Inglourious Basterds (2009)

User Rating:

8.6/10   

Director:

Quentin Tarantino

Writer:

Quentin Tarantino (written by)

Release Date:

21 August 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France...

Plot:

In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers.

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Jewish American | Movie Theater | Third Reich | Nazi Occupied France

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

US Showtimes:

Culver Plaza Theatres

6:00pm | 9:00

(personalize)

Cast

Brad Pitt	...	Lt. Aldo Raine
Mélanie Laurent	...	Shosanna Dreyfus
Christoph Waltz	...	Col. Hans Landa
Eli Roth	...	Sgt. Donny Donowitz
Michael Fassbender	...	Lt. Archie Hicox
Diane Kruger	...	Bridget von Hammersmark
Daniel Brühl	...	Pvt Fredrick Zoller
Til Schweiger	...	Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz
Gedeon Burkhard	...	Cpl. Wilhelm Wicki
Jacky Ido	...	Marcel
B.J. Novak	...	Pfc. Smithson Utivich
Omar Doom	...	Pfc. Omar Ulmer
August Diehl	...	Major Dieter Hellstrom
Denis Menochet	...	Perrier LaPadite
Sylvester Groth	...	Joseph Goebbels

Also Known As:

Inglorious Bastards (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong graphic violence, language and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

153 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English | German | French | Italian

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #45325) | UK:18 | New Zealand:R16 | Ireland:16 | Sweden:15 | Finland:K-15 | Australia:MA | Germany:16 (bw) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:M18 | Portugal:M/16 (Qualidade) | France:-12 | Hong Kong:IIB (cut) | Hong Kong:III | South Korea:18 | Iceland:16 | Japan:R15+ | Argentina:16 | Hungary:18 | Brazil:18 | Chile:14 (re-rating) | Chile:TE (original rating) | Italy:VM14 | Spain:13 | India:A | South Africa:16LV

Filming Locations:

Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

In 2005, Quentin Tarantino was quoted as saying that he had written the script, a World War II story, but that he needed to convert it to a shooting script. He said that writing the script and preparing a shooting script were "two different things".

Goofs:

Anachronisms: At the cinema, Col. Landa is shown wearing the Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross in Gold. That award did not exist in 1944.

Quotes:

Col. Hans Landa: Monsieur LaPadite, to both your family and your cows I say: Bravo.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'Kill Bill' (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

THE VERDICT

A Brilliant Filmmaker With Very Little To Say

Very entertaining, that's for sure. Great little moments "inspired" by other movies. "The Guns Of Navarone", "Operation Crossbow" and a myriad of 70's B exploitation Italian movies. Tarantino is certainly clever and knows how to use the camera but then, I have to say it, nothing. The childish "divertimento" dressed in smart ass dialog remains there. The entertainment value is, perhaps, the most one should expect from a movie but it seems a damn shame that such a talent should be put at the service of something so one dimensional. I can't help but remember Ernst Lubitch's "To Be Or Not To Be" that was also a comedy with remarkable, inventive dialog but it also had so many other layers that "To Be Or Not To Be" after 70 years still resonates with whoever has seen it. Christoph Waltz is terrific and Brad Pitt is always great fun to watch but the experience is purely epidermic in spite of some truly gruesome moments. Am I expecting oranges from an apple tree? If that's so forget what I've just said and run to meet Tarantino's basterds.