In the first year of the German occupation of France, Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent) witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Shosanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema.
Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) organises a group of Jewish American soldiers to perform swift, shocking acts of retribution. Later known to their enemy as The Basterds, Raine's squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) on a mission to take down the leaders of the Third Reich. Fates converge under a cinema marquee, where Shosanna is poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own...
Secret Agent Acid Thunder
I'm not the biggest Tarantino fan; mostly because I can't stand the terrible direction he gives with some of his comedic, over-the-top films. Some movies are brilliant (Pulp fiction, Reservoir dogs, From dusk till dawn) some movies are eye sores (Planet Terror, Kill Bill vol 1 AND 2); I know I'm not making any new friends with these comments, but I refuse to support a film just because everyone else does. If I did that, I might go and support James Cameron and his colossal heap of rusting Titanic, but I don't and I'm not about to start now. Either I dislike a film or I don't and all the varying shades of each in between... I liked this one... yeah, you read that correctly, I liked it.
It was really funny, lots of one liners for each cast member to make joking referrals about films they'd previously worked on (Brad Pitt & his line about, "...the first rule about fighting in a basement..." = Fight Club) and the blood bath that I've normally expected in Tarantino films wasn't there. The scalping scenes were great! Very difficult to watch, but that's what makes them so good! I expect you want to know more about this movie, but I won't tell you. I find that a good review about a good movie should be kept simple so I will tell you two things: 1. I'm not sure if this a trend on the part of Universal or if it's accidental but, this is the second time I've seen an out-dated logo for one of their films; 2. Tarantino is definitely a much better writer and director for working on the production.
The war movie Inglorious Basterds is directed by Quentin Tarantino and stars Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, Daniel Brühl.
*
* minutes (* hours)
Film: 20 August 2009
