Inglorious Bastards, the 1978 Enzo Castellari film, would likely be lying in wait for people to find it if Quentin Tarantino didn’t latch on to it. Most people would probably know it (if they knew it at all) from the Xenon release G.I. Bro. The film would have been another Italian B movie lost to the sands of time. But then came Tarantino. He named his current WW II film after it, and the film was kicked around as his next film since Pulp Fiction. Ironically, once his screenplay was submitted to the studios, and now as the film is in pre-production, the original film hits DVD in a super-deluxe version.

The film concerns some POWs (featuring Bo Svenson and Fred Williamson) who are being sent to a prison camp, when a German squadron attacks them, and sets them free. These men are anti-heroes, from word one, and they have no problem taking out people who might put them in prison. Eventually their group is reduced in size, and they side up with a German (Raimund Harnstorf), but then they get sucked into pretending to be American heroes when they kill off a squad of their own, and now have to run a Mission on German HQ, and on a train.

There are two great things about the film, one is that these guys are real anti-heroes stuck in a bind. They do good things because they have to, to survive, and the second is the mission itself, which – as they all do – turns a group of soldiers into very few survivors. It’s a tense set piece (or two) and it works. That said, Castellari is talented, but the film is exceptionally cheap, and the action moments are often underwhelming. The cast carries everything over, and it’s very enjoyable, but not a lost classic. It’s a fun film. Very entertaining, but nothing close to a classic.

Wait, did I mention it has naked women shooting smei-autos? Maybe it is a classic.

Severin’s three disc set might give it some weight. On the first disc is an interview between Quentin Taranitno and Castellari (38 min.). Tarantino’s enthusiasm is infectious, and this piece makes the set worth buying. But though QT makes some great points about the film, he also suggests that he has a film in his head which may or may not have that much to do with the thing itself. The film comes in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) and in 2.0 mono. The film also comes with a commentary by Castellari.

Disc two has the 75 minute documentary “Train Kept a Rolling,” which features comments from Castellari, Fred Williamson, Bo Svenson, and a number of the Italian cast and crew. Also included is “Back to the War Zone” (13 min.) which has Castellari touring the locations of the shooting. On Disc three is what remains of the soundtrack (18 min.) which amounts to four tracks from the films.

Severin films was so excited about the film that they invited some critics and friends to a birth party for its director. In attendance was Fred Williamson and Bo Svenson, both of whom I got a chance to talk to (Svenson looked me in the eyes and said “There must be a football coach looking for you”).

I was with Mr. Beaks, and I whispered, “should we go talk to The Hammer?” and we walked up, and Williamson said “Are you two ready to meet The Hammer?” I hope he didn’t hear me. Williamson talked about his upcoming movie Spats, which involved him and Jim Brown together again. I can’t wait to see it. We were served pasta, strawberries and champagne, and then a cake with the image of the DVD on it. It was pretty awesome.