(2012-05-01 00:36:06)

Truth is more Compelling than Fiction!

What makes this movie so exciting, tense and moving, is that it is based upon true history. And Cruise's portrayal of Von Stauffenberg is definitely compelling. It's more engaging than 90% of the Hollywood fictional trash out there, because YOU KNOW that the conspirators are standing up to a huge, dark, powerful Beast (Hitler's Killing Machine), and that they are going to fail & die in the end. BUT they nearly did it! A recent scientific examination said that Hitler would have died if (1) the briefcase bomb wasn't moved accidentally, (2) two charges were used, as planned, not just one, or (3) the meeting was in the bunker, not the conference house. So Von Stauffenberg and co-conspirators came VERY, VERY CLOSE to killing Hitler. One might wonder if God was "looking" down at the time, why didn't he just "tweak" the physics 0.01% to cause Hitler to die? This would have saved literally millions of lives that perished in the last year of the European theater of WWII. It's the Butterfly effect -- a small error, a slightly small charge in the bomb, a wiff of air, caused Hitler to survive, and in surviving, a massive change in history resulted. It has lots of philosophical implications. Many PC-types might not like this movie because they want to think of the entire German population in WWII as evil..... well, they're wrong. It's heart-wrenching and compelling to think that courageous men like Von Stauffenberg willingly gave their lives to try to kill Hitler and put into place the Valkyrie plan, in order to try to save their country from the Nazi barbarians. The plan was BRILLIANT, and would have worked! They had planned to blame the SS and seize control of Berlin with the Reserve troops -- it was all working except for the little unfortunate fact that HITLER DIDN'T DIE. Oh, yes, the movie. Lots of tense scenes. Particularly when he's getting Hitler himself to sign the amended copy of Valkyrie, and of course leading up to the bomb blast. Lots of steely resolve and appropriate acting by Cruise. Excellent supporting acting ensemble (like Kenneth Branagh, Terrance Stamp, Thomas Kretschman). Some very memorable scenes ... Kretschman's character picking up the phone while Goebbels waits, ready to kill himself, only to see Kretschman stiffen and freak out when he hears the supposedly dead Hitler on the phone. Another: Cruise being forced to give the Nazi salute, and then doing so, saying "Heil Hitler" while saluting with his right arm (which is missing a hand from war wounds!!) -- Shocking, compelling, touching.I highly recommend this movie (realize that 4 stars is a good score for me).

Aaron Noonan

(2012-04-30 01:28:29)

A poorly executed movie.

Valkyrie is a movie based on the real life story of the "July 20 plot",as it is known, a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in 1944. Headedby Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise), a would beNazi defector, the plot involved killing Hitler with a concealed bomb.When Hitler died, von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators planned touse the reserve German army to restore order to Germany and arrest theS.S. for staging a coup d'ГѓВ©tat, which in actual fact was staged bythem. The end result of all this, as they hoped, would be a truce withthe Allies. Sitting down to watch this, I felt very unsure as to whether I wouldenjoy it. I was conscious of the fact that the movie bases itselfaround a group of Nazi, and thus German, conspirators, yet most of theactors portraying them are American and English. Indeed, this did serveto take away from the authenticity of the film. I tried to get over it,but the fact of the matter is, when you cast Tom Cruise, who like it ornot is an American icon, as your lead Nazi in a movie about Nazis,you're going to find it very difficult to convince your audience thatthis movie is entirely serious. It just doesn't work. But even disregarding that, this movie suffers from many issues. It isprobably one of the most average movies I have come across in my time,from script, to acting, to directing. There's no flair here. The movietakes forty minutes to get going at all, and when it does, you don'treally care. It becomes so concerned with explaining exactly what ishappening and what is going to happen in a moment with inanelydumbed-down, plain English that there is zero room left for characterdevelopment. From when to movie starts to when the movie ends, youlearn nothing about von Stauffenberg or who he really was. Tom Cruise's acting doesn't help this either. He's incrediblyunemotional and uninviting as a character, particularly for someone whofeels so strongly about over throwing the Nazis. I'd go as far to sayhe looked uncomfortable in the role. On the day the bombing is to takeplace, roughly half way through the movie a conspirator, ColonelGeneral Ludwig Beck , declares it "the most important day of yourlives". Even if it was, it's difficult feel roused or excited, as Ifelt no real connection to any of these characters, particularlyCruises.As I was watching, it became more and more obvious to me what was wrongwith the film as a whole. It was made as a thriller. That is, it'sdesigned to be fast moving, tense, suspenseful and all of that. Such aninteresting story, in my opinion, should not have been ripped apart anddumbed down for Hollywood audiences. Rather, I feel if this story ofvon Stauffenberg's attempt to kill Hitler was made, firstly with Germanactors, but also as a drama, with significant character development,and less emphasis on building suspense. It would have been wonderful.The suspense would have come naturally. This film just doesn't do thestory justice.If you want some decent, dramatic, and indeed thrilling films aboutWorld War II, stick to The Hurt Locker, Saving Private Ryan, and mostimportantly Band of Brothers.

