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 | Nazi Occupied France | Scalping | France

Awards:

1 win & 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)
Bastardos sin gloria (Argentina) (Mexico) [es]
Бесславные ублюдки (Russia) [ru]
Adoxoi bastardi (Greece) [el]
Bastardi senza gloria (Italy) [it]
Bastardos Inglórios (Brazil) [pt]
Bastardos sin Gloria (Uruguay) [es]
Becstelen Brigantyk (Hungary) [hu]
Bekarty wojny (Poland) [pl]
Hanebny pancharti (Czech Republic) (original subtitled version) [cs]
Inglourious Basterds (Japan: English title) [en]
Kunniattomat paskiaiset (Finland) [fi]
Le commando des bâtards (Canada: French title) [fr]
Malditos bastardos (Spain) [es]
Neslavne barabe (Slovenia) [sl]
Prokletnici (Serbia) [sr]
Sacanas Sem Lei (Portugal) [pt]
Soysuzlar çetesi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Ticalosii fara glorie (Romania) [ro]

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)

Filming Locations:

Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Bo Svenson, who has a small cameo as an American Colonel, was also in the 1978 film Quel maledetto treno blindato (1978), know as USA "The Inglorious Bastards" in the US.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the café scene, where SS Colonel Landa meets Shosanna Dreyfus, Landa can be seen wearing the Germanic Proficiency Runes SS badge. This was a very rare decoration only issued to non-Germans attached to the "Germanic-SS" in occupied countries. The badge was never awarded to full German SS members and the badge would certainly never have been awarded to a SD Colonel in Paris.

Quotes:

Adolf Hitler: [at the premiere of "Nation's Pride"] Extraordinary, my dear. Simply extraordinary. This is your finest film yet.
Joseph Goebbels: [Goebbels' eyes fill with tears] Thank you, mein Fuhrer. Thank you.

Movie Connections:

References Fight Club (1999)

Soundtrack:

THE GREEN LEAVES OF SUMMER

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.