The title (but not the story) was inspired by Italian directorEnzo G. Castellari's 1978Euro War filmThe Inglorious Bastards, but deliberately misspelled as "aBasquiat-esque touch".[8] Tarantino wrote the script in 1998, but struggled with the ending and chose instead to direct the two-part filmKill Bill. After directingDeath Proof in 2007, Tarantino returned to work onInglourious Basterds. A co-production between the United States and Germany, the film beganprincipal photography in October 2008 and was filmed in Germany and France with a $70 million production budget.
Christoph Waltz playsStandartenführerHans Landa, an eloquent and cultured but deeply ruthless Austrian SS officer.
Brad Pitt plays Lieutenant Aldo Raine, nicknamed "Aldo the Apache" due to his trademark of scalping Germans he defeats.
Mélanie Laurent plays Shosanna Dreyfus, a French Jewish cinema owner whose family was executed by Landa and who is determined to exact revenge.
Daniel Bruhl plays Fredrick Zoller, a German army sniper and national hero whose story is made into a propaganda film.
Michael Fassbender plays Lieutenant Archie Hicox, a British commando and former film critic who poses as a German officer with disastrous results.
Eli Roth plays Sergeant Donny Donowitz, "The Bear Jew", second in command of the Basterds who executes Germans with his baseball bat.
Diane Kruger plays Bridget Von Hammersmark, a German film star turned spy for the United Kingdom.
Denis Ménochet plays Perrier LaPadite, who hides the Jewish Dreyfus family for a year, then is forced by Landa to give them up.
In 1941, AustrianSS-StandartenführerHans Landa interrogates French dairy farmer Perrier LaPadite about a fugitive Jewish family, the Dreyfuses. He boasts his nickname, "The Jew Hunter," then offers LaPadite amnesty if he will give up the Dreyfuses. LaPadite tearfully admits that they are hiding under his floor. Landa's men massacre the Dreyfuses, but one of them, young Shosanna, escapes unharmed.
Three years later, U.S. Army lieutenant Aldo Raine recruitsJewish-American soldiers to the "Basterds," ablack opscommando unit tasked with instilling fear among Nazis in occupied France by killing andscalping them. The group includes Sergeant Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz, privates first class Smithson Utivich and Omar Ulmer, rogue German sergeant Hugo Stiglitz, and Austrian-born translator Corporal Wilhelm Wicki. Raine leaves aswastika mark on surviving German soldiers so they can't hide their Nazi affiliations after the war.
Shosanna now operates a cinema in Paris under the name Emmanuelle Mimieux and meets Fredrick Zoller, a famed German sniper set to star in the Germanpropaganda filmStolz der Nation (Nation's Pride). Infatuated with "Emmanuelle," Zoller convincesJoseph Goebbels to hold the film's premiere at her cinema. Landa, the premiere's head of security, interrogates Shosanna but doesn't reveal if he recognizes her. She plots with herAfro-French lover and projectionist, Marcel, to kill the German leaders by burning down the cinema with her collection of highly flammablenitrate films.
British Commando Lieutenant Archie Hicox, a former film critic and fluent German speaker, is recruited for Operation Kino, an attack on the premiere with the Basterds. Disguised as German officers, Hicox, Stiglitz, and Wicki meet with German film star Bridget von Hammersmark, an undercover Allied agent, in an occupied town at a tavern unexpectedly full of German soldiers. They sit down and playboard games together.
Hicox's unusual accent catches the attention of Wehrmacht sergeant Wilhelm and SS Sturmbannführer Dieter Hellström, who joins Hicox's group when his suspicions are aroused. Hicox and Hammersmark convince him they are genuine, but Hicox blows their cover with a non-Germanhand gesture. Everyone is killed in the ensuing gunfight except Wilhelm and a wounded von Hammersmark. Raine negotiates with Wilhelm for von Hammersmark's release until she shoots Wilhelm dead.