Michael Dequina

(2012-04-28 17:28:38)

The top priority of Bryan Singer's film is not to be a history lesson or character study but to simply be an absorbing adult suspense film.

(2012-04-28 01:03:11)

Not perfect, but a well done story.

For me nothing facinates me more than world history. Being able to see some of the greatest moments in time in a movie setting is nothing but remarkable. Still, there are so many chapters of history that were overshadowed by the 'main event' that they are lost. Film has really given these lost stories a chance to resurface and be shown to the movie going public. Valkyrie is one of those stories. World War II is one of the most talked about periods of history, but this film shows the story within. During the reign of Hitler in Nazi Germany no one would ever have guessed there were actually high Nazi officials with a heart who knew that what was happening was evil. Led by a decorated soldier who escaped death, these officers fearing their own demise carefully craft a plan to take out the furer and stop what they already knew would be a losing battle. I felt that the movie was good for what it was. Bryan Singer tried to tell a story of consipiracy and good will with a good cast backing it up. I am not the biggest fan of Tom Cruise, but I was pretty impressed by the origionallity of his performance. The story moves pretty slow in the begining, but normally stories such as these will. I wasn't expecting this to be an award winning film, but it was an entertaining one. I would recommend it to be seen at least once, just to see the truth that not all the Nazi officials were truly evil.

Andres Salama

(2012-04-27 17:20:08)

Gripping WW2 film despite some flaws

A good film about the Von Stauffenberg plot, the conspiracy that almostsucceeded in killing Adolf Hitler during the later stages of World WarII. It doesn't start very promisingly: things happen fast (we have VonStauffenberg severely injured in a battle in North Africa, losing anarm, three fingers and an eye, and a few minutes later we have himjoining the conspiracy, without explaining very well his motivations)and characters are introduced hastily without explaining well who theyare. But as the movie progresses and we get into the plot itself (whichwas more than about killing the Fuhrer; knowing that that wouldn't beenough to end Germany's dreadful situation, they also have acomplicated plan to take power and be able to sue the allies for peacein terms that would not be disastrous for Germany), it gets more andmore gripping with a superb final hour. The mostly British cast here(among them, Terence Stamp, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson and BillNighy), acquit themselves very well. Tom Cruise, however, while not adisaster, is just not very believable as a German officer. Besides hislimited acting range, his demeanor has always been very American, so heis just not very believable playing people from other countries. I canthink of other actors who could have been great in this role: forexample, Thomas Kretschmann, who plays a Major who has a key role inbreaking the coup attempt, could have been a great Von Stauffenberg.Still, this was better than expected as director Bryan Singer (of theX-Men franchise) certainly knows how to make a gripping, entertainingmovie. And the movie includes also some terrific aviation scenes usingperiod planes.

(2012-04-27 08:56:45)

American Accent?

