Great Cinema, and a classic movie...but...

Rating: 9/10 (31 August 2009)

I am a huge Tarentino fan. That being said, I cannot give this movie a 10/10 as I was hoping. I would of is there had been that "Crazy 88's" scene from Kill Bill, or a Pulp Fiction "Gimp Scene", but alas there wasn't. The action is great when it happens, and the acting it top notch. However, in the interim, I only saw bits and pieces of the Tarentino I have been a loyal fan of for the better part of 2 decades now. From the opening scene of this movie, there is a certain intensity, and that is kept by the scene stealing Christoph Waltz, who IMO stole the show, and the rest of the cast has a strong showing with witty and often times unforeseeable moments of hilarity. Still though, conflicted at times this movies drifts into plot points that are hard to follow, and you're not quite sure what direction the movie is going. A second viewing will hopefully clear some of these up. The best point of this movie are the acting and grainy om-age' to cinema. I feel as though Tarentino really captured the feel of WWII Nazi occupied France. The pacing is good, and in Tarentino is still the king of diologue only to pull the "pin" on the hand grenade when you least expect it, derailing th entire scene...and if you haven't been paying attention, leaving you in shock as to what just happened. I will say though, if you are expecting an action thrill ride (Which is what I was expecting based on the previews), you will be disappointed. I must score this a 9 out of 10 based on the acting, the intensity and at times "awkwardness" of anxiety Tarentino is a master of creating. Pitt was awesome by the way...and needs an honorable mention. This movie is a must see and only loses a point because it was missing that pinch of "Oregano" which is that great scene of action I/we were all wishing/waiting for. Yes, this is a Nazi killing movie...so I wanted to see an awesome Nazi action sequence of wading knee deep into Nazi's with a belt fed machine gun...or a scene of someone like Til Schweiger (Stiglitz) go to work on killing some Nazi's...and killing them brutally. There were small cuts of such scenes, but where was the monumental "House fight" from Kill Bill between Vivica A. Fox and Uma Thurman equivalent? I am using Kill Bill as a reference because there were so many GREAT cinematic action sequences in that film, and the previews lead us down the path that such action was in this movie, when it's not. In closing, a GREAT movie...just not an action packed flick like the previews lead us to believe. So go into it with that expectation, and you'll be fine.