"Inglorious Basterds" movie review

Quentin Tarantino’s newest feature film is the World War II tale, Inglorious Basterds (R). Brad Pitt stars in the movie as the leader of a rag-tag group of soldiers whose sole mission is to kill Nazis in occupied France. Christoph Waltz, Diane Kruger and Eli Roth co-star in the movie.

Ryan: In this past decade most war movies, but especially WWII, movies have followed the gritty realistic style of Saving Private Ryan. That was fine for awhile but cinematic staleness began to creep into the sub-genre and most WWII films became almost interchangeable (and not in a good way). So it’s very refreshing to see Tarantino breath some new life into the stale genre. Make no mistake about it this is a WWII story filtered through the unique mind of Tarantino. And in my estimation it’s a worthwhile endeavor.

Andy: It’s true that there really haven’t been many movies like this made about WWII. It is a fictional fantasy based around the second world war, and that fictional element allows Tarantino much more freedom. Tarantino has always had a knack for creating unique movies, and doing that with a genre as tired as WWII is truly impressive.

Ryan: If one’s enjoyed Tarantino’s other films then one will relish Inglorious Basterds as well. The movie is vintage Tarantino with its genre meshing style highlighted by dialogue driven scenes. In fact this movie perfectly showcases Tarantino’s skill in crafting scenes. His films do not always have the best flow and that would be my main criticism with this film. But Tarantino is arguably the best director in constructing a dialogue heavy dramatic scene and Inglorious Basterds is littered with memorable scenes.

Andy: Most of his movies take some time to play with language, and this one is no exception. He is very careful to highlight the language differences among the countries involved. The brilliant opening scene includes a German and a Frenchman mutually agreeing to speak in English as a common language. The exchange is amusing because the audience knows that this is being done for our benefit, but we must hear the characters arrive at the conclusion that they should be speaking English on their own. It is this attention to reality in an entirely fiction-based movie that gives Inglorious Basterds much of its charm.

Ryan: Another skill of Tarantino as a director is his ability to illicit strong performances from his cast. I was throughly entertained by Brad Pitt's charming performance as the level-headed southern born Lt. Aldo Raine. It is somewhat difficult to pinpoint exactly why the performance stands out but be rest assured it does. The other noteworthy performance in the film is that of Christoph Waltz and his portrayal of Nazi officer, Col Hans Landa. In a film with many antagonists—both real and fictitious, Waltz's performances stands out as a delicious piece of slimly villanary.

Andy: Brad Pitt was outstanding, as always. His character is certainly the glue that holds the film together. When he is not on screen the movie drags at times. Indeed, the movie’s biggest weakness is that it is a little too long and sometimes feels like it. Ultimately the wait is worth it, as the end is very satisfying.

Inglorious Basterds is entertaining and interesting, but not without flaws. Final grade: B+.