Can anyone tell me why a german soldier not only speaks english, but also has an American accent? and Why his surrounding officers have british accents? Even if you did put that aside, this movie falls short. It had potential to be great, but ultimately falls short just as the plot to kill Hitler had. From what I have read this film is wrather unaccurate as well. Tom Cruises character was apparantly much more of a Nazi sympathizer than this film would have you believe.

KVolchok

(2012-04-16 00:45:02)

Very interesting and with historical value

Bryan Singer's new film,Valkyrie tells the story of Colonel Claus vonStauffenberg,a German army officer who, in the world war two, plannedand executed a plot to kill Adolf Hitler and save Germany. As part ofhis plan,Stauffenberg, arranged for the internal emergency measure,Operation: Valkyrie(hence the name of the film) to be changed to enablehis fellows to seize control of Berlin after the assassination of theFuhrer. The movie shows the efforts of Stauffenberg and others,theplanning of the conspiracy,the contingencies, the several attempts toactually execute the plan and so on. Stauffenberg is played by TomCruise,who could perhaps have immersed himself in the character alittle more but, nevertheless, did a good job. The "look" of the film;wardrobe,locations and infantry is amazing and feels very authentic.The fact that the characters speak English is expected,after all, thisis an American film but, I don't think it hurt the movie at all,we allknow this events took place in Germany and what is important here isthe story that is being told, and a story can be told in manylanguages. The interesting thing about Valkyrie is that it shows aslightly different perspective of the Germans then most movies do onthis subject.After all,there were,in fact,at the time, individuals whodidn't agree with Hitler's politics and all the terrible things he didand who fought against it, or in this case, died trying.For everyonewho's interested in this historical period,Valkyrie is a must see, andfor those who don't have much knowledge about it, here is a change tolearn a little more and see a different take on some of the events thatoccurred. 7/10

dilbertsuperman

(2012-04-15 04:51:53)

The worst casting for a Nazi movie I have ever seen in my life. A cascade of British accents utterly destroys this movie's credibility.

What in the name of all that is holy were these complete and utterfools thinking when they were doing the casting and the speech trainingfor this movie? This is without a doubt the most laughable pile of crapI have ever seen, men dressed up as Nazis, speaking in British accentsthroughout the movie.. it's simply RIDICULOUS, unwatchable trash.There is no suspension of disbelief here to make you feel like you arewatching Germans.. the majority of all the characters in the movie havethick British accents, it's simply the most stupid casting ever.Really, really, really bad. It's like watching a bad car crash.. youkeep watching it to see how terrible it is.PLOT: Tom Cruise with no German accent plots with men with very heavyBritish accents who are supposed to be playing Germans to kill Hitlerand take control of Germany. Unfortunately these men are apparently inBritain and retarded, as their accents show us repeatedly, in everysingle scene.This movie is an unintentional JOKE. Pathetic.

jemps918

(2012-04-07 08:56:06)

Educational and entertaining

Director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men, X2, Superman Returns)steps away from his typical fantastic stories and instead embarks on astraight-forward historical drama with Valkyrie.Based on the true story of the German resistance's plot to kill Hitler,Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) is a decorated war herosecretly against the Fuhrer. He gets an opportunity to do somethingabout it by joining the German resistance, and they plot a daring coupto topple Hitler's Germany.Carice van Houten (who oddly looks like Vilma Santos!) plays vonStauffenberg's wife Nina, and while without much dialogue, effectivelytransmits emotion on screen with the slightest of expressions. Thisacting style is strongly echoed by the rest of the cast: KennethBranagh (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Hamlet) plays thecunning Major-General Henning von Tresckow, who enlists him in theresistance; Bill Nighy (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Noteson a Scandal, Love Actually) plays the wishy-washy General FriedrichOlbricht and Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton, Eternal Sunshine of theSpotless Mind) plays the careerist General Friedrich Fromm. Thehandsome Thomas Kretschmann (The Pianist, King Kong) plays yet anotherironic role as Nazi supporter, Major Otto Ernst Remer.Reminiscent of Ang Lee's Lust, Caution, Valkyrie is beautifully told inbittersweet fashion. The suspense and drama are efficiently translatedby the stellar cast, told in a wonderful, old-school way ofstorytelling. Educational and entertaining.

