| Valkyrie [DVD] [2008] | ![Valkyrie [DVD] [2008]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512Z5FbkLrL._SL160_.jpg) | Director: Bryan Singer
Actors: Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Terence Stamp, Eddie Izzard
Studio: MGM Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: £19.99
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Rating:  108 reviews
Format: Anamorphic, PAL
Language: English (Audio Description)
Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region: 2
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.78:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 121 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5039036041348
ASIN: B001U8A55Q
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: June 8, 2009
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Simply outstanding June 12, 2009
J. Champs (United Kingdom)
31 out of 35 found this review helpful
As an expert on Nazi Germany, having studied the subject for over 35 years, having grown to understand its causes and motivations and how these lead to an appalling - yet well stated intent - to massacre and conquer, this film simply captivates and overwhelms. I had heard a great deal of criticism levelled at Tom Cruise for attempting to play a 6ft 2 Colonel who is regarded as the chief hero of the German resistance.
However, with one tiny inaccuracy at the start of the film, it proceeded in its relentless journey to impress time after time, with its locations, infinitesimal attention to detail which can only be described as a triumph of research and its utterly moving telling of a story doomed to fail from the day it was conceived.
If ever there was a tale about how not to carry out a military coup this is it. Endless good intentions utterly ruined by a total failure of communications.
I found the scene at The Berghof, when Stauffenberg has to get Hitler to sign the Walkure amendment to enable the plan to take shape, simply unbearable in its tension. Every member of the senior German government was instantly recognisable to me without any names being used and most of them not speaking, they were that superbly portrayed and chosen. The exceptional detail of the Berghof layout was just awe-inspiring.
The aircraft scene (which there is an interesting documentary about on the disc) is again outstanding, this is exactly how Hitler travelled. Even the way everyone reluctantly puts out their cigarettes (Hitler loathed smoking)as he arrives. The focus on a mosquito biting a guard - emphasising the sultry summer heat and mosquito infested Rastenburg site was genius. You didn't have to do it, but in doing so, for detail freaks like me, this was extraordinary.
The acting was outstanding, simple as that. I may not get an Oscar or any awards, but I regard this film as one of the finest historical recreations ever made.
To all involved thank you. I and several others were in floods of tears at the end when I saw this twice at the cinema, and already three times on Blu-Ray. Never mind the digital copy that sits on my iPhone so I can bore others to death at will.
I cannot say anything bad about this film. It was a risk to make it, asking for massive criticism and yet its sensitivity, detail and accuracy, especially using (even if unintentionally in one case) the actual locations where possible, just made it as near perfect as can be reasonable 65 years past the event.
Taut and compact thriller - very much a movie rather than a historical study March 8, 2009
Captain Pugwash (UK)
60 out of 72 found this review helpful
Tom Cruise stars as Colonel Von Staffenberg in this semi-factual account of the most notorious of all wartime plots to assassinate Adolf Hitler and end WWII. Cruise portrays Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, a wealthy aristocrat who lost an eye and a hand while fighting for Germany during World War II. Stauffenberg became the key man in a large-scale conspiracy that set out to assassinate the Nazi leader and seize control of the German government. The film's main event is the assassination attempt that took place on July 20, 1944, at the Wolf's Lair; Hitler's Eastern Front military headquarters located in what is now Poland. The film examines the preparation for the assassination, its implementation and the attempted coup that followed. The interest isn't in the final results -- it's the details of what happens along the way that matter.
Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects) directs with his trademark economical flair; there is no fat on this movie and the predominantly British cast all acquit themselves well. Tom Wilkinson, Kenneth Cranham, Terence Stamp and the ubiquitous Bill Nighy are just some of the accomplished cast, which also features comedian Eddie Izzard in an unusual but inspired piece of casting. The action is sparing but consequently the film's intensity is maintained throughout, as the band of disillusioned conspirators gradually move towards their goal.
Much has been made of Cruise's willingness to participate in this relatively low-key project, and of the director's decision that the actor were to speak in their own accents during the movie. However, I didn't feel that the latter detracted from the power of the performances nor did Cruise seem out of place as the mutilated and enigmatic Staffenburg; in my humble opinion. I was also disturbed but intrigued by the film's historical aspects, as I had little knowledge of the Staffenburg plot or any of its participants prior to watching this film. Critical reception seems to have been mixed, but all I can say is that I would recommend this as an edgy historical thriller, with a decent cast and high production values.
DVD extras include The Valkyrie Legacy', a fairly lengthy documentary from The History Channel. Historians and spokesmen for the German Resistance Memorial Centre talk about the events dramatized in the film. we even hear from two of Von Stauffenberg's children, one of whom was born in a concentration camp.
Far exceeded my expectations! July 14, 2010
Dan the man (North Yorkshire)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
I unexpectedly enjoyed it, May 31, 2009
Bill Calamita
28 out of 35 found this review helpful
I was a little hesitant to see this movie since it's an historical story & also because of the mediocre reviews, I expected to be bored, but my husband wanted to see it & I thought that I would fall asleep watching, as usual, but I was wrong. The movie engaged me from the beginning & even though I knew the ending, the movie was quite captivating & kept me up waiting to see what will happen. A very nice surprise. Also Tom Cruise was great even though I don't care for him much lately he really gave this movie a soul. Well done.
Straightforward but suspenseful retelling of the plot to kill Hitler July 8, 2009
Mr. Stephen Kennedy (Doha, Qatar)
12 out of 16 found this review helpful
A straightforward telling of the true life story of the last known assassination attempt on Hitler, in 1944, what this movie lacks in surprises it makes up with more than a dash of style.
A stellar cast come together, in a movie with a very traditional feel about it - non showy direction, just telling the story as it was. Tom Cruise is fine as Stauffenberg, with just enough depth to portray the level of charisma the man must surely have had to get as far as he did, and the boldness he must have had to start the whole process with as much confidence as he seems to have had. The rest of the cast is like a who's who of British cinema, reminding the viewer of the classic war movies of old. And the movie really does seem to share a gene pool with those epic war movies recreating real life movies, with the same pros and cons they had. On the plus side, the movie convinces on authenticity. Events appear close to the known facts, without too much embroidering for effect. The budget, though not overblown by today's standards, and fairly small by Cruise' standards, has enough to create some terrific set design - the planes, the settings, the real life locations, and the recreation of the wolf's lair - all help to immerse you in the story. On the minus side, the cast are all worthy, but never outstanding. It's as if they are playing their roles with kid gloves, to be as reverential as possible to people who actually existed. Perhaps with one exception - Bill Nighy portrays the films more ambiguous character, in a role which starts to flesh out some of the anguish that must have been felt building up to what amounted to High Treason. It's a performance which manages to scratch a little beneath the surface of how it would have felt, rather than the bare facts - and yet still treats the character with respect. Other than that, although well told, the movie sticks to facts and avoids any depth.
Kudos to director Bryan Singer then - he has taken a moribund genre (WW II thriller), with a story we know the ending to, and still managed to make something relatively nail biting, and certainly visually satisfying. It's just not got enough depth or originality to join the ranks of the classics.
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