Inglorious Basterds Review

Quentin Tarantino certainly delivers a fascinating else worlds take on World War Two in his film Inglourious Basterds. This picture is definitely gruesome but it extends beyond focusing on the effects of the Nazi’s reign and touches on the similarities between every man in war. Tarantino’s picture is the tale of a group of U.S. soldiers called the Basterds who scheme to kill a theatre full of Nazi officials on the same night a theatre owner plans to burn the theater to get revenge against the Nazis. The action is only utilized when absolutely vital and as Tarantino uses dialogue heavily to make his characters come to life to the audience the film succeeds in spades in providing quite the unique experience.

The story follows many different characters and Tarantino skillfully allows the audience to spend different amounts of time with different characters. The movie is told in chapters and when certain characters intersect and crossover from one chapter to the next and the pieces of the movie come together it is exciting and an engaging experience. Brad Pitt, the lead star in the film plays Lt. Aldo Raine, the very charismatic leader of the Nazi killing group the Basterds. His character isn’t portrayed as a straight up hero, but interestingly as a worldly soldier hungry for the blood of his enemies. Aldo and his team members lean more towards the side of anti-heroes as Tarantino paints the image of the reality in his picture of the Allies not only being victims of the Nazis but soldiers who aren’t perfect humans but people capable of hideous acts in the name of war. No doubt Tarantino is reliant on the audience falling for Aldo’s charms to give his character a pass on his rather savage war methods however I think the way he wrote it was deliberate to give Aldo and his men dimensionality and an edge.

Michael Fassbender shines as ex-film critic Lt. Archie Hicox. Archie is a character who isn’t painted as gruesome as Aldo and he shouldn’t be because otherwise a movie full of stereotypical characters would have been developed. The way his character deals with the reality around him and the danger he faces is fascinating and really fits in with the tone. Christoph Waltz is a tremendous talent in this cast as the Nazi Col. Hans Landa who has been nicknamed the “Jew hunter”. In fact, the picture opens with a twenty-minute scene featuring Hans in a dialogue heavy interaction with a fellow German. Tarantino was able to reveal the intricacies of his character in that scene and to establish him as a strong villain to be feared effectively. Whenever the character shows up again after that scene the screen pops with the electric presence of Hans. Perhaps the strongest female in the picture is played by Diane Kruger, Bridget Von Hammersmark. Bridget is a well-known actress in America who is also an allied spy who proves in her screen time she can handle herself in the dangerous Nazi filled environment of France and has a remarkable edge to her. The confrontation between her and Hans feels like titans raging against each other and one that is well built up to. The excellent casts consists of a plethora of talent that drives this story throughout the picture. Other notable mentions include the deranged theatre owner Shosanna played by Melanie Laurent, and the deceivingly boyish Nazi war hero Fredrick Zoller played by Daniel Bruhl, and the dangerous vicious Sergeant Donny Donowitz played by Eli Roth.

The tone is certainly harsh and dangerous which creates an exciting atmosphere for the audience. This is emphasized through scenes where characters demonstrate their bouts of strength or characters Tarantino spends time developing and getting his audience to connect with are killed off creating a feeling of stakes and suspense. As cinematically invigorating as this tale is I wish the tone and characterizations would have reflected the clear line separating the Allies from the Nazis to create a sense of respect to our veterans but any distinction is lost in the madness that erupts amongst the characters as the tension builds between them. I wouldn’t say this picture is one with a high rewatch value as it comes off disturbing and not in a good way. Perhaps it may be of benefit to help individuals to reflect on the nature of war but this picture would have been all the more effective had it firmly established a distinction of good from evil amongst its characters. Overall I would say Inglorious Basterds doesn’t fail to reach suspenseful heights and create compelling interesting characters culminating in a solid war movie which brings out a lot of subject matter to be potentially contemplated and discussed. I am assigning this picture a score of 8.5/10.