Quentin Tarantino rewrites history in his latest film, "Inglourious Basterds," about American soldiers on a killing spree during World War II. Brad Pitt stars as an American officer who leads a team of soldiers brutally killing Nazis in occupied France in the days after the D-Day landings in Normandy. The team hatches a plot to kill Hitler and other Nazi elite after learning they are supposed to attend a film premiere in Paris.
Tarantino is noted for violence in his films, especially the squirting blood that coats Uma Thurman after she hacks her way through Lucy Liu's samurai army in "Kill Bill." This time, the violence is appropriate. "Basterds" is a war movie, after all. It's also a revenge movie, which in Tarantino's case always ends in lots of bloodshed.
Tarantino is not the first filmmaker to target Nazis. Hitler and his kind were real-life monsters. They make great screen villains.
World War II films often focus on real-life exploits, such as Audie Murphy's life story as a soldier in "To Hell and Back." Some films tackle actual incidents, such as the specially-made bombs used to destroy German dams in "The Dam Busters."
Other movies about the war in Europe are about ways the Allies got back at the Germans. Some are serious, such as Frank Sinatra leading a prison escape aboard a train in "Von Ryan's Express." Others are just silly, such as Sylvester Stallone's "Victory," about a soccer match between a German team and a team of Allied prisoners.
Sometimes movies are about soldiers looking out for themselves, such as the caper film "Kelly's Heroes," with Clint Eastwood leading a platoon on a mission to knock over a bank filled with German gold.
A lot of World War II movies are about secret missions. "Operation Crossbow" is about infiltrating the base where German scientists are working on rockets. "The Guns of Navarone" is about a mission to blow up a German gun defending a sea lane in Greece.
Not all World War II films are about the Allies. James Coburn is a German officer fighting a losing battle against the Soviets in "Cross of Iron." Peter O'Toole is a highly decorated but sexually disturbed German officer suspected of murdering a prostitute in occupied Poland.
Here are six films available on video and DVD that are all about "killing Nazis," as Brad Pitt's character claims in "Basterds." Be warned: They are violent.
"The Dirty Dozen" (1967) -- The grandfather of killing Nazi movies. Lee Marvin is assigned to train a dozen condemned prisoners and then unleash them on a chateau of Nazi officers in the days before the D-Day landings. Other stars include Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Telly Savalas, Charles Bronson and Donald Sutherland.
"Where Eagles Dare" (1968) -- A British officer (Richard Burton) and an American officer (Clint Eastwood) try to free a captured American general being held at an impregnable mountain castle. Also stars Mary Ure.
"The Keep" (1983) -- Nazis occupy a Romanian castle and free an evil force that starts killing Germans. The SS then has to work with a Jewish scholar who knows what evil has been released and a Greek guardian who has come to recapture the evil. Stars include Scott Glenn, Alberta Watson, Jurgen Prochnow and Gabriel Byrne.
"The Heroes of Telemark" (1965) -- Norwegian resistance fighters try desperately to destroy a Nazi plant building heavy water for use in the German atomic bomb program. Stars include Kirk Douglas, Richard Harris, Ulla Jacobsson and Michael Redgrave.
"Defiance" (2008) -- Three real-life Jewish brothers decide to fight back when the Nazis invade Belarus. In addition to killing Nazis, the Bielski brothers save more than 1,000 Jews from the death camps. Stars include Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Mark Feuerstein and Jamie Bell.
"Play Dirty" (1968) -- British soldiers set out to cross North Africa to blow up Rommel's fuel dump not knowing that they are being betrayed at almost every turn. Stars include Michael Caine, Nigel Green, Nigel Davenport and Harry Andrews.
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