In terms of popularity, 'Pulp Fiction' still looks like the film that earned Quentin Tarantino his best recognition. However, 'Reservoir Dogs' was the one that put his name on the film industry's map. This crime thriller was made possible with Harvey Keitel's strong backup. While Keitel was obviously the biggest name among the cast members, it boosted the careers of the younger guys like Tim Roth, Chris Penn and Steve Buscemi. Michael Madsen comes off as the most menacing character of the bunch, and his screen presence is so great, not to mention his acting skills, I have to wonder why aren't the studios offering bigger roles for this dynamic actor. Another Tarantino leaning common in all of his films is his casting of oldtime veterans who has been virtually forgotten. He did that with Pam Grier and in Robert Forster in 'Jackie Brown,' and with John Travolta (who wasn't forgotten but was in danger of becoming an eternal B-movie star) in 'Pulp Fiction.' In 'Reservoir Dogs,' he brought on Lawrence Tierney (who wasn't forgotten either but didn't have a good role in quite a while) to play the 'boss.' One of the younger guys (I think it was Buscemi) refers to him as 'The Thing from Fantastic Four' and you have to admit there's a certain resemblance. Maybe Tarantino should have admitted that he borrowed the plots and actions off some of the Hong Kong movies right off (I didn't know this until a friend who's a HK film aficionado gave me a couple of HK movie videos) but it still takes a talented guy to assemble a version this good.