"Whatever the Dirty Dozen Did The Inglorious Bastards did it dirtier..."-An Italian ripoff of the DIrty Dozen attains the status of a classic on DVD

Inglorious Bastards (Severin) is an Italian film from 1978 that is probably best known for Quentin Tarantino's long gestating plan to remake it (he has been talking about it for over a decade). The film, lovingly released on a 3 disc set is, like a lot of films from this period, more fascinating than good. IB is often compared to the Dirty Dozen and the comparison is an easy one as Bastards concerns a group of GI’s off to prison camp and/or execution that are freed when its convoy is attacked by a group of German fighters. This results in interesting interludes when it becomes easy to forget that the film is a war movie and indeed it goes into areas that are close to some 70’s era soft core exploitation. Indeed, the scene of female SS officers skinny-dipping and then opening fire with automatic weapons is a kind of exploitation version of Ride of the Valkyries.



The plot shifts into gear and the film finds some focus after the GI’s accidentally wipe out a unit of American soldiers disguised as Germans for a secret mission. This results rather predictably in the “Inglorious Bastards” attempting to take over the mission (involving an attempt to sabotage a German train dis guided as a mobile rocket lab) under the auspices of an aristocratic officer (Ian Bannen). At this point, some of the "Bastards" decide its time to rise to the occasion.

The film's leads are the great "B" movie stalwarts Bo Svenson and Fred "The Hammer" Williamson. Williamson in particular shows some charisma here and its apparent that he is one of the most influential African-American performers in recent film history (Robert Downey Jr.'s performance in Tropic Thunder is a clear homage).

The 3 disc set is a cornucopia of riches with "Quentin Tarantino and Enzo Castellari in Conversation" - An all-new featurette with the two legendary directors. "Train-Kept-A-Rollin'" a Documentary with Director Enzo Castellari, Stars Fred Williamson, Bo Svenson and Massimo Vanni, Special Effects Artist Gino de Rossi, Producer Roberto Sbarigia, Screenwriter Laura Toscano and Filippo De Masi. "Back to the War Zone" - Locations featurette with Director Enzo Castellari and Special Effects Artist Gino de Rossi U.S., Italian and German Theatrical Trailers. There is also an elegant and funny Audio Commentary with Director Enzo Castellari.

(There is also a single disc set with a few of the above features)