Inglorious Bastards
(1977) Italy
Enzo G. Castellari
Inglorious Bastards also known by its original title (Quel maledetto treno blindato) is a 1977 Italian war movie directed by Enzo G. Castellari – Funny enough the title actually translates to That Damned Armored Train. The film which stars Bo Svenson, Peter Hooten, Fred Williamson, and Jackie Basehart. It’s known as the Italian cash in on the The Dirty Dozen.
Set in Europe during World War II, a group of American soldiers are in the process of being shipped off to military prison for a variety of infractions. While they are being transported, a German air attack hits the convoy, killing most of the MPs and enabling five of the prisoners to escape.
The group decides their best bet is to head to neutral Switzerland, where they can avoid the fighting and prison. As they make their way to what they think will be freedom, they end up volunteering for a commando mission to steal the new V2 equipment with help of the French Underground. Somehow the team must sneak into the most heavily guarded train in German territory, steal the Nazis' most precious military hardware, and bring it back to the Allies without getting arrested again by their own side.
Quentin Tarantino has decided that the remake to this film and it will indeed be his next project. The project which has experienced several false starts is now scheduled to begin production in October 2008 in France and Germany. So with all the remakes and sequels coming out month after month, do we really need a remake of a film no one cared for 17 years ago? My answer is why not? I am always excited when ever I hear Tarantino is cooking up a new project and if you’re going to remake a movie, it might as well be something most people are unfamiliar with.
The tag line reads “whatever the Dirty Dozen did, they do it Dirtier!” Well dirtier may be the right word to use because better is certainly not the case. One must remember that with taste like Tarantino's, not every flick he recommends is going to be a hidden gem. Inglorious Bastards is far from being a lost classic but it’s still a ton of fun. It’s a good way to kill an hour and a half of a movie night with some friends. If anything it’s a good start to a double feature with the Dirty Dozen.
As far as 1970s exploitation cinema is concerned, it has some definite entertainment value. It has more then enough action to keep you awake, some well-drawn characters, and it is beautifully photographed for such a limited budget. One scene that particularly stands out involves a good three minute long and beautiful slow motion montage of the entire train station exploding around the soldiers.
But the real attraction to the film is the cast of some of the coolest '70s action stars, like Bo Svenson and Fred Williamson. Bo Svenson plays the leader of sorts, but its Fred Williamson's who steals the show with the charisma and power to match. He's most memorable here as he ventilates Nazis left and right with a cigar jammed in his teeth Punisher style. What makes it work is that all of the soldiers all have a great personality. There’s the all American leader, the black Superfly kind of Dolemite, the racist, the kleptomaniac, and the kid who has prove himself.
The movie does have a few rough spots including a useless love story sub-plot that never goes anywhere and has nothing to do with the rest of the movie. What’s worse is the final scene and last shot which ties into this love angle. Also some of the dialogue is lost in translation with little or no subtitles.
All in all it comes highly recommended given that you keep in mind it’s a film with no heart – all guts.
Jimmy D
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