Major surprise

Rating: 8/10 (7 July 2012)

I am normally the first to slam revisionist history and did not go to see this on cinema release.
It came onto television recently and having nothing better to do, and there being not much else on, gave it a whirl. Well blow me down,I really enjoyed it, and had to go away and think why I did so, when the plot is overall quite preposterous. And I think that is the key to the movie, it is sheer over the top nonsense so that it actually transcends revisionist history and becomes a piece of entertainment.
There is some stuff in there though that isn't much known that is real history. Both Goebbels and Hitler were huge movie fans and indeed Goebbels produced a version of Titanic that is quite extraordinary in its propaganda but is regarded as the first effort to seriously make a movie about the tragedy (Google Nazi Titanic). It can be bought and I have a copy but it can now be downloaded from You Tube. Goebbels production makes his one just as ridiculous as I.B. which adds to the irony.
I found it hard not to watch this movie without a grin on my face because it is very well acted (actually overacted) and so clichéd (deliberately) that it does not really take itself seriously, and you can see that. Brad Pitt is having a ball. But it was the performance of Cristoph Waltz that really blew me away. How good was he? The perfect blend of Nazi evil with a touch of vaudeville thrown in.
Recommended.
This movie is completely over the top which is why it works. It does not want to try and rewrite history like the goddam awful Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Killer which takes itself all to seriously.