... Hmmm.
Went and saw this at an early showing this morning. I thought it was pretty darn good. It had some slow spots (tavern scene OMG...zzz) but over all it was really good. Not a lot of gunfire for a Tarentino flick, other than a couple of big scenes, but lots of other gratuitous violence.
(Oh, and it's LONG. Not sure exactly how long, but previews started at 10:20 and I didn't walk out until well after 1pm so it's close to three hours.)
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... Hmmm.
Went and saw this at an early showing this morning. I thought it was pretty darn good. It had some slow spots (tavern scene OMG...zzz) but over all it was really good. Not a lot of gunfire for a Tarentino flick, other than a couple of big scenes, but lots of other gratuitous violence.
(Oh, and it's LONG. Not sure exactly how long, but previews started at 10:20 and I didn't walk out until well after 1pm so it's close to three hours.)
Each of the scenes with the BBEG reminded me of a tense game of cat and mouse, as did the second half of the tavern scene.
Mike Meyers was great in his cameo and I love the choice of narrator too. Made me chuckle.
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... Hmmm.
Went and saw this at an early showing this morning. I thought it was pretty darn good. It had some slow spots (tavern scene OMG...zzz) but over all it was really good. Not a lot of gunfire for a Tarentino flick, other than a couple of big scenes, but lots of other gratuitous violence.
(Oh, and it's LONG. Not sure exactly how long, but previews started at 10:20 and I didn't walk out until well after 1pm so it's close to three hours.)Each of the scenes with the BBEG reminded me of a tense game of cat and mouse, as did the second half of the tavern scene.
Mike Meyers was great in his cameo and I love the choice of narrator too. Made me chuckle.
I didn't even recognize Meyers until near the end of his scene. I was like, 'Holy crap! I thought he looked familiar'.
I thought it was pretty good, had some funny parts, good action, etc. I would say it was really good, but like most Tarantino movies sometimes I feel like he takes one step too far than what is really needed in some scenes. Hey, its his style, and you got to do what you love. Like I said it was pretty good, definitely worth seeing.
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I thought it made some pretty astute commentaries on revenge and violence. Not one character in the movie was innocent, everybody killed or plotted death in some shape or form. Plus, some truly unexpected twists throughout. The suddenness and brutality of the violence is often juxtaposed with a slow-burn of emotions (the first scene and the tavern are great examples of pure dialogue and acting building tension and violence).
Also, if anyone speaks any of the languages used in the movie it certainly adds to the scenes, often giving clues or forewarning of their outcome.
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I noticed the lack of the "F" word being used like it is the only adjective this director can think of. I know he keeps the mentality of the people saying the "F" in sync, but this film never used the word from what I could tell.
This made the film stronger in my opinion. I would have taken my son to it had it not been for the Gobbels doggy style scene.
Zuxius. I assume you are American. How can I tell?
In a movie that had people getting scalped. Hitler getting shot in the face til it broke apart, a knife cutting a swastica into flesh, and someone getting broken open with a baseball bat, you thought the thing you needed to shield your boy from was a half second of non-graphic sex, that had nothing but two faces and a male torso.
American.
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Not so much that I am american than I am a father that would like to share anything this cool with his son. I just can't share this one until he's a teenager. Amazingly interesting dialogue. The gore doesn't really phase us because we watch gritty World War 2 stuff. Overall, the sex is the last thing. If that was gone, PG for my kid.
I am an american....or to be exact a U.S. Citizen. Far from the usual brand of U.S. folks, just like the others on these boards.
As for the usual sort, I am sure they would have kept their kids out of that theatre for all the reasons mentioned above.
I am an american....or to be exact a U.S. Citizen. Far from the usual brand of U.S. folks, just like the others on these boards.
The point is that in Europe, watching people scalp each other, burn each other alive, and machine-gun each other into pulp is considered a lot worse for kids to see, compared to a non-graphic cameo of a couple of consenting adults doing what 99.9% of adults will at some point in their lives do. Which type of behavior do you want to teach them is OK? (That said, I currently live in Texas, where a parent would much rather have his teenage daughter shoot up the entire school, killing all her classmates, than kiss her boyfriend -- so the answer is debatable.)
Jal--right on about the languages--speaking English, French, and some German was a HUGE bonus.
Unfortunately, there were a couple kids in the audience when I saw it. It made me very uneasy. One was a girl who looked no older than 10 years old. The other was a baby.
I don't believe a 10 year old can process this amount of violence, in which men and women are slaughtered without much remorse. And in the case of the baby, even though the baby has no idea what's going on, it still is very impressionable, like a sponge.
I've worked with many kids and I can easily tell the difference between those who are allowed to see this kind of film at an early age and those who aren't. The latter just have more social skills and cope better with challenges. It never surprises me when a "problem" child talks about having seen the Matrix at the age of eight.
I loved this film, but please keep the kids at home!
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...I loved this film, but please keep the kids at home!
Agreed.
Unfortunately, parents who bring their kids to these films tend to be the same parents who drink (excessively) and swear (excessively) around those same very young, very impressionable kids. They also tend to watch anything on TV at home, without regard to their kids, so, I have to wonder how much good is served by those kids staying home --they're going to get that negative adult influence no matter :-(
Agreed, they can stay home and watch Jack Bauer teach them that torturing people always stops the bad guys and makes you a hero, and their parents' cheers reinforce that lesson. No need to take them out to an "R" rated movie for them to learn these things.
