Yup, it's a Tarantino film

didn't like it

it has two very plots - both of which i'd argue would work fine as movies on their own, but running in paralel makes no sense to me

I kinda liked the movie, but the part with the "Jew Hunter" (or whatever he was called) and his huge pipe was just weird considering how serious it all seemed to try to be

I kinda liked it. It made the Nazis (or, at least, the Nazi grunts) look human, unlike practically all other portrayals of them as horrible soulless monsters. The scene with the German soldier celebrating his child's birth really struck me as well, and made a bit of a turning point in how I viewed the protagonists. Come to think of it, that entire scene in the French(?) basement tavern kept me on the edge of my seat.

It also brings up a lot of philosophical/moral questions. Should evil be paid back with evil and all that, you know?

To be honest, this was the first movie where I liked the movie, but did not like the protagonists (or most of them, anyways). Coming from a WWII movie, THAT is surprising. I actually found myself sympathizing with more Nazi characters than Allied characters. If that isn't rare, then I don't know what is.

What sucks is I LOVED the Jew Hunter. But, you know. saying that aloud... makes me feel like a dick.

He was hilarious.



THAT'S A BINGO!

I wonder if the Oscars people felt similarly conflicted, when giving Waltz the Best Supporting Actor nod...

As for the movie as a whole, it was kinda "meh" for me, but then I'm not a huge Tarantino fan, either. Too much "I'm such a clever boy, I know all these obscure movie trivia bits" for my tastes.

Unlikable protagonists, unbelievable amounts of tedious dialogue that add nothing to the story, and an ego the size of Jupiter?

I've seen only two Tarantino films ("Death Proof" and "Kill Bill Vol 1"), and while the man clearly has a wonderful gift for shooting breathtaking action sequences, I find everything else about his films to be very tedious and not very interesting. "Death Proof", for example, contained so much damn dialogue that added NOTHING to the plot that I almost walked out. The only reason I didn't was because I had heard that the car chase at the end was spectacular, which it was. "Kill Bill" had amazing action, but the main character is so unlikable in every aspect that I wanted to see her get frozen in Carbonite and tossed into a volcano. And quite frankly, after seeing those two films, I have no desire to see any other film of his ever again.

I was also pretty unimpressed by Basterds. Only things that genuinely worked was the first chapter with the dramatic pacing and acting, and Christoph Waltz does deserve the praise he's got.

Interestingly, the nazis in the film are far more symphatetic characters than allies (Basterds are a bunch of degenerate killers, and Shosanna is, despite her past, quite a bitch). Making Hitler look like a spastic clown was also pretty.... unentertaining.

I agree with Ian about Tarantino's movies frequently having unlikable characters. Though I would argue the main characters in Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, while despicable, aren't quite unlikable.

I would argue that Jackie Brown is really Tarantino's only film to feature a main character who is completely sympathetic. I wanted to like Beatrix a lot more in Kill Bill, but there was something just too inhumane about her actions, no matter what had been done to her. The girls in Death Proof were wholly unlikable, I rooted ecstatically for Kurt Russell to do them in (and hated the ending because of this).

Inglorious Basterds was another example of characters I wanted to like, but they were so coldhearted it was impossible to me (Donnie beating to death the non-Nazi German soldier comes to mind, as does Aldo's way of making sure every German they let live has something "they can't take off.") Maybe a few years after WWII had ended, such images would have been more acceptable. But the Nazis have been long gone, and dehumanizing the whole German race doesn't make people feel as good as it used to.

My main beef with the film however is it sets up a cool premise, Jews killing Nazis, but hardly does anything with it. I loathed every scene that did not feature the Basterds or Capt. Landa. Tarantino did the impossible for me... giving us a Jewish girl seeking revenge on Nazis, and making me hate her. But maybe that was Tarantino's ultimate point: even in a war that history has clearly marked as good vs. evil, the "good guys" can still be comprised of thoroughly despicable characters who we the audience will tolerate just because they're killing the "right" people.

That's why it's called "Inglorious Basterds." =P

I'd say that was the exact case. There is an exchange during the bar scene after their mole kills the German solder, in which she writes off the guys death by simply reminding them that they are the enemy.

Pretty much.

All they needed at that point to push that idea home would be a German child actually at that tavern scene and getting several new holes punched into him.

Oh, wait, remember those Hitler Youth kiddies running around the cinema just before the movie premiere? Wonder what happened to THEM...

*Sigh*

Like I said, first movie that I liked in general, but did not like the protagonists at all. If anything, the more I think of the movie, the more I hate them.

There's still one thing that grates on my nerves about the story...


*SPOILERS*


When did the Basterds decide to become suicide bombers? I mean, up until that point, there was no hint that the characters had intended to die in battle (willing to die, sure, but guaranteeing that they will?) I mean, it just seems to come out of nowhere. The fact that Aldo was willing to go out that way too, only to behave perfectly cool with not dying in the end, seems a little poorly thought out.

That pissed me off, I wanted those two to live.

And Stiglitz. But... uh. Yeah. They were douches in general.

Well, if you ask me, Aldo has a very... American air about him, in my opinion, down to the horrible accent. War? He doesn't give a fuck about war! Screw the people who've died, he's killin' Nat-zees! He's Good™, they're Evil™, and "Good Beats Evil"®. The fact that he doesn't die seems like more of a pleasant side effect than something to be regretted, you know?

It was like watching Boondock Saints II. One understands the plight of the Jewish characters in the Basterds, but watching them kill so indiscriminately in retaliation makes one feel systematically less and less compassionate towards them.

When I say that it's a Tarantino movie, what I mean is it's all nice and lala, then SUDDENLY GORE BOOM!

And Deathproof... we don't like to talk about that total abomination. I have no idea what that was about.

It was supposed to be [a poorly explained] Hail Mary. They were originally going to sneak in a shoot up the theatre, but when the members of the group who could speak fluent German were killed, they figured they'd only get a fleeting chance to get at their target. This lead to them opting to blowing up the place as it was still likely to do what they wanted, even if apprehended (in their mind anyway). I will admit, this wasn't well explained by the movie.