Watching Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, and Inglorious Basterds was a downright bloody scene. Reservoir Dogs had some absurd bloody scenes including a scene with Mr. Orange laying in his blood for about an hour. Then there was Kill Bill with the crazy action acting Uma Thurman. Last but not least was Inglorious Basterds that in my eyes was the best out of all three.
For this blog I want to focus on certain facts of the making of Inglorious Basterds. To start it off, this film was a curve to the movie Inglorious Bastards that was based on the 1978 Italian War. Tarantino obviously switched the plot around, but it’s interesting that he would practically steal the same name as a different movie.
Another thing as we began to watch the movie was that the first “chapter” of his movie is called “Once upon a time in occupied France”. This was originally what Tarantino had in mind for his movie title.
This not only gave us a setting at where this movie was going to start, but it was also what Tarantino had plans to have as his title. His crew and himself both agreed on the title Inglorious Basterds, and decided to put his original plan as the title of his first chapter.
As good as Inglorious Basterds is, Tarantino truly spent years putting this movie together. Tarantino originally started writing the script for this movie in 1998. It took him 11 years to finally write the script and produce this movie. In the meantime, Tarantino put down the script of Inglorious Basterds and put his main focus to both Kill Bill’s and Death Proof. I would also like to point out that when we first met Hans Landa, he was talking in French. With Tarantino’s crazy script that he had been holding off for years, it turns out that Landa spoke three other languages in the movie. Other including, English, German, and Italian.
Tarantino’s late nights writing the script were probably stressful, hateful and maybe sometimes fun. It seems to me that Tarantino knew how to control his stress. Tarantino would listen to Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” to help calm the nerves. Now I am not sure if he put this on repeat loudly, or if it was a once a time quiet background play. For those of you that haven’t heard it, take a peak and let me know what you think. Could you see Tarantino listening to the slow-paced song?
In an article I found, Tarantino had different plans for Hans Landa whom was played by Christoph Waltz. Originally Tarantino’s idea was to hire Leonardo DiCaprio for the main role. Tarantino soon found out that DiCaprio doesn’t speak German on a regular basis. Instead, fluent German speaking Christoph Waltz came into play, and actually earned himself quite the honor, best-actor award for this movie. Some would say that DiCaprio would have played a better role, but it seems to me that Waltz did just fine playing his leadership role.
Another Hollywood star was going to make the movie as well. Originally Sgt. Donny Donowitz was going to be played by the comedic actor Adam Sandler. Tarantino and many others weren’t sure how he would act in such a serious role. There was plenty of time to think, but I think Tarantino took too much time as Sandler moved on to play in Funny People instead of Inglorious Basterds. Instead co-director Eli Roth took control of this role just like Tarantino does in most of his movies.
Overall, I would recommend this movie to others.
Saunders Says 
Interesting post. I like how you included background to how Inglorious Basterds was made. I love learning new things about the films we watch. I was surprised to find out he listens to “I’m Yours” because I actually love that song and don’t see Tarantino listening to something like that. But it’s usually the “hard & tough” ones that have the soft inside.
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I think that Tarantino made an excellent decision to have Waltz play that role rather than Leonardo. The fluent German aspect of Waltz obviously was a major component to the decision but I don’t think that role could of been played better by anyone. It felt like the role was basically written for Waltz. I’m thinking of Di Caprio in Django as the villain though and it potentially could of been just as good to see him as a German officer.
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It’s really awesome that you put so many unknown Tarantino facts in here. I had no idea about most of these. I am glad Sandler wasn’t cast as Donny. He does have some serious actor credentials to his name, but I don’t think he would have been taken seriously in this role, Same goes for Leo. He’s a great actor, but Waltz played the villain perfectly.
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Although I love Leo, I don’t think anyone could’ve played Landa better than Christoph Waltz. His accent was perfect and the way he spoke can’t be taught, so I’m glad that Tarantino passed. Also if he had Adam Sandler in the film it definitely would not have been the same. Overall, great post. There were a lot of things that I didn’t know and it was interesting to read about.
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I have no doubt in my mind that Leo would have killed it in the role of Landa. However, Waltz truly made that role his own and in hindsight, Tarantino couldn’t have made a better decision. I feel like the fact that Waltz can speak German, English, and Italian frequently just made the choice so obvious for Tarantino. If Leo was cast, he would have had to learn German and Italian. Instead, Waltz was able to really only focus on his performance instead of having to learn how to play with inflection in different languages.
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It was interesting how far you went into the background of the movie. DiCaprio would have been amazing for the role, but I think the tension that Christoph Waltz brings to the scenes he is in, just makes him the best fit for Landa. Along with Adam Sandler, it just wouldn’t have been the same movie.
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It did not occur to me before reading your blog but Christoph Waltz has used his ability to speak German in multiple Tarantino films (well at least two). Obviously he does it in Inglorious Basterds but then there is also Django where he speaks German in one part of the film.
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I never would’ve known that DiCaprio was considered to play Landa. But overall, I think your in-depth character analysis and background for this movie was fantastic. Can’t wait to see your next blog!
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I liked your blog, and specifically the background to the making of the movie. I didn’t know this script took over ten years total to finish because of his other projects, and that Leonardo DiCaprio and Adam Sandler were originally slated to be in this movie. Even though I am a fan of both of these actors, I believe the film wouldn’t have been the same without the performances of Christoph Waltz and Eli Roth.
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I personally think Tarantino played Jason Mraz on full blast repeatedly. I can see it in my head and I think it would make a good movie scene. (Like a crazy creative process). Also for it to take 11 years it had to involve some crazy late night breakdowns.
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I didn’t realize that it took Tarantino that long to write the script for ‘Basterds.’ Tarantino’s films always look like they are a throwback to another film or a whole film genre. While, I don’t like his films, I do have a new-found respect for what he has been able to accomplish in Hollywood.
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You know it’s a Tarantino film if the beginning says Chapter One. But I like that you talked about what Tarantino did to calm his nerves. I two and a fan of Jason Mraz. I like the song it’s very relaxing and has a goofy toon to it. Many other artists have sampled it. Yes, I can see Tarantino or any other director listening to this to calm their nerves.
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