Say what you will about Quentin Tarantino, but the video store clerk made good has done a lot to get some underrated classics back out into the public eye. Whether it be through his distribution company, Rolling Thunder Pictures, or just by talking up various cult oddities, he’s been a powerful advocate for underrated flicks. Tarantino has paid homage to his influences before, sometimes credited and sometimes not - the swipes from Hong Kong flicks like City On Fire in Reservoir Dogs have been well-documented. But Inglorious Bastards will mark his first time ever doing a fully acknowledged remake, and it’s worth spending some time with the 1977 original to get clues about how the new version will play out.

Directed by Italian sleazemaster Enzo G. Castellari, Inglorious Bastards is a delicious mash-up of American war movie cliches, folding in bits of The Drity Dozen, The Great Escape and more into a high-action tale of a group of U.S. army deserters, traitors and assorted washouts as they try to escape to beautiful, neutral Sweden. Unfortunately, they intercept a plot to disable a German V2 missile and accidentally kill a group of American agents disguised as German soldiers. Caught by the French Resistance, they must redeem themselves and earn their freedom by completing the agent’s mission, destroying the missile and the armored train that it is being carried on. The flick is filled with classic exploitation tropes - topless she-warriors! Blatant racism! Improbable action set pieces! But to the director’s credit, they all come together in a surprisingly satisfying ending.

Like many exploitation films, the original cut was mangled and renamed by a number of distributors - most interestingly, to capitalize on the success of co-star Fred Williamson, the print was re-edited to showcase his part and the flick was renamed G.I. Bro! Other names have included Counterfeit Commandos, Hell’s Heroes and Deadly Mission, But the DVD restores the original Italian cut, with the colorful opening credits and explosive climax intact.

Although Inglorious Bastards is an excellent film, the real meat of the package comes in the two discs of bonus material included. The first is full of documentaries and special features, including a discussion between Tarantino and Castellari about the film that lasts nearly an hour. Although QT’s film isn’t a straight remake, he talks candidly about elements of the original that inspired it, as well as where he plans to diverge. A documentary on the creation of the original film is also rewarding watching, as any exploration into the free-wheeling Italian film scene of the ’70s is bound to be interesting. The third disc is actually not a DVD at all, but rather an audio CD featuring parts of the film’s soundtrack - most of the masters were accidentally erased by the composer, but four tracks remain, which are presented here in excellent quality. Overall, the package is a must-have for fans of classic action, with the bonus features lending a rare glimpse into the world of 70s filmmaking that has fascinated Tarantino for so long.