Took A Second Viewing

Rating: 9/10 (15 November 2009)

When I first saw this movie, I liked it but gave it a lower rating because I felt it carried on too long (too much dialogue). I went back and saw it again. This time I did not have that problem, and I was able to appreciate that this is Quentin's best work since "Pulp Fiction".
Once again, Quentin shows his love for film and infuses many facets of this work with it. We have a fugitive Jew running a cinema in Paris, a German war hero turned propaganda film star, a German propaganda star turned double agent, a British film critic turned spy (his fate is probably a slam on critics), and a couple of bloodthirsty US soldiers nicknamed Aldo the Apache and the Bear Jew.
While this movie is titled "Inglorious Basterds", and Brad Pitt does his usual admirable job (his Italian is something to be seen and heard), for me it is the actor who played Col Landa, an actor previously unknown in the US, who really turned an outstanding performance. The character is evil, as virtually every cinematic Nazi is, but he is also intelligent, charming, has a flair for languages and an infectious laugh; you simply can't take your eyes off him.
He alone is well worth the price of a ticket (and a DVD), with Lt. Aldo Raine coming in a close second (and the alternate ending to WWII isn't too shabby either).