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List Price: $29.98 | | Label: United Artists
Salesrank: 882
Released: May 19, 2009 |
| Our Price: $7.05 |
| Used Price: $2.98 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 05/19/2009 Run time: 120 minutes Rating: Pg13
Description of Valkyrie (Single-Disc Edition):
Unpretentious and dramatically straightforward, Valkyrie is a suspenseful yet ennobling story about the last attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler prior to the end of World War II. Tom Cruise is effective if a little opaque as hero Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, who channels his anger at Hitler's atrocities and mismanagement of the war by joining a secret organization bent on killing the Führer. When the outspoken Stauffenberg hits on the idea of linking Hitler's death with an official policy to safeguard Berlin during a government crisis--a contingency plan called "Valkyrie"--the group realizes a post-assassination coup could be covered by rapidly implementing the plan. History tells us the plot failed, of course, and Hitler killed himself months later. But that doesn't stop Cruise or director Bryan Singer from approaching the film as a thinking person's thriller, told from inside the conspirators' camp, where the outcome of their deeds were uncertain for several tense hours.
In the tradition of The Great Escape, Valkyrie is a war movie full of famous faces, including Kenneth Branagh, Terence Stamp, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy and Eddie Izzard. (The lesser-known David Bamber is very good as Hitler, hunched and cracking under pressure.) The film's gravity is offset a bit by the fun of seeing all these actors in a factually-based slice of history, and by a few, interesting stylistic flourishes on Singer's part, including the peculiarly unsettling image of a mosquito sizzled to death in close-up. --Tom Keogh
Stills from Valkyrie (Click for larger image)
Valkyrie (Single-Disc Edition) Reviews:
Ok Movie 
2009-11-06 - the movie was ok if you like war movies....though it's not about fighting in the field...not one of Cruise's best performances..but worth a view anyway
Valkyrie [Blu-ray] 
2009-11-04 - The Valkyrie started off with Tom Cruise showing the dilemma of an officer with total dedication to Hitler's Germany and his own personal conscious, knowing Hitler's plan to destroy all Jews, gays and gypsies. In the documentary of this courageous man, it shows that he witnessed people being shot over a ditch so it would be easier to bury them. This is why the officer elected to kill Hitler and put an end to the war. Valkyrie was to code name of a group of high ranking officers who formed the plot to replace Hitler and his regime. The plot of the movie centered on the magnificent Germany war machine that not only plotted the death of all leading officers, but their conspiracy to replace the German government head within 4 short hours. This movie eliminated the brutality of the concentration camps and replaced with suspense.
Pretty Good Movie 
2009-10-31 - I wouldn't go see this in the theater because I just couldnt get past watching Tom Cruise play a German surrounded by all these other people with British accents. I decided to rent the movie on Amazon and it was worth the money. After you get past the early parts of the movie you completely forget about Tom Cruise and his American accent. When they set the bomb off to kill Hitler you really start to move to the edge of your seat and the movie has a great supporting cast of actors. You don't realize how close they came to actually assassinating Hitler until you watch this.
One big star, one big flaw (hint: they're the same)
2009-10-28 - When a two-hour movie spurs you to spend four more hours reading about the event on which it is based, it's fair to say the viewing was time well spent. I didn't expect much from Valkyrie. I mean, we all know how this story ends (I realize schooling isn't what it used to be, but do we really need a spoiler alert here?). So I was pleasantly surprised to find myself, frankly, riveted. So much is top notch here: the production design, the photography, the pacing, and especially the supporting actors. Indeed, every actor -- Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Eddie Izzard, even -- seems an inspired choice for their respective role, creating multi-dimensional characters that are flawed, conflicted, and all too human. Or at least, every actor but one. The bad news: Tom Cruise just doesn't pull it off here. In fact, he nearly ruins the show. I've liked Cruise in other roles -- he's underrated in Born on the Fourth of July and his bravado-on-autopilot schtick works well in A Few Good Men. But here he is oddly ineffective. The screenwriters don't exactly help him -- when we first see Cruise, his view of the war and its political leaders is already set, and we never get a sense of how this came about. When he is blown up early in the film, losing an eye, one hand, and several fingers on the other, these grievous injuries are treated like a minor inconvenience. This is a theme that continues through the movie: Emotional events rendered with zero emotion. Everyone else here struggles with the decision to try to kill Hitler. They know it should happen, but they're also worried about the consequences of failing (and not insignificantly, what those consequences will mean for their own skin -- maybe not the most noble consideration, but a genuine one). Cruise's character -- who knows well that if he fails his family will likely be arrested, or worse -- never seems to truly wrestle with his decision to deliver the lethal blow (or, more accurately, blast). The few cursory flicks at indecision, like that last long embrace of his wife, seem staged and rote and insincere. His unwavering dedication to the mission might make Cruise's character a hero. But it also makes him seem fake. I mean, here's a plan where the guy with three fingers is picked to arm the bomb -- who wouldn't have some second thoughts about an operation like that? But Cruise treats this all like he's Maverick from Top Gun: Just give me the stick (of TNT, this time) and let me do my job. It doesn't work. But fortunately, almost everything else in this film does.
Awesome
2009-10-22 - Wow what an awesome movie. All the movie stars. Each character was played by the perfect actor. Tom Cruise knocked it out of the park on this one.Very well done. I know I heard all the critics say he didnt fit the part. But you know they say that about all of his movies. he has been black balled for being of a certain religion. Dont we americans call that racism? Anyway it is a movie that was pure entertainment.
