Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds is a name not too many are unfamiliar with. The 2009 war film starring Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Til Schweiger, Mélanie Laurent, Daniel Brühl, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, and Michael Fassbender has often been regarded as a ‘masterpiece’ by critics and audiences alike.
Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds is currently streaming on Netflix – but fans only have a few days left to catch it, as the film will be departing from the platform on June 16.
The title of the film was inspired by Italian director Enzo G. Castellari’s 1978 Euro War film The Inglorious Bastards, with a deliberate misspelling to give it “a Basquiat-esque touch”. Although Tarantino began writing the script back in 1998, he struggled to finish the ending and decided to direct the massively successful two-part Kill Bill series instead, before revisiting Basterds much later.
The film is a World War II revenge thriller that follows two main storylines – one focuses on a group of ruthless Jewish-American soldiers who call themselves the ‘Basterds’ and carry out brutal attacks on Nazis, while another storyline centres around Shosanna, a French-Jewish woman who survived a Nazi massacre and is plotting her own revenge by using her cinema house as a trap for high-ranking Nazi officials. Their separate quests for vengeance converge in an explosive crescendo that rewrites history, giving us a finale that’s wrought with Tarantino’s signature violence, suspense, and dark humour.
Inglourious Basters was a commercially successful giant, having grossed approximately $321.5 million worldwide against a production budget of $70 million. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards including for Best Picture and Best Director and saw Christoph Waltz bag the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Waltz also won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as BAFTA, Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice, and Screen Actors Guild awards for his portrayal of Standartenführer Hans Landa.
Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt also gave a stellar performance as Lieutenant Aldo Raine in the film. Speaking to GQ, Tarantino once said of Pitt: “He’s one of the last remaining big-screen movie stars. It’s just a different breed of man. And frankly, I don’t think you can describe exactly what that is because it’s like describing starshine. I noticed it when we were doing Inglourious Basterds. When Brad was in the shot, I didn’t feel like I was looking through the viewfinder of the camera. I felt like I was watching a movie. Just his presence in the four walls of the frame created that impression.”
The film received generally favourable reviews from critics, with one commenting: “Dialogue is sharp, the imagery mesmerizing and both come together to create a wildly entertaining film. Impossible to watch without wanting to be a Basterd yourself.”
Another review of Inglourious Basterds read: “A brutal, audacious, triumphant piece of filmmaking that hits harder than a baseball bat to the jawbone.”
Although some critics weren’t left all that impressed, with one saying: “All the trademark Tarantino flourishes are here, the joyous splaying of gore; the self-referential dialogue; the artful artificiality and the juxtaposition of humor and violence, but they don’t add up to much.”
Another reviewer wrote: “For all its visual bravura and occasional bursts of antic inspiration, it feels trivial, the work of a kid who can’t stop grabbing his favorite shiny plaything.”
A glowing audience review of the film says: “Inglourious Basterds is Tarantino at his boldest – a genre-bending, dialogue-driven masterpiece that blends tension, humor, and brutal intensity with effortless style. From the unforgettable opening scene to the final shot, the film keeps you locked in with razor-sharp writing and a fearless approach to storytelling. The performances are phenomenal across the board, but Christoph Waltz steals the show with a chilling, magnetic presence that earned every bit of praise. The film doesn’t follow the rules — and that’s exactly what makes it so entertaining. Every scene is packed with purpose, often exploding in unexpected, satisfying ways.”
While viewer wrote: “Although Pulp Fiction is my favorite film all-time, Basterds is what I consider the finest of Tarantino’s work. The most mature film of his excellent filmography,” another lauded Brad Pitt and said: “When you put comedy, action, story, Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino together, the only thing you can get is pure gold.”
And one viewer felt: “Might be Tarantino’s best effort so far. Gloriously gory and merciless brutality, plenty of action and twists. Great cinematography. Brad Pitt excels in this character, well all cast is just excellent in character. No nonsense in typical Tarantino fashion. Absolute must see, badass to the bone.”
Inglourious Basterds is available to stream on Netflix till June 15.