A film that pretends to be thoughtful, and turns out to be disappointing.

Rating: 9/10 (15 July 2010)

Inglorious Basterds convinced me that Quentin Tarantino lost it. That's not to say that he is now a bad director, but his films ever since Pulp Fiction have been all style and little substance. Pulp Fiction was a wicked masterpiece and one of the greatest films of the 1990s, but what am I to make of Inglorious Basterds? This film disappointed me even more than Kill Bill. Kill Bill was, for the most part, shallow, bloody and uninspired. Still, it was entertaining and the performances were memorable. Inglorious Basterds is just like Kill Bill except there aren't any fights and only one memorable performance. I'm not saying that it's a bad film; it's actually quite good technically. Tarantino's direction is solid, but not great. The actors deliver, especially Christoph Waltz and Brad Pitt. The cinematography is good, and the film seems inspired in places. For the most part, however, I kept thinking what this is really about?
The film has a historic setting (Nazi-occupied France in 1944), but it's not meant to be taken seriously. The film has style (however pointless), but Nazis like Adolf Hitler were included. The pro-German and fascist/conservative minded reviewers have already expressed their opinions here. However, I don't care for Nazi Germany at all. In this film an SS Colonel somehow comes off as the most likable character. He's a clever intellectual who speaks a few languages. Except that this is a man whose job is to find and execute as many Jews and other undesirables as possible. This is a clear case of misrepresentation I think. Violence that's hard to watch is also included. An American Lieutenant and his team of Jewish men kill Nazis in brutal ways. These killings are shown in all their detailed glory. So it seems that it's not the Germans who are the ruthless and exceptional murderers but an American team. There are other things in the film that didn't take place for real. I don't think Tarantino meant to take sides, but all this film has is several conversation scenes and several murder scenes. In parts it's entertaining but there's nothing to take away from it. In the end it feels shallow and pointless. I don't recommend Inglorious Basterds, but by popular vote this film made it into the IMDb Top 250. For my money I'd rather see films that are meant to be historically accurate and thoughtful like Schindler's List (1993) and Come And See (1985).