Valkyrie - Nearly Hitler's downfall

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 set in 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 an eyepatch-wearing/prosthetic hand-sporting, 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.

If you think of recent (and excellent) war movies, such as 'Saving Private Ryan' and 'Dunkirk,' you may be expecting at least some big budget battles involving either legions of Allied troops versus Nazis.  However, you won't be getting any of those here.  Although everything on screen is 'perfect' in terms of setting and atmosphere, 'Valkyrie' doesn't contain a single action scene involving tanks or Spitfires.  It's all about the politics behind the millions of young men and women who died during the conflict.

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).  All of the main cast are playing people who actually existing and I checked online and was pleased to see at how well the actors were cast in order to look like those they were portraying.

If you fancy something a bit more historically accurate (although I'm told 'Valkyrie' is reasonably accurate) then this is definitely worth a go, simply because it tells a true story from World War II that isn't as widely known as, for example, the Battle of Britain or the D-Day landings.  And, as I said, it's also an interesting take to see some of those who wore the imfamous Nazi uniform.  It shows that just because someone was in the German army during the conflict it didn't mean they were absolute followers of everything Hitler perpetuated.  Perhaps `Downfall' (an excellent German-made film about Hitler's last days which I absolutely recommend you watch) could even be a sort of sequel to this?

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that