Inglorious Basterds

Well, Tarantino made a good one again.


Short review? See it.


Long review is as follows with attention to the blog's theme.


Perhaps a nitpick: There is a scene in the beginning that was set in 1941. And, though my mind saw MP40s, my buddy Frozen thinks they were StG44s, 3 years before they were fielded. So, fanciful inaccurate gun pr0n, but still good gun pr0n. Can someone go to the movie and confirm which firearms were in the first chapter?

MP40s were in wide use throughout the movie otherwise. I have a warm place in my heart for that piece of German hardware because it is so gentle and fun to shoot.

There is, of course, a big guy wielding an MG34 or MG42 Rambo style (I’m guessing it was the 42). Mauser K98s are everywhere, as are a few shots of Garands. There are 2 ‘punch guns’ attached to the back of a glove. And quite a few pistols. In evidence were a probable Luger P08, a P38, a PPK, and a little mouse gun. Probably a Berreta? A model 21 Tomcat sort of thing, but something made at the time. .25 or .32 caliber. Heck it could have been a Colt 1908 vest pocket. At least that would have been available at the time.

There were so many guns I am probably missing a few varieties. And a couple I saw that I can’t identify. Like what the British agent was carrying. A German SOMETHING I am sure.

Beyond firearm, the dialogue is excellent. You really get to HATE them Nazis. They just drip pure evil. Put it this way. Hitler is probably the least loathsome Nazi character in this movie. Hitler! Your characters have to be pretty damn evil to overshadow all the historical baggage that ol’ Adolf carries around. Sure, the Hitler character goes through the usual Hitler screaming fits of histrionics, but that is just rage. And you’ve seen that sort of scene in countless movies. The other Nazi characters show their wickedness not so much by their actions, but by dialogue. It’s very well done.

And oh my goodness… violent movie. And most of the worst violence is done by the good guys. Tarantino’s other violent scenes were cartoonish compared to this. Might as well have been ketchup in Kill Bill.

Loose ends… What happened to Martin Bormann? And you know what happens to 6 of the eight Basterds. What happened to the other 2?