Posted on 12/26/2008 4:27:13 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
I actually like Tom Cruise as an actor. I thought he was terrific in flicks like Rainman and Jerry McGuire. His religion is a tad "out there" for my taste, but whatever.
I thought that the film is a real contribution to the education of our dumbed-down kids. My daughter actually whispered to me halfway through "he doesn't succeed, does he?"
Yikes.
So it's good to bring this up.
As to the reviewer's concerns about it being a "Nazi apologia" - that's just silly. The film is a pean to a group of very brave men who tried to kill Hitler. What's not to like?
Had they succeeded and managed to depose the SS, millions of lives would have been saved. Maybe Warsaw could have been spared, who knows?
I was looking forward to seeing the movie ... until I saw that it was just another Tom Cruise vehicle.
Too bad.
Cruise wouldn’t make a pimple on von Stauffenberg’s ..... nevermind.
I enjoyed the movie and I am still stunned at how much Cruise looks like von Stauffenberg.
From what I’ve read on the subject they loved their country and, for a while, admired what Hitler was trying to accomplish, but sometime in the early 1940’s became disillusioned by him... Hitler didn’t truly “Nazzify” the military until after this attempted suicide, however.
What I keep thinking is something like this could never get so far in 2008, especially under someone as paranoid as Hitler. All our surveilance systems pretty much rule out something of the sort.
Actually Cruise was the perfect choice given he is the spitting image of the character he was playing. So far the only negative comments I’ve read on this movie is from people who have not actually seen it yet... those who went to see it came away with a different attitude.
That is one of my favorite mini-series, I still want to buy the DVD set.
I didn't think I would based on reviews I had read earlier, but I am glad I gave it a chance anyway.
The non-German accent of Cruise was a little annoying at first. But so were the British accents by some of the other actors.
But about 15 to 20 minutes into the move, I didn't pay attention to it.
There were many Germans and Nazis to hate in this movie. I didn't think they covered up the accountability.
It wasn't the best movie I have seen this year, but definitely worth seeing. Entertaining.
I can’t ever watch those Holocaust scenes again, they still give me nightmares, and it’s amazing that they were able to be so graphic in a made-for-TV series.
I was a history undergrad when the series ran.
Certain it would be the same old dumbed-down, cliche-ridden, lowest common denominator pablum that permeated miniseries, I had no plans to watch it.
Accidentally coming across it during the holocaust scenes, I was stunned at how well produced it was. I remember thinking “This is too good for prime time TV.”
I didn’t see the whole series, or even most of it, so I can’t judge the program. But, what I saw of it was excellent.
On the one hand, most all of the conspirators were not Nazi Party members.
On the other hand, all of the conspirators were indeed human.
Or did you just mean: “The only good Kraut is a dead one?”
It occurs to me, on the subject of accents, that it’s really a no-win situation. Germans don’t perceive themselves as having “German” accents, they perceive each other as having Bavarian, Berliner, Plattdeutsch accents and so forth.
Having English-speaking actors with different English accents should only be a distraction to those who think the whole film should have been in German with English subtitles.
Reviews for Australia were as bad as Valkyrie, and I enjoyed it as well.
There were 6 (SIX) core members? SIX people? The total resistance to Hitler could be put on a school bus - with plenty of empty seats? Shame on them - shame on the Germans.
All German soldiers were not NAZI’s. Many German soldiers fought for the same reason most soldiers fight; for the man on his right and on his left. The cruelest soldiers in WW2 were the Japanese. The most brutal were the German SS Divisions AND the Soviet Red Army. In North Africa, where it was largely the British against the German Wehrmacht, the conflict was described as “The war without hate.” on the Eastern front, where the Germans(SS) fought the Soviets, it was called “The war without pity.”
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