Cast Tom Cruise Kenneth Branagh Patrick Wilson Bill Nighy Stephen Fry Tom Wilkinson Eddie Izzard Christian Berkel Thomas Kretschmann Carice van Houten.
Directors Bryan Singer.
Screenwriters Christopher McQuarrie Nathan Alexander.
Plot Germany, 1943. The 14th attempt to assassinate Hitler — by his own side — has just gone wrong. The conspirators need a new plan. Enter crippled Wehrmacht hero Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise), with a bold plot to blow up Hitler in his Wolf’s Lair.
Review
Currently worming its way into online legend is the Downfall mash-up. Taking a scene from the Hitler’s-last-days masterpiece, where the Führer (Bruno Ganz) is informed of the encirclement of Berlin, various YouTube wags have inserted their own subtitles, riffing on everything from a World Of Warcraft ban to Lampard signing for Inter Milan. Its digital proliferation is bad timing for Valkyrie; just as the latest movie to depict the Third Reich’s twilight arrives, the last one seals its reputation with the ascendancy into parody. Comparisons are unavoidable, and Bryan Singer’s first non-superhero movie since Apt Pupil can only crumple under their weight. It’s hard to imagine there ever being a Valkyrie mash-up.
Not that it’s the folly some pundits predicted. But, for all the apparent risks (not least asking us to accept swastika-pin-wearing heroes), Valkyrie is a surprisingly safe movie. The role of Stauffenberg doesn’t demand much from Tom Cruise that he hasn’t already adeptly supplied for years. Nobody does the clenched-jawed, steely-eyed glare better; simmering defiance and hard-focused action are Cruise specialities.
Stauffenberg is a cut-glass hero with just enough flaws — be they physical (he’s missing an eye and seven fingers) or psychological (he’s proud and inflexible) — to lend a third dimension. It’s as if Singer and co-writers Nathan Alexander and Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) decided we wouldn’t accept the man; we had to witness the monument. Stauffenberg arrives on-screen with no history, just a voiceover (cross-fading from German to English) establishing that he thinks Hitler is bad, and a vignette which succinctly reveals his tactical mastery and compassion.
There’s little sense of Stauffenberg as a character propelled by that strange tangle of impulses, memories, principles and delusions which guide any of us. He is simply there, like any of the stalwart Brits (and occasional Germans) who fill out the cast, to service the plot. And, indeed, The Plot. That’s what Valkyrie’s all about: the famous conspiracy to blow Hitler back into Satan’s arms. Even here Singer doesn’t quite deliver. After a virtuoso eureka-moment sequence which sees his camera gradually revolving up to 78rpm so we can read the label on a spinning record (Wagner’s Flight Of The Valkyries, of course), things whip along so urgently that it’s easy to miss details.
Thankfully, most of our reservations are forgotten come the final act. As the coup kicks off, the drama truly grips. The finest incidents concern this story’s minor players: the teletypists who have to grapple with conflicting orders (should they pass on Stauffenberg’s order to arrest Goebbels, or Goebbels’ to arrest Stauffenberg?), and the reservist army officer (played with dry wit by Thomas Kretschmann) who has to follow those contradictory orders through. In one sense he’s the most important character in the entire film, and certainly the protagonist of the film’s pivotal scene. You almost wish the entire story had been about him...
Verdict A film more concerned with ‘how’ than ‘why’ or ‘who’, Valkyrie would have benefited from more scrutiny and complexity. Still, once the bomb goes off, the thrills come in spades.
I found the film very enjoyable and the cast highly entertaining, i know it would have been better if the parts had all been german speakers like in the fantastic Downfall, but as a Hollywood film that was never going to happen. Cruise played the part well and kept you gripped to the story, while Nighy, Brannagh, Wilkinson and Izzard were also good choices, the only let down was the person playing Hitler, to me he looked nothing like hitler, bruno Ganz would have been a great choice, but i doubt... Read More
I had major doubts about this....but it is quite simply a great thriller. Cruise bashers say what you will, but he is simply amazing in this role! i neither noticed nor cared about the accents....the plot was great and was very tense! up there with black book...for best WW2 movies.....a really pleasant surprise! ... Read More
A surprisingly entertaining payoff after the long wait, even if the first half sags under the weight of hefty exposition. The second half, however, is an explosive and daring maelstrom of suspense and drama, where things take a turn for the better, that can appeal as both popcorn-fare and historic insight. ... Read More
The film about the failed hit on Hitler`s life by colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) is quite good. The fact that I feared most on forehand (that some overpaid Hollywood actors portray real-life German people and talked English all the way through instead of German) wasn`t a point of annoyment at all. Singer takes care of it right from the beginning with the beautiful credits, turning German into English, and letting Cruise`s character talk German a few lines first before turning it s... Read More
This film was a fairly solid thriller with some pretty good acting. But I found the fact that nearly everyone was speaking in a posh english accent off-putting and also thought that Cruise retaining his american accent made Von Stauffenberg. Also while it is clear that Von Staufenberg hates Hitler, it did seem clear to me what motivates him or this hatred. Lastly and, possibly the most annoying factor, of all, the film potrayed Von Stauffenberg and his cohorts as, some sort, of heroic band of i... Read More
L: tysmuse
I was just bored from start to finish. The first act made zero sense. None of the actors really impressed. The few minutes before and after the bomb detonates is mildly interesting, but after that this movie feels like it goes no where. Bizarrely for a Hollywood movie, it sticks close to the facts and suffers for it. U571 this ain't!
Well, you really don´t know the story, the movie explain easier than you think.
Besides, this is not a fictional movie made to b... Read More
I was torn between given these 3 or 4 stars. If you go into this film expecting a historical account of what happened I think you may be disappointed - i.e an in depth look into the men behind the plot and their true motives. However if you want to watch an entertaining thriller set around WW2, than this movie ticks all the right boxes ... Read More
Classic
Excellent
Good
Fair
Tragic
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