Basterds? Inglourious? What? (Inglourious Basterds (DVD))

Member Name: adambrown400

Product:	Inglourious Basterds (DVD)
Date:	31/08/09 (97 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Christoph Waltz

Disadvantages: Brad Pitt

I was watching Mark Kermode on News 24 last night just before I went to go and watch Inglorious Basterds and he mentioned how episodic and over the top the film was, but he also talked about the flashes of brilliance that the film had. Sometimes its worth checking the film out for yourself, but I do admit I must agree with what Kermode had to say.

So what is the film about? Well, 'The Basterds' are a hardened group of ex-Nazis and American Jews who are sent deep behind enemy lines in occupied France during the second World War. Their job is to eliminate and brutalize as many Nazis as they can get their hands on. Also thrown into the mix is a Jewish girl who now owns a cinema in Paris, he cinema has been chosen by the Nazis to show a new propaganda film to which most of the top leaders of the Nazi elite have been invited to - including the Fuhrer himself. Seeing an opportunity to destroy as many Nazis as possible, the Basterds plan to blow up the cinema, but will they succeed in bringing an end to the war?

Tarantino is obviously obsessed with exploitation films, and this is a homage to Nazi exploitation films of the 70's - of which I have seen none. If you're looking for historical accuracy you won't find it here. The film is totally over the top and unbelievable you just need to take it at face value and enjoy the spectacle. However, Tarantino seems to have lost some of his directorial flair and the film suffers from being overlong and bitty at best.

There are some fantastic scenes, especially when the tension is built up the bar basement scene. You just know having seen 'Kill Bill' that there is going to be something gruesome just around the corner or something that is likely to shock the pants off of you. And while some parts are quite gruesome, I was expecting more brutality and shock value especially after seeing the trailer with Brad Pitt saying 'I want 100 Nazi scalps - and I want those scalps!'

So Brad Pitt again puts on a very broad Southern drawl which seems to be his trademark of late. He seems to sleepwalk through this role and seems a little uncomfortable in parts. I was really impressed though with Christoph Waltz, a German actor who played the 'Jew Hunter' Colonel Hans Lander. His presence throughout the film was quietly menacing and brilliantly portrayed.

The rest of 'The Basterds' were quite good, if a little quiet. Eli Roth played a baseball bat wielding maniac who had quite good fun bashing in the brains of one Nazi, but on the whole the film relied on tension as opposed to brutality and shock.

So, Tarantino has made another film that falls shy of greatness because he cannot seem to get things quite right. The length, the script and the exploitative nature of the film will annoy a lot of people - and why he thought it necessary to give Mike Myers a jovial Austin Powers style scene is beyond me!

I would watch the film again just because of Christoph Waltz's performance, but I urge you to go and make your own mind up. Cautiously recommended.

Summary: Fair, but uncomfortable viewing.