Only one type of audience will be disappointed  fanatic Wagner fans

Rating: Null/10 (14 February 2009)

A portion of the audience will walk into the theatre thinking that "Operation Valkyrie" is about a plot to assassinate Hitler. That is actually not correct. Rather, it has to do with the first question Colonel Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) asks when he is recruited into the conspiracy: "What happens after that?" Meaning "what happens after Hitler is killed", Stauffenberg is the only one smart enough to see the illusion of the plotters that their own popularity alone is sufficient to get things under control. Something elaborately planned and meticulously executed is needed to allow the well-meaning plotters to prevent chaos and put the country into an orderly state before surrendering to the Allies. That something is "Valkyrie".
The plot is to kill Hitler with a bomb planted at a military strategy meeting and immediate trigger "Operation Valkyrie" to spread the words that the SS is attempting a coup. Friendly military units will be mobilized to take control of various sections of the country in support of a new leader. After an abortive first attempt, the second try works as Satuffenberg walks away from the meeting chamber just before the bomb he personally planted explodes. Off he goes to kick-start "Valkyrie" with his fellow conspirators. Things all work according to plan, except for one little detail  Hilter is not killed, but only slightly wounded.
I wouldn't go into any more details. Suffices to say that even when we all know that Hitler was not killed in this (or any other) assassination attempt, the movie is filled with palpable, gripping tension from beginning to end. Throughout the movie, most of which is without background music and indeed often without any sound at all, our hearts pound with every turn of event, small and large, that affect the fate of this group of people that we root for right from the start.
The cast is superb, with Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy and Terence Stamp playing three of the key figures in the conspiracy. Tom Wilkinson plays the general who, with some persuasion, joins the cause and gets very close to becoming the man who saves Germany from the humiliation of a defeat under Hitler. Tom Hollander is the military man who, carrying out his orders with strict discipline, turns from initially assisting the conspiracy (unwittingly) to crushing it. There is also an ensemble of good German actors whom the audience would probably vaguely recognize from an assortment of Hollywood movies. Decidedly wasted is the talent of Carice van Houten (resplendent in "Black Book" (2006)) playing Satuffenberg's wife, with little to do (but still managing to do quite well).
One particular interesting point an average user of today's communication technology cannot help but notice is how power and control rely so much on communication  dispatching and receiving of information. You then wonder that in today's communication landscape of SMS message and the like, how much the plan "Operation Walkyrie" will need to be re-written? Just to close off with my summary line, it would probably be fair to say that most Wagner fans would love the "Ride of the Valkyries" theme from "Die Walkure", second of the four operas in his legendary "Ring Cycle". But if they are attracted to this movie by the title, they will be disappointed to find there is less than 30 seconds of the music that they will hear, as played from a record. Far better to watch "Apocalypse now" (1979) if that's what they're after.