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"INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS" (2009) (Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Heavy Extreme Extreme Heavy Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Heavy Mild Moderate None Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Extreme Extreme Moderate Heavy Extreme QUICK TAKE: Drama/Action: An American leads a small team of Jewish Nazi killers through WWII era France, all as others of various backgrounds with various motives do their part to accomplish the same goal. PLOT: It's 1944 and Lt. Aldo Raine (BRAD PITT) and his small team of Jewish Americans -- a.k.a. the "inglourious basterds" -- have been making the lives of Nazis in France so miserable, what with scalping their victims and carving swastikas into the foreheads of those they let go, that Adolf Hitler (MARTIN WUTTKE) wants all of them captured and killed. But Aldo and his men, including Cpl. Wilhelm Wicki (GEDEON BURKHARD), Nazi turncoat Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz (TIL SCHWEIGER) and Sgt. Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz (ELI ROTH) -- best known for his baseball bat wielding ways -- have smartly avoided detection so far. Their latest mission is to assist with a covert operation to assassinate Hitler at a screening of "Nation's Pride," the latest propaganda film from Joseph Goebbels (SYLVESTER GROTH). His star, real life German military hero Frederich Zoller (DANIEL BRÜHL), who plays himself in the pic, has become so smitten with a young French woman, Emmanuelle (MÉLANIE LAURENT), that he convinces Goebbels to have his premiere at the local theater she runs with her projectionist, Marcel (JACKY IDO). Little do any of them know that her real name is Shosanna Dreyfus or that her entire family was murdered by German Colonel Hans Landa (CHRISTOPH WALTZ) years earlier. Notoriously known as "The Jew Hunter," Landa is quite good at ferreting out and killing the remaining Jews in France, and Shosanna is shocked when she ends up meeting him again through Zoller. Learning that he, Goebbels and even Hitler himself will be at the film premiere, she sets out to get her revenge. But she's not the only one aiming to take advantage of the surprising collection of despised Nazis, as British intelligence officer Lt. Archie Hicox (MICHAEL FASSBENDER) is meeting German actress turned Allies conspirator, Bridget Von Hammersmark (DIANE KRUGER), to get into the screening. With Aldo and his men ready to assist them, the stage seems set for a strike that might put an end to the war, but they must contend with unexpected developments as well as Landa's ability to sniff out the enemy. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of anyone in the cast, director Quentin Tarantino, or WWII flicks, they'll likely be interested. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For strong graphic violence, language and brief sexuality. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: BRAD PITT plays an American lieutenant who's in charge of a small team of commandos whose mission is to kill as many Nazis as possible and inspire fear in the others. He participates in the killing, scalping and branding of various men, while also using snuff and strong profanity. CHRISTOPH WALTZ plays a Nazi known as the "Jew Hunter" whose task is ferreting out and killing the remaining Jews in France. He's proficient at that, made all the worse by his faux demeanor of being a pleasant and sociable man before taking action. He briefly smokes. MÉLANIE LAURENT plays a young woman, orphaned by Landa's actions in the past. She now lives and works incognito as a French movie theater owner, and wants nothing to do with Frederich when he shows an interest in her. When she realizes that might lead to a once in a lifetime chance to strike a blow at the Nazis, she does what she must to pull that off. She smokes and drinks. DIANE KRUGER plays a famous German actress who's working undercover for the Allies, thus putting herself at risk. She smokes, drinks, and shoots others when necessary. ELI ROTH plays the most feared of Aldo's team, known as the "Bear Jew" among the Germans for his baseball bat wielding behavior. TIL SCHWEIGER plays a German turncoat who killed many of his own in the past before being rescued by and joining Aldo's team to kill even more of them. He also smokes several times. GEDEON BURKHARD plays another one of the "basterds" in Aldo's team. JACKY IDO plays Shosanna's projectionist and possible boyfriend or lover who assists her with her plan. He briefly smokes. DANIEL BRÜHL plays a German war hero turned actor in a movie where he plays himself. He takes a liking to Shosanna (unaware of her secret) and plays nice until eventually turning violent after her latest rebuke of him. SYLVESTER GROTH plays a top Nazi official who's in charge of the propaganda division and fancies himself as a film mogul. MARTIN WUTTKE plays Adolf Hitler who wants the "basterds" captured and killed. MICHAEL FASSBENDER plays a British intelligence officer and film critic who goes undercover to work with Bridget. He briefly drinks. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this drama/action pic that's been rated R. Profanity consists of at least 20 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. There's brief sexually related dialogue and innuendo, while a rear-entry sexual encounter (with movement and sounds) is briefly seen. Violence consists of people being killed by various means (mostly gunfire, but also a baseball bat, a panic in a fire, being choked to death, etc.), while already dead people are scalped and a swastika is carved into a person's forehead. Much of that has extremely bloody and/or gory results, and that material as well as various moments of potential peril might be unsettling and/or suspenseful to viewers. Some of that and other behavior might be enticing for some kids to imitate, while all sorts of bad attitudes are present, as is some tense family material. Various characters drink (with some ending up intoxicated) and/or smoke in various scenes. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there's a little bit of camera movement back and forth, but nothing too bad. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE A farmer tells his adult daughter to get Landa some wine, but he prefers to have milk. Shosanna has some wine by her in a restaurant where miscellaneous people drink. We see a large liquor ad on a wall. Goebbels, Frederich, Shosanna and others have champagne (the latter reluctantly). Archie meets a general and the former has a scotch and water while the latter has whiskey straight. Bridget has champagne while playing a card game in a tavern with German soldiers who have beer and schnapps. She then joins Archie and other undercover agents who order whiskey, while she has more champagne. Some of the soldiers seem to be intoxicated, including a new father who won't leave Bridget and her companions alone. An SS officer then joins them with a beer and eventually orders some old scotch, but says he doesn't want any himself, although he later has some. Bridget states that she likes smoking, drinking, and eating in fine restaurants. Aldo states a veterinarian will fill the injured Bridget with morphine. We see Shosanna with wine. Miscellaneous people carry champagne and drinks in Shosanna's theater before the premiere. Landa takes some champagne but doesn't drink any, while Shosanna brings glasses of the same for Marcel and herself, but we don't see any consumption. Landa pours wine for himself, Aldo and one of the latter's men, but only that man has some (seen later). Aldo briefly talks about the making of moonshine in relation to where he grew up. BLOOD/GORE Young Shosanna has blood and/or mud on her as she flees from a massacre of her family. Aldo has a rather large scar that goes around his neck. We see a flashback to Aldo's team scalping at least 2 dead Nazis (in a graphic, fully viewed fashion). We see a flashback to Hugo killing various Nazis, including one via a piano wire around the neck, and another who's smothered and then repeatedly knifed through that (with bloody results) and then driving his fist down into that or another man's mouth to suffocate him. We see a flashback to Hugo being sprung from jail by Aldo's team, with one slitting a guard's throat and others shot with machine guns. Donnie hits a German officer on the head with a baseball bat (seen in full), and then repeatedly strikes his body and head with the same (seen from a distance, although with bloody/gory results). We see a swastika scar on a German's head (having been cut there with a large knife). We see a flashback to one of the "basterds" being whipped on his bare back (with bloody lash marks there). A big gun battle breaks out in a small tavern, with many people being shot by handguns, machine guns and a rifle or shotgun, while Hugo stabs a knife down into the back of an SS officer's neck. All but two are killed, and one is wounded, with all of that having very bloody results. We see a needle being inserted into Bridget's leg that has a bloody bullet hole in it. To get her to admit everything she knows, Aldo sticks his finger deep into that hole (seen in close-up), causing her pain. Two people who've shot each other are bloody, while there's also blood on the floor. Various people who are shot inside a theater are bloody. Aldo shoots one Nazi dead, with his companion then scalping that man (with bloody results). We see Aldo using his knife to slice a swastika into a Nazi's forehead (deep and with bloody results). DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Hitler, Goebbels, Landa, an SS officer, and all of the other Nazis obviously have bad attitudes. We hear that it's Landa's task to round up any Jews left in France. As he talks with a farmer he believes is harboring some, he says he can think like a Jew (meaning where they might hide), and then equates them to rats. He then makes an analogy by asking the farmer if a rat crossed his floor, why would he kill that and not a squirrel, adding that one doesn't know why they don't like rats, but they do anyway. Some Native Americans might not like Aldo using so-called Apache tactics in killing the Nazis and spreading fear among them and others by scalping those they kill. During this, he states he has a little "injun" in him. A defiant German officer tells Aldo and his team, "F*ck you and your Jew dogs." A German officer tells Shosanna to "get your ass" in a car and then slaps her on the clothed butt as she does. Goebbels talks of American sports success resting on the past breeding of Negros. Landa says they can't risk having a Negro (Marcel) working as the projectionist for Goebbels's big film premiere at Shosanna's theater. Landa is surprised that one of Aldo's men isn't the size of a "circus midget" (based on his nickname that would suggest he's very short). When Shosanna won't let Frederich (who's playing friendly, but persistent) into the projection booth, he forces the door into her and his attitude turns uglier. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" and/or "Blood/Gore" (especially the scalping and baseball bat murder scenes) may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. There's a subtle menace to Landa as he takes his time asking a farmer about a Jewish family, and after a while, we see that they're hiding beneath the floor, hands over their mouths to keep themselves from making noise. Landa continues his "pleasant" interrogation, with the farmer eventually breaking and admitting that yes, he's hiding them and that they're under the floor. Landa then has his soldiers come in and fire their machine guns through the floor in a massive blaze of bullets (we don't see any impact). We then see young Shosanna climb out the side of the farm house and run through a field, with Landa walking out, taking aim with his handgun, and seemingly ready to shoot her, but he doesn't. Shosanna becomes nervous when she realizes that she's in the presence of Landa (who had her family murdered several years ago). That escalates when he orders milk for her (seemingly referencing the scene where the murders took place) and then questions her, all in a faux pleasant manner. An SS officer suddenly reveals himself while Bridget, Archie and his associates try to have a clandestine meeting, albeit in a public spot. The officer then becomes suspicious of Archie's German accent, making everyone nervous as to what's going to occur as they try to lie their way through the situation. The SS officer then reveals that he's aiming his handgun at Archie's testicles, while Archie reveals he's doing the same back to that man's "balls," while another operative also has his gun on the officer under the table. Aldo slowly enters a tavern following a shootout to retrieve a wounded woman. The German soldier there, the only other survivor, makes a deal with Aldo, but aims his machine gun at him, making Aldo mad and cautious. When the soldier puts his gun down, Bridget shoots him dead with her handgun. We see a needle being inserted into Bridget's leg that has a bloody bullet hole in it. To get her to admit everything she knows, Aldo sticks his finger deep into that hole (seen in close-up), causing her pain. Landa questions Aldo and two members of his team as they pose as Italian movie people escorting Bridget to the premiere. Since we know that Landa knows that Bridget is up to no good, that adds to the scene's tension. The same holds true when he takes Bridget off to a private room to interrogate her in his usual style and then gets violent with her. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Rifles/Machine guns/Explosives/Knives: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details. Throughout the film, various soldiers and guards hold or carry machine guns. We see Hugo sharpening his large knife. We see that members of Aldo's team have dynamite strapped to their legs. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "F*ck you and your Jew dogs," "Get the f*ck up," "What the f*ck /are we supposed to do/happened?" "F*ck a duck," "F*ck you," "F*cking sh*t-heads," "Sounds like sh*t," "Rest of your p*cker-sucking life," "Shut up, slut," "Sure as hell," "Sum-bitch," "One last G*ddamn time," "Gonna beat your ass to death with it," "You know how you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice," "Get your ass in that car," "To hell with the French," "Jolly good, sir," "Make damn sure," "Damn good stuff," "Not so G*ddamn fast," "Kicking ass," "Damn good," "Circus midget," "Not one damn bit" and "Are you mad?" The action and other related material (including the scalping behavior) might be enticing for some kids to imitate. Bridget plays a version of "Indian poker" with German soldiers (where a famous person or character's name is on the card and the person wearing it on his or her forehead must ask questions to determine that identity). Marcel sneaks around, locking and barring the doors of the theater as he begins carrying out Shosanna's plan to burn the place down and kill everyone inside. We see Aldo using his knife to slice a swastika into a Nazi's forehead (deep and with bloody results). JUMP SCENES Despite us knowing it's probably going to happen, a sudden barrage of bullets and related violence might startle some viewers in a scene set in a tavern. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A moderate amount of suspenseful music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 20 "f" words, 9 "s" words, 1 slang term using male genitals ("p*cker"), 6 asses, 6 damns, 3 hells, 1 S.O.B. (and another said as "sum-bitch"), 7 uses of "G-damn" and 1 use of "Oh my God." SEX/NUDITY Hitler states he'll hang naked bodies from the Eiffel Tower (referring to Aldo's team or their like). A German officer tells Shosanna to "get your ass" in a car and then slaps her on the clothed butt as she does. We see a brief flashback to Goebbels having rear entry sex with his translator (both facing the camera). There's movement and related sounds, but no nudity. Goebbels says they should spruce up Shosanna's theater with some Greek nudes from the Louvre. At the culmination of a tense scene, an SS officer reveals that he's aiming his handgun at Archie's testicles, while Archie reveals he's doing the same back to that man's "balls." Bridget shows cleavage. SPOILER ALERT: When Shosanna won't let Frederich (who's playing friendly, but persistent) into the projection booth, he forces the door into her and his attitude turns uglier. Buying time, she tells him to lock the door and he eventually realizes she's suggesting they have sex. But she's really getting him to turn his back so that she can get rid of him (and nothing else sexual occurs). Referring to Landa, Aldo comments on the "rest of your p*cker-sucking life." SMOKING Landa (cigarette and big pipe), Shosanna, an SS officer, Hugo and Bridget each smoke several times, while Aldo uses snuff several times and Archie, Marcel (who uses his cigarette to ignite flammable film) and various minor and miscellaneous characters smoke (cigarettes and cigars) at least once. Bridget states that she likes smoking, drinking, and eating in fine restaurants. