The bad buzz for Bryan Singer’s Valkyrie has been building over the last few months. additional photography, added with a complete release date shift to February (after Awards Season), resulted in the release of negativity in Hollywood. It also doesn’t help that Crusie’s last film Lions For Lambs bombed. But so far everything I’ve seen about this film has been very impressive. From the screenplay, to the first production photos which included a comparison shot of Tom Cruise against the real life Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, to the teaser trailer that was released a few months back. Even bitter, angry Variety editors have recently written “several people I trust have seen VALKYRIE and testify that it’s a superb thriller. ‘Bryan Singer is back in form,’ says one source.”
The desire for this film to be a failure is massive. Everyone has purchased a pair of hater pants from the anti-Tom Cruise store (metaphorically speaking, I hope). I think everyone needs to watch the Valkyrie movie trailer below (note: it’s not new), and form an opinion based on what is shown. Forget what you’ve read about the production, and put your passive aggressive Cruise-bashing feelings away. Tell me what you think in the comments below.
Official Plot Synopsis: The “July 20 Plot” on Hitler’s life is one of the most heroic but least known episodes of World War Two. Severely wounded in combat, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg returns from Africa to join the German Resistance and help create Operation Valkyrie, the complex plan that will allow a shadow government to replace Hitler’s once he is dead. But fate and circumstance conspire to thrust Stauffenberg from one of many in the plot to a double-edged central role. Not only must he lead the coup and seize control of his nation’s government… He must kill Hitler himself.
Valkyrie hits theaters on February 13th 2009.
June 8th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
bryan singer = awesome
June 8th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
ehh…i’ve seen better Tom Cruise films, but this looks better than crap like Lions For Lambs. still, i can’t wait to see the next film he appears in…Tropic Thunder
June 8th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
What’s with the accents? It’s kind of like Hitler had a couple British and an American as his generals.
June 8th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
So if it is based on a true story and we, people, know Hitler died from poison pills, doesn’t that mean that they failed and all died?
June 8th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Yeah, they did. I can’t imagine the ending of this movie is going to be anything but superbly depressing.
June 8th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Just because it’s fashionable to hate on Cruise lately doesn’t mean this film is going to be bad…I think also the fact that the movie shows a positive side of the Germany army during WWII…trying to kill Hitler, has a lot of people unsettled if they can believe this story…with years of making out all German soldiers as pure evil in films…thanks to Spielberg….People seem to forget that German army were also human and not everyone believed in what was going on…It wasn’t until films like “The Pianist” and “Black Book” where the humanity and the evil sides were both shown…A non-Superman Singer movie could be good right? Isn’t he a decent film maker…he’s no Brett Ratner!
June 8th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
woah! great accents…
June 8th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
heh, the British/Cruise accents mixed with the eye-patch on his otherwise instantly recognizable face combine to be way too distracting for me.
June 8th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
i agree with what a lot of people are saying about the accents. period movies like this loose a lot of authenticity when no one speaks in the correct language.
June 8th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Is the actor they chose for Hitler the best choice? Definitely an interesting choice.
June 8th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Well Christopher (you gotta be kidding me) I disagree with your point about heroic nazi’s.
This group of scum were only trying to kill Hitler because he was losing the war based on his poor leadership brought on by mental disease.
If successfull Valkre and his men would have overthrown him and only taken the war in a different direction.
Btw.
Hitler survived the war. His body-double was the one in the bunker…
June 8th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
WOW. What the?
I mean, obviously the best way to do this is in German with subtitles, but that loses a lot of mainstream appeal, so I let that go…..
But they just throw the accents out the window completely? I mean, COME ON.
I won’t see this film simply for the fact that I did not hear ONE German accent in the trailer.
It renders the flick retarded.
June 8th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Nazi’s, the “zombies” of the movie industry.
June 8th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Well, I’ve seen Apt Pupil and The Usual Suspects, as well as X-Men, X2, and Superman Returns. I enjoyed all these movies and after watching that trailer I want to see this too. I can put aside my dislike for Cruise if there are strong enough factors that I feel are positive. I saw MI:3 because it was directed by J.J. Abrahms and I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed War Of The Worlds for the most part. When it’s a director/writer I like, it would take really drastic casting to turn me off of the movie.
