MovieChat Forums > Sushi Girl (2012) Discussion > Not a Tarantino knock off, a RESERVOIR D...

Not a Tarantino knock off, a RESERVOIR DOGS knock off

posted 9 years ago by Syava
9 replies | jump to latest

I started watching this film and thought, ok, there's definitely a Tarantinoness to it, but I'll let that slide. The acting was good, music was good, everything seem competently made for a low budget film of this kind. But about 20 minutes in it REALLY became clear that this is almost beat for beat, scene for scenes the same exact movie as Reservoir Dogs, to the point it became distracting.

There is an episode of Reno 911 where a guy's house is on fire. He is desperate because the novel he has been writing is in there. He begs each officer to run in and grab his novel for him, when the officers ask him the plot and he explains, they tell him it is the same exact plot as the movie "Frequency".

My point being, I think the director who made this probably got so wrapped up in writing this script, that he didn't realize he was mistook being inspired by a Tarantino film, to completely ripping it off. I think perhaps that almost happened unintentionally.

Let's just look at the similarities.

1.Takes place in a warehouse like environment after a botched heist and the surviving crew try to piece together what happened.

2. The heist is shown in several flashback segments

3. An innocent person is shot during the escape.

4. The getaway driver crashes the car and dies in both films.

5. A guy is tied up to a chair and brutally tortured

6. One of the members is an undercover cop/and or working with the police

7. Mr. Pink is called a f*ggot/Mark Hammil's character is referred to several times as a f*ggot

8. Both films end with Mexican standoffs.

Are there any others that I missed?

As I said, the film is competently made and I enjoyed the acting, but once you think about it, the rip off aspect is way too glaring to ignore.

[–] jivetalkinhonkey 9 years ago

Not saying you're totally wrong, but I think you're blowing it out of proportion. Tons of movies contain the elements you describe.

1- Sushi Girl takes place in an old restaurant, not a warehouse, and not immediately after the heist, but years later. It also takes place during a downpour and the introduction to this location is more reminiscent of Akira Kurosawa's Roshomon.
2- Reservoir Dogs never actually shows the heist, so all you're really saying is that both films have flashbacks. That's too general to say it's a ripoff. Roshomon also employs a similar flashback structure, as does Citizen Kane.
3&4 - this also happens in a host of other action films, Heat chiefly comes to mind.
5- This is probably the moment most evocative of Reservoir Dogs, but in that film, it's a very brief and handled by shying away from the gruesome act. The torture in Sushi Girl is long, sustained and relatively unflinching, more akin to something we might see in Hostel.
6- Again, Reservoir Dogs handles this completely differently and this element isn't something exclusive to that movie. The funny part is that Reservoir Dogs is itself a ripoff of a bunch of older movies. Most people say the plot is a direct copy of City on Fire.
7- Very superficial use of language. Does this mean every movie using this word is ripping off Tarantino too? Let's not forget that Hamill's character is much more flamboyant than Mr. Pink, thus the slant is somewhat justifiable, whereas it's played for comedy in Dogs.
8- So do a ton of westerns and other films Tarantino ripped off...

I can see your larger point, but did you stop to think that all of these things you mention are just superficial comparisons? What is the story of Reservoir Dogs about vs. what Sushi Girl is about? Are they the same movie in that regard? Because I think they're vastly different. Everything you're talking about is merely window dressing.

All of this ignores a larger question: why is it okay for Tarantino to ripoff things left and right, usually very blatantly, but if other filmmakers do the same thing it's considered blasphemy?

[–] Syava 9 years ago

People often claim Tarantino blatantly rips things off, yet I've never been presented with any proof or examples, only heresy. I'm not saying you're wrong, as I myself honestly don't know and can't claim otherwise. But what are the so called films he has blatantly ripped off left and right? Do you have any scenes or clips?

