As the tide of World War II begins to swing in the Allies’ favor, Wehrmacht Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise), who was severely wounded while serving in Tunisia, is recruited into the German Resistance. Stauffenberg and his coconspirators immediately begin drawing up a plan to assassinate Adolf Hitler, topple the Reich and establish a new government.

CRITIQUE

If the bigwigs at The History Channel ever decide to try their hand at the movie-of-the-week business, the final product(s) may look a little something like Valkyrie. I mean that as only a mild dig, as Valkyrie is about as successful an attempt to craft a thriller out of a story in which the outcome is never in question as you’re likely to find.

But given its claustrophobic nature and the no-frills visual style of director Bryan Singer, this is the sort of cinematic endeavor that seems more suited for home viewing. I had that feeling while watching the movie during its theatrical run, and I think this Blu-ray release makes that feeling fact. Something seemed off during my theatrical viewing, but the movie feels right at home at, well, home.

If you’re looking for a straight historical retelling of the German Resistance’s final plan to assassinate the Führer and negotiate a truce with the Allies, Valkyrie isn’t what you’re looking for; for that you’ll either need to tune in to the aforementioned cable network or seek out a documentary on the subject (although one of the extras on this disc suits that bill nicely, meaning you sort of get the best of both worlds with this disc).

Valkyrie is a historical thriller--emphasis on the thriller part. And therein lies much of the movie’s problem: Everyone already knows how this story going to turn out, which mitigates the suspense to a degree. And while Singer does his best to squeeze out as much tension as he possibly can, it’s virtually impossible to completely forget that the story’s outcome is a foregone conclusion.

There’s a herky-jerky quality to Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander’s script. The opening sequence is unnecessary (it seems like a concession to action-audience expectations), and there’s a short sequence detailing an earlier assassination attempt that (except for one hilarious moment) adds nothing to the story.

The movie doesn’t become interesting until Stauffenberg is recruited into the resistance, and the heat doesn’t really get turned up until about forty-five minutes in, when the details of the plan are covered and the plan itself is actually put into motion. There then follows a lengthy sequence during which the movie is absolutely fantastic.

The writing, acting, editing, and direction cohere, and the movie becomes incredibly tense and exciting; yes, you know what’s coming, but the sheer skill of the filmmaking overcomes it (just as was the case with Apollo 13), making you forget you’re watching something that failed sixty-five years ago and absorbing you in the events currently on display. This sequence (it runs a good forty-five minutes or so) buoys the movie; were the rest of Valkyrie a complete bust, this passage would still be enough to justify the movie’s existence.

The movie’s final half hour is anticlimactic. I like the speed and pacing of it (the entire movie chugs along nicely), but the movie more or less deflates as it heads toward the climax. Everything comes together (although technically it unravels) too quickly and neatly. What in real life undoubtedly took at least a little time seems to come and go in the blink of an eye in the movie; and even if did go by in the blink of an eye in real life, that wouldn’t work in term of storytelling needs.

Furthermore, the entire movie could have done with a dialogue polish, as at times it’s obvious the writers are having the characters speak in a way that’s influenced by more than half a century of history. “Hitler’s Germany has seen its last sunrise”? “Look them in the eye. They’ll remember you”? Who talks like that? Lines such as that may work in trailers, but they stick out when you put them into a narrative.

Cruise has the same problem he almost always has, that being that it’s impossible for him (through no fault of his own) to completely disappear into a role. That being said, he’s actually quite good here. And he’s surrounded by a very fine supporting cast. Tom Wilkinson, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Izzard, Terence Stamp, Bill Nighy, Carice van Houten, and Christian Berkel all turn in excellent work.

As for Singer’s decision to allow the cast members to speak using their native accents, I have to say I agree with him. The technique worked in The Hunt for Red October, proving to be not at all distracting, something bad accents always are. Just think of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves or K-19 and see the bullet that was dodged here.

THE VIDEO

The 1.85:1/1080p transfer--encoded with AVC onto a 50GB disc--looks very, very good. The movie has a slightly desaturated look, and some scenes also have a cold, bluish tinge, both of which are representative of the intended look (it looked exactly the same in the theater).

Despite this manipulation, the level of detail is in no way compromised, nor is depth. Some may blanch at the level of grain on display in certain scenes, but once again this is a stylistic choice; my only complaint is that there’s some mild noise mixed in with the grain (watch the scene where Cruise and Branagh begin the overhaul of the Valkyrie plan). Some very mild moiré is also visible in a few scenes.

THE AUDIO

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is without flaw. The opening sequence is loud and intensely active, after which the sound design settles down into a meticulously realistic groove. Interiors (which dominate the movie) have a completely natural quality, with all components of the mix exhibiting a totally convincing sonic quality. And I can’t remember the last time I heard pistol shots as realistic as those presented near the finale. The low end is expectedly deep in the first scene, and surprisingly deep thereafter; there’s far more punch in John Ottman’s score than I was prepared for.

French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks are also included. English SDH, Spanish, French, Cantonese, Mandarin, Portuguese, and Korean subtitles are available.

THE EXTRAS

The extras kick off with two commentaries, the first by Tom Cruise, Bryan Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie, the second by Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander. Both are a little on the dry and spotty side, so getting everyone together for one track probably would have been a better way to go. The first track is given over to production talk, while the second focuses on employing history events as the basis for a thriller.    

With one exception (as indicated), the following video-based features are presented in high-definition video:

The Valkyrie Legend (115 minutes) is a terrific documentary--created by Kevin Burns, no less--on the Valkyrie plot. How terrific is it? So terrific it alone almost justifies the price of this release.  

The Journey to Valkyrie (16 minutes) is a fairly standard making-of piece.

The Road to Resistance: A Visual Guide (9 minutes), which is hosted by Stauffenberg’s grandson Philip von Schulthess (who also has a small role in the movie), offers a look at some of the story’s historical locations.

The African Front Sequence (7 minutes) covers the staging/filming of the movie’s opening sequence.

Taking to the Air: Vintage Planes in Flight for Valkyrie (7 minutes) provides an overview of the various airplanes (almost all of them actual working craft) featured in the movie.

Recreating Berlin (7 minutes) covers production design and location work.  

92nd Street Y: Reel Pieces with Tom Cruise and Bryan Singer (39 minutes, standard definition), which looks like nothing more than a segment of a cable-access series, is a sit-down interview with the star and director. (Don’t expect much from it, as the woman conducting the interview is so fawning she makes James Lipton look like a HUAC interrogator.)  

A second disc contains a Digital Copy of the movie.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Valkyrie doesn’t completely succeed as a thriller, and it almost completely fails as a history lesson, but on the whole it’s a solid, entertaining piece of commercial filmmaking.