'Inglorious Bastards' review by MartialHorror

source: http://freewebs.com/mhib78

Please check out the site!

THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS(1978)
(Directed by Enzo G. Castellari)

"The poster sums up the movie perfectly"- Signed by MartialHorror

Plot: During WW2, a group of American Prisoners are being sent to a military prison when an attack by the Germans causes them to escape. They attempt to run to Switzerland, but fate as a different plan for them. Also known as “Quel maledetto treno blindato”, “Counterfeit Commandos”, “Deadly Mission”, “G.I. Bro”, “Hell’s Heroes”, and “The Dirty Bastard”.

Review:

“The Inglorious Bastards” is a spaghetti war film- we know this because of the misplaced audio, the Italian names that appear during the credits, and the crap load of alternate titles- that has caused a stir among cult films for a few reasons. The first is that it is directed by cult director Enzo G. Castellari, and is generally regarded as his best work. But most of all, the title was recycled for Quentin Tarantino’s in-name only remake known as “Inglorious Basterds”. Let’s face it, that’s probably the reason why a lot of you decided to check this out. But is it good? Well, yes and no.

The film starts off with introducing our bastards. They’re soldiers who are being sent to a military prison for various reasons. Their leader is the enigmatic Lt. Robert Yeager(Svenson). Is he a self serving bastard or patriot? We’ll find out later. Our other bastards include Pvt. Canfield(Williamson), the badass who detests being judged based on his race, and that’s why he’s in this situation. Then there is the psychotic Tony(Hooten)……Wait, Hooten? As in Peter Hooten? HOOOOOTEN, and I thought I’d never see your face again, Mr. Hooten. But you always weasel your way back into my life. For reference, he has been a nemesis of mine since he appeared in the terrible “Slashed Dreams”. Anyway, on route to prison, they are attacked and the bastards escape. From here, the plot becomes episodic as they encounter various obstacles while they flee to Switzerland. I won’t say exactly what, because the plot is actually very good for this kind of movie. While it doesn’t milk it for all its worth, I like the idea enough to enjoy the story.

“The Inglorious Bastards” is clearly a rip-off of the superb “The Dirty Dozen” as well as the confused “Kelly’s Heroes”. Lee Marvin, the star of “The Dirty Dozen”, apparently disliked his movie because it was ‘phony’. Well, he would have had a heart attack if he saw this. It’s that phony. As for “Kelly’s Heroes”, while that film is technically superior, I found myself baffled at its glorification of greed among its heroes. Apparently someone thought it was perfectly alright for some American Soldiers to kill German Soldiers JUST SO THEY CAN GET RICH! At least this film focuses on the bastards trying to redeem themselves. All in all, while a rip-off, at least “The Inglorious Bastards” is able to come across as its own movie, with epic battles, a catchy score and gallons of cheese.

I especially love how the Italians apparently view war. In real life, when people are shot at, they duck and go for cover. In Italian filmmaking, they jump up and run into the line of fire. But hell, it’s entertaining. The real problem I have with “The Inglorious Bastards” isn’t even how cheesy it is. It’s that it tries to be more than what it is. The attempts at drama come across as hackneyed. I’m tired of bad movies trying to be good with inserts of droning melodrama about how bad war is. How is that within two weeks, I watch both this and "Tunnel Rats", a movie that does the EXACT SAME THING. Back to the movie, clearly the directors and writers knew nothing about war because the recreations are so fake. This just makes them all look like hacks. Furthermore, the characterization is poor. The psychotic Tony sets himself up to be a sexual deviant when he starts hitting on some woman, but backs away and randomly falls in love with her, and she falls in love with him. I’ve never seen love blossom so quickly. HOOOOOOOOTEN, CURSE YOU!! These temporary pauses between the action just makes the film look awkward. It should be doing what it does best: Blowing *beep* up.

As bad as I’m making this movie out to be…Well, it is that bad. But it’s the blend of badness and awesomeness that make it work. The action is almost nonstop, and the plot develops too. Hurray! But of course, what people remember the most is the non-stop scenes of death. People die in hordes. Sometimes from guns, other times from explosions. Sometimes these explosions look really good, other times they look really fake. The climactic finale is hilarious, showcasing a real awesome scene of a train crashing mixed in with horrendous scenes of it blowing up. It alternatives between realistic and really bad models. It’s just so.......... surreal! But to me, the most impressive aspect is the stunt work. Some of the stunts, which are often done by the actual actors, are real groundbreaking stuff. It’s even more impressive when you take into consideration that this was before CGI dominated the industry. It’s amazing when a movie can be a complete mix between good and bad stuff. But that’s the Italian film industry for you.

Enzo G. Castellari is really what you’d expect from an Italian director. He cashes in on the success of bigger films. I noticed he’s done a few entries in the “Django” series. But the only movie of his that I’ve seen is “Great White”. It’s a terrible rip-off of “Jaws”, that was so blatant in its plagiarism that Universal forbid it to be released it in the U.S. We weren’t missing out. It is a low budget film, devoid of any kind of style and talent. You often can’t tell what’s going on, and the only way to find any entertainment value is to make fun of it. Hence, I’m surprised at how decent Castellari does here. He uses some cool slow motion sequences, has some bits of suspense and even is able to fool us into thinking that this is a big budgeted production at times. He really shows some scope and the desolate, war torn landscapes feel authentic. Being this came out first, I can only imagine that Castellari got lazy…….Shame, because he does have some talent. Either that, or he just got lucky.

Bo Svenson(Lt. Yeager) was the guy from “Walking Tall”. He does fine. While he’s no Clint Eastwood, he does have an enigmatic quality about him that makes him interesting. Fred Williamson(Fred Canfield) isn’t a great actor, but he’s charismatic and is cool enough to be likeable anyway. Apparently if you watch this under the title "G.I. Bro", it's been edited so that it looks like Williamson is the main character. Peter Hooten(Tony) actually does turn in an edgy performance. Wow, I liked him here. I can’t allow this. My entire world is crumbling around me now. HOOOOOOOOTEN!!!!

“The Inglorious Bastards” is not a good film as much as it is an enjoyable film. It is a relatively innocent, simple film with great entertainment value that somehow spears through all the cheese. So my question is why would Tarantino use its namesake? Tarantino has said his movie is not a remake. It just looks like an exploitation film about people killing each other terribly. It’s also 3 hours long, twice the length of this movies running time. The original at least has a normal running time, and with all of its violence, also has a redemption theme going for it. But who am I to question Tarantino’s indulgent ways? I love the dude and all of his work, but his “Inglorious Basterds” worries me. I'll be sure to review it next week.

Violence: Rated R. It’s pretty violent, but rarely does it become explicit.

Nudity: Yeah there is some during a skinny-dipping scene.

Overall: “The Inglorious Bastards” won me over with its charm and ability to blow everything up. Will you like it? Not if you don’t enjoy this kind of stuff. But now I have to come to terms with giving a positive review to a Peter Hooten movie as well as his performance. Till next time Hooten. Till next time……..

3/4 Stars



my reviews of martial arts and horror films
http://freewebs.com/martialhorror