A nice change from the regular World War II movies

Rating: 7/10 (12 May 2014)

Although the Second World War should never be forgotten, it's fair to say that war movies are hardly big money-spinners at the box office right now. Perhaps it's because we're used to see the Allies winning in the end? However, Valkyrie is told from an entirely German perspective. It's the dying days of the war and Hitler is determined to fight until the last man, bringing down Germany if it comes to it. So a rouge group of German officers (led by Tom Cruise) stages a plan to assassinate him and arrange a truce with the Allies.
Tom Cruise can act, if given the right part. Here he doesn't have to do too much. He's largely here for 'star power' value. However, it's the story that's important rather than who's in it. Despite the fact that you'll probably know the ending, it's actually pretty tense as the Germans fight their own leader and try to bring a less devastating conclusion to the war.
Bonus points to the film for putting together a large group of some of the best British actors to play various German roles (and Eddie Izzard, who sneaked in there somehow - bless him).
If you fancy something a bit more historically accurate (and I'm told Valkyrie is reasonably accurate) then this is worth a go. Perhaps 'Downfall' (an excellent German-made film about Hitler's last days) could even be a sort of sequel to this?
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