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David, at the risk of sounding as condescending as you often claim me to be: Exactly how much historical research did you do before writing this? Or, to put it another way: Just how familiar are you with the real-life events that inspired this story?

For the sake of argument, let's say, "Zero."

What's your point?

(It's the lack of a statement of position that makes your leading question smell of condescension, not the idea that you disagree with me.)

Does being factually accurate excuse bad drama?

Do you disagree that there are various ways of dramatizing the same events?

I write this wearing my historian's cap when I say I've always been of the opinion that historical films should be judged as films and not as history. If the film works, no matter how lousy the history is (see Stone, Oliver), then it's a good film. Only when it is bad does it matter whether or not the history is any good. And usually it's not bad because of the history, the history is just one of many things which went wrong. History is like a book when it comes to movies--you shouldn't have to know it to appreciate the adaptation.

I read the review to mean DP doesn't think the movie works as a movie, with the history being a source of some of its structural problems. But the history is what it is, and complaining about why they didn't knife Hitler seems to me to miss the point entirely. Of course the Graf von Stauffenberg wouldn't stab Hitler. He's a Prussian aristocrat. He'd never get his hands dirty like that. Yet he would try to blow up Hitler to redeem himself and his country. You may disagree about his sense of honor, but it was there. And it was people like Stauffenberg, who never lost their disdain for the little Austrian corporal, who Hitler never fully won over. History is ambiguous often. Hitler's foes weren't all knights in shining armors. Sometimes they were social diehards who thought they'd do a better job running the country than Hitler and his band of arriviste cronies.

I would have no problem with that, BC... if they made that movie. It would have been more interesting than the one they made.

^ Which confirms my impression that you disliked the movie as a movie, with the history stuff of secondary (if that) importance.

CRUISE FORCE.

Get in an appropriately reverential position and worship the lifeforce from which you flow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mFmdex2LCM

VALKYRIE should play this song for every second of its two hours.

Now I'm going to go pose in the mirror shirtless and practice my Cruiseisms.

I think Joe's point is that people with differing levels of pre-existing historical info will respond to it in different ways.

And I'd like to add that this review is completely unsurprising given the year+ of negative buzz DP has been giving it.

What Jeffmcm said.

CARICE VAN HOUTEN OWNS and that "dye job" bit in BLACK BOOK was the hottest thing ever.

"I think Joe's point is that people with differing levels of pre-existing historical info will respond to it in different ways."

You could, as Joe has, respond positively because you know a lot about the events. On the other hand, you could respond negatively because you know a lot about the events. Sometimes ignorance is bliss, and sometimes not.

This will sound like an odd comparison, but: I know a lot of folks jumped on "Million Dollar Baby" because they thought Clint Eastwood depicted the boxer's family as unbelievable caricatures. But I had no trouble believing those characters because I didn't think of them as caricatures at all -- because I've had all too much real-life experience with people like that. Likewise, I think your level of historical info will color your response to Valkyrie. And Blackcloud is very right: This pre-existing info thing works both ways. I know some people enjoyed Swing Kids -- especially, no kidding, swing music fans -- but because I know a little bit about the real-life story, I found it to be a ludicrous fictionalization.

In a similar vein: I wonder how many people under 30 were unimpressed, if not downright bored, by Good Night and Good Luck because they lacked the historical info required to catch all the politcial and pop culture references. To cite just one small example: If you don't know who Liberace was, you likely didn't find one of the film's throwaway gags very funny.

You mean Cruise doesn't succeed in killing Hitler? Shit, thanks for ruining another movie for me.

Joking aside, I think portraying historical event in movie is incredibly tricky because (as other have said) everyone will respond differently based on their knowledge and interpretation of the real-life events. Because of that, first and foremost, the movie must succeed as a movie. If there are some subtle nuances to von Stauffenberg's character but they're not in the film, then for all intents and purposes they don't exist anymore.

I think staying accurate to history is often the best course of action (as they say, the truth *is* more interesting than fiction) but it seems like Hollywood -- or arrogant screenwriters -- can never leave well enough alone and they end up creating a tightrope walk that few can manage.

And lastly, DP, your end paragraphs seem like a glowing endorsement of suicide bombers as heroes and people like von Stauffenberg as cowards. I'm sure a lot of militant islamist are saying "And me? I would have killed (insert enemy here) for the love of my country, my family, and hundreds or thousands dying daily at the hands of this (blank). Wouldn't you?"

Joe, it's interesting you bring up GNGL. I wasn't too far above your age cut off when I saw it the first time. I actually thought the movie downplayed McCarthy too much. He came across as some ranting blowhard whose bark was worse than his bite. I did not think the movie did a good job conveying why it was such a big deal. The proceedings were too low key for me. I watched it on DVD a second time, and I appreciated the filmmaking more (it's really done well), but still couldn't shake the feeling that it wouldn't have been a bad idea not to play the whole thing in a diminuendo.

