DVD
JUST ADD IT TO THE COLLECTION IF YOUR A TOM CRIUSE FAN VERY GOOD MOVIE AND SO TRUE


Far exceeded my expectations!
Given that this was made and released as a mainstream film with a big Hollywood name (Cruise) in the leading role, I had wrongly assumed that this would turn out to be another glitzy mis-recreation of an important historical event. How wrong I was! I was very pleasantly surprised with the treatment of the subject matter which was both sensitive and accurate: a rarity indeed!
Whoever has adapted this important historical event into a screenplay has done a tremendous job creating characters who are believably human (complete with flaws) whilst remaining faithful to the events. The cast is an excellent line-up of some of the best serious actors currently treading the boards and I was pleasantly surprised at just how much British talent is showcased here. It is obvious that a great deal of homework has been done and this could serve as a great lesson to other film-makers that you do not have to distort, invent or change the facts of history to make it entertaining (NB: U571, Pearl Harbour, Inglorious Basterds!).
I would recommend this film to anyone who has even a passing interest in WW2 or even viewers who simply enjoy a good tale well told.

The German General(s) Election of 1944
It may come as a surprise to know that there was a US presidential election in 1944, where Roosevelt was returned for a record-breaking 4th term. He did not live to see this out, passing away in April 1945.

It would have been possible to unseat Churchill, after all, he had got the top job as a result of his predecessor's resignation following a loss of parliamentary support. In fact his job was on the line in 1942 when he had to face a vote of confidence in the House of Commons after Rommel was in the middle of his winning streak in Africa.

France changed its government, appointing Petain as Prime minister to arrange an armistice in 1940.

Mussolini was actually deposed constitutionally in 1943. This was despite him being a dictator. Stalin could theoretically have been deposed had there been a vote in the Politburo that also disposed of his secret policeman Beria.

Japan also constitutionally changed its policy in the shadow of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki and was able to sue for peace.

Which brings us to Nazi Germany. This country, alone of all the major belligerents on either side, had no proper method of replacing its leader to drive policy change. This was because Hitler ruled the Third Reich by decree with his 'kitchen cabinet' of Keitel, Himmler, Speer, Goering and Goebbels (all of whom appear in this film, however fleetingly). There was no functioning constitution. This had been replaced by the Fuhrerprinzip, a paramilitary doctrine where orders were to be obeyed without debate or question. How Germany had messed up its politics such that it was run according to the will of one man without any process for change has fascinated historians for decades. It is also an indictment of the weakness of German politics and its political processes.

In fact this means that the only method to force a change of government was extermination of some or all of the executive. This reduces the valour of the resisters to a simple statement of logic. They did not have to resist or advocate change through murder as part of a quest to save their country. In Germany's unwritten constitution it was in fact the only way to effect change. Hitler's suicide in April 1945 allowed the country to sue for peace just before total annihilation. There was no way to make the change without bloodshed.

The Stauffenberg plot has been well documented and is also not new to cinema. It appeared in a biopic of Rommel as a way of explaining his suicide in October 1944 back in the 1950s.

Tom Cruise has been the butt of some jokes about his acting, most notably by Rich Hall, but here he does not have room for manoeuvre. He is playing a historical figure about which a lot has been written. Like all his films the plot does revolve around him and to his credit he does not put a foot wrong. To those familiar with the July 20th plot, this is the pages of history brought to life in a very well-acted, well shot and well directed manner. Nothing jars or seems out of place here. This has the feel of authenticity.

I would liked to have seen some of the dramatic action taking place outside of Berlin, like the arrests of the SS in Paris and Vienna and perhaps an appearance by Rommel. However this would have lengthened the film or caused it to be brutally cut

There is a bonus of a magnificent array of British acting talent supporting the lead. It is as if someone got a shovel and dug out the best middle-aged British dramatic talent, shoved them in German uniforms and told them to get on with it. And, as always when playing skulduggerous officialdom, they do it brilliantly. I like to think it was some kind of reunion party for some. They all seem to be having a good time of it.

So, if you have 'Downfall', then this is another useful addition to your collection. If you don't, get both.

valkyrie
Valkrie is the harrowing true story of the last assassination plot against hitler. The film follows colonel claus von stauffenburg (Tom cruise) a injured soldier from hitlers , who in fighting for germany loses his eye,right hand and 2 fingers from his left.

===Story===
The story is very exciting as well as tense. Although there are a lot of characters they are all easy to follow and it is intresting to watch the way they interact as being such a act of treason , some are willing and some try to cover their own back.
The story follows Tom cruise rising through the german ranks to try and kill hitler, when he returns to germany he joins a group of plotters all trying to save the country ,however, this group is split between those who want to act fast and those who feel everything must be perfect and spend time talking about it, reminiscent of john cleese in life of brian.
Their plan is to initiate project valkyrie , to do this they must get hitler to sign off this order allowing the plotters to circle berlin with the resistance and negotiate for a truce. All that remains is to get hitlers allies on their side and do what many have failed.

