It's actually a warstern!

Not the Tarantino movie starring Brad Pitt but the obscure 1978 Spaghetti warstern that good old Quentin, film buff that he is, has taken as his source material. The film itself boasts a checkered history and was at one point released in the US during the blaxpolitation movie boom as GI BRO and featured a picture of Fred Williamson, the second lead on the advertising posters. It suggested that this movie was a kind of Shaft goes to war when in reality the film more closely resembles the Italian westerns of a decade earlier in pace and style.

The new budget DVD release ( £6 in Tescos) contains a great extra feature in a detailed conversation between Tarantino and director Enzo G. Castllarui. The two men clearly respects the others vision and Tarantino is at his fawning best - it is obvious he loves this cheaply made action classic.

And why not - there's a lot to love.

Tarantino is at odds to point out that his Inglorious Bastards is not a remake but an original film using themes and ideas from this movie. Though he has said that he would like to use the story here in his own Inglorious Bastards 2.


The plot sees a group of disgraced soldiers on their way to face a court martial. However they manage to escape after their convoy is attacked. They later take a German soldier prisoner themselves and order him to lead them to Switzerland. However when the rogue troop come on German troop they open fire but find they have killed a group of American undercover agents. They then decide to redeem themselves by taking on a suicide mission.

It's a great no nonsense film - pure action with some great character scenes. It obviously owes a lot to The Dirty Dozen but it also is deeply indebted to the Leone school of film making.

An excellent film - now available once more on DVD. obviously hoping to cash in on the success of the Tarantino movie but it doesn't need it and this Inglorious Bastards can very much stand on its own.