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Valkyrie

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Valkyrie (2008)

December. 25,2008
|
7.1
|
PG-13
| Drama Thriller War
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Wounded in Africa during World War II, Nazi Col. Claus von Stauffenberg returns to his native Germany and joins the Resistance in a daring plan to create a shadow government and assassinate Adolf Hitler. When events unfold so that he becomes a central player, he finds himself tasked with both leading the coup and personally killing the Führer.

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VividSimon
2008/12/25

Simply Perfect

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Roman Sampson
2008/12/26

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

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Kien Navarro
2008/12/27

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

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Freeman
2008/12/28

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

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slightlymad22
2008/12/29

Valkyrie (2008)Plot In A Paragraph: A dramatization of the 20 July assassination and political coup plot by desperate renegade German Army officers against Hitler during World War II.I had long since stopped listening to critics, and decided if I fancied a movie, based on its merits!! Shamefully I passed on this and only watched it last year when I stumbled across it starting on TV in the early hours of the morning.Considering most people know the outcome of the movie, Director Bryan Singer has created a movie that is surprisingly suspenseful and tense. All of the cast are superb, Terrance Stamp, Jamie Parker, Carice Van Outen, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson (I was glad to see what happened to his character in real life) stand out. Cruise on the other hand plays it perfectly understated. A real less is more performance. Other than the fact it was popular to bash Cruise at the time, I don't get the hate aimed at him for this movie. Valkyrie grossed $80 million at the domestic box office to end the year, the 35th highest grossing movie of 2008. The film grossed 200 million dollars worldwide making it the fifth highest-grossing World War II film of all-time.

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oOoBarracuda
2008/12/30

I had seen Valkyrie, the 2008 film by Bryan Singer at the cinema, and I anxiously awaited its DVD release. I was gifted the DVD shortly after release and watched it for a few months straight several times. I added it to my June schedule after realizing I hadn't seen it in nearly 10 years since those months passed just after the DVD release, to see if it held up for me. I was happy to learn that it did, which is not always the case in a film I liked at the time of release after year pass. Valkyrie stars Tom Cruise and Kenneth Branagh in a retelling of the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler and political coup plotted by renegade German Army officers. Historical films are a tough batch if you're historically inclined and know the outcome of what's being filmed, and Valkyrie managed to sustain suspense despite knowing how the plot turned out. Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) has been severely damaged, like many, by WWII. Losing an eye and an arm in battle, Colonel Stauffenberg along with many others has come to the conclusion that an honorable surrender is the only way out of the war. The problem with the idea of an honorable surrender is the fact that Adolf Hitler would have to be eliminated in order for that to take place. All previous attempts on Hitler's life had failed so Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg has been recruited to head this attempt. In order for this attempt to work, Operation: Valkyrie must be changed to enable the members of the coup to take control of Berlin in the event of Hitler's demise. As the coup members go to work plotting an assassination of Hitler and a military takeover of Berlin, their plan is thwarted by a series of failings and a rout of bad luck.I remember being in the minority on the issue of the switch to English from German at the beginning of the film, and I was still unbothered by the change in language despite being a fan of foreign cinema. Granted, I'm usually on board for inventive methods of storytelling, but the language shift left me equally as unfazed ten years later. the most fulfilling part for me of waiting so long between viewings was being more familiar with the actors in the film. I had never seen a Kenneth Branagh film before the first time I saw Valkyrie, but I had heard about him a great deal; ten years later, however, I am familiar with Branagh and recognized him immediately in Valkyrie. The same can be said with my experience with Eddie Izzard. I had never even heard his name before my first viewing of Valkyrie, Izzard is well known to me now, and it was a treat to see him in such a role. I'm a classic film fan so I don't often get as much experience with contemporary actors as I probably should so this was a fun exercise in recognition that comes with ten years of cinema maturation. The pacing in Valkyrie was perfect building tension through the end of the film beautifully despite one knowing how the film ends. I was also especially stricken by the lighting of the film. Valkyrie was lit in a way that often evoked a dream-like state while simultaneously providing a ripped-from-the- past historical drama feel, as well. Adding to the tension of the well- paced film was the score, filling the audience with a sense of unease at every turn. Valkyrie is a strong war drama, which well utilizes a unique method of storytelling gripping audiences until the final credits roll; I'm glad the film held up.

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Filipe Neto
2008/12/31

This film's story is about an unsuccessful attempt to kill Adolf Hitler by members of the high command of the German army. To say that the conspiracy failed is not to spoil because any half-educated person knows Hitler's trajectory very well. The film kept our attention for our curiosity. As much as we already know how it all ended, we want to see how they tried to do it and the movie is quite skilled at making suspense around it. However, it would have gained value if it established a bridge between the conspiracy and the state of the war, putting the plot in the war context. Personally, I missed that background. Tom Cruise played the lead role in a decent and reasonable way, but without giving personality to his character. He was still sounding like himself. The film also has a good cast of supporting actors, sometimes playing much better than the main actor. Finally, a positive word also for the scenarios and costumes.

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llareggub
2009/01/01

I have only seen half at this stage, but it seems to me to be a gigantic, and very well done homage to Visconti's masterful 'Gotterdammerung'. Normally if I see Tom Weirdo in the credits, I don't bother even starting the spools, much less finishing. But when one sees Branagh, Nighy, Stamp & Wilkinson amongst the first XV, you know you have a team that can compensate for even a half-wit at Five-Eighth. He actually does not do a bad job, but the Fullback is Singer's never-ending cues back to 'The Damned'. It actually works better without all the sexual weirdness that Luchino just had to inject into all his sumptuous, high camp melodramas. If I get to the Macbeth bit, it gets a 10 and I will be very happy indeed! In any case, you are not wasting your time and you can then Google "Luchino Visconti" and really begin to live.

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