June 8th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
OK so I watched it again because this article said it was so good. But I’m sorry, it isn’t just the fact
that Cruise is in it that bothers me, but is he such a bad actor that he can’t even sport a German accent? If I was German I’d be really pissed off about it. And that one line in the film “they’re gonna pull you apart like warm bread”. WHAT THE F@CK is that?
I saw the trailer twice now and now I KNOW I won’t go see it.
Thank you.
June 8th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Just like Star Wars, I wonder if people will line up to see this in costume??
June 8th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
@790
It’s just an opinion, and no I haven’t studied too much WWII history sorry for my ignorance. My point was that people may be turned off to the idea of Nazis being “heroes” in the film. Because that seems to be the theme of the trailer. And yes the accents ruin the atmosphere they could have had Cruise still as the leading role but hire more German/Austrian actors or at least have them all work with a dialect coach.
June 8th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Look, I don’t know why there has been so much negativity towards this. The accents aside, everything i’ve seen looks good. Also, Bryan Singer has a good track record if you exclude Superman which some didn’t like.
June 8th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Man, I really want to see him in Valkyrie, but since he is gonna be in Tropic, its not so bad that the movie is gonna be out next year. I get my fix with Tropic, and Ben Stiller and Robert Downey jr and Jack Black and gang are a bonus! I heard the movie is super funny so I will be watching and taking my friends with me. I saw Zohan yesterday, it was hella funny, non stop funny. I highly recommend it!
June 8th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
umm, yea that’s tom cruise being tom cruise alright. he has become so one dimensional it’s not even funny. there was not one thing in that trailer that has me even remotely interested in seeing this.
June 8th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Is it just me, or did the only German accent come from the arresting officer?
So English and American accent Nazis good - German accent Nazis bad?
June 8th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
there is no way to watch a tom criuse film anymore and NOT think what a kook he is.
am i suppose to buy that a high German Officer is a “hero” ??
his accent or lack of will be a huge distraction.
Cruise is finished as a serious actor.
June 8th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
There are a lot of red flags with this trailer, synopsis. First, I think mainstream audiences home or abroad are going to have trouble rallying around a “good-guy” Nazi, especially the much embittered Cruise. Second, in the synopsis, it describes Valkyrie as a “complex plan” which means that we’ll spend hours in the theater trying to piece together a plan that ultimately fails. Finally as stated before, the accents are terrible. I can only imagine Hitler possessing an English Cockney accent.
June 8th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
I think the only way Tom Cruise can really revamp himself as an actor is if he takes that constant smirk off his face. Remember Collateral? Last Samurai? His performance were great in those movies!
June 8th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
I agree Christopher that the accents do suck and are killing this film more that Cruise.
They couldn’t even get a german accent on Siegfried in the new Get Smart film.
Iiiiiiiiiddiots!
June 8th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Germans with American & British accents, this one’s going to be GREAT… not.
June 8th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
The accents are a major fault imo but I liked the trailer. If it gets good buzz/reviews I might see it.
June 8th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
why are you, and every other news site posting this trailer? it came out like… almost 6 months ago.
June 8th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Branden, I think its cause its a slow weekend for film news and everyone loves to kick the half-dead corpes of tom cruise’s career around for sport.
Have to admit the accents are kinda horrible and were supposed to sympathize with nazi’s??
F that!
Die Monster Die!
June 8th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I like the trailer. A movie with a trustworthy director, cast, and story… it can’t go anywhere wrong. I will be interested to see the movie.
June 8th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
I am one of the few (I guess) who still likes Tom Cruise and I will probably see this movie.
The accent thing doesn’t really bother me at all. For me, if Tom Cruise had faked a German accent it would have been more distracting. I mean I was severely distracted by Cate Blanchett’s accent in Indiana Jones.
June 8th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
I think this movie would play well if it was done as a comedy. Nazis are so funny when they are falling down.
Also, they need more characters in eye patches….maybe 3 or 4 characters in eye patches. That would be cool.
