Good... but not great.

Rating: 6/10 (20 August 2009)

The first thing to say about Inglourious Basterds is that it is definitely worth seeing after all for two and half hours it does at least entertain. The problem is in the end you might be left wondering what was the point of it all, Tarantino certainly conjures up some great thrills but to this viewer it all felt like one of those Roger Moore Bond films all flash but no real soul - worth the entry fee but not a lot more besides.
That said the opening is extraordinarily well done (though in a way it handicaps the rest of the film) and Christopher Waltz's performance is truly brilliant but beyond this there is not really anything to mark this film out as memorable even in terms of Tarantino's previous works. Reservoir Dogs will always be cleverer and Pulp Fiction always more entertaining. You cannot deny that as a war film it is different from anything else you might have seen but this alone doesn't necessarily make it all that worthwhile.