"It follows a fictional story set in a Nazi-occupied France during World War II where a group of jewish U.S. soldiers planned to murder Adolf Hitler. Their plan collides with a theatre owner who is also planning for the same thing, driven by personal revenge."
Title: INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Year: 2009 Directed By: Quentin Tarantino Written By: Quentin Tarantino Duration: 2 hours 33 minutes Genre: Action, War Film, Drama, Black Comedy, Adventure Starring: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Mélanie Laurent, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Daniel Brühl Language: English, German, French, (a little) Italian Score: 9.7/10
I decided to do this movie review simply because this is my favorite movie of all times. Apart from some little flaws, this movie is the most perfect one I've ever watched. Released in 2009, maybe there's not a lot of people today that have heard of this movie. Maybe it's because when people say "Quentin Tarantino", the first movie that pops into your mind is Pulp Fiction, or Django Unchained, or Kill Bill. Inglourious Basterds is a bit more underrated than any other movie by Tarantino, but I think it deserves the spotlight too. So, I hope this movie review can encourage more people to watch it and admit its glory.
WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT IT?
1. TARANTINO'S TRADEMARK OF THE STORYLINE
For those who've watched some or maybe every single one of his movie, must've known his trademarks that separate him from any other filmmakers. One of them is the storyline. Most movies only go forward, backwards, or a mix of both. Tarantino almost always use the mixed one but in a more complicated structure. When watching his movies, most of the times, you won't understand the plot of the whole movie and how they're connected until you reach the credits. He arrange each part in a very clever way that somehow turned theirselves into some sort of twist. If you break it down, it's not that complicated, but the way Tarantino arranged it makes the story a lot better and more interesting. This movie is quite the same. I must say I've watched other Tarantino movies that are more complicated when it comes to the plot, but this one has the right balance and doesn't confuse you at all. It's about two different plots of killing Hitler that somehow intertwine along the way, and he did the storyline justice. You'll still gasp in shock after everything even though it's not as complicated as Pulp Fiction.
2. THE WHOLE IDEA OF THE PLOT
I've always loved movies that are set in WW2, but I've never seen anything like this. Most WW2 movies are based on true events. Tarantino made a daring move by making this one a fictional and still awesome! I kind of wished it's based on true events considering how good the story and characters are. It's a one of a kind war movie. Not too serious but intense at the same time. Not too comedic but could still make you laugh.
3. CHARACTERS AND ACTORS
Again, another Tarantino's trademark. His characters are always interesting, different, not mainstream, and full of unique characteristics. Sometimes they're sort of over the top, but never lame. And he always finds the best actors to play them, usually a mix of very famous actors and lesser known ones but also with incredible talent. Brad Pitt did a fantastic job playing the leader of the U.S. soldiers with a southern accent. The European actors, Mélanie Laurent and Daniel Brühl also delivered great performances. They build a really good chemistry and make people want to always know more about them.
Christoph Waltz was extraordinary playing the villain. Hans Landa, the main bad guy of the movie is one very well-written character. Tarantino himself said he worried no actor would be good enough to play him. But Christoph Waltz really did amazing potraying him. He even got an Oscar! It's like you want to hate him so much but you can't do it without admiring his cleverness. He's the sneaky a-hole that's just too amazing at his job, you might even praise him. All the other actors also did a wonderful job potraying the well-written character, but if I talk about all of them, it might take forever. In conclusion, definitely give a 10 to all the characters and actors.
4. LANGUAGE MIX
Most WW2 movies that are not set in England, America, or any other English speaking country, still use English as their main language. Of course it's easier for the worldwide audience to understand, but somehow disappointing. Tarantino made a daring move by making one-third of the movie in French, another in German, and another in English. All divided perfectly according to the setting and the origins of the characters. The germans speak german, the french speak french, and the british and american speak english, all in the right place. A little Italian is included, but you better watch it yourself instead of reading my spoiler here, so I won't talk about it. For me, it wasn't confusing at all because the subtitles really help and I've always liked reading more than listening.
