I was actually going to put this in another thread but I couldn't find it so...
Doddsino wrote: |
While I like Reservoir Dogs and about 75% of Pulp Fiction, I don't care for much of anything else that Tarrantino has made (although I don't count True Romance or Natural Born Killers). I have yet to see Unglorious Basterds, so I can't say anything bad there. |
So I saw
INglorious Basterds tonight, and I'll say this, I really really enjoyed it. While I don't think it's as good as Pulp Fiction, I think it is far more consistant as a movie whole. One thing I've grown to learn from QT movies is that it usually involves a lot of fucked up stuff, but this movie actually toned it down, especially the language which pleased me because I honestly think Tarantino is BRILLIANT at writing good dialogue, he just puts too much effort into making it risque or filling it with profanity, so this in a sense actually seemed more mature. And quite honestly, I never felt bored by it...something that Pulp Fiction made me feel at certain times.
But I do have to be a tad critical despite liking it. First and foremost, I want to make it perfectly clear that I know it's pure fiction and I was absolutely satisfied with the way it ended. However, I've grown to learn that a lot of people are ridiculously stupid when it comes to historic events and how they're percieved on film. So I know a few fuckheads left this movies believing this is based on true events. In fact, this isn't really even a criticism of the movie, just people in general...I just wanted to clarify since I know people who saw the Elephant Man and believed that's what actually happened and such.
The one thing that truly did piss me off was the subtitles. I have absolutely no problem reading these, but at times the background really smudged together with the words and it was incredibly difficult to read.
Actually, I take that back...there was another thing that did piss me off. Mike fucking Myers. Now I enjoyed Mike Myers up until several years ago, but he really annoyed me. He wasn't meant to be funny or anything, but just his presence fucking annoyed me. Worse yet, once again Myers is "cleverly disguised" by makeup and an accent...LIKE EVERY OTHER MOVIE HE'S IN! Seriously, I had a very hard time digesting this scene, because I in no way could get past seeing Mike Myers...he is NOT Peter Sellers...so fucking stop already Mike. The way a cameo works to me, is when you notice someone, but the attention is still on the movie, when you have someone like Myers, it takes the attention off the movie and puts it on him. It was nice to see the original Time Machinist as Churchill though...now THAT'S a cameo...not Mike fucking Myers.
Another thing, the title misrepresents the movie entirely. That's perfectly fine, but I went into this movie thinking it was something entirely different than what it was, especially with how the trailers seem to emphasize certain things. Emphasizing the Basterds probably helped this movie do much better at the box office, but that was only about 1/3 of the actual story here.
One last thing, and feel free to call my a "Nazi sympathizer", but I was very happy when the two bitches bit the dust. I always hate it when QT humanizes someone, someone we especially know is going to die...but he did it anyways with the Nazi solider who had a newborn son. Again, most of the audience never asks if any of these people actually have a family, but it's something that's fairly obvious. Tarantino has done this before with Marvin Nash who pleaded for his life with Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs. In both cases, I somehow have a soft heart for someone who has kids...and it always sort of gets to me. And for a brief moment, I actually thought this guy was going to live...but no...dumb cunt had to shoot him...thanks cunt. The other bitch caps pretty much the only other German person you can actually kind of get behind. The guy by no means was a bad person, he was just a soldier who did his job. Sure he was the enemy, but you wouldn't know from how he viewed the world and even himself, in fact he seemed embarassed by his own exploits. I really love/hate how Tarantino sort of guilts you in to actually liking this characters. Anyways the other bitch treats him like shit the entire movie, and she has her reasons, and her reasons are good. But still, I kinda wanted to see him live, but he didn't...and the brief moment she DID feel compassion...BOOM. BOOM BOOM. Dead. Awesome.
Overall...***1/2
Welcome back to the positive side Mr. Tarantino