[SolidWood]

On top of that, there is the matter of the uniforms and the set design. Suddenly, we have German officers in World War II who are not wearing arm bands. Their swastikas are now small tokens on chests of medals.

Roger Friedman is a certifiable idiot. The reality is that the German Army uniforms never had "Swastika Armbands" and the SS during wartime wore fieldgrey uniforms without armbands as well. It's called accuracy Roger! He seems to be caught in the 1950's Hollywood portrayal of all-black SS Gestapo men with Lugers and trench coats... oh for goodness sake get a history book!

Apart from that, the July 1944 plotters were largely opportunists who supported Hitler until the war was obviously lost.

[Erskine Childers]

I saw the film yesterday and I really liked it. I also thought that Tom Cruise was great. It looks like I’m a minority of one here.

[JimSEA]

the July 1944 plotters were largely opportunists who supported Hitler until the war was obviously lost.

Exactly, most wanted surrender terms more favorable to Germany. They were mostly horrified at the prospect of losing and fearful of an increasingly erratic and insane leader.

[Oztrich Boy]

Roger Friedman is a certifiable idiot. The reality is that the German Army uniforms never had "Swastika Armbands" and the SS during wartime wore fieldgrey uniforms without armbands as well.

This photo from July 1944 seems to confirm that

Oh, and that tall (really tall) chap on the far left - that's the character played by Tom Cruise.

[17th Miss Regt]

And there is this.

"Their swastikas are now small tokens on chests of medals. They look more like airline pilots than Nazi soldiers."

Of course he is referring to the Wehrmacht eagle on the right breast of the tunic. (This included a small swastika.) But it is clear that he is crazy with rage that the filmmaker actually used historical markings and not the ones Freidmann wanted.

And I must also comment on Freidmann's last few sentences.

"But frankly, when the violins come out at the end of the film, and Singer flashes their written fates on the screen, I felt nothing for them and anger for him. The idea that you’re supposed to feel anything but revulsion for all these people is astonishing to me."

He will be happy to know that his feelings towards the conspirators were shared by most of the German Army, almost all of the SS and most of the Nazi party.

[AndrewC]

the July 1944 plotters were largely opportunists who supported Hitler until the war was obviously lost.

Tell that to the families of those who were hung from piano wires. P.S. The film didn't mention the fact that Rommel was forced to commit suicide due to his knowledge of the plot.