Inglourious Basterds: Review By ParkWilliams

Neither a war epic nor a historical narrative, Inglorious Basterds is something utterly new and entirely Tarantino. A cross genre mash up of action, thrills, humour, and blood, Inglorious Basterds manages to capture the side of war that no other directors dare to touch thanks to the stark amorality of its characters. Tarantino is bold and blunt, portraying nearly every characters as an inglorious basterd.

From the overly patriotic Aldo Raine to the traitorous and passionless, but rather gentlemanly, Hans Landa, the characters and action are over the top creating an effective parody not only of themselves, but of every americanized and overly epic war film made about in the last decade. Tarantino turns the conventional perception of war upside down, with the help of his brilliant actors. The best actor in the film, with the best character, was undoubtedly Christoph Waltz. His clever wit and sharp dialogue make Hans Landa, the "jew hunter", a hard character not to like despite his brutal violence and dispassionate lack of loyalty. Brad Pitt's american war hero parody Aldo Raine and Til Schweiger's hilariously ironic Nazi killing Nazi fill out the cast wonderfully.

Quentin Tarantino has often had a gift for excellent dialogue, as he so effectively reminded us in Kill Bill Vol. II. Inglorious Basterds is no different. I doubt many other directors could open with a war movie with a half hour of dialogue and immediately glue me to the screen in eager anticipation and intrigue, but that's exactly what he does. Dripping with satire, dark humor, and well crafted, entertaining dialogue, Inglorious Basterds is one of Tarantino's best films to date.