Believing she set his men up, Rainetortures von Hammersmark, but she convinces him of her loyalty and revealsAdolf Hitler himself is attending the premiere. Raine decides the mission needs to go ahead with himself, Donowitz, and Ulmer to attend posing asItalian filmmakers. Von Hammersmark is doubtful but thinks the Germans won't find their Italian accents suspicious. Landa investigates the tavern and finds von Hammersmark's shoe and a napkin with her signature.
The Basterds infiltrate the premiere with timed explosives. Landa, fluent inItalian, sees through their cover and confronts von Hammersmark privately, strangling her to death. He has Raine arrested along with Utivich, whom he has also detected, but leaves Ulmer and Donowitz in the theater. Taking advantage of the situation, Landa offers to let the attack proceed if Raine's OSS commanders will guarantee his safety along with great riches for himself after the war. Raine contacts his commanders, and Landa negotiates a generous deal for himself and his radio operator.
During the screening, Zoller confronts Shosanna in the projection booth, and they shoot each other dead. AsNation's Pride reaches its climax, Shosanna's face appears on the screen telling the Nazi audience that they are about to be killed by a Jew. Having locked the auditorium, Marcel ignites a pile of nitrate film behind the screen, setting the theater ablaze. Ulmer and Donowitz break into theopera box, fatally shoot Hitler and Goebbels then begin randomly firing into the crowd of fleeing Nazis. The timed explosives, previously hidden by Landa on the balcony, detonate, killing Ulmer, Donowitz, and the entirety of the Nazi Party.
Landa and his radio operator drive Raine and Utivich intoAllied territory, where they surrender to Raine. Raine shoots the radio operator and triumphantly carves a swastika into Landa's forehead, declaring it to be his masterpiece.
Christoph Waltz asStandartenführerHans Landa, an eloquent, cultured, multilingual but deeply ruthless Austrian SS officer who becomes an enemy of both Shosanna and the Basterds.
Mélanie Laurent asShosanna Dreyfus, a 23-year-old[10]: 90, 186 French Jewish cinema owner whose family was murdered by Landa's men when she was 20 years old. Shosanna manages to escape due to luck and Landa's decision to not pursue her.[10]: 90–91 Most ofThe Bride's attributes in Tarantino'sKill Bill come from Tarantino's original development of Shosanna forInglourious Basterds, on which he started to work beforeKill Bill. Originally Shosanna, whom Tarantino described as a JewishJoan of Arc, was an assassin who had a list of Germans she would cross off as she killed them. Tarantino later switched the character attributes over to The Bride and later redeveloped Shosanna into the version who appears in the film.[13]: 22:00–24:00
Eli Roth as SergeantDonny Donowitz, also known as "The Bear Jew",[14] a brooding member and second in command of the Basterds who executes Germans with his baseball bat. In Tarantino's screenplay Donowitz is likened toJoshua[10]: 167 and his bat to the sword ofGideon.[10]: 170 Roth channeled actorTony Curtis for his portrayal per Tarantino's direction.[15] Donny is the father of Tarantino-created film producer Lee Donowitz (Saul Rubinek) who appeared inTrue Romance.[16] Adam Sandler was originally given the part but had to turn down the role due to scheduling issue with Judd Apatow'sFunny People.[17]
Daniel Brühl as Fredrick Zoller, a German army sniper whose story is made into apropaganda film. Tarantino created Zoller as a Nazi version ofAudie Murphy.[13]: 11:00–13:00
Til Schweiger as Sergeant Hugo Stiglitz, a former German army soldier who murdered numerousGestapo officers and is recruited by the Basterds.
B. J. Novak as Smithson "Little Man" Utivich, a short and slightly built member of the Basterds unit.
Gedeon Burkhard as Corporal Wilhelm Wicki, theAustrian-born, deadpan-humored translator of the Basterds unit.
