I’m a bit anal and I like things neat and tidy, so I’ve tried to maneuver this series by giving equal time to different types and eras of film. There have been a few times where the same film or filmmaker would have sufficed for more than one topic here, but I’ve been trying to give more of a range and not repeat myself. Therefore, I was trying to avoid using my second Tarantino film as an answer today, but I just can’t honestly say that there is any “Scene That Made Me Stand Up and Cheer” more or as literally than today’s featured from Reservoir Dogs. If you’ve not seen the film, be warned that I’ll be discussing a very crucial climactic moment, so SPOILERS shall henceforth commence.

I saw the movie about a year after it came out, finally renting it because there had been such buzz about it from friends and acquaintances at UCSD. I knew almost nothing about it going in, just that there was some intense imagery and a lot of cleverness and violence (mustn’t forget the violence… I was warned). I thus had the pleasure of experiencing the movie as one rarely does; with no preconceived notions. Since half the cast was largely unknown to me, it wasn’t clear on whom I should be setting my sights or to whom I should give my attention. I watched it in the middle of the afternoon, alone in my little apartment in Solana Beach.

There’s a funny opening, a quick and dirty transition to a frantic getaway, followed by a long passage of… talking. There’s another burst of action as the rest of the heist’s survivors make it to the meet-up place, and when they bring in the cop taken hostage in the process. We’ve heard that Mr. Blonde was the one who went a bit nuts in the middle of the robbery and made everything go south by opening fire. We already know from the flashback that he took a fall and served time for the boss man, and he may or may not be harboring a grudge or suffering from psychotic aftereffects. So, when Blonde is left there with the cop while the others scatter to do clean up, and he begins to cheerfully and sadistically “interrogate” him, we’re not feeling too good about where it’s going to lead.

By this point, I’d forgotten all about Mr. Orange, lying there in an ever-growing puddle of his own blood. Tim Roth was unknown to me at the time, so beyond feeling sorry for the scared, squealing guy who is terrified of dying and begging to be taken to the hospital, I’d just sort of relegated him to the background. My attention was of course on Mr. Blonde, so by the time he had done his little dance, cut off poor Marvin Nash’s ear, and doused him with gasoline, my hands were hovering at the ready to cover my eyes. When, out of nowhere, shots ripped into Blonde just as he was about to drop the lighter and set the cop aflame, there was a millisecond where I didn’t quite understand what I was seeing. It was the cut to Mr. Orange, pale, half-dead, but deadly and sure in his aim and intent, that made me gasp, giving me the ultimate feeling of relief and satisfaction.

After finding that Orange is the rat-undercover cop who set them up, and that the seemingly sweet and innocent cop is actually a balls-of-steel hero who knew and didn’t give him up under duress, and after the movie cut to the white-on-black title: “Mr. Orange,” I realized that I was actually standing in the middle of my living room, clutching a throw pillow. I was so enthralled by the action that I don’t even recall when I leapt to my feet. I didn’t exactly cheer, but it was a pretty thrilling movie-watching experience nonetheless. It’s suddenly a completely different movie from that point on, and it’s amazing to introduce our hero halfway through. It makes you think that the story is going to take some fabulously different turn, and that more amazing rescues are to come. The fact they they do not occur, and that saving the cop’s life was ultimately futile, doesn’t negate the thrill of that moment.

Movies that make me gasp have my undying affection and adoration. I love this movie, and treasure that moment where I was transported and purely entertained. It’s those experiences that make me love film.