One of the Most Entertaining War Films for Decades

Rating: 8/10 (15 September 2009)

With the standard of Tarantino's films declining to surprisingly low depths ever since the release of his second film Pulp Fiction, many have debated as to whether or not Tarantino really was the immensely talented director we had been lead to believe? With his latest film, however, Tarantino seems to have redeemed himself with this new war epic.
Based around a fictional event in which a group of American soldiers and a vengeful young Jewish woman in Nazi occupied France plan to blow up/burn down and cinema during a premier, with many of the German high command, Hitler included, in attendance, Tarantino is able to bringing into play his usual directorial traits: his extensive, yet entertaining, conversation scenes; tough, though likable heroes; violent imagery; pre-recorded music scores and discreet film references - not to mention his obvious love of cinema, made especially clear through the events and technicalities of the film's cinema based plot.
Despite these familiarities, this is still new ground for Tarantino, mainly because this is the first of his films that doesn't take place during the in contemporary America (bar several key scenes in Kill Bill). Gone are the distinct fashion traits or the familiar pseudo brands that scatter his previous films that we would normally expect. Instead, he is stuck in 1940s Europe and is perhaps closer at times to directing a period drama rather than a "Tarantino film". However, he still manages to get his own distinctive edge on his WWII interpretation - strudel arguably becoming the new "Big Kahuna Burger" - and even finds room to fit David Bowie onto the soundtrack score.
Perhaps the thing which we can be most grateful for is Tarantino's attempt at redefining the genre. With most recent war films, made within the past thirty years, attempting to bring out the raw, grittiness of war and the obvious, yet constantly used, "war is hell" messages it is a relief to finally to have a war film that is made purely to entertain, à la Where Eagles Dare, Kelly's Heroes and The Eagle has Landed. The story itself is too absurd to be taken seriously yet gripping enough to be intrigued by, along with the suspense and tension constantly building to levels that would have impressed the likes of Alfred Hitchcock - pretty impressive given the audience is in on the plan and the inevitable conclusion, all they don't know is how the scenes are going to play.
Far from perfection however, the film does suffer from a few flaws, namely the Basterds. Whilst the characters in the remaining episodes seem to have their work cut out, the Basterds side of the story comes across as a forgotten and undeveloped. Their role as American soldiers dropped into France to randomly kill and terrorise Nazi's lacks the depth and plausibility to make their characters or stories interesting enough. Likewise, the characters themselves are incredibly bland to the point that even Brad Pitt struggles to bring something worthwhile out of his character, not to mention the bizarre miscasting of Eli Roth.
Despite the flawed Basterds, Tarantino has nonetheless managed to assemble a selection of memorable well cast characters. Much praise has been given to Christopher Waltz (and rightly so) for his performance as the villainous "Jew Hunter" Hans Landa, however much credit also ought to be given to Daniel Brühl as the young, innocent-looking Nazi war-hero Private Fredrick Zoller, trying to start relationship with the Jew-in-hiding, cinema owner Shosanna Dreyfus (brilliantly played by Melanie Laurent). Their juxtaposing relationship alone keeps the film alight with tension. Michael Fassbender also makes a hugely memorable performance as the charismatic British spy and film historian Lt. Archie Hicox along with Mike Myers' amusing cameo.
Whilst not quite on the same level as Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs, Inglourious Basterds is certainly a huge step up from Kill Bill and Death Proof, proving that Tarantino still has much to offer us.