Inglorious Basterds 2009

     The setting of this film is in German-occupied France.  It was inspired by the 1970’s B-movie Quel Maledetto Treno Blindato (The Damned Armoured Train).  A 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 Shosanna, he 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”.  This is a group of Jewish-American guerrilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine.  As the relentless executioners advance, 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.

     There are fantasies in very bad taste about Nazi Germany and its greatness?  There are scenes that seem to be about a bunch of nothing?  Why is the head of the Basterds not jewish but a good old boy from Tennessee?  There is boringness and then there it is nothing else but boring?  The violence isn’t shocking but it is just out there and not tasteful?  It is entertaining but it’s not really about war?  If that is so, what is it about?  Is it about exaggeration?  You will need to set aside expectations and just go along for the ride!!  Like all of director Quentin Tarantino’s work, this film is thought provoking, it's also brutally violent, bloody and full of harsh language.  Expect cringe inducing beatings, shootings and more.  There is a non-stop barrage of language, constant smoking and plenty of drinking.  The film also takes lots of liberties with history and it is very chatty.  This means that teens who watch might alternate between being bored to death and very shocked by the scenes of the gory parts.  3* (This movie is OK)
 
153 min directed and written by Quentin Tarantino with Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Melanie Laurent, Christopher Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Daniel Bruhl, Til Schweiger, Gedeon Burkhard, Jacky Ido, B.J. Novak, Omar Doom, August Diehl.

Note:  Imdb 8.3* out of 10* with 1,278,191 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 89% with 332 critic reviews 88% audience scores with 250,000+ reviews, Roger Ebert 3*, The Guardian 1* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Common Sense Media James Rocchi, 4* out of 5*, age 18+, 1* consumers, 4* drinking, drugs & smoking, 5* violence, language.

Special Note:  Tarantino was considering abandoning this film while casting searched for someone to play Colonel Hans Landa.  He thought he may have he'd written a role that was unplayable?  After Christoph Waltz auditioned, both Tarantino and producer Lawrence Bender agreed they had found the perfect actor for this role.  This is the only movie Brad Pitt made as a leading actor for The Weinstein Company or its previous iteration Miramax.  He has said it had everything to do with wanting to work with Quentin Tarantino and nothing to do with Harvey Weinstein.  His animosity for Weinstein stems from an incident in the 90’s.  Pitt physically threatened the producer upon learning of Weinstein's unwanted sexual harassment of his then-girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow!!  This is the first Tarantino film to win an Oscar for acting, Christoph Waltz won for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.  Waltz also won another Oscar for Tarantino’s Danjo Unchained 2012.

Mistakes:  The Gestapo officer in the tavern is shown wearing a M1932 Allgemeine-SS uniform.  This was made famous by the SS in the 1930s.  A Gestapo agent would not have worn one especially in 1944 as its use had been abolished in 1942?  He would have appeared either in civilian attire or in an SS-style gray field uniform similar to Landa’s?  After Sgt. Donowitz ("The Bear Jew") kills the German soldier with a bat, he struts about shouting a "play-by-play" account of his action.  During this, he uses the phrase "Donowitz goes yard!", meaning hitting a home run.  The term "goes yard" was not used for a home run until the 1990’s.