Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		3.5

Valkyrie Blu-ray Movie Review

Tom Cruise infiltrates Hitler's inner circle in this heroic true story.

Reviewed by Dustin Somner May 20, 2009

The prevalence of Nazi villains in the movie industry dates back to the earliest days of Hollywood. What better way to appeal to the hearts and minds of an international audience, than to use history’s most iconic dictator, Adolf Hitler? Growing up, I watched countless fictional and non-fictional accounts of World War 2, which built a foundation in my mind that all Nazi’s were evil. That clearly is not the case (and usually holds true for any blanket statements regarding a group of people), but nobody can dispute the horrors that took place at the hands of the Nazi regime, and most filmmakers understood the difficulty in portraying anyone wearing a Nazi uniform in a positive light.

Valkyrie breaks down those walls, by telling the true story of several men that rejected the ideals of Adolf Hitler and attempted to assassinate him for the greater good of Germany. These men understood the consequences of failure, and were willing to die for what they believed was right. After watching the film, I’m surprised the story hasn’t been tackled by German filmmaker’s, but perhaps any mention of Nazi Germany (heroes or villains) is flirting with a topic they’d rather leave alone.

One of the more profound scenes from the film.

As allied forces rapidly approach Nazi Germany, a small band of military personnel and politician’s form a secret alliance with the purpose of removing Hitler from power. Colonel Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) is recruited into this group following an incident in Northern Africa that resulted in the loss of his left eye and right hand. Dismayed at the loss of German lives under Hitler’s rule, Stauffenburg facilitates a plan that involves the staging of a coup under the guise of Hitler’s Valkyrie ordinance (hence the name of the film). In order for the plan to work, Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators must obtain the assistance of General Friedrich Fromm (Tom Wilkinson), a high-ranking Nazi with his own agenda for power; and infiltrate Hitler’s highly protected Wolf’s Lair. As many of you probably know, the plot to assassinate Hitler doesn’t go as planned, and the resulting tragedy is the true core of the film.

If you’re hoping for Schindler’s List, you’ll need to lower your expectations substantially. Valkyrie is a story that needed to be told and has the makings of a lasting experience, but there are far too many missteps for the film to join the elite ranks of award-winning entries in this genre. The blame deserves to be spread around evenly and there’s no single element that brings the overall experience down, but taken as a whole, I found Valkyrie to be entertaining and completely forgettable at the same time (which is sad considering the subject matter).

I’ve been a fan of Bryan Singer’s directing since stumbling onto The Usual Suspects years ago. His follow-up work on Apt Pupil further cemented my opinion of his directing abilities and he finally received wide recognition with the first two X-Men films. Superman Returns was a slight misstep, but I was hoping he would return to form with Valkyrie. As a whole, Singer did a wonderful job of surrounding himself with enough talent to create a period drama with high production values and sufficient tension. However, the abbreviated back story and convenient plotlines should have crossed his radar in the early stages of the film's production, and been corrected prior to completing the final product.

One of the major complaints about the film during it’s theatrical run was the lack of German accents from the majority of the actors in the film. I’d agree with the assessment to a certain extent, but it didn’t detract much from my overall experience. Essentially, Cruise is portrayed speaking German during a brief narration at the beginning of the film, followed by a quick transition to English (as if the filmmakers knew this would be a hang-up for a significant number of people). Accents aside, I was fairly disappointed in the acting from Cruise. His portrayal of Col. Stauffenberg was stiff and almost robotic, with fleeting examples of emotion thrown in every now and again. I typically love films that star Tom Cruise (Minority Report, Mission Impossible and Lions for Lambs to name a few), but he appears uncomfortable playing a German officer and doesn’t provide the anchor role that’s sorely needed in the film.

The rest of the cast is uniformly excellent, with impressive performances from Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson. Kenneth Branagh and Terence Stamp are criminally underutilized in the film, but their presence still adds a certain degree of value to what would otherwise be a mediocre production. If quality actors could single-handedly correct the shortcomings of a film, this would be a perfect example.

Ultimately, a film like Valkyrie is tough to pull off. The audience already knows what’s going to happen and we’re just waiting to see what goes wrong. Tension can only stretch so far in a two hour running time and there just isn’t enough of a plot to keep the film interesting from beginning to end. I sincerely wanted to enjoy Valkyrie more than I did, but I doubt it will hold up well in repeat viewings and I anticipate I’ll forget about it completely in a week or so.

Valkyrie Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (with an average bit rate of 21Mbps), Valkyrie's transfer exhibits strength in reproducing the visual quality of the source material, but ultimately remains average when compared with other modern releases on Blu-ray. Director Bryan Singer, and cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel have worked together since Usual Suspects, but their production of Superman Returns marked the first time the two men made the switch to using digital cameras (Panavision's Genesis model). On Valkyrie, they return to the use of film (Singer has publicly stated he's more comfortable with the use of film) and although the results are better than the transfer on Superman Returns, there's still a similar lack of fine object detail on Valkyrie. I'm assuming Singer and Sigel intended to give the film a somewhat dated look, but I'd still prefer to see crisp visuals on a high-definition release.

