More on Cruise's Stauffenberg film

[ladycplum]

Well I finally bit the bullet and bought the film, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was, a few historical inaccuracies aside. Looks-wise, Bill Nighy and Terrance Stamp looked amazingly like Olbricht and Beck. And, swallowing my pride, Tom was quite good. I would have switched Christian Berkel and Kenneth Branagh's roles though. I think Christian is a better actor, and I think he resembles Henning A LOT.

[Eddy Marz]

Hi everyone;

Frankly, I was expecting alot from the Valkyrie movie, and was quite disappointed. I mean it's not bad and all that, but there's a hopeless Hollywood air about it - even though the performers are for the most part impeccable. I thought the directing was dead :roll:. The Hitler character was a caricature, and all the behaviours slightly off. It doesn't stand up to comparison with a much cheaper and brilliant film: Der Untergang as far as credibility goes.

Eddy

[BAZ]

I think I had preconceived hatred and mistrust of the movie during the build up "hype".
AFTER seeing it I begrudgingly admit it's NOT the awful movie I expected.
I thought Singer did a good job of NOT "Hollywooding" it up!
No slow motion background explosions as Cruise walks towards camera,
no cgi car chase or acrobatic free running chase scenes.
In fact, if anything I thought it was a tad boring.
BUT I LIKE the fact it was a bit slow!
I think it showed a genuine INTEREST in telling the story to a typical "movie going"
audience!
I liked it. There, I've said it.

[Eddy Marz]

I thought it was a tad boring

Yeah; that's what I meant...

[valkyrie]

I think of it as a bit like a police procedural set in WWII - Inspector Morse in jack boots.

[Adam Carr]

I also finally got round to seeing it and was pleased to find it not as bad as I had feared - once I had gotten over Tom Cruise. I'm afraid he'll always be the kid in Risky Business for me. The story was inevitably compressed and simplified to fit the Hollywood format, but no great violence was done to the truth, although no hint is given of the real complexity of Stauffenberg's beliefs and motives. The outdoor scenes at Rastenberg looked exactly as it looks now. The only jarring note was the use of the Messe Berlin building as "SS headquarters." Although it is a Third Reich building, it doesn't look anything like Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse.

[Karl]

I thought it would be really-really-really bad and found that it wasn't really-really-really bad.

[Eddy Marz]

Let's just say that it was alright, but certainly nothing outstanding...

[colt45]

do you think Tresckow, Ludwig Beck or General Friedrich Olbricht started the thing before Stauffenberg got there but got no credit?

[Adam Carr]

Of course, there had been various plots since 1938, some of which nearly succeeded. Read Fest's book for the details. But it was Stauffenberg who actually did the deed, so he gets most of the limelight.

[Alecci]

The conspiracy existed for many years. It was just when Graf Stauffenberg joined it things really got moving. For sure, everyone involved deserve the honour due to them, but it's Graf Stauffenberg that lit the fuse and simple facts remain that there were basically more attempts during his short term of "membership" (likewise attributed to his dynamism) of 8 months as just about the previous 8 years.

Facts remain, Graf Stauffenberg was not the only one, but the motivating force and essentially carried the spirit of the opposition.

[valkyrie]

I'm not sure that I agree that Stauffenberg was more dynamic than Oster in '38 or Tresckow in '43. They all three did their utmost to get rid of Hitler. Remember that Stauffenberg was the only one with access and that several of his inspired plans came to naught as well - Breitenbuch, von dem Bussche, Kleist, July 15 etc.

Tresckow actually got a bomb onto the target's plane and led the Zeughaus attempt which was the only suicide bombing attempt that actually took place.

I always get wary when we try to rank the resisters as heros. In my view, all thos einvolved are equally entitled to some regard for their efforts, even the likes of Nebe and Helldorf (not to say the involvement offsets crimes they may have committed).

Colin

[ladycplum]

I do think there is one actor who could have done a better job than Tom (although I will eat some of my words and say he wasn't bad at all), and that is Gotz Otto. Comparing pictures of him from Der Untergang and pictures of Count Stauffenberg himself, they are damn near doppelgangers. Not to mention Gotz is an amazing actor in his own right. But of course, the movie wouldn't have generated anywhere near the publicity it got, so what can ya do?

[ladycplum]

I'm not sure that I agree that Stauffenberg was more dynamic than Oster in '38 or Tresckow in '39. They all three did their utmost to get rid of Hitler. Remember that Stauffenberg was the only one with access and that several of his inspired plans came to naught as well - Breitenbuch, von dem Bussche, Kleist, July 15 etc.

Tresckow actually got a bomb onto the target's plane and led the Zeughaus attempt which was the only suicide bombing attempt that actually took place.

I always get wary when we try to rank the resisters as heros. In my view, all thos einvolved are equally entitled to some regard for their efforts, even the likes of Nebe and Helldorf (not to say the involvement offsets crimes they may have committed).

Colin

Everyone did their part, everyone tried to do whatever they could, but for me, I really look at Tresckow as the soul of the conspiracy, from day one. I read his final words he said to Schlabrendorff and I want to cry. He saw it through to the very end, never looked back, and although normally I do look at suicide as a cowardly act (at least in Hitler's case), I think what Tresckow did was the noblest thing he could have done. He did it to save his family, hs friends, his follow conspirators, and his country. Even though he didn't die in battle, he did lay down his life for Germany. For me, he will always hold a special place among the men who stood up and said "No more."

[P. J. G. Effer]

Does anyone know how I can find the name of the actress who played the very pretty nurse?