Valkyrie

[British_Pharaoh]

when the smeg is this coming out?
I'm desperate to see it

[rebelwithoutaclue]

when the smeg is this coming out?
I'm desperate to see it

Christmas day in the US. Reviews have been terrible. Everyone in the movie supposedly has a German accent except Cruise, who just speaks in his normal voice. Also said that almost every "supporting" (Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branagh) actor blows Cruise off the screen. Throw in the fact that there's no suspense since we all know what happens and it seems like a pretty boring movie.

[British_Pharaoh]

when the smeg is this coming out?
I'm desperate to see it

Christmas day in the US. Reviews have been terrible. Everyone in the movie supposedly has a German accent except Cruise, who just speaks in his normal voice. Also said that almost every "supporting" (Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branagh) actor blows Cruise off the screen. Throw in the fact that there's no suspense since we all know what happens and it seems like a pretty boring movie.

yeah i searched on wiki for a date seems we're getting it a bit later in January and it said early reviews were lukewarm at best

main thing that bothered me that critics said was that it doesn't probe the reasons behind the assassination attempt in the film.
Also looking at the cast almost no-one resembles the character they are meant to be portraying apart from maybe Cranham who is playing Kietel and i can see Bamber resembling Hitler to an extent. Cruise also fits Stauffenberg's profile somewhat convincingly.

I'm such a huge WW2 (especially Nazi Germany) enthusiast that I will see this film regardless of unfavourable critique.

[British_Pharaoh]

also a Bryan Singer fan

[British_Pharaoh]

when the smeg is this coming out?
I'm desperate to see it

Everyone in the movie supposedly has a German accent except Cruise, who just speaks in his normal voice.

http://uk.eonline.com/uberblog/b23770_v ... lease.html

says Cruise does use a German accent

[rebelwithoutaclue]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081222/ap_on_en_mo/film_review_valkyrie

From the AP review for Valkyrie:

Turns out Cruise is both the central figure in "Valkyrie" and its weakest link. He's distractingly bad in this, the iconography of his celebrity so strongly overshadowing his performance. He's just too powerfully contemporary. With his hard, flat American accent, he stands out in every single scene. And he's not a good enough actor to immerse himself in this kind of period piece, or allow us to do the same. (Then again, if he had affected a German accent — or a British one to blend in among his co-stars — he would have invited derision for that, too. Maybe the guy just can't win.)

Guess we'll just have to see it to find out who's right.

[British_Pharaoh]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081222/ap_on_en_mo/film_review_valkyrie

From the AP review for Valkyrie:

Turns out Cruise is both the central figure in "Valkyrie" and its weakest link. He's distractingly bad in this, the iconography of his celebrity so strongly overshadowing his performance. He's just too powerfully contemporary. With his hard, flat American accent, he stands out in every single scene. And he's not a good enough actor to immerse himself in this kind of period piece, or allow us to do the same. (Then again, if he had affected a German accent — or a British one to blend in among his co-stars — he would have invited derision for that, too. Maybe the guy just can't win.)

Guess we'll just have to see it to find out who's right.

what odds will you give me on you??

lol

[rebelwithoutaclue]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081222/ap_on_en_mo/film_review_valkyrie

From the AP review for Valkyrie:

Turns out Cruise is both the central figure in "Valkyrie" and its weakest link. He's distractingly bad in this, the iconography of his celebrity so strongly overshadowing his performance. He's just too powerfully contemporary. With his hard, flat American accent, he stands out in every single scene. And he's not a good enough actor to immerse himself in this kind of period piece, or allow us to do the same. (Then again, if he had affected a German accent — or a British one to blend in among his co-stars — he would have invited derision for that, too. Maybe the guy just can't win.)

Guess we'll just have to see it to find out who's right.

what odds will you give me on you??

lol

I'll give you whatever odds you want:

Tom Cruise Explains Lack of German Accent in Valkyrie (#3 of the 5 parts)

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/tom-cruise-explains-the-lack-of-a-german-accent-in-valkyrie/4145609291

Your story was just about the release date being changed, not really a review of the movie just a generic plot outline that assumed he'd be using a German accent since you know... it's a movie about a German. But no! Tom Cruise goes against the grain. Reminds me of Robert Downey Jr.'s character in Tropic Thunder.

[Mr. MacPhisto]

when the smeg is this coming out?
I'm desperate to see it

Not a fan of Red Dwarf at all I see.



I like Lister too.

[FUDU]

Throw in the fact that there's no suspense since we all know what happens and it seems like a pretty boring movie.

That doesn't stop us from watching charlie Brown It's the Great Pumpkin every year?

[BDFD]

It's soundling like The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown is Gone With the Wind compared to this though. I thought Cruise looked and sounded foolish in the commercials.

They need to handle the accent/different language thing like The Hunt For Red October did. Have a bunch of guys standing around talking in their native language then slowly transition it to straight-up English. I don't remember if Red October used accents when speaking in English but if everyone was speaking accent-less English there would be no issue IMO.

[jack_tors]

I will probably see this film since I am a big WWII buff although I am convinced it will not be that good cause of Cruise. In fact, there is part of me that thinks somehow Cruise will not die in this film even though I know his character did simply because Cruise has never died in any of his freakin films.

Anyone looking for a good film on Hitler's last days, check out Downfall. Although it has subtitles (which doesnt bother me), it is just absolutely riveting.

[British_Pharaoh]

I will probably see this film since I am a big WWII buff although I am convinced it will not be that good cause of Cruise. In fact, there is part of me that thinks somehow Cruise will not die in this film even though I know his character did simply because Cruise has never died in any of his freakin films.

