1 hour less would have been "glourious"

Rating: 3/10 (22 August 2009)

My first reaction when leaving 'Inglourious Basterds' was "They could've cut a good hour out of that film!" And as much as I ONLY went to this movie due to Tarantino, I think he was so in love with his work, he barely edited out a second of footage. Even if the misleading advertisements were true – "Killing Nazis!" actually only takes up approx 1/6 of the movie, as does Pitt's character – I still wouldn't have been interested in the subject matter. I'm just not into war/period-piece movies. Again, only Tarantino's name got me to buy a ticket. In 'Basterds's defense, it was much more than just a period piece, or war movie, so I'll give it that. I'll also praise a lot of great scenes that made me laugh, snicker, jump, root and admire. Unfortunately, they were so few and very, VERY far between, I'm seriously reducing my rating. I miss the old Tarantino, as even if the movie was slow at times, it kept me interested throughout with raging dialogue, plot twists and intersecting story lines. Here we have a straight arrow plot, yes, with multiple story lines, but barely a crossover. In the beginning we get 1 of many enormously overlong scenes where a Jewish family is slaughtered in 1941 Nazi-occupied France, but one escapes. (The other notable drawn out to the max scene is a barroom conversation that I wanted to scream for it to be over – you knew where it was going, so get on with it! 10 minutes, maybe, but not 30 minutes or so.) Anyways, we get her story later, along with a weasel detective and a group of war-criminals-to-be Nazi killers (see trailer) all leading to a movie screening finale. Good ending, but be prepared for 80% subtitles and 60% fluff to get there.
Side Note: Despite it being a "period piece" movie – where's the jams? I do miss his great soundtracks. Also, never thought I would say this, as I ALWAYS go for the "unedited" versions of movies on DVD/Bluray. However, I certainly wouldn't mind see the NBC network edited down version. I've already heard the language, seen all the gore. I just would like to see an hour less to get a more tightly plotted and gripping film this could have been.