Don't believe the so-called "professional" critics who bad-mouthed it.

Rating: 10/10 (28 December 2008)

I just got back from seeing this at an out-of-town movie theater. And, it was fantastic! I knew from high school that there had been a failed attempt, by members of his own High Command, to kill Hitler with a time bomb. But, that it was the last of FIFTEEN attempts?
Incredible!
Tom Cruise does a surprisingly good job at portraying Colonel Von Stauffenberg, a veteran of the German Army's North African campaign, whose battlefield injuries clinch his determination to end Hitler's life. Hence, his recruitment by a cadre of like-minded German generals and civilian politicians.
The behind-the-scenes intrigue at arranging a coup d'etat, that mustn't look like a coup d'etat, literally kept me on the edge of my seat. And, the scenes dramatizing the private lives of the Von Stauffenberg family, as a whole, were suitably poignant.
What really kept me emotionally involved, however, was the way some of the characters (like Gen. Albrecht) kept making me feel disgusted at their inaction, following the near-miss at Hitler's emergency headquarters, code-named "the Wolf's Lair." All this ranting and raving about the old sociopath having to go. And, yet, at the last minute, they're still afraid to fully commit themselves because they're worried about how to save their _own_ butts if something goes wrong???
Psychiatrists call that "self-fulfilling prophecy." I call it cowardly hypocrisy. And, that I had this feeling, at all, is a sign of extra-good acting on the part of the people portraying these real- life figures.
I don't know if "Valkyrie" will win the Best Picture Oscar, this spring. But, I will be very disappointed if it's not one of the five nominees for it!