INGLORIOUS BASTERDS – REVIEW

9 out of 10

Writer/director Quentin Tarantino is back in glorious form with his World War II epic, Inglorious Basterds.  At times the film is deadly serious and violent while at others it is tongue in cheek and playful.  At all times Basterds is engrossing and entertaining and is a fitting entry in the Tarantino genre.  Yes, that’s right genre.  No matter what his films are about, whether they are a homage to pulp novels or a revenge fantasy starring a female samurai, Tarantino’s films are uniquely Tarantino, laced with brilliant dialogue, awesome camera angles, title cards and plenty of comedic violence. 

Basterds  follows a cavalcade of characters that all meet up and cross paths in a movie theatre in France during the explosive third act of the film.  In Chapter 1 we are introduced to Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), otherwise known as the Jew Hunter.  He is in France seeking out Jewish folk who have managed to slip out of the grasp of the Nazis.  Landa is a well mannered, overly polite killer who has a knack for ferreting out his prey and may be one of the most deliciously evil screen villains of all time.  In Chapter 2 we meet Lieutenant Aldo Raines (Brad Pitt), leader of an elite group of Jewish-American soldiers known as the Basterds.  Their mission is to go to Nazi occupied France and spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and killing Nazi after Nazi.  Their plan goes exceedingly well and the Basterds begin to become the stuff of legend.  Soon after we are introduced to Shosanna Dreyfus, a Jewish exile whose family was murdered by Landa and who is now living in France under an assumed identity.  She owns a theatre that the Nazis want to use to premier the latest propaganda film from Joseph Goebbels (Sylvester Groth), one of the higher ups in the Nazi party.  Dreyfus plans to use this opportunity to avenge her family and strike a serious blow to the villainous Nazis.  Also looking to use the theatre to destroy the Nazis is German movie star, Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger), who has been secretly working with the U.S. government.  She is teamed up with the Basterds to strike a blow against the Nazis that will effectively end the war.  Of course, things don’t go as planned and it all leads to a thoroughly satisfying, exciting and unpredictable conclusion.

In Basterds, as with all of Tarantino’s movies, it’s not so much the story that is compelling, but the way he allows it to unfold.  His films are never linear, instead relying on flashbacks to tell the story and keep the audience guessing.  He is the master of hide and seek.  Tarantino also has a flair for introducing his characters in an exciting manner, employing great use of dialogue.  The introduction of Raines is one of the best scenes in the film and will go on to become a classic.  As is the case with all of his films, Tarantino brings his distinctive visual flair to Basterds and proves once again that he is a masterful director who propels his cast to uniformly amazing performances.  Then again, with the amazing dialogue that he creates, any actor worth his salt would give a good performance.  The usual obscure movie references and typical Tarantino flourishes are all here on display.  My only real complaint is that some of the scenes stretch on a tad too long but at the same time the film never overstays its welcome.  In fact it is the length of some of the scenes that build the tension to a boiling point that usually erupts into crazy violence.  That’s the thing about Tarantino; you never know where his twisted imagination is going to take you and it is thrilling.

As stated earlier, the acting is top notch.  Pitt gleefully rips into the role of Lt. Raines and is a joy to watch.  My only wish is that he was given more screen time.  It is evident in his performance that Pitt had the time of his life filming Basterds and I would love to see him collaborate with Tarantino again in the future.  Christoph Waltz is brilliant as Col. Hans Landa, making him one of the best on screen villains ever.  Whether he is speaking Italian, German or English, Waltz gives a diabolical performance that blends great charm with atrocious malevolence    I sense that he will be rewarded for his performance during awards season.  If he isn’t given a best supporting actor nod from the Academy, that would be quite inglorious indeed.   Melanie Laurent is evocative as Shosanna Dreyfuss, displaying great strength and steely determination as she plans her revenge on the Nazis.  Diane Kruger also delivers a spellbinding performance as German movie star, Bridget Von Hammersmark.  The rest of the cast gamely does their best but there are far too many of them to mention here.

To sum it up, Inglorious Basterds is not quite the masterpiece that Pulp Fiction is, but it comes damn close.  Jam packed with crisp dialogue, impressive visual flair, fabulous performances and plenty of Tarantino’s trademark violence and wit; Basterds is quite the glorious achievement.