5. GENRE MIXED PERFECTLY
Yup, it's action, drama, comedy, and adventure mixed in the same movie. It really couldn't get better. Everything got its own portion and make the movie balanced. It's intense in the perfect moment, balanced with complicated romance, comedic gestures, and also cruelty.
6. THE MUSIC AND THE NARRATION
This movie will seriously be nothing without the music and narration that accompany the scenes. The music are unique and cut in the most unique way too. Again, the music is also over the top. You can compare the music from different kinds of scene (e.g. the intense and the somehow-romantic-but-not-so-romantic scene) and you might think it's from two different movies. But this isn't weird at all. Throughout the movie, you'll feel the music actually makes the scenes a lot better instead of weird. And sometimes Tarantino cut it right in the middle of the music (without fading it) and jumps right away to another scene, bold move and different but resulted in a uniqueness instead of weird.
The narration are not the main thing and aren't a lot but if it's gone, somehow it's just not that interesting anymore. By the way, Samuel L. Jackson provided the narration, so you can imagine yourself how dope it is.
7. LONG DIALOGUES
Most scenes contain very long dialogues about just one simple topic. For some people who might not concentrate, these scenes might be considered boring and unnecessary. But it really isn't like that. If you pay attention to every word they're saying, you understand that without the length of the conversation, the point of the topic will not be explained very well. If you cut the 10 minutes dialogue to 5 minutes, you won't understand the character, you won't get the intensity of the topic, and you won't be as satisfied with the ending of the conversation.
This is a Tarantino thing. Long dialogues just to talk about one topic. But it's his own way to introduce a character and build the atmosphere of the scene. Try to concentrate and absorb the words, and you'll end up being interested to watch the rest of the movie.
WHAT'S NOT GOOD ABOUT IT?
Really trying to be subjective, guys, but can't find any :")
WHAT'S SO-SO ABOUT IT?
1. THE VIOLENCE
Another Tarantino thing: blood and violence. To be honest, Inglourious Basterds has less violence compared to other Tarantino movies because it's mostly guns, not beatings or cuttings. It's also not shown very often despite being a war movie. You can say the blood and the wounds sometimes can be very unrealistic. But I find it as something comedic Tarantino offers. Sadly, it's not universally accepted because most people can't stand watching movies with too much violence and blood.
For those who can't stand too much blood, I'd say you can still watch this movie cause it's not too bad. Compared to Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, this one has way less violence. It's also not as cruel. But be prepared to close your eyes once in a while.
2. THE CURSING
Personally, I'd put this part in one of the good things from this movie. You really won't get much fun without the cursing. But I put it in this section because: 1) There's not much cursing when they're speaking French and German (judging from the subtitle). I feel it would be more fun with more cursing, cause it helps you laugh. 2) It makes this movie not generally watchable for all ages.
PLOT HOLES
(SPOILER ALERT)
It's a little sad to find a plot hole in a Tarantino movie, but nothing's perfect, right?
So, if you've watched the movie, you know there's this character called Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz. He's a German-born jewish that joined the Basterds. He's also famous among the Germans because he's basically a rebel against his own country and people by killing 13 German Gestapo. But for the Basterds' final plan to kill Hitler, they chose Stiglitz to accompany Von Hammersmark to the movie premiere because he can speak German. I find it a little weird and illogical since it's mentioned that he's famous among Germans for his crime. He even made the front page of the newspaper at one point (with his photo on it). Hans Landa also recognized him right away when they found his body in the bar. Plus, he knew that Stiglitz was part of The Basterds. So, wouldn't it make them busted right away to bring him to the premiere full of important Germans?
Even though this movie is not that famous compared to Pulp Fiction or Django Unchained, I'd say it's Tarantino's best movie. I love this movie so much that I've watched it over ten times, at least. And except for the plot hole (which sadly is quite a big one for me), there really is nothing bad about this movie. The story, the character, the action, the dialogues, and the drama are all perfect. So, go ahead and watch it now! You won't regret it.
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