I am a huge QT fan so I went expecting a lot from this film. The movie is simply an experience and Tarantino immerses you into this world. I honestly am very surprised that there are so many comments stating this is a bad movie and Tarantino trash. I understand not everyone loves QT but how can you not appreciate the writing and acting in this film. The film, as most of us know by now, is a WWII revenge saga that follows a small unit of Jewish-American soldiers as they wreak violent (and darkly funny) havoc on the German Army. The screenplay is astounding, containing some of the best film dialogue in recent years. The opening scene where SS Col. Hans Landa interrogates a French dairy farmer is among Tarantino's finest work. This single scene is over 20 minutes long and yet the viewer's attention is captured throughout. Tarantino does this again later in the film, with a nearly 30 minute scene in a pub that leads to a sudden, bloody conclusion.
The acting in this movie is top notch. Brad Pitt offers one of his funniest performances in years as a charismatic southern army lieutenant with a knack for carving swastikas into the foreheads of Nazi soldiers. Christoph Walz will surely receive an Oscar nomination for his scene-stealing performance as the ruthless and cunning Col. Landa. Several impressive supporting performances appear as well.
The score (as with Tarantino's other recent films) contains music taken from classic 70's soundtracks. I recognized bits from "White Lightning" and "Kelly's Heroes". There is some good spaghetti western music included as well.
No doubt this was an entertaining film to watch and certainly a unique story and characters which has become a painfully absent commodity in Hollywood for quite a few years now. Only problem I had with the film is it seems to have lost some steam or creative energy in the story development in the second half. Maybe that’s just QT bucking the traditional expected story arch, or perhaps he had more in mind for the film originally and had to settle for less and compress for time, I’m not sure. Either way he is exceptionally skilled at bringing what’s in his head to life on film, almost to the point where it feels as though I’m not really watching actors in a movie, but being invited into a vivid daydream. Once again I just felt the last third of the film felt a little flat, could have used some more powerful twists than the ones he tossed in seemingly as an afterthought. QT does tend to come off as a bit of a rambler when he’s speaking, to say the least, and I think he has all these grand ideas and just has a hard time fitting them all into a 2 hour flick. I’m in no way criticizing the guy’s ability to make some of the best films ever, or even this movie which was awesome,
Aside from that, "Inglourious Basterds" is entertaining and one of my favorite Tarantino movies, I’m not too sure it’s better then Jackie Brown, not quite as good as Pulp Fiction but a grower in the future to come.
