Inglorious Bastards (1978)

Director: Enzo G. Castellari

Starring: Bo Svenson, Peter Hooten, Fred Williamson

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: Whatever the Dirty Dozen did they do it dirtier!

Plot: Five escaped military prisoners -- killers, deserters and thieves among them -- set out across World War II France in search of freedom. After their prison convoy is ambushed, the men head for the Swiss border, but they wind up forced to undertake a suicide mission to infiltrate a Nazi train and steal a top secret missile warhead.



My Rating: 7/10

Would I watch it again? Yup


I loves me some WWII flicks, especially those from the 60s and early 70s. This one's a little late in the game but it's a great little Euro War picture from Italy. It's got a great story and it's nicely paced. A major irritation for me is the abundance of slapsticky humor and silly bits. I can do without that. I'm not looking for a WWII flick that I can watch with a 4 year old. They weren't going for that demographic or they wouldn't have thrown this in:


Nice, huh? When's the last time you saw a WWII movie with that in it? Gotta love the Italians and their penchant for sleazing things up a bit. The cast is great with Svenson taking the lead. Williamson is great, too, but he has his silly moments that sometimes detract. He's a wisenheimer throughout the picture but he's still too cool for school.


The guy that plays the Italian goofball would've been better if it hadn't been for the sheer silliness of the role. The music is quite good at times but the orchestra is way too thin and it does jump off the cheesy deep end from time to time. Overall, it's a lighthearted, fun Italian WWII picture that is a great way to kill a couple of hours on a lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

Two more things. The only connection between this and THE DIRTY DOZEN is that these guys were prisoner before they escaped. That's where the similarity ends. I'm fed up with people trying to compare this to that. And Tarantino, in his interview with Enzo, is a pompous, conceited blowhard with talent. His ego is too big even for that forehead of his. In the interview he claims ownership of the title as much as the original film makers because he championed the film to his friends in the early 80s. Shut up and make movies, noodlenuts.