Super Trooper
Well-known member
Hey guys.
Sorry if someone already posted this, but I thought it was just too cool not to link to.
This is QT’s first film he ever wrote and directed as well as starred in. It was shot between ’84 and ’87 using a cheap 16mm Bolex camera and $5,000. Due to a lab fire, only about 30 odd minutes remain in existence. Here they are.
As far as a stand alone short, it was messy as hell, but still entertaining. But considering what this kid would accomplish just a few short years later, it makes it all the more interesting.
Here is its IMDB page: http://imdb.com/title/tt0359715/
*******************************************************************
Here is a little info from another site:
MY BEST FRIEND'S BIRTHDAY (1986).
The trailers for KILL BILL proudly proclaim that it's Quentin Tarantino's fourth film. Technically, that's correct, because nobody would consider his first, uncompleted 16mm project (made when he was still clerking at Video Archives) to be a finished work. This b&w screwball comedy was written by Tarantino and acting-class comrade Craig Hamann, photographed by Roger Avery, and funded by his video store pals. But after numerous technical problems, Quentin scrapped the project and moved onto bigger and better things. After all these years, 37 minutes of this legendary film have finally surfaced. At first glance, it's just a bunch of jumbled scenes, as crude as any Richard Kern flick, with comedy that rivals MEATBALLS PART II. But when it was over, I was hooked. I wanted to see more of these eccentric characters, as they dealt with love, loss, potential violence, and their unending obsession with the movies. Most of the footage is from early portions of the film, beginning with a shockingly-young Quentin (sporting Stray Cats hand-me-downs) as motor-mouthed radio-d.j. Clarence Pool, who recalls how -- at the tender age of 3 -- he was saved from suicide by The Partridge Family. But when Clarence snorts a Baggie full of coke during a commercial break, he has an on-air meltdown. In another subplot, Mickey (Craig Hamann, who directed the 1997 Mark Dacascos thriller BOOGIE BOY) discovers his ex-girlfriend in his apartment and is thrilled -- until he learns that she's just there to collect her poo poo and has a new Yuppie boyfriend. Meanwhile, it's poor rejected Mickey's birthday and Clarence, his best friend, needs a suitable present. How about hiring a novice call-girl named Misty (Crystal Shaw, who went onto write and star in the 1998 short film HAVE A PERIWINKLE DAY)? These scenes might be raw and disconnected, but they also display the same snappy dialogue and oddball characters that energize Tarantino's current work. In fact, this often seems like the Rosetta Stone of his future career. All of the influences and answers are here, crammed together into one big hodgepodge. There are obscure film-references galore, Aldo Ray jokes, discussions about the genius of DePalma, and Quentin gives himself a romantic scene with Misty, whose career choice was inspired by Nancy Allen's whore in DRESSED TO KILL! Allen Garfield (who was Tarantino's acting teacher at his Beverly Hills' Acting Shelter) turns up as a bakery owner, when Clarence buys a cake for Mickey and argues about Elvis Presley's limited acting abilities. Plus, a background one-sheet collection includes cool, cult-movie faves like THE FURY, SISTERS, BLACK OAK CONSPIRACY, THE NINTH CONFIGURATION, and (of course) a Sonny Chiba flick. He even squeezes in a lame martial arts showdown between Mickey and Misty's black pimp, Clifford, and includes background tunes like "Ballroom Blitz" (long before Quentin could actually afford to buy the rights).”
**********************************************************************
Here are the links for the film. Unfortunately, it’s split into four parts and not a straight cut. (It took a few minutes to load on my computer, so to be able to watch uninterrupted, just load all four parts on four separate pages. A little slow but worth it. I’m sure there are bittorrent links some one else could provide, but this is all I got at the moment.)
The sound and video are pretty poor, but this is due to the low quality of the existing footage, not the internet.
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMhZ7DXtssw&search=my%20best%20friends%20birthday
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5GMPfQ1eos&search=my%20best%20friends%20birthday
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9lCK25ayGE&search=my%20best%20friends%20birthday
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a2GRRVIypE&search=my%20best%20friends%20birthday
****************************************************
And for those interested, here is a transcript for the whole thing.
Transcript:
http://www.tarantino.info/wiki/index.php/My_Best_Friend's_Birthday_Transcript
I have also provided an Amazon link to Jami Bernard’s Quentin Tarantino: The Man and His Movies. It’s an awesome read. Use the “look inside” feature to preview the chapter about the making of this film and others.
*************************************************
Hell, while I’m at it, I might as well post the links to all of his screenplays. Pretty easy to get, but thought I’d save you the trouble none the less. If anyone out there is ever wondering how write a screenplay, well, this is a good place to start learning.
Written& Directed by Tarantino-
Reservoir Dogs: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/reservoir.shtml
Pulp Fiction: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/pulp.shtml
Four Rooms (The Man from Hollywood): http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/4rooms.shtml
Jackie Brown: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/jackiebrown.txt
Kill Bill vol. 1 & 2: http://www.script-o-rama.com/snazzy/dircut.html
Written by Tarantino-
True Romance: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/trueromance.shtml
Natural Born Killers: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/killers.shtml
From Dusk Till Dawn: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/dusk.shtml
Sleep With Me (Top Gun Monologue): http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/sleep.shtml
Ok. Watch, enjoy, and tell me what ya think. Discuss any other related Tarantino topics as well if ya want.