June 8th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Gocitizen,
First it was called , “The Great Escape”. The nazi’s were pretty comical in that film.
That film later became the orgin for “Hogans Heroes” the tv show.
(Lamest nazi’s ever. Lovable guards like Shultlz come on that never happened).
Do we want a Hogans Heroes reboot? Or should I ask when is the Hogans Heroes film coming out?
June 8th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
The accent issue is moot IMO. If you want realism in that vein, then it should be a movie written and spoken in german. Giving them german accents (some of which may wind up being more distracting than a lack of accents) doesn’t make it more realistic at all.
With a large cast, the accents need to be an all or nothing affair. Either everyone has one and does it well, or nobody does. I don’t think Enemy at the Gates suffered because they cast two brits and an american as russians and germans.
June 8th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
I wonder if British actors have always played ‘Julius Caesar’ with the appropriate accent?
It’s also funny how less than two weeks ago (maybe more) this very site posted an excerpt of Hitchcock describing how film as a medium was dying because of an over-reliance on the use of sound and dialog, generating nothing from most of you but cheers of ‘Bravo!’ of puppy-like (or perhaps lemming-like) affection, and now we have that same lot upset because a group of actors only portraying WWII Nazis not hawking up some phony German pseudo-language.
Filmmakers should have a creative license to either implement or ignore the language a historical event was exacted with or around, and the same goes with cranking up their accents.
And I bet most of the people bitching about the accents and/or absence of German just love Gladiator, anyway.
June 8th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
MEDIA SABOTAGE, if you ask me.
Anyone who has seen the trailer and has been following the bad press about this film will know instantly that it’s all been nothing but a blitz to destroy this film before it’s even released.
The press consistently talk about how Tom Cruise’s German accent is absolutely horrible, and how it completely takes one out of the film. My question is, what bad German accent? If you’ve watched the trailer, you’ll see that Cruise speaks with his normal American voice. Proof that all those who are trying to bring this movie down, haven’t even watched a single frame of footage of this flick.
June 8th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Excuse me ,,(Assume the Virtue), but if Tom Cruise wants to show me (and the world) he can act he should have done the entire film in natural German / with Sub-titles…
Same with the entire cast!
Blow me away with something NEW on this tired old story.
This is shit!!!!
June 8th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
They should just release the German version to the world.
It would be a total German voice over, by German VO actors.
Bring on the sub-titles.
Sheeesh
June 8th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
I actually want to see this. I’m a huge fan of WWII and this is only one of the many plots against Hitler. True many people will be turned off seeing Nazi’s as “good” guys but I remember there was a movie about a German doctor during WWII and it was the last days of WWII, if anyone knows of the movie can you please tell me the title, a friend of mine was watching it and I never got the name of it, it was pretty good too.
June 8th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
yeah if you are really into realism, why not pick apart Schindlers List? They all spoke English. Sure there was an accent…but how does the accent make it any more real? you still have to suspend your belief to think that they actually spoke english. Lesson: People like to bitch. And just because Cruise is a nut…who cares? Should you judge a film because you don’t like somones personal life? Most actors are crazy assholes. He’s not that different from his peers. All I’m saying is judge the film after you’ve seen it and try to ignore any personal biases you may have.
June 8th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
The title was Der Untergang, or The Downfall in English.
June 8th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
I’d rather see Defiance.
June 8th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
I’m a big fan of the Great Escape, but those Nazis had some serious teeth. They were going to shoot bullets right into the back of that truck loaded with brush. That was terrifying.
I’m not saying I don’t like Valkyrie as it is, but it would be AWESOME with a Captain Klink cameo.
June 8th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
This movie does, kinda seem interesting, but I cannot put aside the fact that Tom Cruise has become the most annoying celebrity and that everyone in the trailer has a different accent.
And, on a final note, these people were trying to kill Hitler because he and his strategy was losing the war…not because they cared about anyone else.
June 8th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Hi,
I’m german and im pissed off about the accents ;-)
You englishspeaking guys could import the german synchronized DVD through amazon. In german it will be much more authentic and Tommys german voice is far better than his real.
