The anticpated Quentin Tarantino remake, Inglourious Basterds, is the newly-altered look of the 1978 Italian-war movie, Inglorious Bastards. The 2009 version debuts with a “glorious” cast including Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurnet, Christoph Waltz, and Diane Kruger. Here’s a behind-the-scenes peek into the making of another uniquely-branded Tarantino flick.

It all begins in the first year of the German occupation of France, Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Shosanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema.

Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) organizes a group of Jewish American soldiers to perform swift, shocking acts of retribution. Later known to their enemy as “the basterds,” Raine's squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) on a mission to take down the leaders of the Third Reich. Fates converge under a cinema marquis, where Shosanna is poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own.

Brad Pitt was the first actor to join the ensemble cast as Lieutenant Aldo Raine.  Tarantino flew to France during pre-production to meet with the actor.  Tarantino explains, “I’d met Brad a couple of times, and I knew that he was interested in working with me, and I was interested in working with him.  But it doesn’t usually work that way with me. It always is the character first, and as I was writing Aldo Raines, I realized ‘hey this could be a good role for Brad,’ By the end, I started getting nervous, because what do I do if he doesn’t do it? And when I was finishing up the script, I knew we had to start right away.  So I was panicking, think ‘what are the chances that the most in demand movie star wants to do it and will be available right  exactly when I need him, which is right now.’ Sometimes the movie 
gods smile on you.”

Tarantino commented on working with Pitt on set offering, “He doesn’t really ever break character.  When you talk to him about other stuff, he talks in Aldo’s voice.  And because I created the character, it’s great to have the guy around all the time.”

Bridget Von Hammersmark was among the last roles cast, but Tarantino clicked with Diane Kruger instantly.  She embraced her character’s place in the film’s unusual “fictitious history.” 

“Bridget Von Hammersmark is a very cool character to play,” Kruger says.  “She is a German movie star of the 40s, in the vein of a big UFA movie star, like Marlene Dietrich or Hildegard Knef.  What is special about her is that she decided to stay during the war, and she was very much loved for that by the Germans.  She’s familiar with the Nazi regime, but she’s actually a 
spy for the Brits.”

Kruger, whose first day on set involved Pitt hoisting her bloodied body onto a veterinarian’s observation table, previously starred with Pitt in Troy.  “It’s fun to see Brad again.  We really didn’t have any scenes together in Troy.  A couple of years have passed and I think I evolved as an actress.  It’s fun to work together.”

Inglourious Basterds allowed some actors who had worked with each other previously to reunite and allowed Tarantino to finally work with Hollywood all-star, Brad Pitt. The film weaves together the infamous, oppressed, and larger-than-life stories of WWII in a way only Tarantino can.