(2012-04-07 03:20:39)

Cruising for a Bruising

With this film, much of modern German history is explained. Cruise and Co. may have found these Germans to be worthy of our respect and admiration; they are no doubt worthy of respect at some level, but I was surprised at their ineptness and saw for the first time why the German High Command got shafted by the little Corporal. They were as Hitler himself accused them: rather tame and gutless, weren't they? They really couldn't take action, neither against the Russians nor against Hitler. they were complacent. Cruise tries hard to convey a German in command, but I found Crusie rather lame. He is not good at filling the shoes of men of substance; that's why ihe is so good playing silly CIA types in Mission-Impossible. He is at his best when dressed as a jewel thief rather than as an officer. The film itself is a bore, and not because we know the ending. The writing is flat. And where is the greatest comic figure of the twentieth century? A Hitler film without Adolf? The grim reaper figure portrayed has nothing going for him. Where is Anthony Hopkins when we need him? This was surely a missed opportunity. Had Hitler been anything like the man portrayed herein, I would have voted for him myself. My god, he looked responsible compared to Cruise and his set of disorganized, trembling clowns. No, this was a missed opportunity.

taylorsasso

(2012-04-05 00:44:02)

Valkrie is amazing

I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Valkyriedefinitely deserved the classification of thriller. Not one of thosehorror movie thrillers but a real life, real situation suspensefulmovie.Brian singer did and excellent job in creating suspense. Through outthe movie I was constantly telling myself: Is the plan going to work?or Come on do it already!With that said, the acting was very very good. As well it should be fora high quality film. David Bamber portrayed Hitler as a person who wasby no means invincible, but as a person who, in less pleasant terms, asick looking individual. In similar ways the joker was brought to lifeby Head Ledger.This movie had by far the most impact on me then any movie has ever hadin terms of heroism, loss, and redemption. The last 15 minutes of thefilm literally gave me chills. All in all this is defiantly as must see for any person that loves thefilm industry. An 8+ in my book.

eric1

(2012-04-04 02:16:35)

What a stupid hero...

The problem with this movie is that, Tom Cruise tried too hard to makeStauffenberg a Hollywood hero.All credits of the July 20th plot went to this guy. According to themovie, he is the one who get the reserve army idea, he is the one whopersuaded all the other members, and he even became the commander ofthe whole thing at the end...First of all,I don't believe a colonel can maneuver a bunch of generalsin 40s' Germany.Secondly,if Stauffenberg was the key man of the plot, then I must sayit's the stupidest plot ever: what if something went wrong andStauffenberg dead at the Wolf Lair? The Queen never go to some pacificisland to hunt evil scientist, she let Bond do it.I'm not a WWII specialist, if all these things really happened in realhistory, then I will give Mr. Hitler some credits for kicking all thesegenerals into reserve army. These guys answers to a colonel and unableto set up a reasonable assassin plan, how could them be useful on theEastern front?

John Beifuss

(2012-03-29 20:09:12)

Handsomely mounted but undistinguished...

(2012-03-29 08:58:35)

assassination is the worst way to change governments

This assassination attempt is as close as they got to Hitler at the end of the war.In 1933 an attempted assassination of Franklin D.Roosevelt by Giuseppe Zangara took place.The Assassination of Winston Churchill was a book from the late 60's.With hind sight we think that such an attempt had it been successful might have shortened WWII.My opinion is that means mostly become the ends and killing even of such a monsterillegally is probably wrong. That traitors /murderers would have come to powercouldn't have been a good result historically long term.

pragers

(2012-03-22 07:26:05)