Norman
P.S. I’m no Nazi. My family fled from Bohemia, my grandfather lost his baby brother and my great-grandmother was nearly raped by russians. Not only that, those were cannibalistic in the winters. No joke.
June 8th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Right on Norman E!, but hopefully it won’t come to that.
If they release a dvd version in the states. All they have to do is put a German language version. It could boost sales. !!!!!?
June 9th, 2008 at 12:22 am
yeah. i love how everyone hates this movie immediately for the lack of accents.
i can guarantee that every one of you complaining would be just as mad at ‘tom cruise’s lame german accent’. if you have a complaint about the actual story or the writing or directing, let me know.
so far all ive heard is ‘tom cruise sucks’ which just isnt true, you dont like his personal life, and ‘the accents are lame’ which is just a matter of taste.
i would rather see a well acted film in each of the actors native language than some farce contrived around false accents that wouldnt even sound realistic.
June 9th, 2008 at 12:23 am
Ok putting aside the fact the Cruise is a complete nutjob what really bothered me about this trailer and alot of u seem to feel the same way was the non german accents. Is it that hard to get a a language coach and learn a german accent or god forbid to speak actual german?? These guys are actors right? So stop acting like your so big of a movie star that people wont care how authentic the movie is if u just decide to speak with an americam accent!!
June 9th, 2008 at 12:26 am
Good for you Aritt.
June 9th, 2008 at 12:30 am
@790
Your an Iiiiiiidiot!
June 9th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Is that all you got?
June 9th, 2008 at 12:46 am
Looks good, alot of people will have problems with it though.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:14 am
This is gonna be so crap its not funny! As soon as i heard an AMERICAN who was dressed as a GERMAN I thought it must be some kinda joke, and that this “serious” movie was a “Hot Shots” kinda spoof! How can anyone take this film seriously when the fundamental ingredient is wrong? i can see a 3.5/10 on imdb coming lol
June 9th, 2008 at 1:33 am
Suspend disbelief much?
I’m astounded that so many people are hung up on the accents (or lack thereof). As far as I’m concerned, it’s a fucking non-issue.
Seriously, get over it. It’s not a deal breaker.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:58 am
This trailer is laugh out loud funny! God watching this train wreck unfold is sure to be more entertaining than the actual movie.
Chud reviewed the script last year, before even the first teaser trailer came out. The pan was pretty funny and included choice bits quoted from the script. You’ve got to go read it.
June 9th, 2008 at 4:39 am
Likewise, the language is a non-issue for me since the dialogue is already not in German (would have preferred subtitles and all).
If the actors all speak with a German accent, it would really be distracting.
June 9th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Once upon a time, I admittedly fast-forwarded through parts of Far and Away, slept through Top Gun, and guessed the plot of Mission Impossible during the opening credits and so was able to avoid the film altogether.
It wasn’t until Minority Report that I cracked open another film with Cruise in it.
Cruise totally surprised me in that film. He seemed to be a different man than I remembered–humbled, broken, with a spark of determination left in him that he could not deny–hope: even if it was only a false hope (the desire to find/ see his son).
In simple terms, it was the first and only film I’ve ever seen him act human–and the freaking thing was a sci-fi flick!
I did see War of the Worlds, which impressed my seventeen year old youngest brother in a way that shocked me, and I remember suffering through some wretched thing called Vanilla Clouds or something–though I learned later it was a remake of the original Spanish film.
And whatever Cruise may be worshipping (which I very much doubt has changed from his own person since day one) I can’t seem to douse my own spark of hope that ignited the day I saw him take on and produce a character I not only liked, but empathized with.
So, while I doubt–considering the theme of this film–there will be much empathizing, I do hope there will be a chance for Cruise to at least “act” human and demonstrate the reality of ones “monster” getting out of hand, for Brenau to insight use to their cause, no matter the morality behind it–for I highly doubt movies such as Munich hope we all become avengers for our fellow countrymen–so much as to simply demonstrate the flaws in humanity and help us to reconnect by a fascinating process–movie watching–and understand the imperfection of mankind for a few hours of our precious time.
