Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
4/4
Inglourious Basterds
Essi Suomela - wrote on 09/04/2009
Read this article with caution, because it may contain some spoilers!
The story is set in alternative history in Nazi-occupied France during World War II, where a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as “The Basterds” are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis.
Tarantino is very known for his strong female roles and Inglourious Basterds is no exception. An elite assassin Beatrix Kiddo aka Black Mamba / The Bride and a flight attendant Jackie Brown are just a few examples of Tarantino’s obsession with portraying powerful women in his movies. In Inglourious Basterds the title goes to Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) who loses her family by the evil hands of Col. Hans Landa. She returns to Nazi-occupied France …
Rating of
3.5/4
These Basterds Are Legitimate
Chris Kavan - wrote on 08/29/2009
This is what I've come to expect from Quentin Tarantion and this is why I like him: scenes of witty, tense dialogue punctuated by intense violence. Inglourious Baterds reminded me a lot of Pulp Fiction - it had the chapters (this time in order), memorable characters and swift-kick-to-the-balls take on history.
I didn't think anything dragged at all. The dialogue scenes were long, but I never felt bored. The longest - the opening scene in a dairy farm in France and another in a dank basement where a secret meeting is taking place amidst a Nazi party - are filled with enough tension that I couldn't wait to see how things turned out. Sure, you probably could figure out what was coming, but getting there was half the fun.
Thankfully, Tarantino has continued to get things right that he …
Rating of
0.5/4
Same old Same old
Carl W - wrote on 08/28/2009
Inglourious Basterds delivers the expected - another Tarantino film that is bad, but way too restrained to be bad enough to be good. I acknowledge the usual attempts Tarantino makes at clever genre mixing, witty dialogue, and dramatic characterization. And once again these pretensions are as painful as blows to the viewer’s head with a baseball bat. It’s time to acknowledge that skillful story telling is beyond Tarantino’s talents. That leaves us with his trademark sophomoric fascination with violence. Why does he once again hold back from the full blown B movie extravaganza he was meant to make for us? Taking a very bad movie to comically bloody heights is a talent Rob Zombie has, and Quentin at heart seems to aspire to, but he never quite reaches. If only Zombie had mentored …
Rating of
2/4
All right, I'll rain on the parade
patjohnson76 - wrote on 08/27/2009
Given that I'm not a Tarantino fan, I probably shouldn't have seen this movie, but I thought maybe this movie would change my opinion. I was wrong. This is really a movie that only a fan could love.
For starters, the movie is much too long, with scenes that drag on forever with endless dialogue. What makes this more frustrating is that it's obvious how the scene is going to end, but it takes FOREVER to get there. Brad Pitt's scenery chewing gets tiresome after awhile as well. We're introduced to the Basterds who apparently strike fear in all the Nazi's because of how effective they are. Mind you, we never see this, we only see the aftermath of one of their ambushes, the other 2 times we see them in action they screw up royally.
Even Tarantino tires of the Basterds, as after …
Rating of
3/4
The Case of the Audience With the Missing Memory
Allison - wrote on 08/26/2009
I wasn't expecting to see this in the theater, but I'm glad that when another movie was sold out, we got to see this one instead. Basically, the writing was good. But I had heard complaints from people that the dialogue made the scenes over-long. This is true. The scenes should have been cut, but there was nothing wrong with the actual dialogue.
Quentin Tarantino brings back Julie Dreyfus (known to us as Sophie Fatale from Kill Bill, Vol. 1). He also features up-and-coming French star Lea Seydoux (as the Charlotte LaPadite, the youngest of the dairy farmer's daughters), Melanie Laurent, and competent and beautiful but not quite internationally known Diane Kruger (some may argue, but do people drop her name as often as Brigitte Bardot, Marion Cotillard, or even Franka Potente? No, …
Rating of
3.5/4
"I'll be chewed out. I've been chewed out before."
Arbogast1960 - wrote on 08/26/2009
It's interesting, the way we treat history. Films set in the future do as they please, predicting tomorrow in a way it is unlikely to unfold, and no one bats an eye. But for films set in the past, we ask that certain markers be adhered to, whether the film is a documentary or openly fictional. We will allow certain elisions and anachronisms, but we know how the story ended before and, damn it, it had better end that way again. Thus, a curious dynamic is created in which happenstance is often paid undue reverence and movies are drained of much of their life by having to trot out stories whose finales are foreknown. All of this goes unsaid, accepted as if handed down on Mt. Sinai. But upon consideration, it is unnecessary. If a fictional story is told, why not one in which the major …
Rating of
3.5/4
We Need More Bastards In The World
Northeast Kid - wrote on 08/05/2009
Tarantino has made a pretty dang good movie. Though it is not ground breaking, overly ingenious, or "the best movie by far," it is a very good movie that takes some risks and pulls off a reward. Needless to say, I liked this movie and can't wait to see his next film.
The Story: I don't want to give anything away, but the story is actually quite good full of witty dialogue interesting characters and a slew of other good pieces. Again, it is not super great, nor any of Tarantino's best work.
How the Story is Told: Pretty typical actually - with the exception of a lot of great dialogue (I don't like a lot of dialogue - Death Proof sucked in my opinion). But, the cinematography was good, the cuts and editing were great and it was paced really well.
The Music: Tarantino aces this …
