VALKYRIE: Tom Keeps An Eye On Things

VALKYRIE (Blu-ray)

2008 / 120 min

FROM MGM

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Princess Pepper😺

Man, there’s nothing like Harrison Ford punchin’ Nazis. Or Brad Pitt taking their scalps as trophies. Or Tom Cruise knocking-off the Big Cheese himself…

…well, at least he tried. And unless you slept through history class, that ain’t really much of a spoiler. While this knowledge does cast a sad shadow of inevitability over the whole thing, Valkyrie remains an engaging film with a tone similar to old school war flicks like Where Eagles Dare. It's probably one of Cruise’s more underrated recent films…if you consider 2008 recent…

…which I do, since Cruise has been doing this for over 40 years now. I didn’t really care for him back in the day, but as we’ve both grown older and he's more-or-less given up all pretenses of versatility to focus on simply being Tom Cruise the entertainer, I’ve come to appreciate the earnestness he brings to his movies. Say what you will about him personally or professionally, the guy can't ever be accused of phoning-it-in.

Like fellow Nazi bashers Ford and Pitt, Cruise is too big of a movie star to completely disappear into his role as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, who fears for Germany under Hitler’s rule. He’s appointed by like-minded officers and politicians who’ve tried and failed to assassinate the Fuhrer in the past. After recovering from a bomber attack where he lost an arm and an eye, Claus is tasked with organizing and carrying out another attempt…by panting a bomb where Hitler and his trusted officials regularly meet. 

"Eye-eye, sir. I mean eye, sir. Oh, damn."

The plan also involves implementing Operation Valkyrie, using Germany’s reserve army to help gain control of the government after the assassination is carried out. Much of the first half depicts the planning stages while establishing Claus’ cohorts, but the story really kicks into high gear once the job is carried out. Seeing the explosion, Claus is certain Hitler’s dead and orders Valkyrie to go as planned. However, there’s resistance from loyal Nazis, as well as grumblings that the assassination attempt might have failed. Of course, we know it failed and Valkyrie doesn’t attempt to revise history (even if it might have resulted in a more rousing conclusion). Still, we get the impression this is how everything actually went down back in 1944, and as such, it’s often interesting.

Cruise is, of course, still Tom Cruise. Scars, an eye-patch and a couple o’ missing appendages can’t mask that. But it’s his sincerity that’s always made him one of those compulsively watchable actors. Do we really care whether or not he's a convincing German? Elsewhere, the supporting cast is excellent, including Bill Nighy, Kenneth Brannaugh, Terrence Stamp and Tom Wilkinson. 

Valkyrie isn’t a great film, but it’s certainly a good one that deserves more attention than it actually gets. Though a little light on action for a war movie, the story, focused direction by Bryan Singer (one of his last decent efforts) and Tom Cruise’s dedicated performance keep things lively. 

This is a re-issue of a previous released Blu-ray. There are no technical upgrades or additional bonus features.