I'm sure there'll be a similar debate about Frost/Nixon regarding the history. It opens in DC tomorrow and I hope to catch it ASAP.

Some people believe that Joe McCarthy was doomed as soon as he started appearing on TV – where he did indeed come across as a “ranting blowhard” – even before Edward R. Murrow (and, of course, Joseph Welch) weighed in. That is: As long as people were made aware of his outrageous claims only through newspaper accounts and radio broadcasts, McCarthy had a large, devoted following. (I think it was Andrew Sarris who once referred to him as our first “demagogue of the wire services.”) But once people actually got a good look at the guy, and saw how much he resembled a snarling villain in some Monogram Pictures crime melodrama…. Yeah, I know, that’s a pretty simplistic theory, and I don’t buy into completely. But I do remember seeing the documentary Point of Order while I was in college in the early '70s, and wondering at the time: “Geez, how did anybody ever take this clown seriously? He looks like the guy who played Frank Nitti on The Untouchables!”

We are all individuals and we all bring our stuff to every single movie we see. This is why liking a movie I dislike is not cause for me to accuse you - except in rare cases - of being an idiot or ignorant or whatever.

As a mainstream drama, which is what this movie aspires to being, if you need to have watched a certain documentary or film to "get it," then the movie has failed utterly.

My review said, specifically, that the material was not ripe for movie making... unless the focus of the film embraced the very human reasons for failure. This is in line with BC's first comment. Had "he's a Prussian aristocrat" been a part of this movie, it would have been a much better movie... not because the detail of the choice to use a bomb and run was there, but because the character would have been more complex and the choices would have been illuminated.

If you want to see this film as nothing but a procedural, I guess you might like it. But it certainly aspired to being more than that. And as long as Cruise was meant to be heroic in a classic movie way, it was doomed because of the true story.

Er, David: When did I use the words "idiot" or "ignorant"? Here is, verbatim, my original post:

David, at the risk of sounding as condescending as you often claim me to be: Exactly how much historical research did you do before writing this? Or, to put it another way: Just how familiar are you with the real-life events that inspired this story?

I was genuinely curious, because,as even jeffmcm understood me to mean, "people with differing levels of pre-existing historical info will respond to it in different ways."

Actually, I can imagine some people who are really students of this subject might be even more down on the film, simply because Valkyrie completely avoids dealing with what some claim was Claus von Stauffenberg's primary motive -- supposedly, he felt he was, quite literally, on a mission from God. That is, he felt God had allowed him to cheat death in Africa so that he would kill Hitler.

What I think is interesting is that this film will inevitably be compared to another, even more high-profile movie due next year, and it will differ in a very fundamental way, a way that man people will be rather shockd by. A movie that I have a feeling has the potential to both be horribly controversial and (based on the script) re-energize the medium for a lot of people.

What I think is interesting is that this film will inevitably be compared to another, even more high-profile movie due next year, and it will differ in a very fundamental way, a way that man people will be rather shockd by. A movie that I have a feeling has the potential to both be horribly controversial and (based on the script) re-energize the medium for a lot of people.

? Is there another Hitler-assassination movie out next year? How about a hint?

Jeez, "Inglorious Basterds" is already overrated and it hasn't even finished lensing. "Re-energize the medium"? It may serve as a passable entertainment, as all Tarantino films tend to do (most of "Death Proof" excepted), but the script was scatterbrained and completely unsatisfying.

Oh, duh.

Here's a question: looking at the precedents for Valkyrie, I notice that I haven't seen a lot of them, movies like Where Eagles Dare or The Guns of Navarone. Are there other similar movies that those who have seen Valkyrie would recommend seeing?

I have always been a big fan of 'Von Ryans Express'. Quick moving WWII action movie starring Sinatra about an escape from occupied territory.

and Jeff, thanks for mentioning Stuck a few weeks ago, I had forgotten all about that movie and put it on top of the netflix list. Nice little thriller. I used to be a big Gordon fan when I was young but lost interest after Robot Jox. Nice to see he has still got it.

And I don't know if Valkyrie touches on any of the same themes but if anyone hasn't seen the remarkable 'Downfall' from a few years ago I am sure that would be a better use of your time than catching this.

I just found out that ROD TAYLOR is going to play Churchill in INGLORIOUS BASTERDS.

Insert Lex style caps on total ownage, etc.

Actually, The Desert Fox (1951), with James Mason as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Luther Adler as Adolf Hitler and Eduard Franz as Stauffenberg covers Rommel's involvement with the assassination plot.

Rod Taylor is still alive? Wow!

