Bottom Line, this is as great a movie as I have seen in a long, long time. Tarantino tops even Pulp Fiction and sends up the entire genre of War pictures. Not doing quite what Mel Brooks did to the Western with Blazing Saddles and killing the genre, just irrevocably inserting his name into the historic narrative - you will never look at a war picture set in Europe without thinking about Tarantino after you see Inglorious Basterds.
The more you love movies, the more you love Tarantino. A Tarantino film should have the effect of influencing you to go out to the movies more often. He has clear-cut bad guys and good guys and strong, hot women running things their way and, best of all, he always delivers a payoff. Every one of his trademarks is here, along with and anything one could lift from a century of cinema.
A few scenes in Inglorious Basterds are a bit long, but it is an exquisite tension that adds up to an unexpectedly perfect payoff, gruesome or hilarious as it may be. And as these are Nazis, there are plenty of subtitled scenes. But these are not even quibbles, just letting you know that you are going to be doing a little reading and seeing some bleeding in your 2 hours and 40 minutes of movie. And you might want to cover your eyes when the guy shows up with the baseball bat. Cover your ears too, as the soldier makes a 1940s Red Sox reference.
Brad Pitt's satiric redneck is believably hilarious. The dialogue is vintage Tarantino banter designed to lull you into banal sympathy for each character until unseemly outcomes flare up and engorge them. I thought Jackie Brown was great but understated, Kill Bill 1 was a brilliant build up ruined by a KB Part 2 that, for all its merits, was too in love with its own reflection to be the homerun out of the park. I was in the minority in enjoying Grindhouse and the director's cut of Death-Proof, but after Tarantino had pulled an October-'02 Spiezio with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, these films were more like the '06 Cardinals. But Inglorious Basterds sets up the tension like six foul balls off of Fernando Rodriguez and the payoff had me leap from my seat and applaud an epic, historic home run of a movie.
0 recs | 55 comments
This movie was utterly ridiculous.
Ridiculously awesome that is.
Inglourious Basterds absolutely nailed situational irony and gave the viewer many suspense-filled (although drawn-out) scenes. Adding to the suspense was, as those who are familiar with Tarantino’s work should know, that no character is safe and fatal surprises await at every turn. Pitt was solid as the Tennessean Secret Service “Apache,” but I was most impressed with the quality of the European actors and actresses. I am not a follower of European cinema by any means, but the actors Tarantino chose played their parts perfectly. I was thoroughly entertained by this movie.
To be fair, however, I would strongly suggest that those out there who are not fans of Quentin Tarantino avoid this movie like the plague. Inglourious Basterds epitomizes the fantastically-violent, conversation-driven, neo-noir films he’s been so celebrated for making. However, those who have enjoyed Tarantino’s work in the past should head out today to see this movie.
I know this was OT, Rev, but a good off-topic thread it is.
BruinHalo - August 25, 2009
So help me out here.....
I am thinking of going to see IB soon. Would you compare it more to Pulp Fiction/ Reservoir Dogs or Kill Bill 1&2. I liked PF/RD, but not KB 1,2. To me PF and RD are more about characters and dialogue and the violence is a supplement. In KB it seemed the violence was the movie and the characters are the supplement. I know it is a subtle difference, but it made a huge difference to me. Thanks for any help.
pslakerfan - August 25, 2009
I felt it was closest to Pulp Fiction
…especially in the way it told a series of stories that eventually wove together. I believe this movie is defintely more character-driven. I think Kill BIll and Death Proof were Tarantino’s attempts at another genre. Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and Jackie Brown are more the traditional Tarantino style, much like Inglourious Basterds.
Although, I think my opinion here is debatable.
BruinHalo - August 25, 2009
OK, thanks.....that is what I was going for....
I will definitely go now……but I will blame you if I hate it. :-)
pslakerfan - August 25, 2009
hey whoa...
read zoe necrosis below and see if you still wanna see it. check rottentomatoes too. i want no blame. haha
BruinHalo - August 25, 2009
Well I avoided reading his review, because it was all spoilers.
pslakerfan - August 25, 2009
I really can't join the peanut gallery on this one
I had issues with this movie from 30 seconds into the first act. Not because this was a bad movie – far from it – but this was not the movie I wanted to see. This was not the war film crafted by the ultra-cinema-literate Tarantino I was hoping for.
First act: what happens? The gestapo rolls up a long country road towards a dairy farm family in the French countryside. Cue music. First mistake. Why did there have to be an automatic telagraph to tell us that something terrible was most definitely going to happen? Couldn’t we have been left in suspense? I expected more refined beat-pacing from Tarantino. The element of violence is a character in each of Tarantino’s movies – one that is off-screen at all times just waiting for an explosive entrance that could trigger at any moment.
