History YMMV / InglouriousBasterds

* CreepyAwesome: Hans Landa is a terrifyingly competent figure who's famous deduction skills rightfully horrifies those around him.

* LoveToHate: Hans Landa. He's an absolutely ruthless cold-blooded Nazi, but Creator/ChristophWaltz's amazing performance makes him so enjoyable to watch.

* LoveToHate: Hans Landa. He's an absolutely ruthless cold-blooded Nazi, but Creator//ChristoperWaltz's amazing performance makes him so enjoyable to watch.

* LoveToHate: Hans Landa. He's an absolutely ruthless cold-blooded Nazi, but Creator/ChristoperWaltz's amazing performance makes him so enjoyable to watch.

** Utivich serving as the chauffeur for the team infiltrating the cinema (despite not being able to drive) is viewed as something which could have fleshed out his character and cleared up the confusion behind how he's present in the final act, but the other team members aren't.

* {{Applicability}}: [[ThoseWackyNazis The Nazis]] are [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped utterly and completely destroyed]] by [[YouHaveToHaveJews Jews in a movie theater]]. Now, remind us, what did Hollywood do to the legacy of the Nazis?

* FanPreferredCutContent: There are some cut moments from the script that fans feel would have fit really well in the final movie.

%%* Crazy Awesome:
%%** Hugo Stiglitz the KnifeNut German Nazi-killer
%%** Shosanna Dreyfus's audacious act of revenge, especially when donning her blood-red dress and lipstick to the sound of Music/DavidBowie.

* CrazyAwesome:
** Hugo Stiglitz the KnifeNut German Nazi-killer
** Shosanna Dreyfus's audacious act of revenge, especially when donning her blood-red dress and lipstick to the sound of Music/DavidBowie.

* DracoInLeatherPants: The more psychotic Basterds like Sgt. Donny Donowitz and Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz tend to have their more [[SociopathicHero negative traits]] glossed over because [[AssholeVictim their victims are Nazis]]. This is at least somewhat understandable. Then, you get the people using the Basterds' brutality to justify the Nazi villains like Col. Hans Landa and his men. Yes, ''really''.

** Bridget Von Hammersmark is wearing a name card in the game that says 'UsefulNotes/MataHari'. Of course everyone knows that Mata Hari was a glamorous entertainer that led a double life as a wartime spy. However unlike the popular legend, Mata Hari was not a particularly competent spy and didn't contribute much to the war effort. [[spoiler: {{Foreshadowing}} that Bridget will ultimately meet a similar fate]].

* IdiotPlot:
** The Basterds having a meeting with Bridget to discuss their plan to take down the Third Reich - in a tavern occupied by Nazis. Yeah, nothing could possibly go wrong from that!
** Stiglitz shooting Hellstrom in the balls instead of somewhere more immediately lethal. If he did that, the Basterds would have two extra gunmen during the shootout (Hicox and Bridget) and likely come out on top.

** Stiglitz shooting Hellstrom in the balls instead of somewhere more immediately lethal. If he did that, the Basterds would have two extra gunmen during the shootout(Hicox and Bridget) and likely come out on top.

** Stiglitz shooting Hellstrom in the balls instead of somewhere more immediately lethal. If he did that, the Basterds would have two extra gunmen during the MexicanStandoff (Hicox and Bridget) and likely come out on top.

** Stiglitz shooting Hellstrom in the balls instead of somewhere more lethal. If he did that, the Basterds would have two extra gunmen during the MexicanStandoff (from Hicox and Bridget) and likely come out on top.

* IdiotPlot: The Basterds having a meeting with Bridget to discuss their plan to take down the Third Reich - in a tavern occupied by Nazis. Yeah, nothing could possibly go wrong from that!

** Since its 2009 release, few of Quentin Tarantino's other films have come close to following this one's near universal praise. ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' and ''Film/TheHatefulEight'' were a more divise than this, although still liked overall.
** Shosanna as well is considered one of Tarantino's best female protagonists, and is among the favorites out of the heroines he's created (alongside ''Film/KillBill'' and ''Film/JackieBrown'', that's saying something). ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' and ''Film/TheHatefulEight'' would receive criticism for their female protagonists not living up to those heights. Daisy in particular was frequently compared to Shosanna as a missed opportunity.