===Acting===
The acting in this film is top notch, although most of the germans speak with american accents which can be annoying. If you can over look this minor discrepancy you'll find that this is one of tom cruises greatest films. Also starring in this film is bill nighy , kenneth branagh , tom wilkinson, as well as terrence stamp and eddie izzard. Now , eddie izzard in a historic thriller didnt sound appealing to me , but he does do ok and he does not take anything away from the film. Bill nighy also puts in a great performance and puts across his fear and worry about the plot very convincigly.

===filming===
The shots in this film linger trying to add extra feeling to certain sections . this works once or twice but i feel it is an overused style in this film. The film is nearly 2 hours long but it does fly by as you become more engrossed, the camera placement allows you to see all the different emotions from the characters really well. Considering the thinking behind this film , there really is not a lot of violence and the fighting is never properly shown, this is reflective of the 12 rating its been given. I think if this film would hae been better if they had shown more of the violent actions instead of making it more available as a educational aid , seeing as it is a true story.

===Sound===
The score behind the film is great and is always there during the tense moments , its very light to listen to and seems to drift in the background. This really works in heightening the atmosphere , especially with surround sound.

===Overall===
This is a brilliant film , even with its small flaws, and is definatley one of tom cruises greatest performences.

Very engaging film with a fantastic package to back up the Blu-ray release
At the start of Valkyrie, we're deep into the Second World War and the German 10th Panzer Division are in Tunisia, North Africa, along with their most eager recruit, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise).

Like many German soldiers, Claus is pissed off with Hitler and wants to be part of the plot to kill the evil man because of all the things he's done such as killing Jews and torturing prisoners. Claus then makes a deal with the Confident General (Bernard Hill) to take their troops off the planned path so they can join up with another division and so they can basically still keep enough men alive for when they'll be needed on a later mission, rather than lead them into certain death. However, this is cut short by an aircraft attack which kills everyone... except Cruise, of course.

As we get to the 13th March 1943, Major-General Henning von Tresckow (Kenneth Branagh) and co try to kill Hitler but their bomb fails to go off, so they recruit Claus once he's back on his feet. The aim is to initiate Operation Valkyrie - in which men all over Berlin are ready if Hitler were to be cut off or killed. They would kick in if a military coup were to take place. So: get Hitler killed, dupe the Reserve Army into arresting the SS troops and then form a new government with decent people instead of corrupt ones. Hmm... sounds like a plan for our own cheating bastards who do everything "within the rules"!

Things take a great amount of time, though, and it's not until June 1944 when they try to put it into place

Amongst the rest of the film, there's some effective use of CGI when we see a few scenes of Cruise missing various parts of his anatomy, there's a great cast also featuring Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp and Eddie Izzard who is the inside man who will cut all communications once they kill Hitler. It also moves along at a great pace, and it seems a bit odd at first that everyone speaks in their native tongue, rather like The Hunt for Red October, but it's better than putting on a dodgy German accent. However, wouldn't it also have been an idea to aim for authenticity along the lines of Downfall?

Valkyrie is presented in its original 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio and looks as highly detailed as you'd expect a high-definition picture to look which, evokes the period of the time.

The sound comes in DTS HD 5.1, DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 formats. I haven't got a DTS HD setup, which allows for a 7.1 surround speaker setup, but then I haven't got the room for that either, so DTS 5.1 will do for me. The highlights for me were the opening air attack and also the time when they come to make their assassination attempt on Hitler. Dialogue is crisp and clear throughout and there's no disappointment to be found here.

The extras are as follows:

* The Journey To Valkyrie (15:56): Christopher McQuarrie tells us why he wanted to make the film before other cast members chip in including co-writer Nathan Alexander and then all the key cast members.

* The Road to Resistance: A Visual Guide (9:08): A look at Berlin in 1944 as told to us by the real-life Claus' grandson.

* The African Front Sequence (7:01): How the opening air-raid was put together.

* Taking to the air (7:32): How you can only get realistic planes in flight by actually flying planes in the air, rather than using CGI.

* Recreating Berlin (6:51): Most of Berlin at the time was bombed to smithereens, and nowadays the occasional building left is surrounded by loads of modern ones, hence the difficulty.

* The Valkyrie Legacy (1:54:15): Split up into 9 chapters, this is the 2008 documentary about the real-life story that inspired this film, which was also called "Valkyrie: The Plot to Kill Hitler". Excellent stuff for the viewer who can't get enough of all this.

* 92nd Street Y: Reel pieces with Tom Cruise and Bryan Singer (38:57): A discussion at the New York City cultural and community centre with Cruise and Singer.

* Audio Commentaries: One from Tom Cruise, Bryan Singer and Christopher McQuarrie, the other from McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander.

The main menu features thumping music from the film with images of the cast mixed with shots from the film, all done in a very clever fashion. There are subtitles in several different languages (I might've missed out a couple above as I couldn't figure out all of those in the list on the disc) and there are 32 chapters to the film which is perfectly fine. If you're a fan of this film, then the fantastic set of extras which round the disc out will make this a package not to be missed.

Film: 8/10
Picture: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Extras: 10/10

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