Valkyrie-Excellent!

[Edgar Estrada]

Hold on gentelmen. You've obviously gotten it wrong. Read this review by a Mr Roger Friedman:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,473079,00.html

Mr Friedman is disappointed with "Valkyrie":

a) Soldiers are "not wearing their arm bands"
b) the swastikas on the uniforms are too small
c) there are not enough Nazi flags
d) the German officers are not cruel enough
e) an insufficient amount of time is dedicated to the German crimes

Well, after reading all the comments here, I just hope that Mr Friedman could read the reviews his review of the movie got here.

Pity, most of the public will read his, and believe in it, but just a few, very few will read what was written here.

Regards

Edgar

[herrzark]

very good movie.it made you waiting what will happen although the story is known . it is 9 with 10 the best

[SHEARING-CROSS]

HI there ,
saw the film last week for the first time and to be fair i enjoyed it much more that expected , again like most here im not a fan of Tom Cruise but do feel he put his heart in to this film and to him it was a ` labour of love` .
German militaria is not my field so just a couple of questions ,
i hope some one can help .
Why did the Tom cruise ( Stauffenburg ) appear some times with no decorations on his tunic in the film ?
was Stauffenburg such a main ` player `as shown
in the events as in the film , im thinking about the scences when he is back in Berlin controling the take over of the goverment ? always thought he was just the man selected as courier for the bomb ?
The officer ,major i think , that commanded the Berlin battalion is this based on an actual guy and what happened to him ?
The ` barrack ` scenes and when the troops are setting up the cordons in the streets were these original period buildings ?
The scenes at the Berghof i really liked but at this point in the war would Hitler have had more ss troops around him ? infact saw very few in the film at all ( i understand the movies get it wrong often have evey german as ss but would still have expected more close at hand to Hitler ,
again sorry if this is another bone question but were any ss officers involved on the side of the plotters ? hope you can help out this novice , thanks in advance ,Michael.

[LuckyStrike23]

i am not sure why they didn t wear decorations but i think the fim maker have studied a lot of original pictures and dressed all charakters as real as possible (my impression).

i think Stauffenberg was the main figure in this plot. Here in Germany it is also called the "Colonels Plot", because colonels (and not Generals) played the main role.

Concerning Major Remer have look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Ernst_Remer

[Wessels]

I finally had a chance to see Valkyrie yesterday...just barely before it left the theaters. This film definitely deserved to be seen on the big screen (for anyones first viewing)....as we'll all obviously view and pick it further apart with the help of pause and rewind capabilities of a DVD!

A fellow collecting freind saw Valkyrie when it first came out and said that suprosingly, it was actually really good. I was still sceptical (being the total detail/correct authenticity nut that I am) am really wanted to see it for myself.

I was absolutely pleasently suprised! Being that most (if not all) Hollywood type films about the Third Reich period get tons and tons of details wrong....some purposely and/or out of stupidity or lack of caring. The film makers of Valkyie must be applauded for finally (at least in the american movie making industry) raising the bar to a whole new level!

Sure there were things that were incorrect, but it must be accpeted that any film is going to have a margin for error. The majority of films about the Third Reich era usually have a huge margin of error, but Valkyrie respectfully had a very narrow margin.

What first caught my eye was the fact that the uniforms for the vast majority, both enlisted and officer alike, actually fit the men the way they were supposed to! In most films they sadly hang on the actors like a loose potato sack. For the first time the tunics seemed cut and tailored in true 1940's fashion. The head gear was also a nice correct mixture of visors, crushers, overseas caps and M-43 caps. Nice to see M-43's in use (especially since the fiom was set in 1944....rather than the early overseas caps with soutache that we see in most films running all the way to 1945.

The communications center provided for outstanding scenes and authenticity which as earlier in this thread muct be put into the spot light! Bravo all around! The equipment, the Nachrichthelferinen rasing their hands, the yellow signals Waffenfarbe, and on and on. These scenes really impressed me ona personal level as my grandmothers sister Martha was a KM Nachrichthelferin serving in France 1943-44. Someone posted earlier that he thought all the Signal Blitzen were in-correctly positioned on the uniforms and that they should be lower toward the cuff. In fact...they are correctly positioned for Heer troops. He must have been mistaken in that the Waffen SS wore them lower.

The Berghof scenes (having juts visited the area and the remains of the Berghof recently) also impressed me greatly. The only problems I had was the fact that from the angle they showed the exterior shot...we would have also seen the Haus Turken RSD Hauptquartier behind and to the left. The Berghof did look great though. Equally impressive were the interior shots. Correct construction and furniture. To hell with the jack ass who claims rights to the historical portrayal of the globe. The globe was a war trophy and is part of history. Several of Adolf Hitler and other notable Third Reich personalities uniform items were captured and brought home. Is it a crime that they are recreated and used in films? LOL!

The only issue I noted in the interior Berghof scenes was the unfortunate fact that the door into the sitting room was on the wrong wall. It should have been in the same corner, but on the wall directly opposite the large window. The upper fire place next to it was also missing?

The film defintiely took some liberties in the name of making for drama as well as saving for time. Cramming the entire story with all it's intricate details into 2 hours is a tall order. Another fact that they skipped was that Remer of the GD Wach-Btl. when given the phone by Goebbels to speak with Hiteler, was also promoted by Hitler to Oberst along with his orders to brutally supress the plot.

Another issue I noted that really bugged ne was the fact that nearly all the military vehicles in the film were painted in early Panzer Grey. Yes, many early vehicles were in service to the end, but after the introduction of ordinance tan, an order was issued that all exiosting vehicles were to
be over painted (when possible) with tan. Naturally this would have occured with all the vehciles of the Third Reich...but it just would have been a nice touch if, unlike most films, if most of the vehicles were tan as per OKW orders.