Then again, maybe it's better to take them out. Because if they stay home and see a half-second "wardrobe malfunction" during the Superbowl, they will obviously be scarred for life.
Agreed, they can stay home and watch Jack Bauer teach them that torturing people always stops the bad guys and makes you a hero, and their parents' cheers reinforce that lesson. No need to take them out to an "R" rated movie for them to learn these things.
Then again, maybe it's better to take them out. Because if they stay home and see a half-second "wardrobe malfunction" during the Superbowl, they will obviously be scarred for life.
Yeah, there's a reason for the violence warnings prior to EVERY episode of 24. It's not meant for children any more than Inglorious Basterds.
Agreed, they can stay home and watch Jack Bauer teach them that torturing people always stops the bad guys and makes you a hero, and their parents' cheers reinforce that lesson. No need to take them out to an "R" rated movie for them to learn these things.
Then again, maybe it's better to take them out. Because if they stay home and see a half-second "wardrobe malfunction" during the Superbowl, they will obviously be scarred for life.
Yup, they should have them play roleplaying games instead. Slaughtering entire villages of humanoids is much better. Slaughtering anyone that stands in your way is a much better lesson.
Agreed, they can stay home and watch Jack Bauer teach them that torturing people always stops the bad guys and makes you a hero.Yup, they should have them play roleplaying games instead. Slaughtering entire villages of humanoids is much better.
(Shrug) I draw a line between war and torture. You obviously do not. Fair enough.
I might also tone down the more graphic elements from D&D, if I were teaching it to kids.|
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Agreed, they can stay home and watch Jack Bauer teach them that torturing people always stops the bad guys and makes you a hero.Yup, they should have them play roleplaying games instead. Slaughtering entire villages of humanoids is much better.(Shrug) I draw a line between war and torture. You obviously do not. Fair enough.
I might also tone down the more graphic elements from D&D, if I were teaching it to kids.
Not to mention that humanoids (in the classic sense) have typically been irredeemably evil and thus exist in an obvious fantasy that can be used to teach morality at a basic level.
Jack Bauer exists in a mock real-world with real-world people and problems, yet solves them in a way that even a CN D&D character would balk at.
I guess I'm saying Jack Bauer is Lawful Evil. ;)
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That said, I currently live in Texas, where a parent would much rather have his teenage daughter shoot up the entire school, killing all her classmates, than kiss her boyfriend -- so the answer is debatable.
I'm still trying to figure out what state you're talking about. Isn't the one I've lived in for 22 years...
;)
Movie rocked, by the way.
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First of all, I really enjoyed this movie. It was nice to see a Tarantino film where the dialogue didn't necessarily rely on pop culture references to keep your attention. I know that some folks complain about a couple of the long scenes, but I thought QT did a good job keep the suspense levels taut during those moments.
I did have a question before I saw the movie, however, and it wasn't necessarily answered after my viewing.
Is it ok to treat the Nazis totally inhumanely?
The Nazi party are the perfect movie villians. Outside of some extremely radical circles, you're not going to find any who step up to defend them. They were monsters who did monstrous things led by a monster with monstrous ideas.
So is it ok to treat them with the total lack of humanity that the protagonists in this film showed us?
Isn't their lack of humanity one of the reasons that made them so abominable?
Its quite possible that I am "thinking too precisely on the event" and such a thought doesn't really hold water for this movie - or the kind of movie its supposed to be. But I did enjoy the movie enough to give it more thought than the typical summer movie - and I can't help but wondering if using Nazis for villians isn't slowly becoming some sort of cop out for filmmakers.
I think you've captured exactly what Tarantino wanted us to feel. Note that by the end of the movie,
It's captured perfectly in the scene where Hitler is cheering at the movie premiere, precisely how some may cheer as Nazi villains are killed in some films/media.
And in the generalizations of the Basterds: "Nazi scalps". The average German soldier was not a member of the Nazi party, just a solider. The young boy who reports to Hitler on his experience with the Basterds - he is possibly as much a victim as any character in the movie.
Did the "heroes" solve anything?
It's a great treatise on the nature of revenge. It think it's precisely the reasons you mention that Tarantino chose the Nazis.
1) They're easy to hate and to "understand" why others would want revenge.
2) Once Tarantino does his reveals, the audience is given the ultimate comparison study. The absolute worst.
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Last moment vs. Hitler cheering.
That is part of the commentary. We are the audience just as Hitler is the audience. Our cheering is his cheering. Treating Nazis like animals makes us Nazis and animals. I think the film not only answers your question, but it's the reason the film exists. Tarantino uses Hitler as a mirror because we villify him and refuse to think of him as human, which allows us to ignore our own shortcomings.
Of course, then there is the whole subtext of cinema as weapon, but that's another treatise entirely. From the film critic turned inept spy, to the actress turned double-agent, to the theatre turned trap
Of course, none of this is fact - I haven't heard Tarantino speak about any of this, but it's what I got out of the movie. And evidently you enjoyed it without being a rabid violence junky, so he did something right.
I think it may be his best film. Not as watchable as Reservoir Dogs or entertaingly cool as Pulp Fiction or Jackie Brown, but certainly his best work of cinema.