Great cinema!

Rating: 8/10 (21 February 2010)

First of all, this movie is fictional. Don't expect to learn much about WW2 from this film and don't take it too seriously.
Second of all, you probably have heard a lot about the character Colonel Hans Landa aka The Jew Hunter. Christoph Waltz, who plays Landa, puts in a captivating performance. Waltz stays away from playing the maniacal sort, not interested in the purity or extinction of any race, not the evil puppet of a psychotic, preaching fuhrer. Landa is apathetic. He is cunning. You could say he is a narcissist. He is tasked to get rid of the Jews in France and the manner in which he goes about approaching his mission is amazing and frightening.
This man doesn't scream his head off. He doesn't storm into rooms with his soldiers gunning everyone down. He'll befriend you, break you down mentally and get you to expose the people you thought you could help.
It's important to remember that Hans Landa isn't evil, he just doesn't care about the situation. He does what he's tasked to do because he's good at doing it. And if there is a better opportunity elsewhere, he'll jump ship.
Third of all, this is not an all out action movie. It's a movie with a good balance of everything.
And finally, the movie is not all in English. It's mostly in German or French.
Having said all that, the movie itself is great. The acting is superb and the cast choices doesn't disappoint. The art direction and lighting in key scenes really add to the mood of the film. The choice of music for the film is also interesting.
What makes Inglorious Basterds such a good movie is the dialog. The dialog itself adds to the mood of the film, depending on the scene and brings depth to the various characters. Landa's dialog in the opening scene is an indication of his manipulative nature. There is a scene where a bunch of officers are drinking and playing a card game where they figure out what famous person they are. Tarantino puts his interpretation of King Kong as part of the dialog but the manner in which it is played out, in context with the scene, is just brilliant and a clever way of getting to the outcome of the scene.
Inglorious Basterds is good cinema. It's a must watch for people who enjoy character movies.