DirectorEnzo G. Castellari also makes acameo appearance in the film at the movie premiere. He previously cameoed as a German in his ownThe Inglorious Bastards and reprised the same role in this film, but under a different rank and SS organization.[19][20]Bo Svenson, who starred in Castellari'sThe Inglorious Bastards, also has a small cameo in the film as a US colonel in theNation's Pride movie.[21]
Quentin Tarantino spent just over a decade creating the film's script because, as he toldCharlie Rose in an interview, he became "too precious about the page", meaning the story kept growing and expanding.[28][29] Tarantino viewed the script as his masterpiece in the making, so felt it had to become the best thing he had ever written.[30] He described an early premise of the film as his "bunch-of-guys-on-a-mission" film,[31] "myDirty Dozen orWhere Eagles Dare orGuns of Navarone kind of thing".[32]
I'm going to find a place that actually resembles, in one way or another, the Spanish locales they had in spaghetti westerns – a no man's land. With US soldiers and French peasants and the French resistance and German occupation troops, it was kind of a no man's land. That will really be my spaghetti Western but with World War II iconography. But the thing is, I won't be period specific about the movie. I'm not just gonna play a lot ofÉdith Piaf andAndrews Sisters. I can haverap, and I can do whatever I want. It's about filling in theviscera.[33]
—Quentin Tarantino
By 2002, Tarantino foundInglourious Basterds to be a bigger film than planned and saw that other directors were working onWorld War II films.[34] Tarantino had produced three nearly finished scripts, proclaiming that it was "some of the best writing I've ever done. But I couldn't come up with an ending."[35] He moved on to direct the two-part filmKill Bill (2003–2004).[34] After the completion ofKill Bill, Tarantino went back to his first storyline draft and considered making it a mini-series, butLuc Besson convinced him to finish it as a film. Instead he trimmed the script, using his script forPulp Fiction (1994) as a guide to length.[36][37] The revised premise focused on a group of soldiers who escape from their executions and embark on a mission to help theAllies. He described the men as "not your normal hero types that are thrown into a big deal in the Second World War".[38]
Tarantino has said that the film's opening scene, in which Landa interrogates the French dairy farmer, is his "favorite thing" he's "ever written".[44]
Tarantino originally soughtLeonardo DiCaprio to be cast as Hans Landa,[45] before deciding to have the character played by a native German-speaking actor.[46] The role ultimately went to AustrianChristoph Waltz who, according to Tarantino, "gave me my movie" as he feared the part was "unplayable".[47] Brad Pitt and Tarantino had wanted to work together for a number of years, but they were waiting for the right project.[48] When Tarantino was halfway through the film's script, he sensed that Pitt was a strong possibility for the role of Aldo Raine. By the time he had finished writing, Tarantino thought Pitt "would be terrific" and called Pitt's agent to ask if he was available.[48]
Tarantino askedAdam Sandler to play the role of Donny Donowitz, but Sandler declined due to schedule conflicts with the filmFunny People (2009).[49]Eli Roth was cast in the role instead. Roth also directed the film-within-the-film,Nation's Pride,[50] which used 300 extras.[51] The director also wanted to castSimon Pegg in the film as Lt. Archie Hicox, but he was forced to drop out due to scheduling difficulties withThe Adventures of Tintin (2011).[52] Irish-German actorMichael Fassbender began final negotiations to join the cast as Hicox in August 2008,[52] although he originally auditioned for the role of Landa.[53]B. J. Novak was also cast in August 2008 as Private First Class Smithson Utivich, "a New York-born soldier of 'slight build'".[54]
Tarantino talked to actressNastassja Kinski about playing the role of Bridget von Hammersmark and even flew to Germany to meet her, but a deal could not be reached[55] and Tarantino castDiane Kruger instead.[49][56]Rod Taylor was effectively retired from acting and no longer had an agent, but came out of retirement when Tarantino offered him the role ofWinston Churchill in the film.[57] This would be Taylor's last appearance on film before his death on January 7, 2015.[58] In preparation for the role, Taylor watched dozens of DVDs with footage of Churchill in order to get the Prime Minister's posture, body language, and voice, including a lisp, correct.[57] Taylor initially recommended British actorAlbert Finney for the role during their conversation, but agreed to take the part because of Tarantino's "passion".[57]Mike Myers, a fan of Tarantino, had inquired about being in the film since Myers's parents had been in theBritish Armed Forces.[59] In terms of the character's dialect, Myers felt that it was a version ofReceived Pronunciation meeting the officer class, but mostly an attitude of "I'm fed up with this war and if this dude can end it, great because my country is in ruins."[60]