Good luck, guys. I’ll be watching. :3
June 9th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Looks great! And I’ll be watching too!
June 9th, 2008 at 9:13 am
i think it looks pretty good, and i persoanlly like the photography. patiently waiting.
June 9th, 2008 at 9:15 am
It’s a well put together trailer, but the accent issue does bother me.
What bothers me the most is you have two distinct accents British
and American mixing together, it’s distracting. Not to mention
Cruise looks as if he’s playing dress up and trying to contend with
actors who have ten times the talent.
Tom is playing Tom it’s what he does best. Once in a while it
works but a lot of the time, in my opinion, it doesn’t.
As of right now this movie doesn’t have my interest, maybe it’ll change, but I’ll likely wait till DVD.
June 9th, 2008 at 10:59 am
I agree - what’s up with the accents?
June 9th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Isn’t this the old trailer that was released a few months ago? Yeah, it still looks stupid. The fact that it’s been delayed twice doesn’t make it look much better. Supposedly Bryan Singer brought this thing way over budget, as well.
Also, Cruise is just another asshole with millions of dollars at his disposal. Why people feel the need to defend him, I’ll never know. Most people think he’s a cult following weirdo, which he is. That seems fair to me, and if they don’t want to watch his movies for it, that’s also fair. It takes them out of the movie knowing this dude’s batshit insane, because they can’t take him seriously in his roles.
If some some famous actor came out and said “yeah, I fuck pandas, and I suck the life energy out of their delicious pancreases for sustenance” nobody would defend that fucker. The “oh, don’t mind his personal life! Just watch the movie!” excuse wouldn’t hold water, because it’s clear that guy is completely batty, and nobody would want to give money to that fool.
We’re the audience, so you’ve got to convince us to spend our money and time on your stupid movie. So do that, and shut the fuck up, “celebrities”.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
The accents. Really? It people think this would be a better movie if they all walked around saying things like “Ve are goink dawun to de lower level of der buildink.” Why the hell would Germans talk to each other in english with cheesy German accents? If the dialog isn’t in German, then unaccented English only makes sense.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Lol Tom, good one!
June 9th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Looks awesome, I wish it wasn’t pushed to 2009.
June 9th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
I’m not bothered by the accents.
(Someone refresh my memory… did Guiness do Hitler with a German accent? What about Richard Burton as Rommel?)
But what does bother me is the way Cruise delivers the line, “Anything is a very dangerous word, Lieutenant.” That’s Cruise playing Cruise. Reminds me of the Scientology video.
June 10th, 2008 at 10:51 am
looks pretty good. scientology aside, i think tom is a pretty good actor.
June 12th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Media and brainwashed fools want to put Cruise down, they never achieve it yet.
MI:III was a huge hit, even though Tom was trashed in the media for a year.
He’s a nice man and a great actor.
Posters here are just batshit insane.
June 12th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
GO CRUISE…..
June 12th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
I hope the movie will be a hit and garner some awards to backfire the envy and juvenility. Im watching because Cruise rarely disappoints.
June 12th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Get your facts straight: Lions for Lambs’s production budget was 35 million and it raked in 65 million. How is that a failure?
Its the only successful antiwar film amidst all the antiwar films that didnt make money at all.
Bring on Cruise in Tropic Thunder and Valkyrie.
June 13th, 2008 at 12:19 am
Here come the Cruise fans.
Aaaaaaaggghhh!!!!!!!
June 13th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
You mean…..here come the scientologists. I’m sure they would know the stats on Lions for Lams. They’re the only ones who were told to go see it!!!
June 13th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Wow Scientologists must be powerful to make box office reign for Cruise then. Good for him.
June 14th, 2008 at 11:57 am
For the lowlives dont watch. Simple as that and for us movielovers let us enjoy this historic important film.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:49 am
I’m really quite looking forward to this film. I’ve always been interested in this aspect of WWII so can’t wait to see how it turns out, and what liberties they will take.
I can separate my dislike for Cruise’s religion from my opinion of him as an actor, and whatever you say about him, he always has time for fans at premieres.