Excellent, historic thriller

"Valkyrie" takes on an important event in the history of Nazi Germany:the failed assassination attempt of German officers of the Wehrmachtagainst Hitler in 1944. Most Germans like myself are quite familiarwith the story of the "Stauffenberg-Attentat" since it was not only thetopic of many German docudramas (e.g. one made by well-known directorPabst in 1955) but is also widely discussed in history class in school. I was pleasantly surprised about the "American" interpretation inValkyrie and think that Singer and Cruise came up with an excellentfilm. Although the outcome is known and the movie develops ratherslowly in the beginning, it manages to create a highly suspenseful anddarkish-intense atmosphere that keeps you captivated until the end.Complains regarding the American/English accents and the German actorsnot speaking with German accents, or criticizing that Stauffenberg was"in reality" more charming and not as stiff as Cruise' interpretation,are niggling and banal at best. The movie does not focus on theprivate, psychological side of Stauffenberg but on his leading role inthe assassination plot planned and executed amidst the "heart ofdarkness", which -we can be sure- was more than nerve-wracking and leftcertainly little space for charm and jokes. BTW: I was glad to see Ninavon Stauffenberg portrayed as the knowing and smart wife that sheactually was. The performance of all actors is superb, and Cruisecertainly deserves special praise since his commitment to the role istangible and remarkably intense.Highly recommended!

ARTaylor

(2012-03-21 19:40:47)

A Great Cast Drives This Excellent Thriller

This is an enjoyable movie. It isn't quite as different as The UsualSuspects but it's still an intriguing film. The German channel ZDFsummed it up well: Valkyrie is "neither scandalously bad nor the eventof the century...Neither is it the action thriller we feared, but it isa well-made and serious film." The story is suspenseful, filled with tension to keep you glued to it.It isn't bogged down with pointless side stories to add needless drama."Will he do it for the world or will he chicken out to be with hisfamily?" There's already enough going on with just trying to get it allplanned out and get everyone on board. The movie's like the characters,know what needs to be done and just goes for it. And I liked that theydidn't delve into every character's back story and reason for trying tokill Hitler. It's 2008/09. We know there's plenty of reasons for peopleto kill the man. Besides, that would have just added twenty to thirtyminutes of dialog and exposition just to say that Hitler is bad.This proved to be a great role for Tom Cruise. For once he doesn't justbreak out in a run for some random reason trying to be an action star.Here he goes back to what he's good at, like his older roles in A FewGood Men or Rain Man. He's a good actor but not when he's runningaround. Maybe we can finally forget about him on the couch and think ofhis acting.The rest of the cast works perfectly. Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, andthe ever lovable Terence Stamp are all in top form. There doesn't seemto be a single person who could be replaced with someone better.The production values are great, certainly nothing is donehalf-hearted. Everything looks amazing and is well done, the kind oftouch Bryan Singer brings. I like all of Singer's movies. UsualSuspects, X-Men 1 & 2, and even Superman Returns. He's no ChristopherNolan or Steven Spielberg but he's still a fine director.My only real problem with the movie is I wish there was some extrapunch to it. This is a real historical account. Therefore we alreadyknow how it ends. Anyone who would see this movie should have enougheducation from grade school to know that this plot didn't kill Hitler.This is the problem that faced the Star Wars prequel trilogy. How tomake it engaging when the audience knows the ending. He did a good jobbut I feel he could have gone further. Maybe Singer should have taken apage from Nolan's book and made it non-linear. Perhaps played up thesuspense of Hitler trying to communicate before the plotters succeeded.Or something a little more that would have pushed it from a good movieto great one.It's an exciting thriller that I recommend to everyone. It showcasesnot only an important event but one of the best parts of humanity. Theplotters weren't saints but normal, average human beings trying to begood. They stood up in the midst of insurmountable odds to do what isright. And the fact that it was all true made it all the more touching.And in the end it did what all movies should aspire to do: I leftwanting to see it again.

