11 Things We Learned From Quentin Tarantino On Joe Rogan Experience

10. Harvey Weinstein Wanted Reservoir Dogs' Torture Sequence Cut

The Joe Rogan Experience Quentin Tarantino
Miramax

When Joe Rogan asked whether there was anyone pushing to have any scenes removed from the Tarantino's directorial debut Reservoir Dogs, QT revealed how Harvey Weinstein tried to get the movie's famed torture scene removed once Miramax had picked up the picture.

That scene sees Michael Madsen's Mr. Blonde torturing kidnapped police officer Marvin Nash (Kark Baltz). With Nash tied to a chair, Blonde slashes the cop's face before cutting his ear off and dousing him in gasoline.

By the time Miramax had optioned Reservoir Dogs, the movie had screened at film festivals around the globe for an entire year. So, when Weinstein wanted to remove one of the film's most shocking moments, Tarantino wasn't budging.

As Quentin puts it:

"His reasoning was, 'Look, Quentin, this is a movie that anybody can watch. But with that torture scene, you're gonna alienate women; they're not gonna wanna see this. So you're literally putting your own movie in a little box. But without that scene, anybody can go and see this movie and everybody will enjoy it'. And that's kind of actually where I became me, because Harvey was used to winning these type of arguments."

Tarantino recalled how, despite having seen plenty of people walk out of Reservoir Dogs screenings because of that scene, he was adamant that the torture sequence stayed in the film - and eventually Weinstein agreed.

To think, Harvey Weinstein giving advice on how not to alienate women...

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