Inglourious Basterds (2009)

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 | Scalping | France | Nazi Occupied France

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

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

Color:

Color

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 | Ireland:18 (DVD rating) | Malaysia:18PL (cut) | Mexico:B15

Filming Locations:

Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

WILHELM SCREAM: In the film-within-the-film, "Nation's Pride", the Wilhelm Scream can be heard when a soldier is shot and falls from an upper window.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: After Sgt. Donowitz ("The Bear Jew") kills the German soldier with the bat, he struts about shouting a "play-by-play" account of his action. During this, he uses the phrase "Donowitz goes yard!", meaning hitting a home run. The term "goes yard" was not used for a home run until the 1990s.

Quotes:

Adolf Hitler: Nein, nein, nein, nein, nein, nein! How much more of these Jew swine must I endure? They butcher my men like they were fish bait! I have heard the rumors myself! Soldiers of the Third Reich, who have brought the world to its knees, now pecking and clucking like chickens. Do you know the latest rumor they've conjured up in their fear-induced delirium? The one that beats my boys with a bat. The one they call "the Bear Jew" is a golem!
General Frank: Mein Fuhrer, that is just soldier's gossip. No one really believes that the Bear Jew is a golem.

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

WHITE LIGHTNING (Main Title)

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.