While it may not be my personal favourite Tarantino film, I do think it is technically his greatest achievement. This has so many awesome scenes, whether its Landas interrogation of Lapadite breaking him down with a polite, quiet intimidation. Never before has a falling tear been so earned. Or how about Operation Kino with everyones favourite man-crush Michael 'The' Fassbender? That whole bar scene blows me away, the endless menace and wondering when it will kick off is heartstoppingly good. And I'll never ever forget how to order three drinks in Germany after this. Every day is a schoolday.
On to the Basterds themselves, I've got to say I enjoyed every moment with them especislly Pitts character, Aldo Raine. He seems like he's fallen straight off a Coen Brothers film into this one, it shouldn't work but it does. And with some aplomb. One down note, Eli Roth. Maybe I'm not being fair, but something about him rubs me the wrong way. I dunno, but it's not enough to detract from the movie. Til Schweiger is another I love, I don't think I've seen anything he's been in but he looks so familiar. But anyway his performance as Hugo Stiglitz is pretty great. My fave moment of theirs is in the chapter 'Revenge Of The Giant Face' when to infiltrate the cinema they pretend to be Italian filmmakers. The two who profess to speak a little Italian (Raine and Donowitz) completely murder the language - Landa is straight onto them - but Omar, who claims not to know any, seems to nail it. Even Landa appreciates his effort, "Bravo!". I didn't notice it until this latest viewing, it's not made much of but it had me rolling in laughter. Gold standard.
Ah yes. Col. Hans Landa. What a performance from Christoph Waltz. It is so good in fact that it seems to be also a curse because he seems to be playing characters of the same ilk in every movie since. But I digress. Just look at his scenes here, the afore mentioned interrogation of Perrier LaPadite, the restaurant scene with Shosanna (Melanie Laurent), and the unmasking and eventual murder of Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger). All showing his quiet intensity, using good manners and being a pleasant chap as a mask covering the tyrannical monster beneath. Scary stuff.
All in all, a remarkable film that I've since discovered warrants multiple repeat viewings. Like I said before, not my favourite of his films, but it's moving up the list with great momentum. Look out Kiddo.