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Quentin Tarantino's newest release - Inglorious Basterds was released nationwide on August
21, to immediate critical acclaim - and for good reason. Once again, the iconic director
has really lived up to the high-expectations the public has for him, and his work. Told
at a very slow, developing pace - Basterds in split up into five-"chapters", any of which
could easily stand on their own as a short 25-minute film - all with their own beginning,
middle, and end. As the plot progresses, we see the different narratives converge in the
final plot - this is nothing new for Tarantino - it's a storytelling method he has used with
great success in many of his past films. In short, Inglourious Basterds is story of a
group of Jewish-American-guerrilla soldiers led by Lt. Aldo Raine, Brad Pitt, hell-bent
on killing Nazi's during German-occupied France at the end of the second world war. Simultaneously,
it's the story of a Jewish girl, Shoshanna (Melanie Laurent) who survived an SS attack
on her family by the hands of Colonel Hans Landa, known affectionately throughout France
as "The Jew Hunter". Christopher Waltz's portrayal of Colonel Landa absolutely steals the show
in every scene he is in - charming, deceptive, cunning, and dare-I-say, adorable in his portrayal
in a man known as the Jew Hunter. And while Pitt, Laurent, and a decent entry from Diane
Kruger effectively nail their characters - top accolades for this film absolutely have to
be bestowed to Tarantino here. Without question, he is de-facto master of dialog writing, the
dialogue in Basterds just oozes off the screen with nearly every line spoken. Which is critical
to the success of this film, as nearly two-hours of the 152-minute run-time is mostly just
a few people on screen talking back-and-forth to each other. I did find however, that some
of the more nuanced scenes tended to drag just a bit. However, this is a smart, and
defiant film - not afraid to pull any punches - including some rather big punches in the
area of "Historical Accuracy" - all the while, staying grounded in a very gripping, immensely
suspenseful and realistic reality we haven't seen from Tarantino in awhile.
From the captivating interweaving story-lines command your attention from the first frame,
to the impeccable performances from the entire cast - Ingloruious Basterds is a magnificent
film, and easily one of this year's best. But let's take a look at what you thought
in the YouTube comments:
artdiva36 Inglourious Basterds was a fantastic movie! I saw it more on a whim not hoping
for much, but the plot was engrossing and I really loved Brad Pitt in this movie. It
was long though and half-way I got a bit bored. But overall, a good movie and very funny.
greencow423 Inglourious Basterds was pretty darn good at first glance, but looking back
it just felt way too self-indulgent. Loved the European actors, but Brad Pitt (ie the
draw for American audiences) really wasn't up to his standard, but he was still pretty
darn good. I'd give it a 7/10 overall.
IngramoschFelshammer Inglorious Basterds - Great movie, especially for the Tarantino fans out
there. As a german I was especially pleased with Christoph Waltz's acting performance.
Some minor letdowns make me give it a 9/10
Mixed, but accurate, and mostly positive reactions from the viewers. And now it's time for the
rate-o-matic now... lets see how Inglourious Basterds did... A double-Awesome! While many
of the nearly 400-people who voted in the pole felt this movie was a perfect 10, enough
of you felt it was just slightly less than perfect to pull the score down to a 9 - and
have to agree myself.