Have fun.
-Troop
Sorry if someone already posted this, but I thought it was just too cool not to link to.
This is QT’s first film he ever wrote and directed as well as starred in. It was shot between ’84 and ’87 using a cheap 16mm Bolex camera and $5,000. Due to a lab fire, only about 30 odd minutes remain in existence. Here they are.
As far as a stand alone short, it was messy as hell, but still entertaining. But considering what this kid would accomplish just a few short years later, it makes it all the more interesting.
Here is its IMDB page: http://imdb.com/title/tt0359715/
*******************************************************************
Here is a little info from another site:
MY BEST FRIEND'S BIRTHDAY (1986).
The trailers for KILL BILL proudly proclaim that it's Quentin Tarantino's fourth film. Technically, that's correct, because nobody would consider his first, uncompleted 16mm project (made when he was still clerking at Video Archives) to be a finished work. This b&w screwball comedy was written by Tarantino and acting-class comrade Craig Hamann, photographed by Roger Avery, and funded by his video store pals. But after numerous technical problems, Quentin scrapped the project and moved onto bigger and better things. After all these years, 37 minutes of this legendary film have finally surfaced. At first glance, it's just a bunch of jumbled scenes, as crude as any Richard Kern flick, with comedy that rivals MEATBALLS PART II. But when it was over, I was hooked. I wanted to see more of these eccentric characters, as they dealt with love, loss, potential violence, and their unending obsession with the movies. Most of the footage is from early portions of the film, beginning with a shockingly-young Quentin (sporting Stray Cats hand-me-downs) as motor-mouthed radio-d.j. Clarence Pool, who recalls how -- at the tender age of 3 -- he was saved from suicide by The Partridge Family. But when Clarence snorts a Baggie full of coke during a commercial break, he has an on-air meltdown. In another subplot, Mickey (Craig Hamann, who directed the 1997 Mark Dacascos thriller BOOGIE BOY) discovers his ex-girlfriend in his apartment and is thrilled -- until he learns that she's just there to collect her poo poo and has a new Yuppie boyfriend. Meanwhile, it's poor rejected Mickey's birthday and Clarence, his best friend, needs a suitable present. How about hiring a novice call-girl named Misty (Crystal Shaw, who went onto write and star in the 1998 short film HAVE A PERIWINKLE DAY)? These scenes might be raw and disconnected, but they also display the same snappy dialogue and oddball characters that energize Tarantino's current work. In fact, this often seems like the Rosetta Stone of his future career. All of the influences and answers are here, crammed together into one big hodgepodge. There are obscure film-references galore, Aldo Ray jokes, discussions about the genius of DePalma, and Quentin gives himself a romantic scene with Misty, whose career choice was inspired by Nancy Allen's whore in DRESSED TO KILL! Allen Garfield (who was Tarantino's acting teacher at his Beverly Hills' Acting Shelter) turns up as a bakery owner, when Clarence buys a cake for Mickey and argues about Elvis Presley's limited acting abilities. Plus, a background one-sheet collection includes cool, cult-movie faves like THE FURY, SISTERS, BLACK OAK CONSPIRACY, THE NINTH CONFIGURATION, and (of course) a Sonny Chiba flick. He even squeezes in a lame martial arts showdown between Mickey and Misty's black pimp, Clifford, and includes background tunes like "Ballroom Blitz" (long before Quentin could actually afford to buy the rights).”
**********************************************************************
Here are the links for the film. Unfortunately, it’s split into four parts and not a straight cut. (It took a few minutes to load on my computer, so to be able to watch uninterrupted, just load all four parts on four separate pages. A little slow but worth it. I’m sure there are bittorrent links some one else could provide, but this is all I got at the moment.)
The sound and video are pretty poor, but this is due to the low quality of the existing footage, not the internet.
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMhZ7DXtssw&search=my%20best%20friends%20birthday
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5GMPfQ1eos&search=my%20best%20friends%20birthday
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9lCK25ayGE&search=my%20best%20friends%20birthday
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a2GRRVIypE&search=my%20best%20friends%20birthday
****************************************************
And for those interested, here is a transcript for the whole thing.
Transcript:
http://www.tarantino.info/wiki/index.php/My_Best_Friend's_Birthday_Transcript
I have also provided an Amazon link to Jami Bernard’s Quentin Tarantino: The Man and His Movies. It’s an awesome read. Use the “look inside” feature to preview the chapter about the making of this film and others.
*************************************************
Hell, while I’m at it, I might as well post the links to all of his screenplays. Pretty easy to get, but thought I’d save you the trouble none the less. If anyone out there is ever wondering how write a screenplay, well, this is a good place to start learning.
Written& Directed by Tarantino-
Reservoir Dogs: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/reservoir.shtml
Pulp Fiction: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/pulp.shtml
Four Rooms (The Man from Hollywood): http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/4rooms.shtml
Jackie Brown: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/jackiebrown.txt
Kill Bill vol. 1 & 2: http://www.script-o-rama.com/snazzy/dircut.html
Written by Tarantino-
True Romance: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/trueromance.shtml
Natural Born Killers: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/killers.shtml
From Dusk Till Dawn: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/dusk.shtml
Sleep With Me (Top Gun Monologue): http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/sleep.shtml
Ok. Watch, enjoy, and tell me what ya think. Discuss any other related Tarantino topics as well if ya want.
Have fun.
-Troop
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