Tarantino metMélanie Laurent in three rounds, reading all the characters on the first round. On the second meeting, he shared the lines with her; the third was a face-to-face dinner. During the dinner, he told Laurent, "Do you know something—there's just something I don't like. It's that you're famous in your country, and I'm really wanting to discover somebody." Laurent replied "No, no, no. ... I'm not so famous." After four days, he called to finalize her for the role of Shosanna.[61]Samm Levine was cast as PFC Hirschberg, because, according to Levine, Tarantino was a big fan ofFreaks and Geeks, which starred Levine.[62] FilmmakerTom Tykwer, who translated parts of the film's dialogue into German, recommendedDaniel Brühl to Tarantino, who recalled that upon seeing the actor's performance inGood Bye, Lenin! (2003), he declared, "That's my [Fredrick Zoller] right there. If Daniel's mother had never met Daniel's father, I don't know if we'd ever have the right Zoller".[63]
Isabelle Huppert was originally cast in the role of Madame Mimieux[64] before being fired due to creative differences.[65] It was also reported thatCatherine Deneuve was considered for the role.[64]According to French musician and actorJohnny Hallyday, Tarantino had originally written a role for him in the film.[66][64]
Tarantino teamed withthe Weinstein Company to prepare what he planned to be his film for production.[67] In July 2008, Tarantino and executive producersHarvey andBob Weinstein set up an accelerated production schedule to be completed for release at theCannes Film Festival in 2009, where the film would compete for thePalme d'Or.[68][69]
The Weinstein Company co-financed the film and distributed it in the United States, and signed a deal withUniversal Pictures to finance the rest of the film and distribute it internationally.[70][71] Germany and France were scheduled as filming locations andprincipal photography started in October 2008 on location in Germany.[72][73][74]
Roth said that they "almost got incinerated", during the theater fire scene, as they projected the fire would burn at 400 °C (752 °F), but it instead burned at 1,200 °C (2,190 °F). He said the swastika was not supposed to fall either, as it was fastened with steel cables, but the steel softened and snapped.[79]
On January 11, 2013, on the BBC'sThe Graham Norton Show, Tarantino said that for the scene where Kruger was strangled, he personally strangled the actress, with his own bare hands, in one take, to aid authenticity.[80]
Following the film's screening at Cannes, Tarantino stated that he would be re-editing the film in June before its ultimate theatrical release, allowing him time to finish assembling several scenes that were not completed in time for the hurried Cannes première.[81]
Tarantino originally wantedEnnio Morricone to compose the film's soundtrack.[42] Morricone was unable to, because the film's sped-up production schedule conflicted with his scoring ofBaarìa (2009).[82] However, Tarantino did use eight tracks composed by Morricone in the film, with four of them included on the CD.[83][84]
When the script's final draft was finished, it wasleaked on the Internet and several Tarantino fan sites began posting reviews and excerpts from the script.[89][90]
The film's first fullteaser trailer premiered onEntertainment Tonight on February 10, 2009,[91] and was shown in US theaters the following week attached toFriday the 13th.[92] The trailer features excerpts of Lt. Aldo Raine talking to the Basterds, informing them of the plan to ambush and kill, torture, and scalp unwitting German servicemen, intercut with various other scenes from the film.[93] It also features the spaghetti-westernesque termsOnce Upon A Time In Nazi Occupied France,[93] which was considered for the film's title,[94] andA Basterd's Work Is Never Done, a line not spoken in the final film (the line occurs in the script during the Bear Jew's backstory).[95]
