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Valkyrie w/ Tom Cruise

I saw the film at 9:15PM on Christmas night.

It was AMAZING! Cruise pulls off Stauffenberg very well (the two have very similar builds) both physically and in an acting sense. Having already known about (and even studied) Operation Valkyrie, I can reasonably say that the movie was an accurate and dramatic portrayal of their motives and efforts.

The story moves at a pace quick enough to throw the viewer into the action, but slow enough for the non-history-buffs to catch on and get a clue as to what's really going on.

The casting team did an excellent job - I actually got the chills at one point when Stauffenberg met with Hitler. Maybe it's just a natural reaction to be freaked out, but they got everything picture-perfect, all the way down to the cold, heartless stare in his eyes. As for the English accents, they're barely noticeable after five minutes of exposure, and a few characters actually do have authentic German accents.

P.S.: No, Xenu doesn't make a guest appearance.
 
A funny thing is that most of the reviews say that Tom's acting is actually pretty good in this.

Singer's reason for not having them speak in German accents is that he felt the only time Nazis speak in English with German accents to each other is in Mel Brooks comedies.
 
MyDesktopBroke said:
A funny thing is that most of the reviews say that Tom's acting is actually pretty good in this.

Singer's reason for not having them speak in German accents is that he felt the only time Nazis speak in English with German accents to each other is in Mel Brooks comedies.
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That's definitely understandable. Had they had authentic German accents, I probably would have started thinking of Hogan's Heroes and the whole "vindicating, dramatic storyline" would lose its effect as soon as I saw someone who bore any resemblance to Sgt. Schultz.

"I know nothing... nothing!"
 
Yup, I watched it on Christmas Day at @1:20PM and the parking lot was packed, but we decided to get to the theater at least an hour early. We just had a feeling that the theater would be packed for Valkyrie, and it was. Somewhat familiar with the plot, I depended on my significant other's constant explanation of each scene, its the historical perspective and the occasional "that scene is right on!" It was almost depressing to watch a movie, in which the outcome is already known and the situation can't get any better than the previous scene. I thought Tom did a fine job, and the supporting cast members did fine as well. I sort of expected the uniforms to be a bit more over the top and flamboyant; you know "the patent leather look" and I'm not talking S&M-Castro District, San Francisco, oh wait, maybe I am. I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat, enjoying the cinematography with a really loud IMAX surround sound system. I strongly recommend that you arrive early and get a choice seat, b/c there were people sitting on the ground and in the aisles. I'm waiting for the Blu-Ray Disc to be released...:cool:
 
Luftwaffles said:
The movie is very accurate and detailed from a historical perspective. Anyone who's boycotting this movie strictly because of Scientology is delusional and should really get over themselves.
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I totally agree.

I also like Travolta (scientology), Micheal Jackson (well known religious cult), Mel Gibson (also religious cult), but I don't fret over what spiritual paths actors take. It's their personal lives and what these actors bring to us is their role in a movie, which is a great form of escape. So I hear Russell Crowe or Alec Baldwin are real jerks, so what I say? Crowe is great and I loved him in 3:11 to Yuma, and Baldwin hit his stride in 30-Rock, playing of all things, a jerk. :)

Ironically, TV jerk Archie Bunker, is known as one of the nicer people in Hollywood off set. He played a great jerk though.
 
The movie was better than I expected, the acting was good, the historical references were pretty accurate and overall it was worth the money.
 
Luftwaffles said:
P.S. Nobody's boycotting Robert Downey, Jr. anymore. Why? Because he makes good movies and he doesn't drag his personal life into those movies. Watching "Iron Man" doesn't mean you're going to go home, shoot up some heroine, snort some crack and beat your wife, does it? The same applies here.
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Comparing a boycott against a large power-hungry organization vs. an individual with addiction problems :confused:
 
SFStateStudent said:
Actually, IMHO, the Archie Bunker character, played by Carroll O'Connor, was a jerk and a bigot...
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The character was a jerk and bigot, but not the actor who played him. Another famous actor who played a jerk was Don Rickles, who off set was a nice guy. But he played a real heel in the TV show "CPO Sharky". He put the "m" in mean. I am sure there are youtubes on CPO Sharky and Don Rickles parts in that TV series. The show may have been too abrasive for prime time.
 
