Starring: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Mélanie Laurent, Diane Kruger
Director: Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & 2)
Running Time: 2 hrs 32 min
Release Date: August 21, 2009
Budget: $70 million
Average Critics’ Choice: 83%
“…the most audacious World War II movie of all-time.” James Berardinelli, ReelViews
“…ridiculous and appallingly insensitive.” David Denby, The New Yorker
A 2 ½ hour World War II movie could have been a bore, but – in the hands of writer/director Tarantino – this stylish, energetic re-imagining never ceases to entertain. Basterds successfully weaves together two tales of revenge-seekers: one about a young Jewish Frenchwoman (Laurent) who’s a cinema owner forced to show a German propaganda film and another about a Jewish-American ragtag group of Nazi hunters called the Basterds. Though at times vividly violent (scalping Nazis looks sickeningly similar to slicing carrots), the involving, smart and even funny story takes precedence. Pitt is humorous as the no-nonsense Basterd leader, and Waltz is mesmerizing as the cunning, passive aggressive Nazi colonel.