(I'm ashamed to say I had a somewhat similar response a few minutes ago when I heard Van Johnson had finally died.)

I don't mean to overrate BASTERDS, having only read the script. But I maintain that the way this QT's story is, er, different from VALKYRIE does stand a chance of really surprising people - and (I guess I'm going out on a limb) of opening up a new sort of genre for tired movie fans to get excited about.

I do think the last line of the script is incredibly cheeky - and could turn out to be prophetic.

I don't mean to overrate BASTERDS, having only read the script. But I maintain that the way this QT's story is, er, different from VALKYRIE does stand a chance of really surprising people - and (I guess I'm going out on a limb) of opening up a new sort of genre for tired movie fans to get excited about.

I do think the last line of the script is incredibly cheeky - and could turn out to be prophetic.

If you are looking for a great WWII action film look no further than John Frankenheimer's "The Train", a tough as nails B&W film from the '60's starring Burt Lancaster.

Thanks to those who responded - I've seen The Train but not in several years so I may re-watch it. And The Desert Lion is one I've never seen, and sounds very directly connected, so I'll check that one out.

And yeah, I didn't know Rod Taylor was still around either, I guess the Birds haven't gotten him yet.

I read a good interview with Taylor where he talks about how proud he is of ZABRISKIE POINT, which is cool coming from such an MGM star staple.

at the time of my departure from palm springs (jeeze, 22 years ago) taylor was alive and drunk in the desert....i always just assumed he died at the bar at melvyns.......

Some genius at one of the pay services has decided to unearth ESCAPE TO ATHENA this month, the long-forgotten, probably not aired in 25 years 1979 WWII "men-on-a-mission" flick starring:

Roger Moore, David Niven, Sonny Bono, Elliot Gould, Richard Roundtree, and Telly Savalas. It looks and sounds like pretty much the same damn movie as the original BASTERDS, no?

LexG: It's not really that good. Trust me.

I have not made an exhaustive study of reviews of Valkyrie, but I believe the historic episode will always be a powerful subject.
I have watched the trailers and I am struck by two characteristics- first, Cruise's depiction of von Stauffenberg's statement to "kill Hitler" comes off like what me expected in high school play - very sophomoric. Second, why doesn't Cruise, as an accomplished actor, at least use a German accent. The power of many "Hitler" stories have been the use of actual German or at least, the use of a German accent and demeanor.

The lack of accents actually worked for me. No one is forced to speak outside of their natural dialect (Branagh, Stamp, etc). It might be odd for the first few minutes, but you get used to it pretty quickly. Besides, you don't spend the entire movie waiting for Tom Cruise to slip up in, and thus it's easier to just enjoy the movie.

I rather liked Valkyrie. It's not great, but it's solid, professional craftsmanship that is surprisingly gripping in a few spots.

HUGE Spoilers re- DP's comments...
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The way the movie played out for me, it is implied that had Nighy immediately started the coup right after the bomb went off (instead of waiting for confirmation), that the overthrow would have been so well under way that it may have succeeded even after Hitler was discovered to have survived (they could have still blamed the SS for the plot). It is stated several times that the plot would take three hours, yet even while starting three hours late they almost pull it off before Hitler emerges alive and unscathed.

As for sacrificing yourself to ensure the deed was done... well, the problem wasn't that Cruise didn't stick around for the explosion, the problem was that the bomb failed to kill Hitler (apparently, according to historians, had they just packed both pieces of plastic explosive in the suitcase they would have wiped everyone out regardless of the altered location). That bomb would have succeeded or failed regardless of whether Straumbugh (sp) stuck around. As for why Cruise's character chose to leave his hat and gun belt at the crime scene... that's another matter (much of his behavior right after the attack was pretty dumb actually... they probably should have killed their driver).

Also, the key part of the plan was remaking the German government, which would have required most of the conspirators to actually be alive to take power. Thus, having everyone alive after the assassination would have been very useful to the scheme.

May I say that it's a little ironic that Dave took issue with these characters not basically being suicide bombers, while (fairly or not) trashing The Last Samurai partially because (if I recall his review...) it seemed to ennoble Taliban-like forces (ie - the old-fashioned Samurai culture preemptively attacking the modern forces of progress).

Just my thoughts.

So where were the Swastika arm bands? This film hardly mentioned the millions killed by Hitler.
Are they trying to minimalize what ACTUALLY HAPPEND? Hitler is portrayed as just a "bad person" not the "evil spawn" that he realy was.

STUPID MOVIE!!!!!

Cruise has only ONE character: It is the SAME in all his movies. I was expecting him to jump on a couch at any moment!

