Inglourious Basterds - Weirdly epic

Even though I'm a massive fan of Quentin Tarantino's work, I have to admit that he's had a few 'misses' here and there.  However, I'm pleased to say that, despite possibly nothing ever reaching the dizzying heights on 'Pulp Fiction,' 'Inglourious Basterds' comes about as close as it can in terms of entertainment value.

Before I watched it, I have to confess not knowing an awful lot about it.  The fact that it was a 'Tarantino movie' was enough for me to know that I was going to watch it.  All I knew, from the posters mainly, was that it was a World War II film.  And, seeing as I do occasionally dip into that genre, I figured it would be Tarantino's take on that particular period in history and that, like most war movies, it would attempt to be 'historically accurate.' How wrong I was.

I'm sure most people know the 'basics' of history surrounding that dark period of 20th Century history and that's all this film relies on.  You have the setting, i.e. Nazi-occupied France where fearsome German SS officers ruthlessly hunt down Jews, up against the local resistance and an American platoon dropped behind enemy lines to generally disrupt the occupation.  However, don't expect much in the way of 'historical accuracy' after that.

You've probably seen Brad Pitt's face on much of the marketing material surrounding this film.  Yes, he's the biggest star so why not promote that fact?  And, yes, he gives good value as the leader of the American Nazi-hunting band of brothers.  However, what this film never anticipated was how well Christoph Waltz would play Pitt's opposite - the fiendish Colonel Hans Landa.  He steals every scene he's in and you'll be hard pressed to find a more terrifying movie villain in recent times.  He's right up there with Darth Vadar, Hannibal Lecter and Heath Ledger's Joker.  And, even if you don't enjoy anything else about this film, you should watch it just for him.

The 'structure' of 'Inglourious Basterds' is typical Tarantino.  It's split into about six (quite long) 'chapters' through the film's two and a half hour runtime.  Each of these could almost be a separate story on their own, if it wasn't for the fact that they all link up in the end perfectly.  This sort of story-telling may feel a little disjointed at first, but the way they're told makes them impossible to look away.  I may go as far as to say that this film could possibly be the 'tensest' ever made.  Because the stories all have their individual characters, you never know who may or may not make it out of the chapter alive.  The tension in every scene is cranked up to the max and you probably won't guess everything that's to come.

Whether you're a die-hard fan of Tarantino, Brad Pitt, or the genre in general, it doesn't really matter.  You only have to enjoy good story-telling, fantastic memorable characters and good films in general to appreciate this (just be warned about the no holes barred violence and bad language, ala every Tarantino movie ever made).

10/10 The Monty Python Knights of Camelot are currently looking for this