| You know you’re a good PR guy when you can talk your girlfriend, fiancée or wife into watching The Inglorious Bastards with you. I tried… but to no avail. Here I was, as giddy as a schoolboy when my copy of Enzo G. Castellari’s epic war film showed up in the mail, and so I proudly displayed it in front of my significant other. She had that look on her face.
“What… is… that?” she asked
“It’s a classic!” I cried.
“Uh-huh...”
Here’s where my efforts to persuade her any further failed: “It’s from the same guy that made Great White!”
I thought for sure that would sell her. It didn’t. Oh well… it’s her loss, cause The Inglorious Bastards is one of EuroCult Cinema’s best World War II features.
 Like the previous decade’s The Dirty Dozen and the previous year’s Cross Of Iron, the main characters of Castellari’s The Inglorious Bastards are anti-heroes. There’s the rebellious soldier (Fred Williamson), the ex-mobster (Peter Hooten), the Harpo Marx-like thief (Michael Pergolani), and the coward (Jackie Basehart, son of Richard). When the convoy taking them to their court martial is ambushed by ze Germans, fellow AWOL officer (Bo Svenson) takes charge of the ragtag group of military misfits with the promise of leading them to greener pastures in neutral Switzerland.
 Upon the way, they encounter a deserter German soldier (Raimund Harmstorf, who sadly committed suicide in 1998 following a battle with Parkinson’s Disease), kill a shitload of Nazis, run into a lake full of naked women, and eventually (and accidentally) wind up heading off on a suicide mission to seize a top secret missile gyroscope (seriously) under the command of Colonel Buckner (Ian Bannen) and with the aide of the French Resistance (including Michel Constantin, Debra Berger and Massimo Vanni a.k.a. Alex McBride). Donal(d) O’Brien and director Castellari show up as Germans.
Will they make it to the Swiss border without being riddled with bullets? Who cares! Just sit back and enjoy the fun!
 Presentation
The Inglorious Bastards never received any domestic distribution (that nobody recalls at least) so the only way we were ever able to see the film was via several (pardon the pun) bastardized grey-market VHS releases from Lightning Video (as Deadly Mission) and Blaxploitation specialists Xenon (as G.I. Bro). Fortunately, Severin Films has made up for all of that by bringing us a wonderful-looking print in the original 1.85:1 widescreen ratio (anamorphic, of course) which doesn’t disappoint. The movie is presented in (dubbed) English with portions of the film in German and French (removable subtitles are included for these scenes) and the Mono Stereo sound comes through loud and clear, with all of the dynamic bangs and booms guaranteed to rock the room (unless you don’t have a stereo, that is… in which case you‘re a loser).
Extras
Again, Severin Films goes the extra mile with the Special Features on this one. Disc One features a feature-length Audio Commentary with director Enzo G. Castellari which is moderated by David Gregory. There’s also another voice that can be heard every now and then, but I didn’t catch his name (although I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Andrea Girolami, the director’s son). Also on Disc One is A Conversation With Enzo Castellari And Quentin Tarantino (38:21) and a Theatrical Trailer (1:25). The Featurette is an amusing bit and the very frantic-yet-sleep-deprived Tarantino does most of the talking while poor Enzo (whose very appearance screams “money”) looks like he’s a little confused most of the time. If you’re a fan of either director, this Interview is for you.
 Disc Two contains an all-new Documentary entitled Train Kept-A-Rollin’ (1:15:20) and gives us some heart-to-heart interviews with director Castellari, actors Bo Svenson, Fred Williamson, & Massimo Vanni, special effects artist Gino De Rossi, producer Roberto Sbarigia, screenwriter Laura Toscano, and Filippo De Masi (son of late composer Francesco De Masi). The second feature on Disc Two, Back To The War Zone (13:00), is a charming l’il Featurette with good ol’ Enzo revisiting many of the locations used in the film thirty years later.
The last Extra in the 3-Disc Explosive Edition is a Bonus CD containing the only known surviving tracks from the original score. It contains 4 tracks and runs a total of 18:17.
An Easter Egg can also be found on Disc One.
The Bottom Line
For those of you who have had it with oversensitive American war flicks, here’s your chance to witness a highly entertaining EuroCult masterpiece in a truly glorious presentation.
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