Okay, there are scenes in this film in which this element is played beautifully – such as when Shoshana shares a pastry with Landa or in the tavern with the undercover actress.
But tell me why NEARLY SPOILER in the first scene we had to pan down to show the Jewish family hiding under the floor boards? Why couldn’t we have been kept in suspense, not knowing with 100% certainly whether or not the Frenchman was hiding his neighbors until he finally confessed? Okay, maybe this creates another kind of tension, but from someone as crafty as Tarantino I expected a different approach to the scene. END QUASI-SPOILER
Here’s what let me down most about this film, and it occurs in the second act – Who the hell are the Inglorious Basterds? And why don’t we ever really get to learn this? We go directly from Raine assembling his outfit to, in one cut, Hitler having a tantrum about the Basterds exploits, triumphs and mayhem. I know that we’ve got hours of people having conversations at tables yet to get through, but couldn’t we have just spent 10 minutes with the Bastards romping around the French countryside wreaking havoc? Developing character that extends beyond their names? Enabling me to actually give a damn about them and what happens to them throughout the rest of the film? Samuel Fuller, whom Tarantino emulates so much of, could have done this in less than an act. And Tarantino is in some ways a better filmmaker than Fuller ever was.
Anyone who disagrees with me is right. That is, if it worked for you, it worked. And you got it. And yeah, I get what everyone gets. But this baroque romp that negates to develop any character besides Shoshana’s was not the film I wanted to see – expected to see – when I put together the ingredients of Tarantino + war genre + my knowledge of the films, filmmakers and styles that influenced Tarantino.
That being what it is, I know I’m going to go see this one again. Because now I know what kind of movie it is. And you have to know what you’re going to see to enjoy a film. This is why – despite how much we supposedly dislike spoilers – the movie trailers that show more than we claim we want to see are the films that gross the most box office.
I suppose I’m just in mourning for not getting to see the kind of picture I thought it was going to be.
Zoe Necrosis - August 25, 2009
That's fair
To your point of developing the Basterds themselves, I felt that it was adequately shown during the scene with the “interrogation” of the Nazi officer as well as sufficient amount of flashbacks throughout. Then again, I also make it a point to avoid any connections with characters in Tarantino movies, because more often than not, they die.
BruinHalo - August 25, 2009
A lot was told with that interrogation
But what I really wanted to see was at least a montage of how these jewish kids went from recruits to a fierce, blood-stained cadre of killing machines. And I wanted to know something, anything, about one of the Basterds besides just Eli Roth (the Jew Bear). Oh well.
Zoe Necrosis - August 25, 2009
Same here!
I agree 100%
As good as they did with the Basterds, the actual war itself and the fair of the Nazis during the Holocaust really wasn’t brought out at all.
And it definitely would have been nice to have cut out some of the meaningless crap jammed into this 2hr and 30min piece of work and added in some back story to the Basterds.
TheAntiSox - August 25, 2009
tarantino admitted it himself
that the basterds were never the main characters when he wrote this. shoshana was. and knowing tarantino, there was likely much more movie- probably getting at the issues you point out. with the title and all though, i could see how the film could be misleading. all in all though, this film met nearly every expectation i had. i look forward to the director’s cut on dvd.
Of Angels and Angles - August 25, 2009
the bear jew
i liked how samual jackson comes out and narrates the hugo story. shit was sick. im not racist but im surprised i didnt hear the n word, spike lee hates QT for overusing that word. from my point of view i overhyped this movie since the script came out on the internet and it lived up to expectations. but I get you when you say you wanted more background on the bastards.
SenorChuckles - August 25, 2009
Havent seen IB yet BUT in my humble opinion...
Tarantino has been going down-hill since Jackie Brown. He has completely lost his ability to pull of stylish-subtlety and instead, replaced it with overblown, overproduced, action films that show little shred of originality and instead just re-film his own, personal top-ten cult classic films. Tarantino stopped being an auteur and started becoming a pop-culture entertainer long ago. He bores me now…
Since I am firmly out of the Quentin boat nowadays, I go into IB expecting more of the overkill found in Kill Bill and less Pulp Fiction. If he proves me wrong, I might actually like it since my expectations are low.
BryanHarvey'sMoustache - August 25, 2009
part of that is because Tarantino is cocky.
SenorChuckles - August 25, 2009
I think you may be a bit surprised.
I just saw it a few hours ago and I enjoyed it. I also think he has gone downhill since Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. I am more about the characters and dialogue than the violence. However I think you will find the dialogue to be more like Pulp Fiction and the violence adds to the story (mostly).
