Inglourious Basterds

Having had his wicked way with gangsters, martial arts, and trashy grindhouse films, Quentin Tarantino now turns his attention to reinventing the war epic.

With 'Inglourious Basterds' the gobby writer-director puts his unique motor-mouth spin on those lush World War II films of the '50s and '60s — and presents his best work since 'Pulp Fiction'.

Yes, this lavishly produced satire is that good. Tarantino follows the exploits of Lieutenant Aldo Raine and his band of misfit Jewish American soldiers who take it upon themselves to kill and scalp as many Nazi (pronounced "nutsy") soldiers as possible.

All about the details

A simple story, essentially, but in true Tarantino-style it's all about the details. And, as usual, he's divided his story into separate chapters, eventually culminating in a spectacular finale that pulls all the disparate strands together.

Appropriately kicking off the WWII tale, the Nazi's anti-Semitic mentality is cleverly conveyed through the ramblings of "jew hunter" Colonel Hans Landa, slimily played by Christoph Waltz. The entire chapter takes place inside a countryside house with Tarantino simply using dialogue and his flair for unusual camera angles to rack up the tension.

Following the inevitable massacre, Landa allows a girl (Shosanna) to escape — and, although she only reappears much later, the tone and mood for the film have been set.

Cut to the Basterds, who are introduced in a typically innovative way without breaking the story or leaving you guessing. They're a mismatched bunch — including the baseball-bat-wielding brute 'The Jew Bear' — used by Tarantino to showcase his classic dialogue of sharp-witted quips and quick one-liners.

All the best goes to Brad Pitt — all bottom lip and bushy moustache as the yeeha Raine — who clearly relishes laying out the problems of fighting in a basement, considering the prospects of being "chewed out", explaining the reason for his unique tattooing skills, and exercising his non-existent Italian.

Most of these lines provide stolen laughs, with the writer timing them perfectly to provide brief respite during the more intense moments — of which there are plenty, despite the director keeping the violence to a minimum (by his standards).

By the time most of his characters — including a German actress/double agent and the unstoppable Landa — descend on a Paris cinema for an extravagant film premiere, Tarantino has kept you enthralled for over two hours, supporting his pressure-cooker script and visual flair with an appropriately ballsy soundtrack, unusually beautiful cinematography and solid acting.

Apart from Pitt and the tour-de-force that is the multilingual Waltz, Diane Kruger, Mélanie Laurent and Eli Roth provide performances of the highest standards. That they stand out is even more impressive considering the depth of talent on show: Samuel L Jackson handles narration, Rod Taylor plays Winston Churchill, and a very miscast Mike Myers as an English general is always one syllable away from breaking out into Austin Powers.

But that minor casting niggle aside, 'Inglourious Basterds' is a powerful film with a strong message. It's classic Tarantino.