Anyone looking for a good film on Hitler's last days, check out Downfall. Although it has subtitles (which doesnt bother me), it is just absolutely riveting.

yeah excellent drama
the subtitles aren't an issue

the fact it's in German adds to the production

I always find foreign films captivate my attention more since following the story through text as well as visually has a certain intimacy and anxiety that you don't get in English pictures

[jb]

main thing that bothered me that critics said was that it doesn't probe the reasons behind the assassination attempt in the film.

Possibly the funniest thing ever written unintentionally.

[British_Pharaoh]

Just seen the trailer

the lack of german accents bothers me especially in the case of Cruise probably because American stands out so much more than the British.

but the film looks good

and not to be pedantic but after the Allied strafing attack that cost Stauffenberg his right hand and one of his eyes
it also left him with just 3 digits on his left hand

[jack_tors]

main thing that bothered me that critics said was that it doesn't probe the reasons behind the assassination attempt in the film.

Possibly the funniest thing ever written unintentionally.

+ 1

Probe the reasons huh? Yeah, good old Adolf really left a large case to be argued in the morality court. The deaths of millions of people, the near extinction of an entire culture of people, and the destruction of his country. Yeah, no idea why people tried to kill the guy. LOL, I love film critics.

[municipalmutt]

Being batshit crazy and all, wouldn't Cruise have been better suited to play Hitler himself?

[British_Pharaoh]

main thing that bothered me that critics said was that it doesn't probe the reasons behind the assassination attempt in the film.

Possibly the funniest thing ever written unintentionally.

+ 1

Probe the reasons huh? Yeah, good old Adolf really left a large case to be argued in the morality court. The deaths of millions of people, the near extinction of an entire culture of people, and the destruction of his country. Yeah, no idea why people tried to kill the guy. LOL, I love film critics.

actually the majority of assassination attempts against him were because Germany was losing the war, Hitler ordering whole armies to stand and fight rather than withdraw under the insistence of his Army commanders when it was obvious resisting was futile (especially at the debacle of Stalingrad) had bestirred some Generals to act (finally) and remove Hitler, overthrow Nazism establish an anti-Nazi government and secure a separate peace in the West (so that troops could be concentrated on fighting the Bolsheviks) some actually believed the Allies would want to take over the fighting on the Eastern Front and destroy Bolshevism.
Of the July 20 plotters very few (mainly Stauffenberg himself) also wanted the removal of Hitler based on Humanitarian and moral grounds. Stauffenberg was disgusted and ashamed of the Nazi pogroms against the Jews in 1938, he had like most Generals disagreed with the 'Commissar Order' issued before Barbarossa.

Even in 1938 before Munich when plans were being hatched to arrest Hitler and subvert the Nazi regime, it was only because the Generals thought Hitler was going to start a conflict in which Germany would lose and be ruined.

[British_Pharaoh]

Being batshit crazy and all, wouldn't Cruise have been better suited to play Hitler himself?

Hitler with an American accent

I love it lol
you stumbled onto a winner there

[pup]

Call me loco.

But if the problem with the movie is Cruise not speaking in a German accent, shouldn't the problem be with Cruise and everyone else not speaking, German?

Was there a lot of English spoken around Hitlerville I am not aware of? Not a hsitory guy or anything, but it seems like saying Romeo is a bad coach because his pressers suck.

[British_Pharaoh]

Call me loco.

But if the problem with the movie is Cruise not speaking in a German accent, shouldn't the problem be with Cruise and everyone else not speaking, German?

Was there a lot of English spoken around Hitlerville I am not aware of? Not a hsitory guy or anything, but it seems like saying Romeo is a bad coach because his pressers suck.

no its just Cruises American dialect sticks out so much more than the British

[swerb]

Saw this last night finally.

More entertaining than I thought it would be, the reviews were kinda choppy for it. Dare I say, I was even edge of my seat for the last 75 minutes of it. Worth seeing. I’m just not a Tom Cruise fan though. It’s been all downhill for him since he played the scene in Top Gun where he sang “You Lost That Loving Feeling” to Kelly McGillis ... sans maybe the first Mission Impossible and A Few Good Men.

I couldn't get past the no German accent thing. It was really weird. All the other soldiers had German accents. Just not Cruise ... who looked out of place enough as a 5'2 American with an eye patch and missing a hand. Also looked like he was fat in this movie. It was just odd.

I’m all about movies being realistic, so I would have preferred subtitles. Seeing the German army speaking in English to each other … that’s just hard for me to buy. Even without the Cruise weirdness.

Sad, cause if they would have casted it better, the film provided great drama. Very good (true) story.

[British_Pharaoh]

I respect Tom Cruise as an actor and was shocked he didn't bother to affect a German accent for this role

[hermanfontenot]

I respect Tom Cruise as an actor and was shocked he didn't bother to affect a German accent for this role

Phony accents are a dicey proposition. If not done well, it makes the actor sound ridiculous and subverts the entire movie. See Nic Cage in Con Air (yeah, I know- Con Air is ridiculous to begin with, but Nic's faux Southern drawl didn't exactly help matters.) Maybe he couldn't pull off a German accent. If he couldn't, it was probably just better to play it straight.

Best option is to go the "Rome" route and fill the cast with British actors. Not to generalize, but American audiences don't draw subtle distinctions with accents- whether you're playing a Roman, a Russian or whatever, as long as you have an accent of any kind, that's good enough.