Does anyone else really make movies like Quentin Tarantino? In addition to making some of the best movies of the past 30 years, Tarantino has also become well-known for his signature style, one that many have tried and failed to replicate. While not every Tarantino project is created equal, each of them is both deliriously violent and somehow also really funny, and it’s that combination, along with his directorial flair, that has made him one of the most beloved modern directors.
Many consider Inglourious Basterds, his film about a Jewish-American battalion of Allied soldiers who hunt Nazis during World War II, to be among his best work. Like Guy Ritchie’s new film The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, these three World War II movies have a similar tone and are also great in their own different ways.
Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Whereas Inglourious Basterds imagines a world where Jews are able to take some semblance of revenge on the Nazis, Jojo Rabbit tells the story of a young Nazi who has been totally indoctrinated by the propaganda that has been impossible to escape. He imagines a comic version of Hitler, and comes across a number of destitute and ineffective Nazi officers.
Ultimately, Jojo meets a young Jewish girl, and begins to understand that everything he’s learned about Jews is wrong. Jojo Rabbit strikes a delicate balance between satire and deadly serious subject matter, but it’s a balance that most people thought worked.
Jojo Rabbit is streaming on Fubo.
Sisu (2022)
Although Sisu is much more explicitly an action movie than Inglourious Basterds, the two share a certain delight at the idea of Nazis getting completely annihilated. Sisu tells the story of a man living in a remote corner of Finland who encounters a Nazi battalion near the end of World War II. When those Nazis decide to steal his gold, they come to realize that they have stolen gold from the wrong person.
Sisu is a brutal, violent action movie, but one that picks exactly the right target and knows how to shoot its acts of violence so that they have as much impact as possible. It’s not a very subtle movie, but then neither is Inglourious Basterds.
Sisu is streaming on Starz.
Das Boot (1981)
A realistic look at life as a member of a submarine crew, Das Boot follows one such crew in a German submarine during World War II. The movie’s rhythm is one of prolonged boredom punctuated by major acts of action the second a battle breaks out or something is found to be wrong with the vessel.
While German officers are often depicted as ruthless and efficient, Das Boot focuses on a submarine captain who seems to be struggling to maintain his own motivation as the situation on board his vessel becomes more and more dire. It’s a brilliant movie about the monotony of war, and deeply unusual for a World War II film.
Das Boot is streaming on Fubo.