The film was released on August 19, 2009, in the United Kingdom and France,[96] two days earlier than the US release date of August 21, 2009.[97] It was released in Germany on August 20, 2009.[98] Some European cinemas, however, showed previews starting on August 15.[99] In Poland, the artwork on all advertisements and on DVD packaging is unchanged, but the title was translated non-literally toBękarty Wojny (Bastards of War), so that Nazi iconography could stylize the letter "O".[100] Tarantino did not misspell the title to differentiate his film from the1978 movie by the same name. He said it instead was a creative decision which he initially refused to explain, simply saying that "Basterds" was spelled as such because "that's just the way you say it".[101]
Universal Pictures adjusted the film's publicity materials and website in Germany and Austria to comply with both countries' penal laws, as thedisplay of Nazi iconography is restricted there: the swastika was removed from the typography of the title, and the steel helmet had a bullet hole in place of the Nazi symbol.[102] The site's download section was also revised to exclude wallpaper downloads that openly feature the swastika.[103] Though advertising posters and wallpapers may not show Nazi iconography, this restriction does not apply to "works of art", according toGerman and Austrian law, so the film itself was not censored in either Germany or Austria.[104]
The film was released on single-discDVD and a two-disc special-edition DVD andBlu-ray Disc on December 15, 2009, byUniversal Studios Home Entertainment in the United States[105] and Australia.[106] It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on December 7, 2009, in the United Kingdom.[107] On its first week of release, the film was number two, only behindThe Hangover, selling an estimated 1,581,220 DVDs, making $28,467,652 in the United States.[108]
The German version is 50 seconds longer than the American version. The scene in the tavern has been extended. Although in other countries, the extended scene was released as a bonus feature, the German theatrical, DVD, and Blu-ray versions are the only ones to include the full scene.[109]
Inglourious Basterds grossed $120.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $200.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross $321.4 million, against a production budget of $70 million.[7] It became Tarantino's highest-grossing film, both in the US and worldwide, untilDjango Unchained in 2012.[110]
Opening in 3,165 screens, the film earned $14.3 million on the opening Friday of its North American release,[111] on the way to an opening-weekend gross of $38 million, giving Tarantino a personal best weekend opening and the number one spot at the box office, ahead ofDistrict 9.[112] The film fell to number two in its second weekend, behindThe Final Destination, with earnings of $20 million, for a 10-day total of $73.8 million.[113]
Inglourious Basterds opened internationally at number one in 22 markets on 2,650 screens, making $27.49 million. First place openings included France, taking in $6.09 million on 500 screens. The United Kingdom was not far behind making $5.92 million (£3.8 m) on 444 screens. Germany took in $4.20 million on 439 screens and Australia with $2.56 million (A$2.8 m) on 266 screens.[114]
Review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes reports that 89% of 332 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "A classic Tarantino genre-blending thrill ride,Inglourious Basterds is violent, unrestrained, and thoroughly entertaining."[115]Metacritic, which assigns a rating on reviews, gives the film a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[116] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[117]
Critics' initial reactions at theCannes Film Festival were mixed. The film received an eight- to eleven-minute standing ovation from critics after its first screening at Cannes,[118][119] althoughLe Monde dismissed it, saying "Tarantino gets lost in a fictional World War II".[120] Despite this,Anne Thompson ofVariety praised the film, but opined that it was not a masterpiece, claiming: "Inglourious Basterds is great fun to watch, but the movie isn't entirely engaging ... You don't jump into the world of the film in a participatory way; you watch it from a distance, appreciating the references and the masterfulmise en scène. This is a film that will benefit from a second viewing".[121]
