Valkyrie with Tom Cruise Takes Flight on DVD on May 19

The movie Valkyrie starring Tom Cruise is based upon the true story of Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg, the Nazi officer who was a leader in the conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler in July 1944 during World War II. The war movie released in theaters in North America on December 25, 2008 and will be released on DVD on May 19, 2009.

Colonel Von Stauffenberg plotted with other German army officers to use Operation Valkyrie to take control of Germany as part of their assassination plan. Using Operation Valkyrie, the plotters would be able to deploy the Reserve Army to maintain order in the event of a national emergency like Hitler's assassination.

Valkyrie is an important movie as it clearly depicts the depth of animosity and fear many of Hitler's officer felt towards the Führer as well as their willingness to sacrifice and act to rid Germany of the man they were sure would be Germany's downfall. The officers of Valkyrie believed that by ridding Germany of the dictator who ruled the country, they might save Germany from Hitler as well as the advancing Allies.

However, Valkyrie is not without its flaws. There are quite a few key players in Valkyrie, most of them Nazi officers, and it is a challenge to keep up with who's who. There is a great deal of plotting, and planning, and discussing. The movie is promoted as a "thriller" and "action-packed," but there isn't a great deal of thrill or action to Valkyrie except in certain war scenes, most notably at the beginning of the movie where Von Stauffenberg suffers serious, disfiguring injuries. The movie is two hours long, and some of those 120 minutes are tedious planning sessions. Even the assassination attempt is not action-packed.

In the age of Mission Impossible and X-Men, historical movies like Valkyrie lack the punch movie goers in the 21st century have come to expect of their action movies. However, much of history wasn't thrilling - it was planning, plotting, and plodding along, waiting for things to come together.

One of the biggest downers about Valkyrie is history itself. Knowing how Hitler died, even if viewers are not familiar with Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg, they know there is not going to be a happy ending to Valkyrie.

Valkyrie does succeed in bringing home the heroic sacrifice of the men who were willing to give up everything to right a terrible wrong and to save their country.

One interesting note is the striking resemblance Tom Cruise bears to Claus Von Stauffenberg in profile shots (click on the images above).

Valkyrie stars Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Eddie Izzard, Terence Stamp and Tom Wilkinson. The film is rated PG-13 for some war violence.

If you enjoyed my Valkyrie review, you also might enjoy The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - Brilliant Holocaust Movie Now on DVD.