** Not once in the film do Shosanna and Maurice get to interact with the Basterds.

* MisaimedFandom: Sadly, the Nazi characters tend to get the DracoInLeatherPants treatment to an overwhelming degree, and this slides into real-life Nazi apologetics uncomfortably often. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment This issue is perhaps best discussed elsewhere]].

* ValuesResonance: Zoller's pursuit of Shosanna is set up as quirky and cute a la ''{{Series/Friends}}'' and numerous other 90s and 2000s romantic comedies. Then [[spoiler:he's shown to be a creep who won't take no for an answer]] -- which was a few years ahead of society's more cynical look of self-professed 'Nice Guys' and issues about consent.

** Who are the actual protagonists? Are the Basterds the protagonists? Shoshanna? Is Landa the VillainProtagonist? Or is Raine the VillainProtagonist? Can any of the characters be considered genuine good guys whom the audience can root for? Are the Basterds {{Anti Hero}}es, {{Sociopathic Hero}}es, or just [[PsychoForHire sociopaths]]?
** Also, Fredrick Zoller. Is he the DoggedNiceGuy trying to help out his crush, only to get [[spoiler: [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished manipulated and shot over it]]?]] Or is he a creepy, annoying StalkerWithACrush, hounding Shoshanna (a woman who repeatedly shows that she has no interest in him), believing that due to his fame, he is entitled to get whatever he wants? [[spoiler: His last scene where he yells and threatens her after getting fed up with her attitude lends credence to the latter interpretation, but on the other hand, some of his lines seem practically lifted from a cliched romance, and Tarantino has stated that, in any other time, they probably would have ended up together.]] Or is he a [[ShellShockedVeteran traumatized soldier]] trying to get away from his dark past through Shosanna, and watching himself kill repeatedly pushes him over the edge?

** Shoshanna in a somewhat Meta sense. She ''is'' one of the first-billed characters but has far less screen-time than many of the others in the film, yet still gets credit for having the most thorough character arc of the story and a very powerful performance.

** Shoshanna Dreyfuss is a Jewish girl who loses her family to the Nazis. When approached on using her theater in Paris as the site of a premiere for Joseph Goebbels' major new film, Shoshanna and her lover Marcel opt to lock the Nazis inside the theater and burn it down. Shoshanna proceeds to enact her plan near flawlessly, recording a message to all the Nazi leaders to see on screen that their fates are her vengeance and the vengeance of the Jewish people, ending up with the complete elimination of the Nazi leaders assured even before the Basterds get involved.

** The deaths of [[spoiler:Omar]], [[spoiler:Donny]], and [[spoiler:Shoshanna]] can raise some stink, with the first two being somewhat avoidable and cliched, and the last being a bit too abrupt for such a strong character.

** Not once in the film do Shoshanna and Maurice get to interact with the Basterds.
* ToughActToFollow: Since its 2009 release, few of Quentin Tarantino's other films have come close to following this one's near universal praise. ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' and ''Film/TheHatefulEight'' were a more divise than this, although still liked overall.

** Hans Landa is this not so much for the movie (where he is a main character) but for Tarantiono films in general, and is often considered one of the most fascinating characters Tarantino made, if not ''the'' most.

* SignatureScene: The much-lauded opening sequence, considered by many to be among the best scenes in Tarantino's filmography, which [[VillainOpeningScene introduces us to our villain]] in a tense, chilling, and very memorable manner.

* ValuesResonance: Zoller's pursuit of Shosanna is set up as quirky and cute a la ''{{Series/Friends}}'' and numerous other 90s and 2000s romantic comedies. Then [[spoiler: he's shown to be a creep who won't take no for an answer]] - which was a few years ahead of society's more cynical look of self-professed 'Nice Guys' and issues about consent.