Directed by:
Bryan SingerCinematography:
Newton Thomas SigelComposer:
John OttmanCast:
Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Carice van Houten, Thomas Kretschmann, Terence Stamp, Eddie Izzard, Kevin McNally, Christian Berkel (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
In a country in the grips of evil, in a police state where every move is being watched, in a world where justice and honor have been subverted, a group of men hidden inside the highest reaches of power decide to take action. Based on the true story of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and the daring and ingenious plot to eliminate one of the most evil tyrants the world has ever known. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (12)
Bryan Singer goes back to being a genius. I don't even know why I was afraid of a lack of humanity or a cold approach. The tension comes from no more than a glance at the army or a fleeting shot of the back of Hitler's head. It is precisely the authenticity and documentary veracity that give the final catharsis the stamp of the purest emotions.
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A fairy tale that is simplified beyond bearable limits, about the struggle between good Germans and ultra-evil ones, where all the motivations of the coup d’etat are summed up in the phrase "Hitler is simply evil. Excuse me, but what's that supposed to be? At least they could have touched on the real reasons. I felt as if I were on the verge of adulthood, and my parents were explaining to me that babies were created by mom and dad kissing, and then a few months later a stork delivers the baby. But despite the general knowledge of the event, despite Cruise being just Cruise and not Stauffenberg, despite the Germans scheming in English, despite the transformation of ranks and terminology to what they are called in the West, despite the inaccuracies, despite the unintended ridiculousness of the eureka scene (including the light bulb turning on!), Singer made the almost impossible possible. After a weak opening half hour, my respiratory system stopped working for tension in many scenes. So I left the movie theater pretty damn happy, but I'd still rather someone did a better job, faithfully, and in detail. Ideally under HBO's supervision.
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I avoided the film for a long time, but in the end it is a solid suspenseful spy-war film about the overthrow of Hitler. Tom Cruise is excellent in the lead role and even though I couldn't get into the film for the first half hour, once Operation Valkyrie started I didn't even flinch.
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Valkyrie is a film that was made thanks to the desire, money, and determination of Tom Cruise, who played the main role. I must admit that I didn't believe in the project even after seeing the trailers, and I was afraid of the usual distortion of historical events by Hollywood. To my surprise, Valkyrie is a sober, perhaps too sober, film that simplifies (as was necessary) complex motivations and events, but remains faithful to historical events. Tom Cruise portrayed his character somewhat idealistically, 2-3 dialogues are weak, and a drop of pathos is evident in 2-3 scenes, but I was spared the heart-wrenching scenes of farewells with family and condemned prisoners that I expected. I didn't give it a fifth star because the events surrounding the coup are well-known to history enthusiasts, and the film has nothing surprising in that regard. Kenneth Branagh's performance as General Tresckow deserves mention. Singer's direction is professional, and we get to enjoy the tension in manipulating detonators or briefcases filled with explosives. Just a note: Hitler's death could indeed have shortened the war by several months, but the prospects for the coup plotters were minimal; they simply did not have enough support, and once the circumstances of Hitler's assassination became known, they would undoubtedly have been eliminated. The conspirators, after all, never formed a compact group; there were moderate nationalists as well as liberals, and they struggled to find common ground. Their ideas, even concerning the allies, were naive; they expected to negotiate a ceasefire and an honorable peace, which in their minds included a number of territorial gains from the ongoing war. However, after the successful invasion of Normandy and the crushing of the German army in Belarus, the Allies no longer considered anything other than unconditional surrender. Overall impression: 80%. By the way, not only I but also major American studios, did not believe in the film, expecting that the artistic reconstruction of events that did not directly affect American involvement in World War II would fail to resonate with audiences.
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The first half an hour was admittedly difficult, full of Hollywood clichés, with each prominent character being a well-known actor, which made it almost impossible to believe that this group was the one that took part in the real Operation Valkyrie. Tom Cruise had a lot of confidence when he decided to become Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg. But if one agrees to play the game, one wins and is rewarded with one of the best films about the assassination of Hitler.
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