Watched Inglorious Basterds for the 3rd time and....

Mar 15, 2003
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spoliers...





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isn't the plot really needlessy complex? I mean, I really enjoy the movie, but if they wanted to blow up a cinema, isn't the Basterd's plan way over kill, vs. blowing it up from the outside?
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
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If you think thats complex, you may wish to avoid CSPAN. Or any TV show thats on after 8PM. Or books without pictures.
 

adairusmc

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2006
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It wasn't their plan though, Operation Kino was the brainchild of the actress Von Hammersmark or whatever her name was. It was her idea to meet up in the basement too, and that didnt turn out so hot. You don't have to be Stonewall Jackson to know that you don't want to fight in a basement.

Even Col. Landa said when you buy friends like Von Hammersmark, you get what you pay for. And she was blonde too.
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,920
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They'd need a ton of explosives to blow it up from the outside. And you'd expect the Germans to have a lot of security outside of the theater, but then the projectionist was able to go in through the back door without any trouble... meh
 
Mar 15, 2003
12,668
103
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If you think thats complex, you may wish to avoid CSPAN. Or any TV show thats on after 8PM. Or books without pictures.

oh, just shut the fuck up.. really. I didn't say that the plotting was too complex for me. I said, for a master plan to kill Hitler, it's needlessly complicated. Keep it simple, stupid... They know Hitler is attending this screening, so set up bombs before hand.. Or ambush his arrival..Or send an usher in with a bomb strapped to him.. or 300 other possibilities...
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
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oh, just shut the fuck up.. really. I didn't say that the plotting was too complex for me. I said, for a master plan to kill Hitler, it's needlessly complicated. Keep it simple, stupid... They know Hitler is attending this screening, so set up bombs before hand.. Or ambush his arrival..Or send an usher in with a bomb strapped to him.. or 300 other possibilities...

I'm sorry. Need a hug?
 

olds

Elite Member
Mar 3, 2000
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oh, just shut the fuck up.. really. I didn't say that the plotting was too complex for me. I said, for a master plan to kill Hitler, it's needlessly complicated. Keep it simple, stupid... They know Hitler is attending this screening, so set up bombs before hand.. Or ambush his arrival..Or send an usher in with a bomb strapped to him.. or 300 other possibilities...
I am no longer disappoint.
 

mmntech

Lifer
Sep 20, 2007
17,501
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My big issue with Inglourious Basterds was it's pacing. The story was good and entertaining but it just didn't flow well. You have vary brief action sequences featuring the Basterds peppered in with lengthy scenes of character development unrelated to them. The movie establishes everything you need to know in the first two acts and everything else just feels unnecessary after that point.

The movie focused heavily on Melenie Laurant's character but it never really explains the Basterds. The titular characters seem like more of an afterthought. I think this is why the OP thought the plot was complex. There really is a lot going on at once in this film.

The movie needed more time in the cutting room in opinion. Three scenes that particularly bother me are the first act at the farm house, Soshanna's meeting with Frederik and Goebbels, and the "basement" tavern. (the basement is really bugging me now. I would have cut that entirely) These scenes are way too long.
The whole movie is 2.5hrs long. It probably could have been cut to two or less by tightening up these scenes. Nothing would have been lost plot wise. It would of flowed better and made a much better movie in the end. I'm not sure what Tarantino was thinking. Maybe he was really proud of this stuff, but sometimes you have to kill your babies.
 
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ElFenix

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Mar 20, 2000
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[ spoiler ]
isn't it great that vbulletin has all these features?
[ /spoiler ]
 
Oct 4, 2004
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The movie needed more time in the cutting room in opinion. Three scenes that particularly bother me are the first act at the farm house, Soshanna's meeting with Frederik and Goebbels, and the "basement" tavern. (the basement is really bugging me now. I would have cut that entirely) These scenes are way too long.

Hehe, I think those are the three most tense and awesome scenes in the movie. In particular, I thought the scene in the tavern was the highpoint of the movie, because that is exactly what you expect from a QT movie. Lengthy exchanges of dialogue while the characters all have guns pointed at each others crotches.

Tarantino tried writing interesting dialogue in Death Proof and I facepalmed my way through that movie. Inglourious Basterds was a good return to form.
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
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Hehe, I think those are the three most tense and awesome scenes in the movie. In particular, I thought the scene in the tavern was the highpoint of the movie, because that is exactly what you expect from a QT movie. Lengthy exchanges of dialogue while the characters all have guns pointed at each others crotches.

I agree. The tavern scene was great and tense because you were watching everything they did and said to see if they were going to slip up and give themselves away. The scene was a verbal chess match.

And the colonel Landa character was awesome, so I enjoyed the other scenes because he was in them.
 

Arkaign

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Oct 27, 2006
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You have to take the film for what it is : a wildly outlandish and unrealistic fantasy film, spattered with blood and madness.
 

Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
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It's a Taranteno flick. Everything in every one of his films is needlessly complex. All the dialogue, costumes, violence, acting, everything is clichéd and over the top. It's his signature!

Its like watching a Scorsese film and complaining that there are too many gangsters.
 

Sumguy

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Jun 2, 2007
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tumblr_ktc5emY8rc1qznym2o1_500.png
 

Colt45

Lifer
Apr 18, 2001
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If the movie consisted of just blowing up a theatre, it would have been a pretty short movie.
 

Mrvile

Lifer
Oct 16, 2004
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I agree. The tavern scene was great and tense because you were watching everything they did and said to see if they were going to slip up and give themselves away. The scene was a verbal chess match.

I think it's pretty clear that Inglorious Basterds isn't for everyone...
 

prism

Senior member
Oct 23, 2004
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He was the same actor who played Mark in SLC Punk - does a good job playing psychopathic characters.

"But this one has no waves!"

I absolutely loved Inglourious Basterds, and no I'm not a Tarantino fan-boy. Death Proof was solid proof (haha see what I did?) that Tarantino can WAY over-do his dialogue scenes; plus I just wasn't a big fan. I thought all of his other work was pretty good but way over-rated.

I thought the acting in this movie was fantastic, most notably Christopher Waltz (Hans Landa). Brad Pitt overacted, but that was part of his character's goofy charm. All of the dialogue in this movie had a purpose and (for me) created great moments of tension, unlike his other movies where it's there for the sole purpose of proving he can create "witty" banter.
 
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JS80

Lifer
Oct 24, 2005
26,271
7
81
spoliers...





..
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isn't the plot really needlessy complex? I mean, I really enjoy the movie, but if they wanted to blow up a cinema, isn't the Basterd's plan way over kill, vs. blowing it up from the outside?

lol i'm not surprised you enjoyed the movie. it was for people like you.
 
Dec 10, 2005
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"But this one has no waves!"

Yeah, lol. I was thinking of when they drove the car into the Great Salt Lake. "Why won't it sink?!.... sink you fool! (pulls out a gun to shoot car)"

I absolutely loved Inglourious Basterds, and no I'm not a Tarantino fan-boy. Death Proof was solid proof (haha see what I did?) that Tarantino can WAY over-do his dialogue scenes; plus I just wasn't a big fan. I thought all of his other work was pretty good but way over-rated.
I thought the acting in this movie was fantastic, most notably Christopher Waltz (Hans Landa). Brad Pitt overacted, but that was part of his character's goofy charm. All of the dialogue in this movie had a purpose and (for me) created great moments of tension, unlike his other movies where it's there for the sole purpose of proving he can create "witty" banter.

Yeah, his Italian was humorously bad. I love his line at the end in response to Landa's "you'll be shot" "Nah, I don't think so. I'll probably be chewed out. I've been chewed out before."
 

TheVrolok

Lifer
Dec 11, 2000
24,254
4,092
136
My big issue with Inglourious Basterds was it's pacing. The story was good and entertaining but it just didn't flow well. You have vary brief action sequences featuring the Basterds peppered in with lengthy scenes of character development unrelated to them. The movie establishes everything you need to know in the first two acts and everything else just feels unnecessary after that point.

The movie focused heavily on Melenie Laurant's character but it never really explains the Basterds. The titular characters seem like more of an afterthought. I think this is why the OP thought the plot was complex. There really is a lot going on at once in this film.

The movie needed more time in the cutting room in opinion. Three scenes that particularly bother me are the first act at the farm house, Soshanna's meeting with Frederik and Goebbels, and the "basement" tavern. (the basement is really bugging me now. I would have cut that entirely) These scenes are way too long.
The whole movie is 2.5hrs long. It probably could have been cut to two or less by tightening up these scenes. Nothing would have been lost plot wise. It would of flowed better and made a much better movie in the end. I'm not sure what Tarantino was thinking. Maybe he was really proud of this stuff, but sometimes you have to kill your babies.

I just watched the film for the first time, and I agree with most of this ^^. While, overall, I enjoyed the film, I felt that it was poorly put together and could have used some better editing. I don't necessarily agree with removing certain scenes either, as I really enjoyed the basement scene, for example. It seemed to have some serious issues with the flow of action/development.

I thought the movie was brilliant, but even most critics didn't understand the plot. He was more subtle than usual perhaps, but it had a lot of themes, of animals, revenge, inversions...
Some really good explanations, though I'm sure many would disagree with:
http://www.pandalous.com/topic/inglourious_basterds

I read over the link, and I didn't really find anything special there. I can't say that I agree the movie to be brilliant, either. The revelations made by the article's author seem to be fairly obvious statements made during the movie .. I don't think there's anything deep here. I don't think there was any real issues understanding the plot, was there? There really wasn't much to it..