[–] jivetalkinhonkey 9 years ago

A simple google search for "Quentin Tarantino steals" or "Quentin Tarantino rip off" will show you a litany of links detailing his penchant for blatantly cribbing scenes, plots and shots from other movies, but here are a few of particular note:

http://www.slashfilm.com/quentin-tarantino-steals/
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2004/apr/06/features.dvdreviews
http://www.collativelearning.com/mybb_1401/Upload/showthread.php?tid=1063
http://www.businessinsider.com/quentin-tarantino-stolen-movie-scenes-2015-6
http://www.fastcodesign.com/3047069/see-the-famous-shots-that-quentin-tarantino-stole-from-other-movies
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/06/08/quentin-tarantino-movie-references-video_n_7537254.html
http://thefilmstage.com/features/the-good-thief-the-legacy-of-quentin-tarantino/

Several of these links reference this video that illustrates some specific examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG9wGUvw0MQ

Here's another video focused solely on Kill Bill: https://vimeo.com/19469447

Quentin himself is quoted as saying,“I steal from every single movie ever made. If my work has anything, it’s that I’m taking this from this and that from that and mixing them together.”

So, again, why is it that when Quentin does this, nobody cares, but when other filmmakers do it, it becomes a negative thing? Yeah, Sushi Girl does rip off Tarantino here and there, but it also references a bunch of other stuff. Where (and why) do we draw the line?

[–] Syava 9 years ago

A lot of those are really grasping at straws. I would call those ripping off in the same way Led Zeppelin has "ripped off" other artists. I supposed the difference is, Tarantino has his own voice. He pays homage, often takes images he finds cool and uses them, uses music from other films, but he creates his own unique dialogue, he creates his own unique characters, he has his own style. Sushi Girl has no style of it's own.

[–] jivetalkinhonkey 9 years ago

Gonna have to disagree with you there. Particularly regarding City on Fire and Reservoir Dogs, if you watch them both, you'll see an uncanny resemblance, especially in plot and character, much stronger than what you see with Sushi Girl vs. Reservoir Dogs.

You asked for visual examples, well, there are a ton of them. The ones in those videos are just a few, and no, they're not mostly grasping at straws. Many of them are almost exact recreations. Sushi Girl has its own visual language that's never a direct copy of something else.

In a way, I think Sushi Girl thumbs its nose at what Tarantino does. Quentin steals elements from other (usually obscure) movies to do what, exactly? He crafts his dialogue (which is generally very good) and his characters (not so consistently good) and hones his style, but to what end? What's the deeper meaning in all of his work? It all seems to be in service of "cool", not really any higher purpose. At the very least, Sushi Girl serves up commentary on gender politics by presenting a completely nude girl at the top of the film and making you forget she's in the room by the third act, only to reveal that she's the character everyone should have been paying attention to. It has something to say above and beyond the plot. Sure, you can knock it for style points, but it has a voice that extends past the hollow-cool Tarantino homages.

[–] PrimeMinisterOfTheSinister 9 years ago

I haven't seen 'Sushi Girl' so I can't comment on it, but Tarantino is a blatant thief and so were Led Zepplin, for that matter. Anyone that says otherwise is just a blind, delusional fanboy idiot. "Reservoir Dogs" is a total rip-off of "City on Fire". Dialogue and shots are copied. Tarantino initially denied ever seeing "City on Fire" and tried to play innocent but then, like any good liar, flipped his story later. He's a thieving, lying piece of crap. You want proof? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HgbSAL8OKY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZKgptV4GmQ

[–] leyenda61 8 years ago

Is this supposed to be good or something?

-- Sent from my 13 year old P.O.S. Desktop®

[–] leyenda61 8 years ago

I just seent it. Quentin Tarantino must be rolling over in his bed right now. Pretty blatant "oh-mahj". It was a decent small budget effort but i saw the ending coming a mile away.

-- Sent from my 13 year old P.O.S. Desktop®

[–] badblood77 8 years ago

Was about to mention that reservoir dogs is already a copy of HK movie city on fire but Yeh is so well known fact already.
Did though like this too fun little grindhouse movie :)