"A basterds work is never done..."

Quentin Tarantino's long-gestating World War II epic is finally on the march. Say hello to Inglourious Basterds.

Opinion's split on the wilful misspelling, either it's a meta nod to Tarantino's haphazard approaching to the Queen's, and the Hollywood press scorn it inspired; or some colour to differentiate itself from Enzo G. Castellari's 1978 inspiration flick Inglorious Bastards - also known variously as Quel Maledetto Treno Blindato, Hell's Heroes, Counterfeit Commandos, and (surfing the Blaxploitation wave) GI Bro. Heck, it might even be an underhand attempt to short change Castellari on remake money, although Tarantino's presence on a recent three-disc reissue set would suggest otherwise.

Inglourious Basterds is the tale of a crack platoon of Jewish commandos raising hell behind enemy lines, told in tandem with a kosher cinema owner's simmering revenge plot. Rather than opt for deadly accurate history channeling, Tarantino has observed that this is the course the war woulda' run if only his characters had been around. Home for Christmas!