The bold opening credits and music, the immediately interesting and unique story, the style and acting were all perfection! The first thing I questioned was, who is Quentin Tarantino and why haven’t I heard of this guy? I absolutely had to check out Reservoir Dogs once I realized that this hot new director made another great film that actually went unnoticed. I was taken by surprise once again when I saw this film and was amazed at Tarantino’s ability to make films with such unique quality. Who else can take a group of actors and make a movie based almost completely in one room without making the film look like a stage production or low budget film? Not only that, it also included comedy, drama, a little bit of gore and a sense of suspense. Of course, this movie may not have been quite as interesting and would most likely not have included the well-known movie stars that were involved had not be for Harvey Keitel. Tarantino gave Keitel a copy of the script to review and asked for his opinion. Keitel liked it so much that offered to help pay the cost of hiring Hollywood actors and beefing up the film’s budget a little more. Quentin was originally planning to include local actors in the film due to his limited funds. I’m sure I can speak for many people when I state the fact that I’m pleased Tarantino had this opportunity. The film made a gross of $2.8 million and gave Tarantino the kick-start he needed to break into the world of film.

Tarantino’s style is unique and includes a 70’s sense quality. He chooses many different types of music to accompany each film’s soundtrack, usually opening his film with a song that sparks your anticipation. Each character in his films always has an out-of-the-ordinary personality that is completely their own and each one is interesting in some way. He brings you into a whole new world no matter which one of his movies you watch. Don’t get me wrong- when I state that Tarantino creates unique films, I’m not claiming that everything about his films is original. Tarantino himself admits that he takes ideas from other films and there are many critics out there who deem this to be a downfall. I don’t see it that way. I think taking ideas from other films can be a healthy thing if done carefully. Tarantino has borrowed ideas from some of his favorite movies but most of them are older so the mainstream moviegoer will most likely not notice the similarities. No matter how many borrowed ideas he incorporates into his films, he always manages to deliver top-notch entertainment.

My favorite Tarantino film is still Pulp Fiction. There was nothing like seeing this movie for the first time. The music and the rolling opening credits already took my breath away and when I watched the opening scene, I knew this was going to be a sure-fired hit. I believe the whole theater gasped when they first saw how much John Travolta had changed and Samuel L. Jackson’s 70’s hairdo was certainly a shocker. Everyone in the film had a style of their own that we were not accustomed to seeing at the time making it that much more interesting to watch. Tarantino brought in a shock factor as he included foul language, drugs and violence and he was actually able to make us laugh at most of it, perhaps making us feel a little guilty. There’s nothing line the one-liners from a Tarantino film, with the exception of a few Clint Eastwood movies. Fans everywhere are still quoting lines from Pulp Fiction, as I’m sure many people will for years to come.

I have to admit that as much as I love Uma Therman I’m not a huge fan of the Kill Bill movies. I enjoyed Inglorious Basterds, especially the opening scene and Brad Pitt was phenomenal as were most of the actors. I prefer to watch an Eli Roth movie rather than watch him act. He seemed to stick out like a sore thumb among the other actors’ phenomenal performances in the film. I had only one issue with the film and that is how Tarantino decided to go about the revenge factor. We were angry with the Nazi’s and wanted the victims to turn the tables and seek revenge. The movie seemed to be leading to the ultimate revenge but I felt like the victory of the whole thing was muted by the way it was carried out. After waiting for the time to come around when the bad guys finally get what’s coming to them and wondering how it will happen, all of a sudden it is executed in one shot and the movie is over. Perhaps he was aiming for the same effect Carrie had on its viewers as this is one of his favorite films but it just didn’t cut it for me. I know I’m in the minority on my opinion of Kill Bill and Inglorious Basterds but I enjoyed every other Tarantino film more than I did these. Inglorious was Tarantino’s highest grossing movie thus far.

What about From Dusk Till Dawn? Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez worked together on this film. How many people can make a movie truly seem like a hostage/drama/dark comedy film and turn the whole thing into a horror movie ¾ of the way through it and make it believable? This movie was a blast and another pleasant surprise delivered by the man himself and Rodriguez, another great director.

