a cult American thug, as is the Driving With Eddie Bunker prog.Elsewhere, a retro-Sundance segment places Reservoir Dogs at the centre of Hollywood's pact with the American indies. While participants carp about the fest's inevitable sell-out, QT remains happy-go-cynical ("After two weeks having my dick blown, I win jack fuckin' shit!"). Also included is a good 10 minutes of raw rehearsal test-reels, Buscemi as Pink, Tarantino as White. It's shot like a soap. Buscemi is ace. QT is... er... trying. Which leaves us the deleted scenes, mostly Mr Orange backstory offcuts. Mind you, the best belongs to White, Pink and Nice Guy Eddie on a bad-mouthed, aborted trip to get Orange a nurse (Mr White: "I don't believe you called anybody 'cept some cooze you once fucked who happens to wear orthopaedic shoes"). In addition is a more explicit cut of the ear-slicing scene that convinces you QT really did do the right thing averting the camera's gaze: the gore looks crap.And finally, for once, a trailer worth seeing. God only knows what it's trying to be, but the teaser is so fraudulently corny it's borderline crippling ("SIX PERFECT STRANGERS... ARE TEAMING UP... TO PULL THE PERFECT CRIME!"). First things fuckin' last: go buy.