"Inglorious Basterds" Review

Quentin Tarantino has been called many things during his successful career as a writer and director. A film master, a lover of cinema, a video geek, the list goes on. He's given us films like "Reservoir Dogs", "Pulp Fiction" (Oscar winner for best screenplay), "Jackie Brown", and the "Kill Bill" movies (and "Death Proof, but word on the street is that one isn't worth mentioning). Now, here we have the film that Tarantino has worked on for over a decade. A film which he put on hold for the "Kill Bill" series, a film he has referred to as his ultimate masterpiece: "Inglorious Basterds".

The movie takes place in Nazi-occupied France during the 40s. The Basterds are a group of Jewish American soldiers who are in France to do "one THANG and one THANG only!!!... killin' Nazis." Member of the crew include leader Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), Donny Donowitz or "The Bear Jew" (Eli Roth), Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger), a former Nazi who killed 13 SS Gestapo majors, and others. The film also follows the story of Shosanna Dreyfuss (Melanie Laurent), a Jewish French-woman whose family was murdered by Nazis by order of Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), aka "The Jew Hunter". The Nazi's plan to use her theater for a film premiere, and she plans to burn it to the ground with them inside.

The thing people probably won't be expecting about Basterds is that its very dialogue heavy. They dialogue was fantastic, but sometimes it drags on for longer than you would think it needed to. However, in the end, you realize it drags out for just the right amount of time. I'll use my favorite scene in the movie as an example, the bar scene. There is extensive talk and a lot of it won't seem very relevant, until of course you find out practically every character has there gun pointed at someone. That's the beauty of Tarantino's script, the long conversations are a tool he uses to brilliantly build up tension. However the audience doesn't quite really notice until the big bang at the end of the scene. I'll admit, some people may find themselves a tad bored by the talking at times, but by the end of the movie I was more than able to appreciate it.

Still, i would consider Basterds to be just as impressive as a directional feat. He uses Tarantino film techniques that I can't get enough of: extreme closeups, moving "birds-eye-view" shots, his classic chapter format, and a sick sense of humor. Some aspects of his direction will confuse some people who aren't used to his style. Blaxploitation font to introduce a character and Samuel L. Jackson briefly narrating are both things that even I found a bit random though it didn't take anything away from the film. Another thing about this film that people should know, there are a lot of subtitles for French, German, and even Italian. I respect Tarantino's decision to make his film this way, however I did find it hard to follow at times (especially when when one character is translating German into French). Once again, it doesn't take anything away from the overall quality of the film, its just something that didn't help it either.

Earlier I mentioned the fact that this script is heavily worded. Besides the fact that the lines are written well, it helps that great actors are delivering them. Diane Kruger (National Treasure, Troy) was actress who surprisingly impressed me in this movie. I haven't seen many of her films besides the National Treasure movies, so I didn't know what to expect. Some people weren't crazy about Eli Roth, director by trade, as "The Bear Jew". I actually thought he did a fair job with the small amount of screen time he was given. However the true stars of this movie were Pitt and Christoph Waltz. Brad Pitt is a far better actor than people give him credit for, in fact he's one of my favorites. "Fight Club", "Burn After Reading", and now this all prove that he can surrender himself completely to a character, no matter how ridiculous, and play it memorable. Waltz, an actor whom I had never heard of, finds a great and intense villain in his "Jew Hunter". I wonder how easily he'll get more acting jobs with a nickname like that.

It's crucial, I think, that people walk into this expecting a Tarantino film as appose to a war film. It really is a spaghetti western set in a World War II setting. The movie isn't for everyone, Tarantino movies rarely are, but for me it was great. For those wondering, this lands as my second favorite Tarantino film, below "Reservoir Dogs" and above "Kill Bill". Great storytelling and acting, graphically violent, and still seriously funny (watch out for the Italian scenes). 

FINAL RATING: 4.5/5