Rating: R
Starring:
Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine
Mélanie Laurent as Shosanna Dreyfus
Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa
Eli Roth as Sgt. Donny Donowitz
Michael Fassbender as Lt. Archie Hicox
Diane Kruger as Bridget von Hammersmark
Daniel Brühl as Fredrick Zoller
Til Schweiger as Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz
Gedeon Burkhard as Cpl. Wilhelm Wicki
Jacky Ido as Marcel
B.J. Novak as Pfc. Smithson Utivich
Omar Doom as Pfc. Omar Ulmer
August Diehl as Major Dieter Hellstrom
Denis Menochet as Perrier LaPadite
Sylvester Groth as Joseph Goebbels
Martin Wuttke as Adolf Hitler
Mike Myers as General Ed Fenech
Julie Dreyfus as Francesca Mondino
Richard Sammel as Sgt. Werner Rachtman
Alexander Fehling as Master Sgt. Wilhelm / Pola Negri
Rod Taylor as Winston Churchill
Soenke Möhring as Pvt. Butz / Walter Frazer
Samm Levine as PFC Gerold Hirschberg
Paul Rust as PFC Andy Kagan
Michael Bacall as PFC Michael Zimmerman
Arndt Schwering-Sohnrey as German Soldier / Winnetou
Petra Hartung as German Female Soldier / Beethoven
Volker Michalowski as German Soldier / Edgar Wallace
Ken Duken as German Soldier / Mata Hari
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Special Features:
Extended & Alternate Scenes
Roundtable Discussion with Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt and Elvis Mitchell
The Making of Nation’s Pride
A Conversation with Rod Taylor
Nation’s Pride: The Film Within The Film
The Original Inglorious Bastards Quentin Tarantino’s Camera Angel
Film Poster Gallery Tour
And Much More!
Includes Digital Copy of “Inglourious Basterds” for Portable Media Players
Other Info:
Widescreen (2.40:1)
DTS-HD MA 5.1 Sound
Spanish and French Languages
Spanish and French Subtitles
Running Time: 153 Minutes
The Details:
The following is the official description of the film:
“Brad Pitt takes no prisoners in Quentin Tarantino’s high-octane WWII revenge fantasy ‘Inglourious Basterds.’ As war rages in Europe, a Nazi-scalping squad of American soldiers, known to their enemy as ‘The Basterds,’ is on a daring mission to take down the leaders of the Third Reich.”
“Inglourious Basterds: 2-Disc Special Edition” is rated R for strong graphic violence, language and brief sexuality.
Mini-Review:
“Inglourious Basterds” has all the hallmarks of a typical Tarantino film. First of all, it has fantastic dialogue. Scenes where characters are doing nothing more than sitting at a table chatting keep you riveted to your seat. Whether it’s Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa eerily comparing Jews to rats or Mélanie Laurent withering under his interrogation as Shosanna Dreyfus, you can’t help but be glued to their every word.
Second, it has the required over-the-top, gory action. Lt. Aldo Raine and his “Basterds” inflict brutal revenge against the Nazis for their atrocities. We see Eli Roth as Sgt. Donny Donowitz bash in a man’s head with a baseball bat. We see Aldo carve a swastika in a man’s forehead. We see a stunningly brutal shootout in a bar. It dances back and forth over the line of being way gross and way cool, but there’s no denying it is engaging.
Third, it has great cinematography. For example, almost every scene in Shosanna’s cinema is beautifully executed. Whether she’s framed in a second story window or putting on her makeup, Tarantino makes her look gorgeous. When the cinema eventually burns to the ground, it’s amazing seeing all the Nazi banners burning and Shosanna’s laughing image projected in the smoke in the theater. From French dairy farms to basement barrooms, it is all perfectly photographed.
Finally, the film keeps Tarantino’s retro feel from the opening credits to the music to the sound effects. Anyone familiar with ’60s and ’70s cinema will appreciate it. That being said, this is not a remake of the original “Inglorious Bastards.” In fact, it has absolutely nothing in common other than the name, the WWII setting, and cameos by the original cast and director. This is a completely original film.
The cast, as you would expect, is as good as they are eclectic. Brad Pitt is hilarious as Lt. Aldo Raine. He steals every scene with his Southern accent, swagger, and cutthroat attitude. Christoph Waltz ends up being a classic movie villain as Col. Hans Landa. The guy is intimidating even when he’s drinking milk. The women of Tarantino’s films always end up looking great and it’s no exception here. Mélanie Laurent is memorable as Shosanna Dreyfus, the cinema owner who is determined to get revenge on the Nazis for killing her family. Diane Kruger also stands out as Bridget von Hammersmark, a German movie star and Allied spy.
My main gripe with “Inglourious Basterds” is the pacing. As fantastic as the dialogue scenes were, I think they could have been trimmed down a bit in order to show more Nazi killing. The opening conversation between Landa and a French dairy farmer is nearly 30 minutes long. Meanwhile, the movie skips from briefly introducing the Basterds to immediately showing them as the scourge of the Third Reich. We really needed a bit more time showing them on the screen. “A little less conversation,” Elvis would say. A large part of the screentime is spent showing Shosanna and her plot to burn the cinema. That could have been trimmed down, too. For a movie called “Inglourious Basterds,” the Basterds have very little of the screentime. We’re told they’re tough, but we don’t see as much of it as you’d expect.
If you like a good revenge fantasy and you’d like to see an alternate WWII reality where things don’t happen quite according to the history books, then you’ll enjoy “Inglourious Basterds.” Needless to say, fans of Tarantino are required to add this Blu-ray to their collections.
You’ll find a good selection of bonus features on the Blu-ray. First off, there’s a digital copy of the film for your portable devices. On the disc itself, you’ll find some extended and alternate scenes. There are only three or four and they’re not all that different from the versions shown in the movie. There’s also a roundtable discussion with Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt and Elvis Mitchell. They discuss Tarantino’s filmmaking style, his determination to finish on time and on budget, and more. “The Making of Nation’s Pride” is a mockumentary where Eli Roth, who really directed the segment, pretends to be a German director discussing how he made the propaganda film. Various other cast members also stay in character to discuss the movie. It is done very tongue in cheek. “Nation’s Pride: The Film Within The Film” shows the full propaganda film from the movie. “A Conversation with Rod Taylor” is a brief featurette with the actor discussing his cameo in the film and how Tarantino approached him about it. There’s a follow-up featurette where he talks about how Tarantino got him some rare Australian beer as a thank you for wrapping his scenes. “The Original Inglorious Bastards Quentin Tarantino’s Camera Angel” shows some various things that the clapper girl did in front of the camera during shooting. Also included are a few other brief featurette and a film poster gallery.