Color saturation exhibits a slight push to yellow, but it serves to further the vintage nature of the photography, and seems fitting in the context of the film. At times, black levels don't display the depth of a reference quality release, which poses some problems with contrast in low light scenes; but all of the well-lit daytime sequences show an excellent level of contrast. Lastly, grain is apparent in many sequences throughout the film and creates a noticeably noisy background in several scenes (mostly interior shots).

Valkyrie Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The primary audio offering on this release is an English DTS-HD MA track. Taken as a whole, this is a thoroughly robust sound mix, with excellent surround use and a fine demonstration of clarity. The film isn't littered with action sequences, but there are still several spectacular explosions that reminded me how important a subwoofer really is. Considering my home theater is located in my basement, I was thrilled with one scene where the Colonel and his family descend into the bomb shelter of their home and listen to the not-so-subtle rumble of bombs exploding in the distance. Listening to the scene, I felt as if I were right there with them, engulfed with the vibrations and creaking of the overhead ceiling joists. It's a rare occasion when the lights of my theater vibrate, and Valkyrie is one title I'll remember in that regard. Another proficiency of the audio track is the use of spatial separation within the sound field. Fighter planes crossing from side to side exhibited precision as they made their way from speaker to speaker, and the dialogue is not merely relegated to the middle/front channel. If I had one complaint about the audio track, it would be the volume balance in three or so scenes. I actually backed the film up during a couple soft moments in the dialogue, which isn't a good sign (volume balance is a crucial part of keeping a viewer involved in the film, since reaching for the volume on your remote tends to diminish the experience). The occasional soft dialogue wasn't enough to cripple the other fantastic audio merits, but it did bring my overall score down slightly.

Valkyrie Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Journey to Valkyrie (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 15:56 min.): Chronicling the history of Valkyrie from conception to final product, this featurette includes interviews with the filmmakers and leading actors as they discuss details of the production and the core themes of the film.

The Road to Resistance: A Visual Guide (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 9:08 min.): Hosted by Philipp Von Schulthess (real life grandson of Colonel Stauffenberg), this brief extra looks back at the life of Col. Stauffenberg, while taking the viewer on a tour of locations in Germany that the Colonel had connections to.

The African Front Sequence (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 7:01 min.): Delving behind the scenes of the opening sequence from the film, this supplement analyzes several scenes from a technical and thematic standpoint.

Taking to the Air (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 7:32 min.): The aerial coordinators are interviewed regarding the use of vintage aircraft, while segments from the sets are shown. Tom Cruise appears to be a pretty big fan of airplanes, though the aircraft in this film are far different than the jets in Top Gun.

Recreating Berlin (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 6:51 min.): The actors and filmmakers discuss the lengths the production crew went to in order to find the locations and sets that were used in the film.

92nd Street Y (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 38:57 min.): Tom Cruise and Bryan Singer are interviewed in front of a live audience and asked to discuss many elements of the story from Valkyrie. The interview is interesting as a forum for two artists to talk about their craft, but tends to become a little boring toward the end of the lengthy runtime.

The Valkyrie Legacy (1080p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 114:14 min.): This surprisingly in-depth (and lengthy) documentary is the real gem in the package. Directed by Kevin Burns (Empire of Dreams: The Story of the "Star Wars" Trilogy, Behind the Planet of the Apes, and many more), the documentary goes beyond the true story of the Valkyrie plot and delves into the rise and fall of Hitler. One of the most interesting aspects of the documentary is the attention to Nazi Germany's affect on the lives of German citizens all the way up to modern times and the stigma that continues to follow them as a result.

Lastly, we have two commentary tracks (one with Tom Cruise, Bryan Singer and writer/producer Christopher McQuarrie; and a second one with Christopher McQuarrie and co-writer Nathan Alexander).

Valkyrie Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'd hate to have anyone read this review and think Valkyrie is a complete waste of time. There are many entertaining elements in the film, and the subject matter is a great basis for a Hollywood production. Unfortunately, the film exhibits a little too much "Hollywood" and not enough heart. Had the filmmakers extended Valkyrie into three hours, and included a sufficient set-up, I may have found more value in the experience. There's still the wooden performance from Tom Cruise to consider, but perhaps he could have identified with his character if Colonel Stauffenberg's history was touched on to a greater extent. As it stands, I'd recommend the film as a purchase if you enjoy World War 2 history, and are looking to be entertained. If you're looking for something more profound, you may get what you're asking for in the two hour documentary that's included on the disc, but I'd recommend a rental to anyone on the fence.