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Young Shosanna runs off from beneath a farmhouse following her narrowly surviving the murder of her entire family at the hands of Landa's men (we don't see her witnessing the deaths). After that, she creates a new identity for herself and later plots her revenge against Landa and other Nazis, motivated by that earlier loss. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT The film's hybrid historical & fictionalized view of WWII and various Nazi figures, and having Jews get their revenge on the Nazis. The movie's various metaphors about the power of film (including Nazi propaganda pics). The filmmaker's references to other WWII movies and other filmmaking genres, soundtracks and such. Those who turned sides against the Nazis during WWII. Talk of nitrate film being flammable. VIOLENCE Landa has his soldiers come into a farmhouse (harboring a Jewish family down below) and fire their machine guns through the floor in a massive blaze of bullets (we don't see any impact). We then see young Shosanna climb out the side of the farm house and run through a field, with Landa walking out, taking aim with his handgun, and seemingly ready to shoot her, but he doesn't. We see a flashback to Aldo's team scalping at least 2 dead Nazis (in a graphic, fully viewed fashion). We see a flashback to Hugo killing various Nazis, including one via a piano wire around the neck, and another who's smothered and then repeatedly knifed through that (with bloody results), and then driving his fist down into that or another man's mouth to suffocate him. All in all, we hear he killed 13 people. We see a flashback to Hugo being sprung from jail by Aldo's team, with one slitting a guard's throat and others being shot with machine guns. Donnie hits a German officer on the head with a baseball bat (seen in full), and then repeatedly strikes his body and head with the same (seen from a distance, although with bloody/gory results). Another German soldier is then shot. We learn that Frederich is famous for shooting and killing hundreds of people, sniper style, from a tower. We see a flashback to one of the "basterds" being whipped on his bare back (with bloody lash marks there). A big gun battle breaks out in a small tavern, with many people being shot by handguns, machine guns and a rifle or shotgun, while Hugo stabs a knife down into the back of an SS officer's neck. All but two are killed, and one is wounded, with all of that having very bloody results. When a Garman soldier puts his gun down, Bridget shoots him dead with her handgun. Aldo kicks various things in a vet's office while upset about how things went badly in a tavern meeting. We see a needle being inserted into Bridget's leg that has a bloody bullet hole in it. To get her to admit everything she knows, Aldo sticks his finger deep into that hole (seen in close-up), causing her pain. We see a flashback to three members of Aldo's team shooting several Nazis by riddling their transport vehicle with machine gun fire (no blood). We see a flashback to a film developer being thrown about and then pinned to a table. Landa knocks a woman to the floor where he strangles her to death. Landa's men tackle, struggle with and hood Aldo, followed by him head-butting Landa. In the film where Frederich portrays himself as a sniper up in a tower, we see various scenes of him shooting various people. SPOILER ALERT: When Shosanna won't let Frederich (who's playing friendly, but persistent) into the projection booth, he forces the door into her and his attitude turns uglier. Buying time, she tells him to lock the door and he eventually realizes she's suggesting they have sex. But she's really getting him to turn his back so that she can shoot him in the back several times (with bloody results). She then realizes he's still alive and goes over to him, only to have him roll over and shoot her several times, downing and bloodying her. He then fires a kill shot before presumably dying as well. SPOILER ALERT: Two of Aldo's team quickly prepare themselves for an attack on Hitler himself (with arm mounted guns under their jackets). One of them shoots two guards dead outside the door and then goes inside and shoots Hitler, Goebbels and his translator. As a fire is set inside the theater (starting with nitrate film), those inside panic as they find themselves locked in, with the two men opening fire from a balcony down into the scrambling masses below, hitting and wounding or killing many of them. One then goes back and repeatedly shoots Hitler who's already dead, while dynamite down in the theater detonates, with the resultant explosions wounding or killing even more. Aldo shoots one Nazi dead, with his companion then scalping that man (with bloody results). We see Aldo using his knife to slice a swastika into a Nazi's forehead (deep and with bloody results). Reviewed August 6, 2009 / Posted August 21, 2009

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