Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Christoph Waltz, Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger, B.J. Novak, Mike Myers, Julie Dreyfus, Rod Taylor

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France...

Plot: In Nazi occupied France, young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the slaughter of her family by Colonel Hans Landa. Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller takes a rapid interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theater she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the "Basterds", a group of Jewish-American guerilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine. As the relentless executioners advance and the conspiring young girl's plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history.

My rating: 9/10

Will I watch it again? Most certainly.

I love QT's movies, pure and simple. KILL BILL (2003) is probably my favorite (both parts as a whole, mind you). With every announcement of a new QT flick, I get all kinds of excited. When the trailers come out I'm a mess of anticipation but when I saw the trailers for INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS I was completely unimpressed. Nothing about them did gave me that "he's still got it" feeling I'd always had previously. Brad Pitt looked horribly miscast. Nothing worked...until I saw it opening weekend.


I couldn't have been more wrong. Christoph Waltz's performance is magnificent and that he was unknown to everyone here in the States makes it even better. I'm anxiously awaiting anything this guy puts out. Pitt was a great bit of casting. He's fucking hilarious. The shit that comes out of his mouth and the way he delivers it is priceless. Like all QT flicks, the performances and dialogue are top notch. His music choices are a lot of fun. The only issue I had, musically, was the David Bowie song stuck in a pivotal moment in the film. It completely took me out of it and that bugs me. I'm going along have a wonderful time then BAM! What the hell, dude? Other than that, it's tops.


Oh, and the ending is fantastic. Methinks he watched HITLER - DEAD OR ALIVE (1942) a few times before writing it. But that's OK 'cause the man sure does know how to make a highly entertaining movie. It's not the action-loaded flick everyone expected (myself included) but it is a helluva lot of fun. I still want to see a QT WWII balls out action movie but that's probably not going to happen but one thing is certain...he's still got it!