I was lucky enough to get to an Inglourious Basterds preview last week.

I’d read a few bad reviews and, not being a massive Tarrantino fan, expected the worst (I walked out of Pulp Fiction and fell asleep during Grindhouse).  But I fucking loved it!

Some have called it a Jewish revenge fantasy and Eli Roth has called it ‘kosher porn’.  He’s right, and he’s lucky enough to get a couple of the best ‘money shots’ – remorselessly bashing out the brains of Nazi scum-suckers with his baseball bat.  However, as the old saying goes ‘you don’t have to be Jewish’… to enjoy Inglourious Basterds.  It should tickle the fancy of anti-fascists everywhere.

I found the storyline (effectively a ‘parallel universe’ World War II) to be gripping, the performances generally pretty good (OK, so Eli’s a better director than he is actor) and the set pieces well realised.  I even enjoyed the oft-criticised bierkeller scene, which was incredibly tense but with some real moments of humour.  Reminded me a little in places of one of the early pre-embarkation scenes in Das Boot.

When I was a kid, my Action Man (dressed in his French Resistance ‘Soldiers of the Century’ uniform of course) was the greatest Nazi killer in the school playground and we constantly played out scenes from films like Kelly’s Heroes, The Eagle Has Landed and The Dirty Dozen.  Basterds is best enjoyed in that same spirit, cos history it aint. 

If you want history, go watch Schindlers List, Defiance or Saving Private Ryan.  But if you want to escape reality and enjoy a little guilt-free gratuitous violence, then get down to the Basterds. 

Now go get 100 Nazi scalps!

PS. I just found this quote on the Stormfront site: “I think Inglorious Basterds looks insulting. My grandmother actually cried seeing the commercial, her father worked at a concentration camp, and many other family members served in the third reich. It looks like all it's about is mocking Hitler and the third reich”. Poor dear, my heart really goes out to you! Boo fuckin' hoo!