"Quentin Tarantino brings to the table a true film and definitely one of the best films of 2009 and cinema history, period." - The Iron Fist
Quentin Tarantino brings forth his new film, Inglourious Basterds. We know Tarantino from his previous films such as Pulp Fiction, Resevoir Dogs and the joint venture Grindhouse; but the director invites us to a slaughterhouse of ridiculous amounts of blood and an amazing storyline to go along.
Inglourious Basterds centers on many people actually. Partly a team known as "the Basterds" who plot to kill Nazi leadership as well as a girl named Shosanna, who owns a cinema, plots to do the same. The film stars Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth and Melanie Laurent.
Brad Pitt portrays Lt. Aldo Raine. Raine is a Jewish-American, with his noticeable accent is also from the South. He has a scar on his neck as if neck had been slashed. Pitt aces the role which brings Achilles and Chad from his roles in the films Burn After Reading and Troy.
Film director Eli Roth, plays Donny Donowitz. Donowitz is a sadistic, baseball bat weilding maniac who seems to enjoy killing Germans. Roth looks as if he had done this before in his own life as his portrayal as The Bear Jew just seems too easy. Roth brings to the table, a new level of killing in cinema. Roth leaves the audience wanting to see more of his killing styles.
Never in my life have I seen such a villain. Christoph Waltz portrays the German soldier Hans Landa. I was so impressed with the way Waltz was able to be this bad guy. When the film starts, you see this man-not knowing what he is capable of and finally he see his ways. The more the film progresses, the more you hate the sight of his face or you get that 'uh oh' moment when he appears. Waltz probably gives the best performance of the film coming before the oh-so popular Mr. Pitt.
Quentin Tarantino gives a little humor in the fifth and final chapter, especially in the cinema hallway when Raine talks to Landa disguised as an Italian. The beginning of the chapter shows a completely different side to Landa who laughs at things that aren't funny to begin with. I'm not too sure on the fact that this random humor was intentionally but it's something to make you smile, at least.
Many of the sequences were stunning and utterly shocking. There's a long tavern scene where Diane Kruger's character Hammersmark is with three of the Basterds and Nazi with a swatsticka on his arm. The scene is filled with great information and adds more depth to the story but in most Tarantino films, it escalates into a gruesome shoot out. Tarantino gives a classic scene where Landa, in the opening asks for a glass of milk. Oddly, Landa describes how great the glass of milk is and eventually recieves a second glass. I just find that scene very classic and unusual.
Something also funny as well is the fact that Aldo Raine really wants his men to retrieve Nazi scalps. The film does show the scalping of a few Nazi's which is very different from usual films in Hollywood because it doesn't usually go that far, excluding modern horror movies. Something very different from other World War II films and other films is Aldo Raine carving swatstickas into Nazi foreheads of those he lets get away as a sign of never forgetting. He does this twice in the film, once with Donowitz and another with a Basterd named Utvich (B.J. Novak).
Samuel L. Jackson narrates the film in two scenes along with a cameo voice appearance by Harvey Keitel.
Inglourious Basterds is a highly inappropriate film that should not be viewed by those who cannot stomach the sight of blood or extreme violence. It's enjoyable and definitely entertaing as Quentin Tarantino gives viewers an alternate history and a 'what if'.