ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY RECOMMENDS: VIDEO & DVD

Reviews: Tarantino films, 'The Rookie'

DVD reviews: 'Reservoir Dogs,' 'Pulp Fiction,' and 'Jackie Brown'

Bloody hell: Tim Roth and Harvey Keitel go to the ''Dogs.''

(Entertainment Weekly) -- Video-store clerks have good reason to hate Quentin Tarantino -- and not just because he's one of the few in their ranks ever to make it on the other side of the counter.

Ever since the director's guns-and-gore debut, ''Reservoir Dogs,'' your local tape jockey has been forced to find space for dozens of subpar crime capers, replete with artificially offbeat gangsters and obvious pop-culture conversations. But a new batch of two-disc DVD editions proves all the straight-to-shelf knockoffs in the world can't diminish the thrills of ''Dogs,'' ''Pulp Fiction,'' and ''Jackie Brown.''

''Dogs"' stylish, almost casual violence may have induced winces at the time, but it's surprising how innocent the bank-robbery-goes-bad drama feels now, especially when watching the arsenal of extras. There's a prefame Tarantino and Steve Buscemi rehearsing for a 1991 Sundance film workshop, and a lighthearted tribute to the late Lawrence Tierney, in which costars such as Michael Madsen and Chris Penn recount his amusingly volatile behavior. It's enough to forgive all the blatant ads for the spin-off merchandise.

''Reservoir Dogs'' may have made Tarantino the indie whiz kid, but ''Pulp Fiction'' catapulted him to enfant terrible status, and rightfully so: Eight years after its surf-guitar opening, ''Pulp'' -- like its namesake, guilty-pleasure inspiration -- is still hard to put down. Fittingly for a movie that drew from so much movie-nerd knowledge, the new edition packs in plenty of pop-culture study aids, including footage from the 1994 Cannes film festival, an all-Tarantino edition of ''Siskel & Ebert,'' and just about every ''Pulp'' piece ever written. The only thing missing is Tarantino himself; though he appears on a new making-of documentary, the famously motor-mouthed helmer doesn't provide a sorely needed commentary track (though he pops up sporadically on a so-so ''Reservoir Dogs'' cast-and-crew track).

Tarantino also doesn't yak over ''Jackie Brown,'' but by the time he got to this overlong Elmore Leonard adaptation, he already had plenty of cameras on his tail. As a result, the special edition is just as ephemera-packed, with plenty of on-set footage, TV specials, and deleted scenes (the movie itself remains an enjoyable diversion, buoyed by Robert Forster's somber turn as an aging bail bondsman). The disc's coolest offering is a collection of vintage movie trailers featuring Forster and costar Pam Grier in such midnight-screening staples as ''Alligator'' and ''The Big Doll House.'' It's a fitting ode to the director's video-scholar roots, and a reminder of what independent film was like before the early '90s, when the geeks inherited the earth.

-- Brian M. Raftery

Grades: ''Reservoir Dogs'': B+; ''Pulp Fiction'': A; ''Jackie Brown'': B

Video review: 'The Rookie'

Perhaps identifying with his character's midlife second shot at stardom, Dennis Quaid delivers a beautifully calibrated performance as Jim Morris, who in real life became the oldest newbie in Major League Baseball history when he broke in with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at 35. Like a good ball game, director John Lee Hancock's male fantasy moves slowly at times, but ultimately rewards patient viewers with a huge emotional payoff. Sure, it's corny, but what's more American than corn?

-- Bruce Fretts

Grade: A-