Inglourious Basterds Poster

Inglourious Basterds (named Inglourious Bastards in some UK advertising, or simply 'Inglourious' for censorship reasons) is an upcoming spaghetti western-style war film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is scheduled for release on August 21, 2009 in North America by The Weinstein Company and Universal Pictures.

Inglourious Basterds is set in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. In German-occupied France, Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa. 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 organizes a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution.

Known to their enemy as “The Basterds,” Raine’s squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich. Fates converge under a cinema marquee, where Shosanna is poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own.

Tarantino has repeatedly stressed that despite its being a war film, the movie will be his "spaghetti western but with World War II iconography". In addition to spaghetti westerns, the film also pays homage to the World War II "macaroni combat" sub-genre (itself heavily influenced by spaghetti-westerns), as well as French New Wave cinema.

Inglourious Basterds was accepted into the main selection at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in competition for the prestigious Palme d'Or and had its world premiere there in May. It was the only U.S. film to win an award at Cannes that year, earning a Best Actor award for Christoph Waltz.

Action/Adventure, Adaptation, Drama and War
R for strong graphic violence, language and brief sexuality.
Starring: Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Mike Myers, Michael Fassbenderr, Diane Kruger, Daniel Bruhl, Til Schweiger, Melanie Laurent, B.J. Novak and Samm Levine
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Adaptation, Politics/Religion and War
Running Time: 2 hrs. 32 min.
Release Date: August 21st, 2009 (wide)
MPAA Rating: R for strong graphic violence, language and brief sexuality.
Distributors: The Weinstein Company

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