Quentin Tarantino's style and Christoph Waltz's menace

Rating: 8/10 (30 May 2014)

In 1941 Nazi-occupied France, "The Jew Hunter" SS Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) finds the Dreyfus family hidden by their neighbors. Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) escapes after her family is massacred. Meanwhile Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) has gathered 8 Jewish American soldiers to kill Nazis behind enemy lines. Their brutal scalping campaign instills fear among the Germans. Donowitz (Eli Roth) is even given a nickname "The Bear Jew" for brutally beating Nazis with a baseball bat. Then in June 1944, Shosanna has a new name and a theater. She catches the eye of German war hero Fredrick Zoller who wants a big premiere in her theater that will attract the biggest of Nazi leaders. It even attracts the Jew Hunter as well as the Inglourious Basterds.
Christoph Waltz is great as the cold menacing well-mannered Nazi. He is completely engrossing in every one of his scenes. Every word he speaks is dripping with menace. His scenes are quiet and some of the most compelling parts of the movie. Then Quentin Tarantino has injected his brutal violence into this Jewish revenge fantasy. It is nothing less than audacious and uniquely original.