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Redbox Review: Gotta love a basterd

The Commuter

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Bonnie Starr
The Commuter

Another term, another review. I am always pleased when I make a movie choice that is better than expected, and this week “Inglourious Basterds” fits the bill.

I remember hearing a lot of people tell me that it was a great movie. When asked “Why was it so great?” I often got a response consisting of hums and haws, and an eventual declaration saying they didn’t really know but I should see it anyway. So I did.

Quentin Tarantino remade a 1978 film about a U.S. commando unit set loose in Nazi-occupied France, but that is about where the resemblance ends. This version of the film is stylistically very similar to most of Tarantino’s other work, but seems to be more refined than his previous works. The film is cut into five chapters, each with its own amusing and descriptive title to go with the following action.

The movie begins in Nazi-occupied France. Nazis search for a hidden Jewish family in a rural farm and eventually find them. They quickly kill the entire Jewish family except for one teenage girl who gets away. The opening is a touch on the slow side, but as with any of his movies, Tarantino does a great job with the dialogue and keeps up just a touch of suspense.

The rest of the movie pans out after we meet the title group of characters: the Inglourious Basterds, a team of commandos from the United States. Lead by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), this group of eight Jewish-Americans is charged with the mission of disrupting Nazi plans and putting the fear of the Basterds into them. We watch as they accomplish these objectives by blending in, scalping Nazis and even letting one go home alive to report to Hitler with a swastika carved into his forehead.

Other vignettes take place as we watch the poor Jewish girl who got away in the beginning plot her revenge, the Basterds plan and execute some risky meetings, and all these characters come together at the end of the movie for a grand finale.

The movie was great … and I can’t explain why exactly. The dialogue was interesting, the scenery was gorgeous, and the acting was very convincing. Perhaps it is simply that the sum of all the parts came together to create a fun and enjoyable movie with a very satisfying “What if?” scenario.

And what happens to Hitler? Historically, he committed suicide before Berlin fell to the Soviets. For the movie, however, you should just rent it and find out. This is a highly recommended film.Basterd

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