20 'Controversial' Movies Everyone Completely Over-Reacted To
15. Reservoir Dogs
The Film:
Quentin Tarantino's first - and best - movie is the explosively energetic, smartly written and ultra-violent Reservoir Dogs, which shows the events before and after a heist gone wrong.
The Controversy:
Tarantino nearly always ruffles some feathers, but this one did more than his other films likely because it was his first and people weren't used to his style yet.
The film's graphic violence - especially the scene where a police officer is tortured and has his ear cut off - caused uproar and a lot of walkouts. Even Wes Craven walked out of one screening. It caused many debates about screen violence. Its UK video release was delayed because of controversy regarding video releases.
Why It Was Wrong:
The thing is, it's difficult to see quite why everyone was so taken aback by Reservoir Dogs' violence. Many other violent films had been released before it and exploitation cinema had been going for a long time. Aside from the ear-cutting scene, Reservoir Dogs is gory but not too bad.
The violence also helps make the film more powerful and adds to its uniqueness. Many film-makers use violence in their movies and they shouldn't be restricted in this.
The debate about screen violence is one of the most irritating debates in the book. One cannot blame Tarantino for being sick of being interrogated about it. Film violence isn't real and it is extremely unlikely that violent films lead to moral degradation and violent behavior.