(2012-03-18 12:49:01)

Breathtaking, inspiring, storytelling

I just watched this movie on DVD again after seeing during it's release in December 2008. I was curious to see if it would have the same impact the second time around. It absolutely did not disappoint.I don't read movie reviews as a rule, nor do I know much about actors...All I can say is this is one of the most well-acted, incredibly well told historical films I have ever seen. I am so glad the sacrifices and struggles endured by the real conspirators have been honored by such a well-crafted, beautifully scored film. I would recommend this film highly to families with older children who are particular about quality viewing. The story itself a relentless lesson about character and sacrifice for the greater good that has few rivals in history.

Bjorn

(2012-03-18 07:29:30)

Entertaining WW2 thriller

The most elaborate and extensive plan to kill Adolf Hitler is depictedadmirably in Valkyrie by none other than Hollywood superstar TomCruise, a slew of quality British actors and the director of X-Men andSuperman Returns.Now I'm no WW2 history buff, but I gather the film is mostlyhistorically accurate. I did admire how much suspense the filmgenerated despite the known outcome. This plot to kill Germany's mostdemented individual was well orchestrated and very close to workinglike a charm, only a few mishaps and human errors prevented it fromsucceeding.As for the performances, the British guys owned it. Branagh, Stamp,Wilkinson, Nighy and even Eddie Izzard are flawless in their depictionsas Nazi soldiers who are disgusted by their leader. Tom Cruise isneither here nor there, playing the leader Claus von Stauffenberg. Heis not bad, just not very good either.With the outcome previously known, I approached "Valkyrie" as pureentertainment. It's always good to leave a film a little wiser abouthistory but this film didn't leave me breathless or astonished in anyway. The film is suspenseful, well made and written and is most likelya very welcome addition in the genre for WW2 buffs.In the end, what stayed with me was that it seemed likely that somehigher power was watching out for the demented leader of Germany as noless than 15 assassinations were attempted and in the end he died ofhis own hand. It's a funny twist of fate.

dusan-22

(2012-03-12 14:32:16)

Pale

This is a dry and sterile feature filming on one of most interestingevents in WWII and in history of warfare behind the front line. Baddrama composition is worst about this film as plot on killing Hitlersuppose to be pretty dramatic event. There is no character developmentat all and idea that Tom Cruise suppose to play a high rank commanderthat questions his deepest inner thoughts on patriotism and treason iscompletely insane. I believe that Mister Bin would play it better.Generally speaking, film pretty much looks as a cheep copy of goodGerman TV movie "Stauffenberg" from 2004, but can't get close to thatfilm regarding any movie aspect whatsoever. However, movie obviouslygets its financial goal with pop-corn audience that cherishes Hollywoodfast-mood blood and shallow art values.

J Charles

(2012-03-12 09:05:27)

much better than expected

I didn't pay much attention when this came out in theatres. Theentertainment media kept calling it a 'troubled' production and therewas the usual skewering of Tom Cruise because of his religion, erraticbehaviour, etc. But if you just put all that nonsense aside and watchthe movie you'll see a well crafted, well acted film.Based on the true story of the German resistance and their lastrecorded attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler it proves to be quitethrilling. At first the movie seems to be a Tom Cruise vehicle withevery shot highlighting the star's ever move. But as the filmprogresses it becomes more about the plot, the various things that'could' go wrong and did.Kenneth Branagh is hardly in the film but he gets shown in thepromotional posters. He plays his tiny part really well. Watch hisfacial expressions as he sits uncomfortably in the military office,wondering whether or not his secret has been revealed. It's an awesomepiece of acting.Cruise is a lot more limited in his range. You can recognize hisvarious looks from far away including his 'determined' face, his'giving orders' face, and his 'struggling with something' face. Therole allows him to show all that. His performance is adequate but palesnext to his costars.Great pacing, decent plot (surprisingly much of it really happened asit appears in the film) and great performances by all the supportingcast along with a decent performance by Tom Cruise.8/10