I am always criticized for my take on Jackie Brown. I have to admit that I wasn’t as big of a fan of this film the first time I saw it in the theater but somehow I grew to love it! Pam Grier rocks, first of all, and I never realized how handsome Robert Forster was until I saw Jackie Brown. Tarantino has a great way of using the most unlikely combination of actors and makes it work so well, you would think the actors have known each other for years. Would you have guessed that one day you’d see a movie that includes 70’s goddess Pam Grier, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda (known for her work mostly in the 80’s), Samuel L. Jackson (newly famous at the time for his work in Pulp Fiction) and Robert DeNiro (out Italian American icon)? This film has great style and the characters were awesome, not to mention the story wasn’t too shabby either.

I was psyched to see Grindhouse including Tarantino’s Death Proof and Rodriguez’s Planet Terror. I enjoyed both but of course I’m always a little partial to Quentin. This movie was a blast from start to finish and Kurt Russell had to have given his best acting performance ever. This film is the definition of what I’m talking about when I refer to an awesome revenge movie. The end of this film had me at the edge of my seat.

So where does Quentin Tarantino come from and what has inspired him to become one the most famous directors in show biz? Tarantino was born in Knoxville, TN to his mom Connie who was a nurse and his father Tony who was an actor and musician. If you recall his wife in Pulp Fiction was a nurse and her name was Bonnie. I found this to be fairly comical. Tarantino’s mother raised him as his father was out of the picture before he was born. Quentin moved to California with his mother and attended school at Narbonne High School in L.A. and dropped out when he was fifteen-years-old to start acting school.

Tarantino loved movies since he was young and would make amateur films right in his back yard with the help of his good friend Adam Olis. He worked at a video store where he would recommend movies to customers and took pleasure in reviewing films with people like Roger Avary who would go on to become an actor writer, director and producer (Avary wrote Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction). Tarantino met Lawrence Bender at a Hollywood party who talked him into writing a screenplay. Quentin went for it and the original work was titled “My Best Friend’s Birthday”. It was practically destroyed in a fire but enough of it was salvaged and sold to become what we know as the film True Romance starring Gary Oldman.

What will Tarantino come up with next? There are rumors that he may dive into a few more martial arts films. The first may be a remake of the original film Come Drink With Me released back in 1966. He will be working on the second film along with Eli Roth titled The Man With The Iron Fist. He is also helping Eli Roth with the editing of his new upcoming sci-fi movie Endangered Species. It is not etched in stone but there is talk that aliens will dominate and the human race may become the “endangered species” Roth told the press that the film will be “science fiction-based and with lots of chaos and mass destruction”. Any new Eli Roth movie will certainly catch my attention but I will be the first person in the theater opening night for the next notorious Tarantino flick.

Quotes from Tarantino Movies:

“I got this young nineteen year old country girl named Sheronda. I found her on a bus stop two days outta Georgia, barefoot, country as a chicken coop. I took her to my place in Compton, told her it was Hollywood.”- Samuel L. Jackson as Ordell in Jackie Brown

“When you’re dealing with a store like this, they’re insured up the a**. They’re not supposed to give you any resistance whatsoever. If you get a customer, or an employee, who thinks he’s Charles Bronson, take the butt of your gun and smash their nose in.”- Harvey Keitel as Mr. White in Reservoir Dogs

“And I don’t want to hear anything about I don’t believe in vampires because *I* don’t believe in vampires, but I believe in my own two eyes, and what *I* saw is ****ing vampires!”- George Clooney as Seth in From Dusk Till Dawn

Because it was a fifty fifty shot on wheter you’d be going left or right. You see we’re both going left. You could have just as easily been going left, too. And if that was the case… It would have been a while before you started getting scared. But since you’re going the other way, I’m afraid you’re gonna have to start getting scared… immediately!”- Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike in Death Proof

“You probably heard we ain’t in the prisoner-takin’ business; we in the killin’ Nazi business. And cousin, Business is a-boomin’.”- Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine in Inglorious Basterds

By: Frank Bilotta