Inglorious Basterds: A Screenplay

by Quentin Tarantino

Book Overview

From the most original and beloved screenwriter of his generation, the complete Oscar-nominated screenplay of Quentin Tarantino's World War II epic Inglorious Basterds.

From the brilliant writer/director behind the iconic films Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, comes Tarantino's most ambitious movie: a World War II epic starring Brad Pitt and filmed on location in Germany and France...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B004E3XIA8
• ISBN13: 9780316070355
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: Little Brown and Company
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

If You Loved the Movie, You Need this Screenplay

After watching Inglourious Basterds for the fourth time in one weekend, I went out and bought its screenplay. I have to admit, it's the first screenplay I've ever read for any movie. Usually, watching the movie is good enough for me, but now I realize that screenplays can be just as good as novels. Tarantino is a master of dialogue. He really allows his characters to bring themselves to life throughout the screenplay, and here there is extra information about some of the main characters that I deeply appreciated. Of course, I can see that due to time constraints, the extra scenes couldn't be put into the movie, but they were wonderful to read. The biggest examples are probably the backstory of Sgt. Donny Donowitz (aka the Bear Jew) and also the real "origin of [Shosanna's] cinema ownership". There's also an extra Utivich scene, and some more mezmerizing hillbilly talk from Lt. Aldo Raine. If you didn't like the movie, well, this screenplay won't change your mind. It's still the same basic concept, obviously. But if you loved Inglourious Basterds like I did, then you will absolutely devour this screenplay.

Revenge Film at its Best!

Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds: A Screenplay is the screenplay for the revenge war film of the same name. Moviegoers love Tarantino's films for a multitude of reasons or they hate them for a multitude of reasons, but the screenplay provides a whole new insight into the filmmaker and his work. Author David L. Robbins says in the forward, "The script remembers, too, the classic propaganda films of Leni Riefenstahl and Joseph Goebbels. It glimpses the faces of Hitler and Churchill and the interior of a wartime movie house in Paris, and zooms in on the horrors of close combat, the mania of vendetta. . . . Inglourious Basterds does not indulge in lampoonery or mere cobbling. It is reverently authentic as a war story, working the same tense, edge-of-the-seat magic as the best of the genre, book or movie. At the same time, it's Tarantino, its own thing." There are two main story lines in the film and the script -- one deals with the death and ultimate revenge plot of Shosanna Dreyfus and the other follows the basterds through Germany as they take on the Nazis and bumble around during secret missions to win the war. In typical Tarantino fashion, the script bounces from each group and several moments in time, quilting together the larger arc of the story and conclusion of the war. The script includes little tidbits about the characters that are never seen or talked about on screen. Readers will be amazed by the depth of detail Tarantino provides in stage direction, the description of the scene, and explanation. Although the script does not depict the true conclusion of World War II, Tarantino illuminates the horrors of war and creates an atmosphere of the ridiculous in its revenge themes. Watching the film is fast-paced, hilarious at moments, and gruesome, but reading the script plunges readers into their own personal version of the events and enables them to sink their teeth into Tarantino's witty and poignant dialogue. The basterds' dialogue drips with disdain and self-righteousness, while Col. Hans Landa, or the Jew Hunter, uses language to demonstrate his superiority, even though his outward actions border on comedic. Overall, Inglourious Basterds: A Screenplay by Quentin Tarantino is an excellent specimen of a screenplay from its detailed stage direction and description to its witty and insightful dialogue, it will capture readers imaginations just as the film did on screen. There are portions of the script that did not make it onto the big screen, but that's to be expected with any film; there also are scenes in the movie that are not in the script. The beauty of a screenplay is that it is not a stationary work of art, but one that evolves from page to screen under the guidance of its maker.

Offers Additional Characters and Insights-A Must Read for those of us addicted to Inglourious Baster

I love this screenplay--and I hope that Tarantino eventually takes all 500-some-odd pages he wrote originally and turns it into a novel. It's all Luc Besson's fault that we have to make do with a two-and-a-half hour movie instead of a two-parter or a five-part miniseries. He didn't want to have to wait so long for QT's next film!! The published screenplay offers additional characters and insights that enrich one's experience of the film, which still seems far too short. All the characters in this story beg for further exploration--Archie Hickox and Soshana Dreyfus were perhaps the least explored. Which is why I and so many others write fanfiction about them. If you write fanfiction, this screenplay is your bible. But if you just want to read superbly written dialogue, it offers the chance to truly luxuriate in the greates of Tarantino's talents. I can't recommend this more highly!

Must have for any fan of the movie

Seriously a must have for any fan of the movie. The screenplay will answer most of your questions. There are many scenes that I find informative and entertaining that didn't make it into the movie. READ IT!

A Thriller

The screenplay opens in the countryside of Nancy, France. A French family watches the road below their farm as a Nazi town car convertible drives up the road to their farmhouse. The farmer tells his family to go inside while he awaits what he knows could very well turn into a deadly confrontation-- thinking of the Jewish family hidden under the floorboards of their home. After an interrogation, violence erupts; all but one of the Jewish family is killed. A teenage daughter, Shosanna, survives and escapes into the nearby forest. In chapter two, the reader is introduced to Lt. Aldo Raine, a hillbilly from the mountains of Tennessee. Raine is hand-picking a group of eight, rugged, Jewish-American soldiers, who hate, and want to kill Nazis. In a plan to send a message to the Third Reich, he expects one thing from his men, and that is for each one to take at least 100 Nazi scalps, taken from the heads of dead Nazis they've slaughtered... or they better die trying. Full of hatred, Shosanna ends up in Paris where she meets the ruthless Lt. Raine and his men, known as the "Basterds." Shosanna and the brutal group of scalp hunters share one mutual desire and that is to kill as many Nazis as possible. A perfect plan is finally carried out by these allies. This is a chilling, stomach-churning, heart-stopping, action-packed book/screenplay by the award winning writer and director, Quentin Tarantino. After reading the screenplay, I'm now looking forward to watching the movie. Will it be as good as the book/screenplay?