The DVD Dissection: Valkyrie

Posted by Chad Webb on 06.07.2009

Tom Cruise takes on Nazi's in this WWII thriller. Does the DVD deliver the goods? Click to find out.

Tom Cruise: Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
Bill Nighy: General Friedrich Olbricht
Christian Berkel: Colonel Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim
Jamie Parker: Lieutenant Werner von Haeften
Terence Stamp: General Ludwig Beck
Tom Wilkinson: General Friedrich Fromm
Kenneth Branagh: Major General Henning von Tresckow
David Bamber: Adolf Hitler
Carice van Houten: Nina Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg
Eddie Izzard: General Erich Fellgiebel
Thomas Kretschmann: Major Otto Ernst Remer
David Schofield: Erwin von Witzleben
Kevin McNally: Carl Goerdeler
Tom Hollander: Colonel Heinz Brandt
Kenneth Cranham: Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel
Harvey Friedman: Dr. Joseph Goebbels
Matthias Freihof: Heinrich Himmler
Directed By: Bryan Singer
Written By: Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander
Theatrical Release Date: December 25, 2008
DVD Release Date: May 19, 2009
Running Time: 121 minutes

The Film

What a cast Valkyrie has. Assembling this many skilled performers under one title is a difficult task. Some of the names are easily recognizable, whereas others are not, but their faces are familiar. Upon scanning the special features of this disc, I heard numerous comments from the crew that basically tried to communicate that simply gathering these actors, having them resemble the real people, and reciting the lines was sufficient. This is one of my chief problems with Valkyrie, a film chronicling the most famous plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. It is a project that could have been great, but instead opted to make certain decisions or cut certain corners to appeal to more viewers.

Yes, Tom Cruise looks exactly like Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. We will just call him Stauffenberg from here on out. There is no doubt he matches him in profile, and when slipping on the costume, he is a dead ringer. Unfortunately, when Stauffenberg opens his mouth, he sounds like Tom Cruise. In the extras, the crew appeared to be overwhelmed by his presence so much that they forgot that he is an actor like anyone else who needs to be pushed to draw out his strengths. This is a fact that many of the actors in this film suffer from. Having Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, and Tom Cruise in one room, trading blows, is a situation ripe for memorable cinema. Sadly, Director Bryan Singer, and his crew seem more satisfied with having the names together and letting them do what they want, rather than honing their talents, and eliciting the best possible performances.

On the commentary tracks, screenwriters Christopher McQuarrie, Nathan Alexander, and Director Bryan Singer briefly mention the decision to maintain the actors’ original accents. They said they wanted to “avoid having the cast bogged down by German accents.” In other words, they did want the cast competing for who has the better accent. I think they chose this course because without the unified accents, Valkyrie strikes casual audiences as more of a standard thriller, rather than a period piece, hence it will lure in more people to the ticket booths. In my opinion, it is inexcusable that such accomplished thespians could not have these accents. Why am I such a stickler? Well, because Valkyrie was released in December of 2008, around the same time a little lady named Kate Winslet portrayed a Nazi in The Reader. She bared all, was not intimidated, sounded the part, and won an Oscar. No one in Valkyrie can say the same thing.

I heartily respect this cast, and think they are fine performers, but there is a common misconception in the way people view movies. Some feel that simply having all-star names on a bill is enough for a solid film. This is not the case. Tom Cruise, just like any actor, has up days and down days. Here, as Stauffenberg, he depicts the character as if he were channeling his popular heroic roles into a Nazi time period. He plays him like Cruise would play anything. Valkyrie made the mistake of choosing a release date around the same time when the world’s finest actors were bringing their A-game. You have Winslet in The Reader, and Benicio Del Toro literally becoming Che Guevara in Che, so one can imagine how it is hard to swallow Tom Cruise and company showing up, reciting the lines, and picking up their check. Now that my rant is finished, I can say after watching the movie again, this flaw will be gradually overlooked as the years go by because after all, it is a harmless thriller.

In terms of research completed, Valkyrie garners four stars. The story spans approximately one year and a half from 1943 until the final day of execution. Colonel Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise), after suffering serious injuries on the Tenth Panzer Division in Africa, returns to Berlin and is recruited by Major General Henning von Tresckow (Kenneth Branagh) and his partner, General Friedrich Olbricht (Bill Nighy) for a move against Hitler. For Stauffenberg, the motivation to kill or “remove” Hitler is not tough. He is known to many officers as being outspoken against the Fuhrer. He wants to do what is best for Germany, and the group of conspirators aim is to prove to the world that not everyone was like Hitler. Stauffenberg encounters the other conspirators including former General Ludwig Beck (Terence Stamp) and Carl Goerdeler (Kevin McNally), the man who will be named Chancellor if all goes according to plan. Tresckow is soon transferred to the front lines, which leaves Stauffenberg in charge of the plans.

