Inglourious Basterds
It was back in 2009 when Inglourious Basterds hit the big screen, and it remains one of Quentin Tarantino's greatest movies.
Written and directed by Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds was set during the Second World War, and brought together a mighty fine cast.
Christoph Waltz delivers a truly standout performance as Col. Han Landa, while Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Melanie Laurent, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger, and Daniel Bruhl are all also excellent.
Inglourious Basterds begins in German-occupied France, where Shosanna Dreyfus (Laurent) witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Waltz). Shosanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema.
Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Pitt) organizes a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution.
Known to their enemy as "The Basterds," Raine's squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark (Kruger) on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich. Fates converge under a cinema marquee, where Shosanna is poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own.
From start to finish, Inglourious Basterds really is a film that is a lot of fun: not to mention it was one of the most offbeat and unique movies to hit the big screen that year.
Naturally, he pays no attention to history - if you are looking for an accurate portrayal of the war then this is one that you should definitely miss - as he carefully assembles the various strands of a complicated plot that he amazingly brings to a conclusion.
There are so many wild characters and outrageous sub-plots it’s amazing that he manages to pull everything together. But the chaos of the movies makes it a breath of fresh air.
As we have come to expect from Tarantino, the narrative is not exactly straightforward and there is a wonderful spray of violence and gore. Throw in some truly sharp and witty dialogue, and this movie saw Tarantino return to form.
This movie well and truly belongs to Waltz, as he delivers a wonderful performance as Landa: this was the role that really put the actor on the map.
This is a character that is restrained and raving mad all at the same time, and yet you really cannot help but like him.
Brad Pitt is also fantastic as Lt. Aldo Raine, and I would like to see him take more risks like this when it comes to choosing his roles.
Inglourious Basterds remains one of the best war movies in recent years, and is one of my favourite Tarantino films.