CriticJames Berardinelli gave the film his first four-star review of 2009, stating, "WithInglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino has made his best movie sincePulp Fiction", and that it was "one hell of an enjoyable ride".[122]Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times also gave the film a four-star review, writing that "Quentin Tarantino'sInglourious Basterds is a big, bold, audacious war movie that will annoy some, startle others and demonstrate once again that he's the real thing, a director of quixotic delights."[123]
Author and criticDaniel Mendelsohn was disturbed by the portrayal of Jewish American soldiers mimicking German atrocities done to European Jews, stating, "InInglourious Basterds, Tarantino indulges this taste for vengeful violence by—well, by turning Jews into Nazis".[124]Peter Bradshaw ofThe Guardian stated he was "struck ... by how exasperatingly awful and transcendentally disappointing it is".[125]
While praising Christoph Waltz's performance ("a good actor new to American audiences"),David Denby, ofThe New Yorker, dismissed the film with the following words: "The film is skillfully made, but it's too silly to be enjoyed, even as a joke. ... Tarantino has become an embarrassment: his virtuosity as a maker of images has been overwhelmed by his inanity as anidiot de la cinémathèque".[126] JournalistChristopher Hitchens likened the experience of watching the film to "sitting in the dark having a great pot of warm piss emptied very slowly over your head".[127]
The film also met some criticism from the Jewish press. InTablet, Liel Liebowitz criticizes the film as lacking moral depth. He argues that the power of film lies in its ability to impart knowledge and subtle understanding, butInglourious Basterds serves more as an "alternative to reality, a magical andManichaean world where we needn't worry about the complexities of morality, where violence solves everything, and where theThird Reich is always just a film reel and a lit match away from cartoonish defeat".[128] Anthony Frosh, writer for the online magazineGalus Australis, has criticized the film for failing to develop its characters sufficiently, labeling the film "Enthralling, but lacking in Jewish content".[129]Daniel Mendelsohn was critical of the film's depiction of Jews and the overall revisionist history aspect of the film, writing "Do you really want audiences cheering for a revenge that turns Jews into carboncopies of Nazis, that makes Jews into 'sickening' perpetrators? I'm not so sure."[130]Jonathan Rosenbaum equated the film toHolocaust denial, stating "A film that didn't even entertain me past its opening sequence, and that profoundly bored me during the endlessly protracted build-up to a cellar shoot-out, it also gave me the sort of malaise that made me wonder periodically what it was (and is) about the film that seems morally akin to Holocaust denial, even though it proudly claims to be the opposite of that."[131] When challenged on his opinion, Rosenbaum elaborated by stating, "For me,Inglourious Basterds makes the Holocaust harder, not easier to grasp as a historical reality. Insofar as it becomes a movie convention – by which I mean a reality derived only from other movies – it loses its historical reality."[132]
Inglourious Basterds was later ranked #62 on aBBC critics' poll of the greatest films since 2000.[133] In 2010, theIndependent Film & Television Alliance selected the film as one of the 30 Most Significant Independent Films of the last 30 years.[134]
In 2013,GamesRadar+ named Colonel Hans Landa one of the "50 Creepiest Movie Psychopaths".[135]
In June 2025, the film ranked number 14 onThe New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century" and number 11 on its "Readers' Choice" edition of the list.[136][137] In July 2025, it ranked number 59 onRolling Stone's list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century."[138]
Christoph Waltz was singled out for Cannes honors, receiving theBest Actor Award at the festival's end.[141] Film critic Devin Faraci ofCHUD.com stated: "The cry has been raised long before this review, but let me continue it: Christoph Waltz needs not anOscar nomination but rather an actual Oscar in his hands. ... he must have gold".[142]
^Goodridge, Mike (May 25, 2010)."Inglourious Basterds Review".Screen Daily. EMAP Media.Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. RetrievedJanuary 19, 2010.
^Lee, Marc (March 26, 2009)."Battle of the blockbusters".The Daily Telegraph. London.Archived from the original on March 30, 2009. RetrievedFebruary 28, 2010.
^Lowrey, Michael 'Mike' (January 17, 2010)."Inglorious Basterds".Movie Censorship.Archived from the original on February 19, 2013. RetrievedDecember 5, 2012.
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