Monday, January 05, 2009

Valkyrie

For the past few weeks, a couple of the boys from the corps have been asking me to go to the movies with them. Initially, I wanted to see Quantum of Solace, but I waited to long and alas it is no longer in our local cineplex.
As I looked at the listings the last few days, I decided that Valkyrie was the movie that appealed to me the most. I told the boys and we agreed to go Sunday afternoon after our church activities.
Ever since Tom Cruise has acted a little strangely, I haven't been one of his fans. I thought he was great in such movies as Risky Business, Top Gun and was stellar in A Few Good Men.
In Valkyrie I think Cruise did a lot to redeem himself in the eyes of us "common folk."
Valkyrie starts in North Africa, where the main character Colonel Staffenberg is the Executive Officer of the German 10th Panzer Armored Division. After the truck he was in is straffed by British fighters, the Colonel is seriously wounded and the movie fast forwards to him recovering in a hospital somewhere in German occupied Europe.
Staffenberg is clearly disappointed in the direction Hitler is taking his beloved country and wants to do something about it. He stages a coup d'tat that begins by changing some executive orders regarding the German reserve Army.
However the bottom line of any coup, is the death of Hitler, which Staffenberg plans and executes...no pun intended.
Knowing history, I knew that any such attempt on Hitler did not work as he committed suicide at the close of WWII when the Allies surrounded Berlin. I therefore knew that the film did not end in a positive way for Staffenberg and his co-horts.
The movie moved slow toward the beginning, but was a very enjoyable movie. I enjoy WWII history so I was right at home seeing the story told from a German point of view...albeit a revolutionary point of view.
I would recommend this movie. It was enjoyable and Cruise did a fine job in the lead role. He was passionate. However do not look for him to have a German accent. I think the director attempted to make a transition from German to English like what happened at the opening to the 1990 movie Hunt for Red October.
Welcome Back Cruise!

3 Comments:

Blogger Evie said...

Cruise has done some good movies, but he's still insane offscreen.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009 9:09:00 PM  
Blogger Dave said...

I will look for it when it comes out on DVD. Staffenberg paniced when preparing the bomb and overlooked putting the extra stick of explosives that would have made the difference.

Thursday, January 08, 2009 11:25:00 PM  
Blogger Christian said...

Lets not forgot he only had three of his ten fingers..

Friday, January 09, 2009 12:31:00 PM  

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