Just my opinion, but I feel like I had the same opinions as you before seeing it, and like I said, I liked it.
pslakerfan - August 25, 2009
I agree with some of your opinions and disagree with others.
I just saw the movie a few hours ago (see my post above before I saw it). PS THERE WILL BE SPOILERS HERE.
I disagree with the first scene. First of all as soon as you see the Nazi’s and the nervous farmer, you know there will be a bad ending. While I agree the music was unnecessary, I don’t think it gave anything away, just confirmed it.
I totally agree about the family under the floor boards. The suspense could be cut with a knife in that scene, but without showing the family you would need a chainsaw. Simply showing the girl run away and maybe a quick shot of the rest of the family after being shot would suffice.
I also agree about the lack of development of the Basterds. When they went to Hitler in ’44 right after the introduction to the Basterds I assumed the movie was going to jump around like Pulp Fiction and go back to ’41 later. Obviously I was wrong. One of my favorite things about some Tarantino movies is the development of the characters. I heard they cut about 40 minutes so I am sure some of that was development of the Basterds. Also the interrogation scene covered it a bit.
Gotta disagree about the “table” conversations. Yeah they were long (really long), but by the end of the bar scene I was balled up in my seat with anticipation. Great scene, classic Tarantino.
Anyway that’s my assessment, and I am sticking to it.
pslakerfan - August 25, 2009
favorite tarantino movie = true romance
clover_black - August 25, 2009
(haven't seen his version of IB)
clover_black - August 25, 2009
I Love True Romance
although he is only the writer on it.
He was on Howard Stern recently, and was talking about how he walked out of Natural Born Killers, which he did the story for, because of how Oliver Stone changed it.
billhune - August 25, 2009
LOVED the movie.
Movie was brilliant. Can’t wait to see it again.
Teh Phil - August 25, 2009
It was okay
Story could have been better.
I’m not a huge fan of Tarantino. All he does is try to fit as much meaningless crap into one movie. This wasn’t his best work.
I did, however, love the acting. Pitt was AWESOME, Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa was surprisingly incredible, and I enjoyed watching the brutality of Eli Roth.
Although it was 2hr and 30min long, Tarantino failed in every way to portray the intensity of the Nazis and how much brute fair they struck into people at the time. Instead, he portrayed them in a manner that was comedic and not serious.
The movie was funny but in no way a solid war movie at all.
I agree with Bruinhalo up there, if you’re not a Tarantino fan then stay the hell away from this movie.
Bottom line, I disagree with Rev wholeheartedly when I say that this is not one of the greatest war movies of all time, nor is it the best Taratino movie.
TheAntiSox - August 25, 2009
i enjoyed how casual scalping heads was
and the dialogue was obviously great.
the ending, of course, was probably the funniest part of the entire movie
ihearhowie2.0 - August 25, 2009
+1
SenorChuckles - August 25, 2009
Shoud have titled the movie "Luminous Basterds"
I am not a Tarantino fan. The first of his movies I saw was Pulp Fiction. The first time I saw it, there were only 3 others in the auditorium at the theater. I was thinking, man, this is grossly violent. Nobody laughed at the violence on the screen. Then, when I saw it a second time, I was in a full-house auditorium with 200 people. It was a much different experience.
What I noticed is that the scenes that awed me and made me think “how gross” when in the theater solo, were suddenly “funny” due to the rest of the crowd rolling around laughing. Scraping brains off a seat of a car is not my idea of funny comedy, but when in a crowd environment, it gave me a different feeling. I didn’t know whether to laugh or to be disgusted that everyone was laughing. It was a strange sensation.
I’ll pass on this movie since I don’t really want to tap into those bizarre feelings again.
Downing Rules - August 25, 2009
I do know how to spell “Should” …
Downing Rules - August 25, 2009
This whole movie sounds like "Red Dawn" set during WWII
Wolverines!
cupie - August 25, 2009
Red Dawn is getting a remake for 2010
clover_black - August 25, 2009
yeah
can’t say the script seems completely original, though the spin meisters would certainly have you believe so.
Brian S (brianguy) - August 25, 2009
Not to mention that QT puts out the best movie soundtracks, hands down!
PieceOfAase - August 25, 2009
Wes Anderson has some decent soundtracks...
QT’s soundtrack are a bit more of dirt and leather while WA’s soundtracks are more brommers and cardigans.
BryanHarvey'sMoustache - August 25, 2009
This was my biggest problem with IB
I DON’T THINK THIS IS A SPOILER, BUT IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT THEN DON’T READ ANY FURTHER:
We’re cruising along on the wings of the amazing Morricone spaghetti western score, and then BAM, Bowie’s “Cat People (Putting Out theFire)” for the Shoshanna preparing for battle scene? WTF?
