Directed by Bryan Singer. Starring: Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Eddie Izzard, Terence Stamp, Kevin McNally, Christian Berkel.Historical/War/Drama. Synopsis: The real life story of an attempt to assassinate Adolph Hitler carried out by German Army officers during the latter part of World War II.
World War II is, in my opinion, the seminal event in human history since the birth of Christ and there are thousands of books and movies about some aspect of this event which took place a mere 70 years ago, with thousands more to come.
Valkyrie is going to be one of the better movies, a story about the best known attempt of German officers to kill Adolph Hitler in 1944.Tom Cruise (All The Right Moves) plays the lead role of Colonel Von Stauffenberg, who played the lead role and delivered the bomb that was unsuccessful in killing Hitler. Cruise is very good here, and is becoming the great actor years after he became a star. He's not alone, as the cast is chock full of talented actors, most of them British playing German officers, the irony of which is that most of these men were born at a time that would lead me to guess that their fathers played no small part in defeating the Nazi menace.
Kenneth Branagh (Warm Springs), Tom Wilkinson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose The Conspirator), Terence Stamp (Bowfinger), Bill Nighy (Shaun of The Dead), Kevin McNally (Irish Jam), Eddie Izzard (My Super Ex-Girlfriend Shadow of the Vampire) and Christian Berkel comprise an outstanding supporting cast that really makes this seem more like an ensemble cast than a supporting cast for Cruise.
I think the thing that will make this one attractive for most is that this story is not well known, I would guess, to many viewers, partiularly those of us here in the States. The pace and clarity of the script are good, telling us the motivations of the characters involved as well as giving them some depth. When you consider that most people, whether than can justify it or not from specific facts, consider Nazis to be the biggest criminals in history, it is saying something for the acting when you just might feel empathy, if not sympathy, for most of the characters.
The question that will likely cross most people's minds is: what would have happened if they had been successful in killing Hitler 8 months before he took his own life? Undoubtedly, the one thing many of us would say is thousands of lifes likely would have been spared, but we have to ackowledge that we can't say that for sure. After all, these men were high ups in the German Wermacht (Army) apparatus so some may not want to consider them the ultimate freedom fighters.
Whatever your view is of how German officers opposed to Hitler should be considered, Valkyrie will give present you with a detailed and informative view of what really went down with this assassination attempt and will also entertain you because you won't mind rooting for the 'good guys' even though you know before the first scene they were not triumphant. Cruise fans simply cannot miss this one, it might be the best thing he's ever done.
World War II is, in my opinion, the seminal event in human history since the birth of Christ and there are thousands of books and movies about some aspect of this event which took place a mere 70 years ago, with thousands more to come.
Valkyrie is going to be one of the better movies, a story about the best known attempt of German officers to kill Adolph Hitler in 1944.Tom Cruise (All The Right Moves) plays the lead role of Colonel Von Stauffenberg, who played the lead role and delivered the bomb that was unsuccessful in killing Hitler. Cruise is very good here, and is becoming the great actor years after he became a star. He's not alone, as the cast is chock full of talented actors, most of them British playing German officers, the irony of which is that most of these men were born at a time that would lead me to guess that their fathers played no small part in defeating the Nazi menace.
Kenneth Branagh (Warm Springs), Tom Wilkinson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose The Conspirator), Terence Stamp (Bowfinger), Bill Nighy (Shaun of The Dead), Kevin McNally (Irish Jam), Eddie Izzard (My Super Ex-Girlfriend Shadow of the Vampire) and Christian Berkel comprise an outstanding supporting cast that really makes this seem more like an ensemble cast than a supporting cast for Cruise.
I think the thing that will make this one attractive for most is that this story is not well known, I would guess, to many viewers, partiularly those of us here in the States. The pace and clarity of the script are good, telling us the motivations of the characters involved as well as giving them some depth. When you consider that most people, whether than can justify it or not from specific facts, consider Nazis to be the biggest criminals in history, it is saying something for the acting when you just might feel empathy, if not sympathy, for most of the characters.
The question that will likely cross most people's minds is: what would have happened if they had been successful in killing Hitler 8 months before he took his own life? Undoubtedly, the one thing many of us would say is thousands of lifes likely would have been spared, but we have to ackowledge that we can't say that for sure. After all, these men were high ups in the German Wermacht (Army) apparatus so some may not want to consider them the ultimate freedom fighters.
Whatever your view is of how German officers opposed to Hitler should be considered, Valkyrie will give present you with a detailed and informative view of what really went down with this assassination attempt and will also entertain you because you won't mind rooting for the 'good guys' even though you know before the first scene they were not triumphant. Cruise fans simply cannot miss this one, it might be the best thing he's ever done.
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