Inglorious Basterds is a glorious film – original, mesmerizing, imaginative and full of all the dark and crazy delights Tarantino has to offer, which are considerable. He’s been contemplating this film for more than ten years, and the effort shows. This World War II tale is definitely one of the best movies of the year so far. Tarantino’s take on France in the early 1940s is based more on imagination than historical fact, and he can’t be faulted for that. He’s stated that above all else, it’s a “men on a mission” movie, and he’s selected a mission that almost everyone can sympathize with: An elite military cadre of American Jews whose mission it is to spread terror throughout the Third Reich by brutally maiming and murdering Nazis in German occupied France.

Brad Pitt plays their fearless leader Lt. Aldo Reine, whose Apache ancestry inspires the scalping of victims. Perhaps the most horrifying member of his squad is Sgt. Donnie  Donowitz (fright flick director and producer Eli Roth), known as “The Jew Bear,” who bludgeons Nazis to death with a baseball bat. One of the film’s most compelling scenes involves a group of captured Nazis on their knees, cringing in terror at the sound of a wooden baseball bat swinging against the wall of a dark tunnel as they wait for the Jew Bear to emerge and bash in their skulls.  Another amazing scene involves a glamorous arsonist preparing to burn down a movie theater, while David Bowie croons Cat People (Putting Out Fire). These are signature Tarantino moments, the likes of which no other writer/director creates.

While this is some of Pitt’s best work to date, the breakout performance of the film (and perhaps one of the best of the year) is given by Christoph Waltz, who is extremely popular in Germany but little known to American audiences. He plays Pitt’s ultimate foil, Col. Hans Landa, also known as “The Jew Hunter,” who is relentless in his search of hidden Jews. Friendly and engaging one minute, maniacal and menacing the next, look for his name to be repeated again and again during the upcoming awards season.While Inglorious Basterds clocks in at 153 minutes, it doesn’t feel at all long or drawn out, even during Tarantino’s notorious lengthy dialogues. They’re riveting and original, with just enough complexity to keep you paying attention. And the film’s violence is tempered this time, so as not to be the main focus, but more of a graphic illustration. All in all, this is a film that should not be missed. It will be sited and quoted for years to come.

Rated R

–Lisa Johnson Mandell