A Great Movie for History-Minded People

Rating: 9/10 (8 January 2009)

Valkyrie was in incredibly accurate film with regard to what actually happened on this particular plot to kill Hitler. Of course, they had to embellish a bit on the details they didn't know about. Tom Cruise, though I'm not a fan, did an excellent job portraying his character as did much of the cast. The battle scenes were sparse but very well done, and the uniforms were very much accurate. I swear, I don't know how Hollywood does it, but the sets for WWII Germany are immaculate. Furthermore, the story is just incredibly well-told, if you've read any book on the matter.
I think the reason some people didn't like this movie was that they got lost in the history of the plot -- They don't really explain who or what the SS really were or represented, and failed a bit to really explain the importance of the main characters trying to change certain directives during the plot. This makes sense, of course, if you are knowledgeable about WWII Germany or the Nazi Party, but I think this was lost on some viewers. Kids these days...
If you like to read about history, war, or are at all interested in an accurate film on the plot to kill Hitler, you should definitely see this movie.
As an aside, I have many friends who didn't see the movie because they heard that they don't use German accents when they speak... Are you kidding me?? First, they adequetly transition from German to English in the first few minutes of the movie so you don't have to watch a subtitle film, and second, Good Lord! Does having an actor with a false German accent playing a German character really make a difference? Remember Enemy at the Gates? All the Russian soldiers had British accents. Did anyone complain?? Did anyone criticize 13th Warrior for the same transition?