I understand that QT flips the bird at so-called conventions (and for that he has my utmost respect) but this was just too jarring to me for him to get a free pass.
ReggieBullits - August 25, 2009
I like that ghe did that
First, it was not like she had a boombox blasting it. Second, Bowie warming up a hot babe for a nazi hunt? fuck yeah!
Rev Halofan - August 25, 2009
I like how Brad Pitt and Tom cruise are quibbling in the press over which of their movies is the better WWII movie.
I saw Pulp Fiction because everyone else did. I liked Jackie Brown the best as I am a huge fan of the black sexploitation movies of the seventies and eighties. I don’t care for extreme gore in movies so have’nt bothered to see any more of Tarantino’s films.
44FAN - August 25, 2009
I nominate Pitt
SPOILER
because he and his men did what Cruise couldn’t.
END SPOILER
BruinHalo - August 25, 2009
is the tom cruise movie good?
SenorChuckles - August 25, 2009
hahaha...
I thought that it was a little boring, simply because they say “based on a true story,” so the ending was obvious. All suspense over whether or not Hitler’s assassination was going to happen was thrown out the window, and the characters and script were not strong enough to keep me entertained. But there’s probably an audience for it out there somewhere. I mean, some people are Royals fans even though they know going into it how it’s going to end.
BruinHalo - August 25, 2009
last good movie tom was in was Top Gun.
cover me goose…
SenorChuckles - August 25, 2009
That's a little harsh...
How could you not like Cocktail?
But seriously, he has good movies, you just have to know what you’re in for.
BruinHalo - August 25, 2009
I just really dont see tom cruise movies
not cuz i dont like him or think hes crazy. i just dont see them but the dudes famous for a reason.
SenorChuckles - August 25, 2009
lol @ cocktail.
While I really don’t care for the guy, Tom Cruise actually was great in Rainman. Solid acting in that film.
Downing Rules - August 25, 2009
Also in "The Firm".
Perfect casting. When I was reading the book, I had pictured someone who looked like Cruise for Mitch.
red floyd - August 25, 2009
haven't seen IB yet
so I won’t vote, but I will say Grindhouse/Death-Proof were about the worst of those that I can remember. glad I didn’t see it in the theatre.
I’ll probably have to wait for an opportunity to watch IB, to make sure I haven’t eaten first. I’m sure it’s gotta be better than District 9, which I saw last weekend. meh.
Jackie Brown often gets a really bad rap, but it reminds me of my youth based on the locations that were used, but even beyond that I found it riveting, so I can never really stand to hear everyone talk crap on it.
Brian S (brianguy) - August 25, 2009
Eat first...
It’s a long-ass movie.
BruinHalo - August 25, 2009
buffet
if you can and no drinks, you do not want to take a piss break during this film.
Rev Halofan - August 25, 2009
Thanks. Now it's settled.
Wait for the DVD. Enjoy sans cellphones, candy wrappers, and chronic coughing. Press pause as necessary.
Stirrups - August 25, 2009
I guess I could always get one of those...
specially designed secret pee canisters you wear with the tube taped to your leg at a ball game. but otherwise good tips. thanks
Brian S (brianguy) - August 25, 2009
Ladybug would call that a catheter, and inserting that is not something you would want to do casually. LOL
44FAN - August 25, 2009
yikes
not exactly what I had in mind!! well when I find out what they’re called, or find one online I’ll certainly post it in Fanshots. it’s been a few years since I heard of em so I can’t remember.
Brian S (brianguy) - August 26, 2009
They should put intermissions in films...
I’m sure the theaters would appreciate it, and a film like Inglourious Basterds is already broken into parts. It would work quite well.
BruinHalo - August 25, 2009
I agree
I can never seem to find a time to pee. or get a snack after claiming a seat, if I got to the theatre just in time.
Brian S (brianguy) - August 26, 2009
Sorry
Tarantino is a hack. His only good movies are Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction
KingF15h - August 25, 2009
A hack has two "good" movies?
I wish I was a hack…
BruinHalo - August 25, 2009
Reservoir Dogs. Hands down
The ability to create such a good dialog, suspense, terror in pretty much one room is an amazing feat.
Slyintine - August 25, 2009
I havn't seen Reservoir Dogs or Jackie Brown
But I saw IB this weekend, and I rate it with Pulp Fiction as Tarantino films go. (I loved Pitt’s Italian-with the Tennessee accent)
Andyman - August 25, 2009
I couldn't agree more about the Italian/Tennessee lines.
I almost fell out of my chair.
pslakerfan - August 25, 2009
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