The load labels on the driver doors being white was also incorrect. Even on Panzer Grey vehicles....after the introduction of the load label system in 1942, the lables were always stenciled in black. The tire pressure stencils on grey vehicles were white...but the load labels were always black.

The Scharfschutzen (sharp shooters) at the Wolfs Lair were a excellent touch! They were in fact Heer troops and wearing water pattern smocks...not SS. Most people seem to forget that Hitler had an escort unit (in addition to his SS and Waffen SS guards) made up of Heer. He was also guarded by Luftwaffe troops as they crewed his train. It was juts a nice touch to see a film show Heer=, rather than ALWAYS SS, troops guarding the Fuehrer. I also liked how they were wearing mosquito nets as was very common at the Wolfs Lair. The entire set for the Lair was amazing!

All in all, when wearing the authenticity against the few mistakes as one will always find in a film, I personaly feel that Valkyrie is perhaps the best Hollywood film of the last 30 years....if not of all time...that portrays the Third Reich through german eyes. I say this with the fact in mind that Das Boot and Battle of Brittain were not american produced films. We'll always love Kelly's Heroes and the other classics...but as for details, much more in-correct details and mistakes can be pointed out in those. Even in the Downfall...44 dot helmet covers??? German soldiers played by groups obvious slavick types? C'mon!!!!

Yes, the rivets in the Makarov holsters is unfortunate.... but the many other things this film has far out ways the little mistakes. Stauffenberg in a white summer tunic and dagger for the awarding of the siver wound badges was something to be impressed by. Very unfortunate though that the awards were not brand new as they would have originally been.

Over time, more and more mistakes will be pointed out...but lets not lose sight of the many great details they did get right!

Cruise may or moay not have been the best choice....but hey...at least they made the film and also went all out with correct details. It sure beats the old days when every german soldier was wearing a double decal helmet, a baggy M-36 tunic, white piping, jack boots, east german feild gear, and every doorway was guarded through out the Reich. LOL!

The huge amount of swastika flags was over the top Hollywood for drama effect...but wow...films are actually using correct Waffenfarbe now. Bravo!

The vehicle types they had to use alone made this film worth seeing!

Even though a nice transition from german to english in the beginning...I still wish Cruise would have at least attemted to fake a german accent. But again...at least they had the balls to make this film.

Lets not forget, those who wish that NO war films of any type are ever made (Especially about the Third Reich...unless it is completely biased), are still unfortunately walking the earth.

[sdesember]

I saw it here in Switzerland for the first time, so I had to watch it several times over. Thought it was good except the saluting by Cruise in the beginning of the scenes. I thought it might be his training from when he did "A Few Good Men". I don't know how the Heer saluted back then, but from viewing original documentaries, they never seemed to salute so mechanic-like as what I think to be how the US Marines would salute. The German salute is more casual in style in my opinion. Anyone else shares the same view?

Hope to watch it in English once the DVD is out. But, I kind of like it watching it in German,felt to be more authentic, even though still missing a lot of the dialogues due to the language problem.

Very, very nice production overall!

[Tom Yanacek]

I liked it!

I went to see the movie yesterday. I thought it was really good for the most part. I was excited when the movie started out in German, with English subtitles, then was a bit disappointed when it switched to all English. (So much more authentic sounding in the German language.)

I was a bit disappointed with the way everything was clumped together at the end. Glimpses of Roland Freisler's courtroom amidst the firing squad executions of Olbricht, von Quirnheim, Stauffenberg, and von Haeften and the piano wire hangings of von Witzleben, Stieff, etc. A bit mixed up and confusing to say the least. It kind of gives the viewer the impression that all these things were going on simultaneously, when in fact the courtroom "trials" and hangings didn't begin until over two weeks after the firing squad executions. The last part of the movie should have been kept in chronological order and drawn out a bit longer (perhaps another 5- 10 minutes would have done the trick). Seemed to me like the producer/director thought the movie was too long and they decided to end it abruptly.

To end on a positive note: the movie is definitely worth seeing. I will probably go and see it one more time in the movie theater, and I will also buy the dvd when it becomes available.

[colt45s]

I will buy a copy DVD, well done!

[Wessels]

I agree....the salutes were far to US military like and rigid....and the end of the film too rushed. Could've easily been another 5-10 minutes.

[mdj]

too bad that germans in german uniforms are talking in english...........

I prefer Der Untergang ! my favourit.

martin

[Koldun]

Just to add, DKiG were dotted...

[Military Trader]

Just watched the movie on DVD. Maybe this has been discussed but would the Col. fighting in North Africa in 1943 know all about the deaths in concentration camps (when he was writing in his journal)? My guess is they put this in for PC marks.

[Paul Giva]

Just watched the movie on DVD. Maybe this has been discussed but would the Col. fighting in North Africa in 1943 know all about the deaths in concentration camps (when he was writing in his journal)? My guess is they put this in for PC marks.

He never mentions anything about concentration camps while writing in the journal. If you are referring to "mass executions," well, that had been taking place for the better part of two years by the time spring of '43 rolled around in the occupied eastern territories. Nothing PC about it. Just stating fact.

[Mark C. Yerger]

I tried, but an idiot like Cruise playing that particular, honorable, officer just made me shake my head constantly throughout the movie.

[Military Trader]

I know what you mean about cruise playing the part -- If nothing else he is just too visable in our culture. Even though Tom Wilkinson is in a lot of movies he fit into the character but TR just screams hollywood. About the statement I made above -- I'll have to watch it again but I could have swore he said "concentration camps" maybe not though.