Inglourious Basterds
Movie, 2009, The 2000s, Set in Occupied France
Inglourious Basterds is #10 of 13 in release order and #7 of 13 in chronological order in the Quentin Tarantino.
The story
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, 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. The Basterds, lead by Lt. Aldo Raine soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers.
Inglourious Basterds recap
Inglourious Basterds (2009) follows two plots to kill Nazi leaders at a Paris premiere, one by Jewish American commandos and one by the cinema's Jewish owner. In 1941, SS Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) finds a Jewish family hidden under a French farmhouse; only Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) escapes. Three years later, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) leads the Basterds, who scalp German soldiers, including Donny Donowitz (Eli Roth) and the German defector Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger). Shosanna, running a cinema under a false name, attracts the war hero Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), who moves the premiere of his propaganda film to her theatre. The British send Lieutenant Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender) to meet the actress and double agent Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) in a tavern basement. Tarantino wrote and directed it in chapters, and Waltz won an Oscar. It follows Death Proof as his sixth feature.
Inglourious Basterds ending explained
Inglourious Basterds ends with Hitler dead in a burning cinema and Raine carving a swastika into Landa's forehead. Landa strangles von Hammersmark and arrests Raine, then trades the plot for his own safety. Zoller and Shosanna shoot each other in the projection booth; her filmed face tells the audience they will die at the hands of a Jew as her projectionist sets the nitrate film alight. Donowitz and Omar Ulmer shoot Hitler and Goebbels, and the bombs go off. Raine, delivered by Landa, marks him for life and admires his own handiwork. The story breaks openly from real history.
Post-credits scenes
No. Inglourious Basterds has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch Inglourious Basterds
Inglourious Basterds is streaming on Hulu in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 8.4/10, Rotten Tomatoes 89%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Death Proof, before Django Unchained.
- Chronological order: after Death Proof, before Django Unchained.
Cast
- Brad Pitt as LT. Aldo Raine
- Mélanie Laurent as Shosanna
- Christoph Waltz as COL. Hans Landa
- Eli Roth as SGT. Donny Donowitz
- Michael Fassbender as LT. Archie Hicox
- Diane Kruger as Bridget von Hammersmark
- Daniel Brühl as Fredrick Zoller
- Til Schweiger as SGT. Hugo Stiglitz
- Gedeon Burkhard as CPL. Wilhelm Wicki
- Jacky Ido as Marcel
- B.J. Novak as PFC. Smithson Utivich
- Omar Doom as PFC. Omar Ulmer
Directed by Quentin Tarantino.