Inglorious Basterds is more or less Quentin Tarantino's vision of how World War II should have ended. So history snobs be warned, this movie is more historically inaccurate than an Oliver Stone film.
The story follows Brad Pitt and his group of Jewish American soldiers who are dropped into France to do one thing and one thing only: Killing Nazis. Awesome!!! When Brad Pitt's character Aldo is introduced, he gives one of the best monologues in a long time. Aldo is a ruthless killer. If you look closely, you can see rope marks around his neck. Yes, he was hung but didn't die. By default he's awesome! His group called the Basterds are also really cool. One of them is played by B.J. Novak who plays Ryan from The Office which made me laugh. Eli Roth plays a soldier called the Bear Jew and he is one of the few Americans that even the Nazis fear. And rightly so because there is a scene with him and a baseball bat that you will both cringe and laugh at. It's okay people, don't beat yourself up if/when you chuckle when a Nazi gets tortured or executed because you can't sympathize for them! Seriously, you feel nothing for them because they are perhaps one of the most ruthless killers in the history of the world. You are not going to walk out of this movie saying,
"Oh well it was okay, but they were being really unfair to those Nazis. I just felt so bad for them."
If you say that after the credits roll, you are missing the point of this film. This is Tarantino. He writes what he wants and could care less if it is historically or politically correct. Check your hat at the door and enjoy the film.
Nw this is the first and only Quentin Tarantino film I have watched and I expected an over-the-top, bloody WWII movie. I did get that, but something else. There are many scenes that are just a couple of people sitting around a table talking. Now most of the time during scenes of prolonged dialogue, that's my cue to go to the bathroom. Not this time. Tarantino shows how to raise the tension really well. The dialogue scenes play out like someone tightening a guitar string. You know that it's going to snap eventually but when it does it's insane. The scene that stands out to me is the first chapter of the film. It starts out with a Nazi SS Officer talking to a french farmowner. He invites the officer into his house and he asks the owner if he's hiding any french jews. That scene is executed perfectly in every aspect. Christoph Waltz plays the Nazi SS Officer called the Jew Hunter and he's absurdly good. He's more or less the main villain but oddly enough, he's likable! He's really soft-spoken and is all smiles all the time.You know that he's evil because he's a Nazi, but you don't really see his sadistically evil side until near the end. His performance really stands out.
Mike Myers also made a cameo which was crazy to see because I've never seen him in a serious movie before. Or a movie other than Shrek or Wayne's World. Definitely look for his cameo.
Final Report: With well developed characters, a great story, a masterfully written script, plenty of dark humor and enough Nazi violence to go around: That's a bingo!
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