Inglourious Basterds, Special Edition, Blu-ray (2009)
Starring: Brad Pitt, Christopher Waltz, Michael Fassbender
Studio: The Weinstein Company/Universal [Release date: 12/15/09]
Video: 2.40:1 anamorphic/enhanced for 16:9 1080p HD
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French or Spanish DTS 5.1 (DD 5.1 & 2.0 on extras)
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Extras: Extended & alternate scenes; Discussion with Brad Pitt, Quentin Tarantino & Elvis Mitchell; The Making of “Nation’s Pride;” Conversation with Rod Taylor (Churchill); “Nation’s Pride,” the film within the film; Trailer of the original Italian Inglorious Bastards; Quentin Tarantino’s Camera Angel, Gallery tour of film posters in the movie, Pocket BLU: mobile-to-go, virtual remote & keyboard; BD Live: BD Live Center, Killin’ Nazis Trivia Challenge; Digital Copy disc; D-BOX programming, more
Length: 2 hours, 33 minutes
Rating: *****
Well, as to be expected of a Tarantino movie, Inglourious Basterds has many over-the-top shocking scenes, but since it’s dealing with the Nazis in a Tarantino re-write of WWII, it seems entirely appropriate. Never mind the American good guys are just as sadistic as the Nazis; they’re fighting fire with fire. In fact, Tarantino’s use of David Bowie’s “Fighting Fire With Gasoline” on the soundtrack at the start of the dramatic final scene is pure genius.
His wacky version of how the war might have ended early with the destruction of all the top Nazi brass including Hitler, begins with one of two masterful, amazingly intense scenes of just two men sitting down across from one another and talking. But speaking Tarantino’s brilliant dialog. All of them being great actors helps too, but some sort of Oscar should go to one of the several European actors Tarantino brought into his production, which was mostly shot in Berlin (at the same studio where Metropolis was shot in 1927). Christopher Waltz is the SS security chief (described by another reviewer as a Nazi Hannibal Lector minus the dining preferences). His character is chilling in the extreme. He has come to the home of a French farmer he knows is hiding Jews.
In the next chapter we are introduced to the Basterds. By the way, Tarantino’s film stole just the title (and misspelled it on purpose) from a 1970s Italian war film of similar name. He was also influenced by many Italian spaghetti westerns and other obscure films. The Basterds are a platoon of Jewish soldiers dropped into France before D-Day, and led by Tennessee-born Aldo Raine. Brad Pitt is just a little too campy in that role. He tells them his goal is for them to bring him 100 Nazi scalps each, and he means exactly that. We only see about one brutal killing of a Nazi prisoner who refuses to reveal where his fellow soldiers are on a map; the rest of the fearful reputation of the “Apaches” is pieced together from reports of those they don’t kill.
In the next chapter, the sole survivor of the killing of the Jews in the French farmhouse, the beautiful Shoshana, now operates a movie theater in Paris and a young Nazi war hero is attracted to her. He happens to be the star of a new Nazi propaganda feature about his feat killing hundreds of Allied soldiers as a sniper in a bell tower didn’t want to blow up because of its historical significance. He ends up succeeding in getting Goebbels, the Reichsminister of Propaganda, to approve having the premiere of the new movie at Shoshana’s theater, and (improbably) for all the Nazi brass, even Hitler, to appear for the festive showing. Of course they are unaware that Shoshana and her black projectionist plan to set fire to the 350 movies on nitrate stock littered behind the screen, burn down the theater and trap the Nazi audience inside.
On the other hand Shoshana and Marcel are unaware that there is another plot hatching to destroy the Nazis, involving the Basterds and one of the top German actresses who for the past two years has been an agent for the British. This involves some of them putting on Nazi uniforms and attending the movie premiere where they will do their damage. However, it must be preceded by a meeting of the main British infiltrator with the actress, and she selects a basement tavern which happens to be filled with Nazis. The second super-intense dialog scene takes place here, built around the suspicions of a high-rank Nazi in attendance who has a particular ear for accents and isn’t buying the one of the German-speaking British soldier. The results are not positive for anyone there, and Aldo and two of the other Basterds must pass for Italian film people and the actress must appear with her leg in a cast (where she was shot in the basement melee). That doesn’t go well either – especially for the actress – but the destruction of the theater does occur, and during the ostensible repatriation of the ‘Jew-hunter’ Nazi, Aldo does get yet another Nazi scalp.
The extras are all fascinating and worth a watch. Tarantino didn’t do a commentary track but the roundtable discussion with Pitt and Mitchell goes on forever with much information. During the filming, Tarantino – the inveterate film buff – showed various movies he felt important to the crew at night. Some of them were features in which Rod Taylor, who played a brief scene as Winston Churchill, had formerly appeared. In that same scene, incidentally, comic Mike Myers played a serious British general. But it still seemed like Mike Myers. One of the bonus features is a “tour” of all the movie posters which Tarantino placed thruout the film – mostly in the theater. Few films have had so many references to other films in them as Inglourious Basterds. Even the background of the ill-fated British soldier whose accent gets him in trouble in the tavern is that he is a film critic and has written two books on German films. One of the clips during shooting shows how Tarantino explained away asking for a re-take when he had said terrific! about a shot: “We Love to Make Movies!” It was surprising to hear that during showings of the film in Germany, audiences loved it and laughed uproariously at some of it.
The super-widescreen cinematography looks terrific in the Blu-ray transfer, and the lossless DTS surround conveys a good feeling of the different environments as well as shaking one up with the gunshots and explosions. Then for those wanting extreme shaking up, there’s the D-Box programming track if you have the equipment.
– John Sunier