This movie should have been named: "Mission Impossible IV - The War of the Worlds as seen by Jerry Maguire during his Top Gun flight training with his Eyes Wide Shut"

He didn't even bother to TRY a german accent.... A few times I swore they called him Ethan Hunt

Saw it today, was reasonably entertained. It works just fine as a thriller, and doesn't really want to be anything else - the movie doesn't want to grapple with many deeper issues, so they don't bother to do so. It's a solid, if unremarkable, piece of craft from Singer, Sigel, Ottman and co.

Re: suicide bombers, the movie makes it pretty clear (and DP himself emphasizes) that it's not a story about 'killing Hitler' but rather about a coup, and that Stauffenberg was one of the essential coup leaders, therefore couldn't kill himself to make it happen. Maybe the movie is a parable for not properly delegating?

I'm not sure what DP is talking about when he mentions 'vain' and 'preening' except that it sounds like an issue regarding Tom Cruise, not Stauffenberg.

And we didn't need to hear Cruise try a German accent - they made the right decision accent-wise.

Last, I don't think, at any point that anyone calls Cruise 'Ethan Hunt', you must have misheard.

Ehhhh.
When is Bryan Singer going to get called out for being such a shitty director? Seriously. Even "The Usual Suspects"--admittedly his career highlight--was more of a screenwriter (and actor's) triumph than a directorial one.
The first half of "Valkyrie" is somnambulant (it sure put me to sleep), and only the final 30-40 minutes--the aftermath of Cruise's Hitler assassination attempt--has a pulse.
Terrific cast, wafer-thin characterizations, minimal suspense/engagement.
I would have loved to seen a German-language version of McQuarrie's script directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel.
(And what a criminal waste of "Black Book"'s Carice Van Houten:
not a single gratuitous bush shot in the whole damn movie!)

I found the movie quite remarkable, for what it is, and that's all I care about when I see a movie, meaning it accomplished what it set out to do. Fine acting, a tight screenplay, and realistic action-- I really don't ask much more than that usually.

I think what David forgets is that the point of the movie was that this was a story worth telling, because to the characters in the movie, it really did happen, who thought this was their real chance of saving Germany from complete collapse. I don't get why that's a concept that an audiences can't get behind, but it appears the film is going to open well this weekend if its Christmas day gross is any indication.

Lastly, Cruise doing a German accent would've been pointless, considering he was speaking in German in the very beginning, and then it changes over, indicating what we were hearing as English was really what he was saying in German.

Spot the two typos, win prizes. Roger Friedman must have snuck into a public screening, that's inhumane and uncalled for.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,473079,00.html

Is there any evidence that this was supposed to be much (much?) longer at some point?

Perhaps it was a mistake to take in this chilly, sometimes drab, meat-and-potatoes suspenser within the same 24 hours as the overwhelmingly emotional Man on Wire and Ben Button.

But even without those rattling around in one's thoughts, Valkyrie seems cold, stripped to the bone, strangely aloof. ZERO characterization, very little if any directorial indulgence... beyond the inherent rooting-for-the-good-guys angle, this might be the barest minimum human exposition imaginable for a movie that runs a hair over 2 hours.

And I think Singer even kinda bungled some of the suspense beats. It hits a nice stride in the midsection and the 2nd hit attempt, but even then, there are these weird, meaningful glances and exhanges between characters where I wasn't 100% sure what was going on-- I'm thinking of that explosives-constructing, bloody shirt moment, and the much later arrest of Tom Wilkinson, where I *think* we're seeing some "OH SHIT" moment, but it was either sailing over my head, or I was reading too much into the proceedings. (Seriously, Wilkinson gives some anonymous soldier dude a PRONOUNCED NOD right out of the masked ball dude nodding to Cruise in EWS, and I had NO FUCKING IDEA what that was about.) All this confusion in the moment, despite the fact that Cruise's crew outlines their master plan *700 TIMES* in the first hour.

And Branagh disappears for what must be 80 minutes of screen time, only to get a "profound" tag at the end of a movie that's effectively shuffled him off to the sidelines.

And by the last 10 or 15 minutes, I was out of the movie completely; Singer pulls out the emotional stops but considering we've barely gotten to know any of these people, and can barely tell some of them apart, it just seemed depressing, not because of the tragedy onhand, but because everything up till then had been so chilly and maddeningly remote.

Valkyrie may not be as big as he was anticipating if the box office returns as poor as it reviewed. Critics, citing his performance as dry and not very entertaining, have panned the film. The reviewers have thus far found that Germans, one with an American accent and a few more with British accents, aren't very believable. Some believe that his glory days, Top Gun and the Mission: Impossible series are behind him. Valkyrie is based on the account of the assassination plot against Adolf Hitler that nearly succeeded, and most participants were executed.

For more information about Valkyrie and Tom Cruise, check out this article on the payday loan blog.

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