I don't know a darn thing about this movie except that it has Tom Cruise. That being said... Does Cruise play a German soldier? if the answer is yes, does he have a German accent/speak German?
 
Prof. said:
I don't know a darn thing about this movie except that it has Tom Cruise. That being said... Does Cruise play a German soldier? if the answer is yes, does he have a German accent/speak German?
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He plays one of many German officers who tried to kill Hitler in one of many known plots. The trailers don't seem to have accents.
 
the movie starts with Cruise speaking in German, and then it makes a very smooth transition to English. I thought it was a pretty clever.
 
MyDesktopBroke said:
Singer's reason for not having them speak in German accents is that he felt the only time Nazis speak in English with German accents to each other is in Mel Brooks comedies.
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Did anyone ask him when the Nazis spoke English without German accents?

esco said:
the movie starts with Cruise speaking in German, and then it makes a very smooth transition to English. I thought it was a pretty clever.
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That's interesting. Reminds me of the 13th Warrior.
 
Looks like an interesting movie. Not a fan of Mr. Cruise but I like the premise of this movie. The likelihood of me seeing it in theaters is low however I'll probably end up getting it on DVD.
 
James L said:
They did that in Hunt for Red October also iirc. Worked fine.
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What you said. By the middle of Red October, you just accept that the english-speaking Ruskies are actually speaking Russian - with or without the accent to remind you.

I know I've seen that in other movies but can't think of them by name right now..
 
EricNau said:
Can someone tell me, what's the point of view of this movie?
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It's Anti-Nazi, pro-dissenters. Portrays the dissenters as righteous and upright soldiers and civilians who realize the gruesome cost of the war, for Germany and for the world. Portrays Hitler as an aggressive, cold-hearted madman. Pretty dang accurate.
 
Luftwaffles said:
It's Anti-Nazi, pro-dissenters. Portrays the dissenters as righteous and upright soldiers and civilians who realize the gruesome cost of the war, for Germany and for the world. Portrays Hitler as an aggressive, cold-hearted madman. Pretty dang accurate.
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I saw an interesting episode on the History Channel, and I was wondering if the movie showed, or inferred Rommel's part.

His family tried to shield Rommel from getting assassinated, but they only admitted to the authorities that he knew of such plots but did not partake directly. But Rommel was not alone as a general (5 star equivalent) in hoping that Hitler got killed. I know that the Colonel got executed, but did any Generals get charged and convicted in the coup attempt?

If the attempt worked and a dissenter such as Rommel took over, hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers, and a million Germans, French, Polish, Jews, and Russians, mostly civilians, would have been spared if there was an armistice by late '44 or early '45. This would have also saved a lot of life in the Pacific theater as the allies could have directed resources against the Empire of Japan six months earlier ending the war before the summer of '45.
 
Luftwaffles said:
It's Anti-Nazi, pro-dissenters. Portrays the dissenters as righteous and upright soldiers and civilians who realize the gruesome cost of the war, for Germany and for the world. Portrays Hitler as an aggressive, cold-hearted madman. Pretty dang accurate.
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Thanks, but I was looking for first person narrative vs. third person subjective, objective, or omniscient. Sorry if that wasn't clear. :eek:

For example, The 13th Warrior was told through the first person POV, where the main character provided the narration and insight. Is Valkyrie narrated in a similar manner by Stauffenberg, limited to his awareness of the situation?
 
EricNau said:
Thanks, but I was looking for first person narrative vs. third person subjective, objective, or omniscient. Sorry if that wasn't clear. :eek:

For example, The 13th Warrior was told through the first person POV, where the main character provided the narration and insight. Is Valkyrie narrated in a similar manner by Stauffenberg, limited to his awareness of the situation?
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Ah! I was half-and-half in understanding your question.

For the most part It's first-person and follows Stauffenberg's perspective, but it does cut to some other characters to fill in key facts and explain the events leading up to Stauffenberg's assignment at the War Ministry. It starts out with some in-character narration by Cruise, but after that there isn't a whole lot of narration. The dialogue explains everything well enough.
 
I'll wait for the Blu Ray. I can't stand Tom Cruise for various reasons (yeah, his little cult is one of them, plus I never thought he was that great) but would be willing to see this for the historical perspective, but I figure I'm not wasting my money if I just get this from Netflix, I'll just be wasting one of my rental slots.
 
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