The details of the plan require careful precision. Stauffenberg is responsible for placing a bomb close enough to Hitler that it can kill him. The other half of the scheme must have the S.S. apprehended before they can assume control. The military plan that serves as the solution is “Operation Valkyrie”, which has the reserve army mobilizing and supporting a coup even if they do not know what is transpiring. The problem is General Freidrich Fromm (Tom Wilkinson), who is a key component that must be convinced to help the cause, but his loyalty is extremely hazy. Nonetheless, Stauffenberg puts the plan in action, and hopes that all steps will occur as prepared to result in a new Germany.

Terrence Stamp, Bill Nighy, Kenneth Brannagh, Tom Wilkinson, and Tom Hollander (among others), are good enough actors that Valkyrie is not an unpleasant experience just because they were told not to commit to accents. However, the tactic of beginning with Cruise speaking German and fading into English strikes me as admitting: "We know American audiences hate reading subtitles, and since our cast is not putting up a fight, we'll just have them all speak normally." Many of the cast members possess the ability (David Bamber who plays Hitler clearly has an accent) to go the distance with the language. Four of them were in Paul Verhoeven’s Black Book, a magnificent thriller spoken entirely in German. Among that four was Carice Van Heuten (a brilliant up and comer), who portrays Stauffenberg’s wife Nina. Would Black Book have held the same impact in English, with varying accents depending on the performer? Doubtful. Having made my point, just watching some of these gentleman recite their lines as I said, is better than most.

It is no secret that Director Bryan Singer has a fascination with the Nazi regime, or World War II in particular. It can be seen in the lame Apt Pupil and the beginning of X-Men. What saves Valkrie is Singer’s crisp and taut sense of pacing. Although it does seem like the action and suspense is tailored around Tom Cruise for a routine action vehicle, Singer knows how to maintain an energetic flow. The tension in many sequences runs high, and the set design, costumes, and lighting all supplement our level of engagement. The beginning assassination attempt using a liquor case was gripping, as was Stauffenberg getting Hitler to sign an amended copy of “Operation Valkyrie.” The entire finale was adeptly constructed and implemented as well. Singer wisely keeps to the procedural aspects of the plot, and avoids shifting into a tear-jerking atmosphere.

Knowing the result of the mission to eliminate Hitler makes the job of the screenwriters harder because we the audience must be enthralled and interested in what is happening despite the fact that we know what the conclusion is. Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander did thorough research into this event, and it shows, but as far as delving beneath the surface into the personalities of the conspirators, it is cunningly vague. The biggest dilemma with their script is not the accuracy of the situations, but in the dialogue. Almost every time a character speaks, especially Cruise, it sounds like a one-liner. “Hitler’s Germany has seen its last sunrise” and “Only God can judge us now” are two examples, but the whole movie sounds just like that. Rolling Stone described this as a B-movie, and maybe they’re right. This is tolerable on many occasions, but not with this caliber a cast. The indistinctness and melodramatic tone of the dialogue reinforces the standard thriller ambiance the crew was aiming for.

Bryan Singer and his screenwriting duo failed to realize what genre they were diving into. When tackling a Holocaust film, the group attempting that feat must face certain facts, which is this: what they are doing has probably been done countless times before they got there. So a method must be found to make the material stand out. In 2008 alone, almost 6 Holocaust/Hitler themed movies made it to the big screen. One cannot just settle for the basic, and that is why choices like accents make a big difference. In this genre, you must toil harder than the others, and Valkyrie did not. I recommend checking out the documentary on this film, which is just as exhilarating, if not more so, than this film.

In the extras, I was struck by how co-screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie stumbled upon the memorial that gave him the idea for the script. It was the only memorial for World War II soldiers in Germany. I immediately thought displaying that memorial with characters explaining what it meant at the beginning and end of Valkyrie would have been a superior way of placing bookends for the film. It might have been a bit sentimental, but not abundantly so, and it could have confessed to the viewer right away how the assassination attempt ended. The way it is done here tries to give the illusion that it might end in a different fashion. I have been quite hard on Valkyrie, but upon a second viewing, I found that it was a nice way of spending 2 hours. It is not surprising, and is decidedly mediocre, but not in an entirely negative fashion. It is mediocre with a heavy lean on adequate. It is not terrible, and at times is even exciting, but is also forgettable overall.

