Plot: Intent on throwing a wrench into the gears of Hitler’s war machine, British general Ed Fenech (Mike Myers) offers a ragtag group of long-imprisoned Irish dissidents (Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson, Pierce Brosnan, Cilian Murphy, and others) the deal of a lifetime: full pardons in exchange for their expertise in guerrilla warfare. Their mission (dubbed “Operation: Cuchulainn”), which involves infiltrating Nazi-occupied France and sabotaging the enemy at every available opportunity, quickly brings them into contact with a rowdy band of Jewish American soldiers. After clearing up a brief misunderstanding, the two teams join forces, launching an audacious assault on a heavily-fortified Gestapo stronghold in order to rescue one of the Americans’ captured comrades.
Set between chapters in Quentin Tarantino’s revisionist World War II epic, this rollicking adventure film reveals how the British military first learned of Lt. Raine’s clandestine activities and sheds light on the previously-unknown fates of the “missing” Basterds.
[Originally written August 31, 2013.]