Why Inglourious Basterds is Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece

A decade on, Basterds seems better and timelier than ever, as it confidently moves from an opening episode rooted in classical realism (a rarity for Tarantino) to an ending that is pure movie fantasy (much more typical). It is not as brashly startling as Reservoir Dogs, his first film, or as influential as the violent, funny, time-looping Pulp Fiction. But with its swoop through history, and its flawless ability to be at once a war movie and a homage to war movies, a comedy and a drama, Basterds is his most ambitious, most perfectly realised work.