Inglourious Basterds Review

In the near two decades we’ve had Quentin Tarantino as a director, he has become one of the few modern filmmakers with a distinct technique that is carried from film to film, regardless of star-power, budget, or genre. With “Inglourious Basterds” Tarantino brings his approach to the tired, lifeless genre of the World War II epic. Perhaps unsurprisingly, “Basterds,” is a dark, violent saga that’s every bit coarse and distasteful as its incorrectly spelled title.


In trademark Tarantino style, “Basterds” is divided into multiple, eventually converging narratives featuring a bounty of vivid characters. The more-publicized story follows Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) and his crew of scrappy Jewish-American soldiers known as the ‘Basterds’ as they scalp and bludgeon Nazis behind enemy lines. Yet, their tale is paralleled by a story of comparable importance, featuring a French woman named Shosanna (French actress Melanie Laurent) who has a burning desire to take revenge against the Nazis. Coincidentally, Shoshana and the Basterds each devise plans to wipe out the German high command at a movie premiere, which ends with bad Italian accents, explosives galore and a hailstorm of bullets.

Brad Pitt’s presence will certainly help to fill the seats, but the real star of the film is Austrian actor Christoph Waltz, who plays Colonel Hans Landa, the milk-chugging, strudel-munching “Jew Hunter.” Unlike the near-caricature of Amon Goeth in “Schindler’s List,” where the Nazi officer was portrayed as a pure psychopath, Landa is a metaphysical polyglot who is paradoxically both barbaric and sagacious. Expect awards-season hardware for Waltz, who coolly alternates between heartless killer and affable Nazi officer.

Alongside the superb characterization of Landa, Tarantino fortunately evolves “Basterds” beyond the copious, clunky World War II action clones. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to call this an action movie at all. The violence, save for the climactic scene, is dispersed in short, brutal bursts throughout the film. In “Basterds,” the customary, elaborate combat set pieces are replaced by slick conversations at dining tables and rollicking, drunken card games in Parisian basements.


Unfortunately, Tarantino doesn’t know when to end these dialogues, which continue endlessly and bring the pace to a dead halt by the middle third of the film. There ‘s a reasonable limit to the amount of discussion about German cinema under the Third Reich one can sit through and this movie undeniably reaches it.

“Basterds” is also hampered by a few questionable casting decisions. There’s the irritating portrayal of Adolf Hitler as a frothing lunatic that would fit better in a Tex Avery cartoon. Most notably, the inclusion of Mike Myers (“Austin Powers”) as a British officer is befuddling. Myers only appears in a short scene, plastered with hideous makeup, but his presence is so jarring that all of his dialogue is drowned out by your mind wondering, “Why the hell is Mike Myers in this role?” Although Hitler and Myers have brief parts, their collective buffoonery is agitating enough to leave long-lasting negative impression.

Quentin Tarantino has yet to make a below-average film, and his record remains intact with “Inglourious Basterds.” Even with his annoying Tennessee accent, Brad Pitt and the rest of the ensemble provide enough laughs and thrills to make this a very memorable movie. In classic Tarantino fashion, expect to be simultaneously laughing and squirming by the shockingly over-the-top bloodshed. Just try to stay awake for the rest of the movie.

3.5 out of 5 stars