Inglorious Basterds–with SPOILERS!
REPEAT, MAJOR SPOILERS
SPOILER-PACKED TEXT BEGINS:
I gather Tarantino regards this as his masterpiece, and that he rewrote it about 20 times; it shows. The script borders on genius, and has to be one of the best things Tarantino’s written in years. . . I found a copy here; it’s so demented that when it was first leaked, people wondered if it was a hoax. But as we all found out, it turns out that yes, Tarantino really does kill Hitler, and bring the war to an end in 1944. You have to admire the balls of someone willing to get on the Alternative History Bus and ride it past the very last stop, subverting (and celebrating) every single WWII movie stereotype along the way: the Elegant Evil Nazi, the Redneck American Soldier, the European Femme Fatale . . . all of it gets whirled up into a giant melting pot brought to a boil just in time for the final insane shootout. It was a little surreal to watch all this from the balcony of the Uptown Theater (also known as the Rat-town, in celebration of all the actual rats that live there), and the audience was eating it up.
Of course, in real life, Hitler was a damn sight harder to kill than this, which is why he lived as long as he did. There’s a great book, called (appropriately enough) KILLING HITLER which gets into just how well-guarded he was, and how many assasination plots fell short, not that you’d need to read it to know that Hitler wouldn’t have hung out in the balcony of a Parisian theater with the entire Nazi high command while not a single soldier patrolled the hallways outside. But whatever. QT can do what he wants, and I for one can’t wait to get my hands on the DVD so I can learn about all the coy little references that sailed over my head while I was trying to take it all in.
Next up: District 9!
Tags: inglorious basterds, tarantino
August 31st, 2009 at 11:53 am
Dave– I think you should change the heading to “Major Spoilers Below.”
I find it interesting that in media such as movies, the plot can include science fiction staples and yet not be labeled science fiction. It certianly isn’t advertised as anything other than a WWII action/adventure/lots of shooting and gore kind of movie.
August 31st, 2009 at 12:47 pm
er, sorry Karen. I put it in the headline now as well as keeping that first line as is. sorry if I wrecked it for you, I’m going to feel guilty for a bit now. But it’s a great movie even so!
August 31st, 2009 at 1:13 pm
It’s OK, Dave. I planned to wait for the DVD anyway, and by then someone else would have spilled the alternate history beans. I am more concerned with eager Tarantino fans not wanting their plot beans spilled.
August 31st, 2009 at 3:12 pm
So what happens in the end?
September 1st, 2009 at 11:57 am
I actually got a chance to meet QT at the Stunt Awards the year before Kill Bill was released. He was hyper enthusiastic about stuntmen and the important role they play in cinema. He was running up and down the red carpet introducing his favorite stunt men and women to reporters who pretty much had no idea who anyone was. He’d rattle off chronologically every movie the person had worked on until he got distracted by another person he admired getting ignored. That was one of my most surreal Hollywood moments, so it was REALLY neat to see a “stunt man” take center stage near the climax of the move.
September 1st, 2009 at 5:13 pm
QT def sounds like the kind of guy who still hasn’t lost the wonder of it all. Maybe that’s why he’s still creating such fresh stuff so long after his initial breakthrough into the industry. At any rate, introducing the Hired Help is a serious class act.
September 8th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Yup, pretty much my thought about halfway through the movie was, “This is the best film Tarantino has ever made.”
It’s pretty effing brilliant.
September 22nd, 2009 at 12:31 pm
To David J. Williams: Did you attend Springfield College?
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:19 pm
That’s a negative. There’s a lot of DJWs running around out there, though. Be careful of imposters.
October 9th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Thanks very much. I appreciate your letting me know. I’ll keep looking.
December 11th, 2009 at 6:41 am
Imposters? I’ll beware. Maybe there’s a bot doll you lurking about. I have a friend who says the vortex of an ex she dated for seven years looks like you. But he directed his artistry into music, and never attended college..
What is it with science ficition authors.. (I am joining your leagues with my sci fi screenplay titled Infinity. But I plan to smile for my photo opt.
Yet the men in the league seem to have some sort of competition for creating the most menacing photo of all time. I think you’re deadlocked with Richard K Morgan at the moment for most terrifying photo ever. If looks could kill..
December 11th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
It’s all part of the unwaveringly bad-ass image Morgan and I have to maintain.
When we’re out of sight of our fans, we play croquet. But keep that to yourself.
December 12th, 2009 at 2:24 am
You know the rules: the Red Queen has to win.. HaHa. Have you met Morgan? I met Kovac, but Morgan prefers to operate in the realm of sci fi rather than history when it comes to Kovac.
But back to croquet:
Really there are so many cool things about China, such as their atheism, their geekiness, their updated human rights policy, and their advanced sense of humor that I look at it as a nation that needs to be chided every now and again rather than run right over.
December 12th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Met Morgan once, in Seattle. After five minutes had passed and we’d failed to kill one another, we decided to have a drink. He’s a cool guy.
December 12th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Morgan and I haven’t made that friendly little agreement. What year?
December 12th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
I’ve been looking for someone whose a great action writer to help me with my project Infinity. It’s about striving to live forever in a virtual system. I need someone to help verify scientific information. Would you be interested in helping? I don’t really need tons of assistance, just the occassional heads-up that I am on the right track. I am working on my degree in English. Having an already published sci fi writer contribute would give my work some added credibilty.
June 27th, 2010 at 10:25 am
Very good article.Much thanks again. Really Cool.