The Video

Valkyrie was shot with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, but this is a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, and I am sure the DVD that people are buying in stores is sufficient, but the copy I possess is a screener, with a blue underside similar to a CD-R. They are always watermarked with studio ownership information, and are usually a step below regular retail quality. Because it is this I have to judge, I can say that the picture has many issues. I noticed many scenes as soft and washed out, with a cloudy surface and occasional black spots. Granted, I can still make out the picture well enough and comprehend what is going on, but the problems don’t stop there. This particular screener skipped at odd places for no reason. It would skip in the middle of scenes, and I would either have to rewind to that spot, or face the facts that I lost precious minutes of the story. This was aggravating, but thankfully died down in the second half of the picture. I would like to be generous to the video transfer here, but Fox has made it impossible.

The Audio

The sound department is pretty general considering what they could have achieved. The loud and action geared are average at best through the speakers, and the score is faded heavily into the background at times. This is a thriller, so it contains gunfire and explosions, but the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is pretty rough and not the finest of quality. This might be one film where the Blu-Ray makes a huge difference because I know the bass can be improved if nothing else. The dialogue was lucid and understandable with clear subtitles, and my volume rested at a comfortable position. Also included are French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks, as well as subtitles in English, Spanish, and French.

The Packaging

The screeners come packaged in a small envelope that only contains the disc, but the Valkyrie in stores is distributed in a standard black keep case, and if you are buying the 2-disc with digital copy, it has a cardboard slip sleeve on top of the artwork, which basically changes the predominant white to red. The menus contain clips of the film and the score. They are easy to navigate.

The Extras

Audio Commentary with Tom Cruise, Bryan Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie - This is the better commentary track of the two, mostly because it involves Tom Cruise, the head of UA, who offers thoughts as a star and as a studio executive, which is interesting. These three have a lot of fun, and make no room for dead spots, which I love. As I mentioned above, they talk about fading from German to English, maintaining accents, and so forth regarding the style choices. They then move on to history information, star praise, and more.

Commentary with Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander - Obviously this track is from a screenwriting point of view, so they address the film from that perspective only, though they do reiterate some points from the first track. McQuarrie and Alexander talk more in depth about the history here, what actually happened, what didn’t, and what had to be omitted. This was solid too, but not as engaging or silence free as the first.

The Journey to Valkyrie (15:58) – That memorial I mentioned appears here and the featurette begins with the screenwriters talking about how they came upon the idea. This is basically a “making-of” short, but it works. They talk about waiting to give the script away to the right person, acquiring Cruise, shooting in the actual locations, and more. Interviews with cast and crew members are enlightening and passionate.

The Valkyrie Legacy (42:34) – This is a mini-documentary on the actual events surrounding Valkyrie, but not as long or as informative as the one you can purchase separately. Nonetheless, this film by Kevin Burns is quite intriguing as it starts off with Hitler’s rise to power and then moves into where the opposition to him began. Interviews with relatives of the conspirators are rich and enthralling. Historians discuss the various attempts against Hitler’s life and how they failed. Mostly though, this wants to reinforce the point that these men were not Nazi’s and what they stood for was good. Still, if you buy the DVD, it is superb to have this truthful account.

The Film: 6.5/10.0
The Video: 5.5/10.0
The Audio: 6.5/10.0
The Packaging: 7.0/10.0
The Extras: 8.0/10.0

The 411: I bumped my original rating of Valkyrie up by half a point, which is not much, but it shows that the film grew on me a little. Judging it in the midst of all those Oscar contenders does not do it justice, but many of us had no choice. Valkyrie is in many facets a satisfying period thriller from Director Bryan Singer, but in other ways it cuts corners and makes foolish decisions in order to appeal to more viewers. The lack of accents and the odd dialogue tarnish the experience. Taking those flaws into account though, it is a harmless piece of entertainment that reminds me of what would result if Maverick from Top Gun were a German soldier. Is Valkyrie worth buying on DVD? Well, not the standard because if you want the extras you have to pay more money and get the worthless digital copy. The technical specifications on this screener are poor even though the extras make things a bit better. I’m sure the Blu-Ray is the best product for your money. The technical specifications on this screener are poor even though the extras make things a bit better.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]