Jim, Maybe he'll grow into the part....

I was wondering the same thing about this one.

I saw previews for another WWII era movie last night, I think it was called "Definiance", is that right? It looked pretty good, I think it's due out in mid January.

Yes Brooke, Defiance. We saw an ad for it last night on TV. Lee and I said, that looks like a good one. Will definitely tune in.

The reviews that I've read say that he was terrible, but the rest of the movie was quite good and that the other actors were excellent. I'm going to give it a shot err considering how Cruise meets his end, perhaps try would be a better choice of words.

Once saw a brilliiant German comedy film where two German guys go back in time to kill ole' one ball.

They do everything except that, it was sooooooo funny, perhaps my little B.B over there in France could track it down, thanks Vee.

The reviews that I've read say that he was terrible, but the rest of the movie was quite good and that the other actors were excellent. I'm going to give it a shot err considering how Cruise meets his end, perhaps try would be a better choice of words.

I saw the movie last night and agree with those reviews. There are several fine German actors in it that you will recognize from Downfall, but Tom Cruise was not convincing that he was anything else but Tom Cruise in a German uniform. I think the film would have been much more effective if they had used an unknown in the Lead role. One other thing...the plot did not spend enough developing the reasons why Hitler needed to be killed. Sadly, it's likely that American audiences would not go to the theaters (in any numbers) to see a movie about WWII without a big star like Cruise, and the producers know this. Wait for the DVD...

Dogdaddy

Once saw a brilliiant German comedy film where two German guys go back in time to kill ole' one ball.

They do everything except that, it was sooooooo funny, perhaps my little B.B over there in France could track it down, thanks Vee.

That might have been an episode of either Night Gallery or maybe the newer Outer Limits. I remember seeing it though.

I plan on seeing Valykrie on Sunday.

Just got back from seeing Valkyrie. I give it two thumbs up

I prefer that German characters at least roll their Rs, but the fact that Cruise's character began the film speaking German and then faded into English was quite acceptable. The glass eye kind of creeped me out

Even though I knew the ending, it didn't take away from the film. I'll definitely add it to my DVD collection when it's released. I thought that the guy playing Himmler looked very much like him. We didn't have a bad looking Hitler either, though he could have used a bit more of the "crazed" look in his eyes.

I was surprised to learn that Von Stauffenberg orgiinally attempted to execute the plot on my birthday, 15 July. Interesting

In any event there were a lot of nazis running around in the film, and they're my favorite villians.

WE (Lee and I) have to agree with Janis. We watched the film Friday night, and thought it was extremely well done.

I have to admit, after reading a few posts here, I watched with trepidation, but that finally gave out when I actually gave the film a chance.

My husband is extremely well-versed in this time period, and said it was very accurate, and even stated to his sister and I, that Tom Cruise looked very much like Claus von Stauffenberg.

We didn't mind the fact that Tom Cruise didn't have a German accent, for the majority of the actors DIDN'T. We too liked the subtle change from the German into American, which acclimated the audience.

So, two thumbs up from the two of us. Would definitely recommend to all.

Lee was also impressed they didn't get into the gore of the torture and executions, but rather told a very good story.

WE (Lee and I) have to agree with Janis. We watched the film Friday night, and thought it was extremely well done.

 

I have to admit, after reading a few posts here, I watched with trepidation, but that finally gave out when I actually gave the film a chance.

 

My husband is extremely well-versed in this time period, and said it was very accurate, and even stated to his sister and I, that Tom Cruise looked very much like Claus von Stauffenberg.

 

We didn't mind the fact that Tom Cruise didn't have a German accent, for the majority of the actors DIDN'T. We too liked the subtle change from the German into American, which acclimated the audience.

 

So, two thumbs up from the two of us. Would definitely recommend to all.

 

Lee was also impressed they didn't get into the gore of the torture and executions, but rather told a very good story.

I have to admit that I did enjoy it the second time I watched this movie and Tom Cruise gave a commendable portrayal. After that I also rented the earlier German version of Operation Valkyrie from Netflix, and enjoyed that one just as well. Both were faithful to the real story and well made. It was a story that needed to be told, I suppose, so that today's generation of Germans might be able to find some Heroes of their own in the WWII period. I'm sure they are tired of feeling bad about being German over things they had nothing to do with, and it's true that the Nazi legacy has been hard to overcome. There were a number of Germans that recognized that Hitler was a sociopath and tried to do something about it at the cost of their own lives. Nobody knows for sure how large that group was, but I think it's still fair to say that an even larger group supported Hitler until the war started going badly for Germany and it will take a few more generations before that legacy will fade away. Had I been a young and impressionable German in 1939 I can't say with any certainty which way I would have gone. Their was no 24 hour cable news or internet back then, and Germans who dared even listened to "free" radio broadcasts found themselves in Dachau or worse.