Valkarie Review 8-17-2009:
The lastest from director Bryan Singer (and the 3rd to my count that deals at least partially with Nazis) is Valkarie which recently came out on DVD and Blu-Ray. Away on my vacation we were looking to rent a movie and this was one that everyone was looking forward to seeing. This review is based on the DVD since that is all we had access to while away, unfortunately I cannot comment on the qualities of the Blu-Ray version. In the end, I was the only one who really enjoyed it, with my fiancee being the 2nd best of it being "ok." This is not for everyone, especially for those looking for an action movie.
Valkarie is based on the real life events of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and his plan to take out Hitler and regain congrol of Germany. It was the last of 15 attempts on Hitler's life, and happened a mere 9 months before Hitler ultimate commited suidicide. I knew nothing of the events beforehand and I was gripped throughout the entire movie about what would happen next. I am sure some artistic liberties were taken with the story so I do not know how close it is to fact, but I know that it got me interested enough that I will seek out some documentaries on the subject to compare (and will update review accordingly). While the others I watched it with felt the movie dragged, I kept wanting to see what would happen next and I was just amazed to see what people would go through to try and stop someone ruling them so harshly. It was most interesting of all to see that not all Nazis were how we portray them here in the US, and I'm shocked that despite it being based on fact that more people didn't complain as they did with the John Cusak movie Max. In that movie it showed a young Adolf Hitler as a struggling artist, and since he was not shown as a monster, people were in an uproar. Maybe it was because it was not Hitler himself and the Nazis instead.
As mentioned before, this is not an action movie. While there are a couple scenes such as the opener where you see how Tom Cruise's character loses his hand and eye, it is more about plotting and setting up the effort to take him out. The actual scene involving the bombing, it was more about suspence than action. The movie is an even 2 hours and while others felt it dragged, I felt it went by quickly and so I have to say that if you're looking for a good drama depicting real life events that interest you, this is a great movie to watch. If you're expecting a Saving Private Ryan or something along those lines, you will not find it here. Tom Cruise gives a great performance no matter what you think of the guy and the directing by Singer is also top notch.
Watching the DVD on a standard TV with the TV speakers I have to say the image was very clear and the sound came through well and was mixed well. It did not have any of the typical "turn it up for dialogue, turn it down for action and music" that can be heard on other DVDs. Again, it was not my usual setup and I will try to rent the Blu-Ray in the future so I can really compare. Being a rental it was just the first disc which has no extras to speak of, but there is a 2 disc special edition available.
Fans of singer and war history give it a look, I really enjoyed it.
Great Review! I watched Valkyrie in theatres. I actually went with a few friends who didn't really like it either, but I found it enthralling, myself. I guess its really about who you are as a person that decides if you'll like Valkyrie or not.
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