In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.
In German-occupied France, young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the slaughter of her family by Colonel Hans Landa. Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller takes a rapid interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theater she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the "Basterds", a group of Jewish-American guerrilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine. As the relentless executioners advance and the conspiring young girl's plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history.Written by
The Massie Twins
Units such as the Basterds are used as clandestine units that constantly move positions so as to avoid detection. After the ambush, the unit remains in the area way too long. Especially since the gunfire would be easily heard and other German troops could easily race to the scene. Raine is aware, based on his interrogation of the sergeant, that there is another German unit out there looking for them. The unit would have quickly moved after the firefight to a more secure and taken any prisoners that they wished to interrogate with them. See more »
Quotes
Joseph Goebbels:
[in German; subtitled]
How many seats in your auditorium?
Francesca Mondino:
[translates into French]
Shosanna Dreyfus:
[in French; subtitled]
Three hundred and fifty.
Francesca Mondino:
[translates into German]
Joseph Goebbels:
That's almost four hundred less than the Ritz.
Fredrick Zoller:
[in German]
But Herr Goebbels, that's not such a bad thing. You said yourself you didn't want to indulge every two-faced French bourgeois taking up space currying favor. With less seats it makes the event more exclusive. You're not trying to fill the house, they're fighting for seats. Besides, to hell ...
[...] See more »
Crazy Credits
The film uses the 1963-1990 Universal Pictures logo. See more »
Alternate Versions
In the German version the first "Who am I?" game in the tavern scene runs slightly (ca. 1 minute) longer. Specifically, 'Winnetou' gets to ask more questions on who he is. Later he orders Schnaps from Mathilda. See more »
An fun, engrossing, beautifully crafted piece of nonsense, the likes of which we hadn't seen in a long long time. The silliness of the story is marvelously camouflaged with great dialogue and some superb performances. Christoph Waltz must be thinking already about his acceptance speech. What a performance! The civilized monster, polyglot, refined and deadly. He gets us going from the first, sensational scene. Brad Pitt is also wonderful. Was he putting a Mussolinni chin while impersonating (hilariously) an Italian? I thought so. His character's name sounds like Aldo Ray and I'm sure that's no accident. The film is full of movie references. Another character is named Fenek, as an homage to his 1970's sexpot, Edwige Fenech. What is already one of Tarantino's trademarks is his sure step along the most immediately recognizable bits of pop culture. He's clearly not a cultured man but a pop expert, king in a world where people get their news from TV, don't read, other than magazines and comics, etc. That's how it happens, to be in the right place at the right time. For better or worse this are Tarantino times.
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An fun, engrossing, beautifully crafted piece of nonsense, the likes of which we hadn't seen in a long long time. The silliness of the story is marvelously camouflaged with great dialogue and some superb performances. Christoph Waltz must be thinking already about his acceptance speech. What a performance! The civilized monster, polyglot, refined and deadly. He gets us going from the first, sensational scene. Brad Pitt is also wonderful. Was he putting a Mussolinni chin while impersonating (hilariously) an Italian? I thought so. His character's name sounds like Aldo Ray and I'm sure that's no accident. The film is full of movie references. Another character is named Fenek, as an homage to his 1970's sexpot, Edwige Fenech. What is already one of Tarantino's trademarks is his sure step along the most immediately recognizable bits of pop culture. He's clearly not a cultured man but a pop expert, king in a world where people get their news from TV, don't read, other than magazines and comics, etc. That's how it happens, to be in the right place at the right time. For better or worse this are Tarantino times.