20 Things You Somehow Missed In Inglourious Basterds

Every frame of Tarantino's revisionist masterpiece is filled with hidden details.

Inglourious Basterds
Universal Pictures

Whether you believe it's one of his undisputed masterpieces or simply a great movie, there's little arguing with the impeccable filmmaking craft of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.

As a follow-up to his less-revered Death Proof, Basterds marked not only a return to form for the legendary director but also kickstarted a new creative epoch for Tarantino defined by a slew of revisionist period films.

Basterds went on to receive eight Oscar nominations and scoop a Best Supporting Actor win for the great Christoph Waltz, yet as much as so many of us have seen the film countless times over the last 14 (!) years, you probably still haven't caught everything.

Basterds is, despite its flippant approach to history, an extremely meticulous and detail-orientated film that rewards those who pay close attention.

Tarantino puts a mind-boggling amount of thought into just about every artistic decision in his movies, enough that it's easy to miss the finer details by just taking seemingly benign moments at face value.

And so from first minute to last, Inglourious Basterds is a rich war epic packed to the gills with ingenious flourishes you probably didn't spot...

20. The Opening Title Is Scanned From Tarantino's Script

Inglourious Basterds
Universal

You might recall that Inglorious Basterds' opening title isn't so much a logo as it is a messy handwritten scrawl. But this is actually more than a mere playful flourish on Tarantino's part - it's actually his very own handwriting.

More to the point, this is the very same handwritten text that appears on the cover page of the filmmaker's script for the movie, which was then scanned and used directly as the film's own title.

It's a cute touch, and one that also seemingly furthers the argument that extremely smart and talented people so often tend to have absolutely atrocious handwriting.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.