Movie Review: Inglourious Basterds

Only Quentin Tarantino could get a movie like this green lit. An almost dark comedy set during World War II? Still, he is the only person I would want touching this movie anyway.

I wasn't a big fan of Death Proof. I know that saying something like this is just going to make me less intelligent than Tarantino in his eyes, but the dialogue was a bit out of control for me. It's something he was initially praised constantly for in his first few films, and I think it went to his head.

That said, he strikes an amazing balance with Inglourious Basterds. Long speeches aren't just thrown in for the sake of having them, but instead they only help to deepen the characters. For example, in the first scene the Nazi officer searching a house for Jews goes on for quite awhile. But as he talks you begin slowly seeing into how his twisted mind is working.

With the dialogue in check, this film becomes classic Tarantino. It would probably bump Reservoir Dogs out of second place for me, or maybe even nestle up into first place alongside Pulp Fiction.

The story he has managed to weave, though very long, keeps you engrossed the entire time. You never know what is going to come of a scene, and you're leaning forward in anticipation to find out the whole time.

Even though we don't get a ton of back story to the characters, they still seem to feel complex. It's little touches that make you think about what their past might have been like. The scar across Lt. Aldo Raine's (Brad Pitt's) neck is never explained, but it easily gives you the idea that he is a grizzled war vet whose seen his fair share of battles.

A lesser director would concentrate for far too long on little things like this. Tarantino simply flashes to a scene of a Nazi general having sex with his translator and immediately back again. In that brief instance we've learned all we need to know about their real relationship without having to sit through flashbacks of it. By keeping away from trivial stuff like this, he can instead focus on telling the epic story he wants to tell, with all the twists and turns it needs to keep you on the edge of your seat.

I probably don't need to tell you it's an extremely brutal tale, but if you've ever liked any other Tarantino flick then this one is definitely worth checking out. Just don't purchase any popcorn if you have a particularly weak stomach for violence, and avoid the jumbo drink so you can stay in your seat for the full 2 and a half hours.

Score: 5 out of 5
Confused about our rating system? Read this explanation.

Now, I want to talk a little further about the effects I feel this movie could have. In order to do so, I'll have to talk in vague terms about the tone of the overall movie. This may lead you to begin eliminating possible endings based on the general feel I give. So, while I won't give any actual spoilers, you might want to skip this next section if you haven't seen it yet and want to be completely surprised by the film.

You know how health classes in high school telling you the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases, smoking or drinking can tend to get scoffed off as quickly as they are relayed? Teenagers seem to ignore warnings of adults when it comes to things that they can't see the immediate effects of.

So how do you counteract behavior like this? It's probably more likely to come from changing the idea of the behavior. If our entire society began to look at smokers as losers, chances are teens wouldn't start smoking. You could probably argue this point, but it's not what I'm here to discuss.

Despite Hitler and the Nazi regime being constantly depicted as the absolute worst people that have ever lived, and despite continuous education of the holocaust and the horrors that were common during it, there are still people who ignore. Some say that the holocaust never happened, and some just seem to think that becoming a Neo-Nazi is the right thing for them to do.

You can't really get lower then Hitler on the social ladder of terrible people, but somehow this isn't dissuading some people from following his insane views. Most of this is probably from being taught hate by parents or guardians, but a lot is most likely teens without parents.

So when confronted with teachings that try to stress how horrible the Nazi party was, they could easily reject it just like they would the talk of smoking and drinking. So, in comes Inglourious Basterds.

This movie is extremely brutal to Nazis. It creates an air about it, that we think it's disgusting to see a Nazi laughing at the death of a Jewish person, but when a Nazi is tortured the whole audience erupts with laughter.

Our children's education on the holocaust until now has stressed the ominous evil of the Nazi. Inglourious Basterds manages to convey the intimidation they had, while at the same time making them into punching bags for our amusement. They are horrible people, but they are almost goofy at the same time, and they get horribly tortured at every opportunity.

Now I'm not saying that we should stop teaching about World War II the way we have been. For 99.9999% of people it works wonderfully. But for that tiny percentage of people, this movie might just destroy the ominous feel of Nazis for them. No longer will they be an intimidating force of power that the disillusioned kid might want to follow in the footsteps of. They will now be the losers, the tortured, and the completely and brutally destroyed, that we laugh at all the way to grave.

It might be kind of a stretch, but if this movie stops 1 kid from thinking Nazis are cool, then Tarantino deserves a medal of honor.