
Here’s something different. I usually review releases from the Criterion Collection, especially over the last two years or so. I rarely write about other boutique home video distribution companies, like Shout! Factory, Kino Lorber, Oscilloscope Laboratories, and Radiance Films. It’s not that I don’t appreciate those distributors, I just find the Criterion Collection’s curation to have more purpose for a movie nerd, like me. However, every now and then, there’s a new release from genre distributors Arrow Video that caught my (and the genre movie community’s) attention.
Inglourious Basterds received a limited 4K Ultra HD treatment from Arrow Video with a number of bells and whistles, bonus features, pieces of art, and collectibles that would make any film fan full of joy and excitement.
Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds is set in Nazi-occupied France during World War II and follows a group of Jewish-American soldiers who plan to assassinate the top brass of the Nazi Party at a local movie theater during the premiere of a German propaganda film. The film is told in a series of vignettes featuring the title group with their roughneck Southern commander (Brad Pitt), an Austrian SS officer (Christoph Waltz), and a French cinema owner (Mélanie Laurent) who seeks revenge against the Nazi occupiers that culminates into an explosive end.
Inglourious Basterds — which was released during the summer of 2009 — was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Director, while it won only one Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Waltz, who played the “Jew Hunter” Hans Landa.
As for the release itself, it’s presented as a limited “Operation Kino” edition with snazzy, eye-catching art by Dare Creative, while it comes with a 60-page booklet by film critics Dennis Cozzalio and Bill Ryan — as well as a large number of collectibles. The best one of them all is a replica premiere program for Nation’s Pride, the fake film within the real film. The collectibles is one of the main things that separates releases from Arrow Video then ones from the Criterion Collection. You definitely get more bang for the buck with the amount of extras and bonus features included.
Speaking of bonus features, Inglourious Basterds comes with a wide range of new interviews from production heads, like editor Fred Raskin, the legendary special make-up effects supervisor Greg Nicotero, and more. It even comes with a few video essays, like the ones you’d catch on YouTube or during pre-roll at Alamo Drafthouse, which is a nice touch to provide additional context for the movie.
If you’re a fan of Inglourious Basterds, then this Arrow Video’s special edition is worth the double-dip (assuming you already own the movie). It’s presented in a unique way with loads of bonus features, goodies, and an excellent 4K transfer and restoration.