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Valkyrie (2008)

tomatometer

61

Average Rating: 6.1/10
Reviews Counted: 191
Fresh: 117 | Rotten: 74

Given the subject matter, Valkyrie could have been an outstanding historical thriller, but settles for being a mildly entertaining, but disposable yarn.

59

Average Rating: 5.9/10
Critic Reviews: 39
Fresh: 23 | Rotten: 16

Given the subject matter, Valkyrie could have been an outstanding historical thriller, but settles for being a mildly entertaining, but disposable yarn.

audience

66

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 216,326

My Rating

Movie Info

At the absolute height of World War II, German generals hatch a daring plan to assassinate Adolf Hitler and effectively render the German war machine impotent. Directed by Bryan Singer, Valkyrie stars Tom Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the real-life mastermind behind the elaborate plot known as Project Valkyrie: a plan to assassinate Hitler and overthrow his government from the inside. Stauffenberg has been a loyal soldier and an asset to the Reich for his entire military career, but

May 19, 2009

$83.0M

MGM

Cast

All Critics (191) | Top Critics (39) | Fresh (121) | Rotten (75) | DVD (10)

Valkyrie, as field-commanded by director Bryan Singer, succeeds on its own terms as a handsome hybrid of conspiracy thriller and history lesson, of Mission: Impossible and The Day of the Jackal.

September 7, 2011 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | Comment
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Surely there is some middle ground between a history lesson and mindless action-adventure. The people who made Valkyrie not only didn't find that ground; they weren't even looking for it.

January 5, 2009 Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | Comment
Christian Science Monitor
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It is a well-made film that raises timeless questions about the demands of military duty when they are placed in conflict with higher principles.

December 30, 2008 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comment
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

What if this lesser-known chapter of German resistance had been more deeply captured? What if the moral conflicts running through this movie about love of country and revolt said more about Germany, war and, yes, genocide?

December 30, 2008 Full Review Source: Denver Post | Comments (2)
Denver Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Singer keeps the conspiracy racing to its fated conclusion.

December 30, 2008 Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | Comment
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

As a suspense movie, this works pretty well.

December 30, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

If there's one thing Cruise knows how to portray, it's robotic single-mindedness.

August 16, 2011 Full Review Source: East Bay Express | Comment
East Bay Express

Counterbalancing the energy vacuum that is Cruise is the good news that this is also a Bryan Singer movie.

April 4, 2011 Full Review Source: Movies.com | Comment
Movies.com

As both a World War II film and a conspiracy story Valkyrie largely succeeds. No one part may stand above its fellows (not to mention other films) but what it adds up to is more than worthwhile and you may find yourself pleasantly surprised.

March 10, 2011 Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | Comment
ComingSoon.net

Cruise, Singer, lose the credibility battle.

December 31, 2010 Full Review Source: sbs.com.au | Comment
sbs.com.au

El Caso de Valquiria como cinta es muy interesante pues a pesar de que todos sabemos el desenlace, la realización logra mantenernos pegados a la butaca pidiendo de forma imposible que el complot funcione y dejándonos al final con un montón de "Y si%u2026"

March 11, 2010 Full Review Source: Cinenganos | Comment
Cinenganos

the action is traded for suspense in the movie, which is when things really click

January 9, 2010 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | Comment
7M Pictures

Singer can only touch on the surface of each development. It would help if we could see the failure reflected in von Stauffenberg's one good eye, but Cruise, alas, can offer little help. He's just Tom Cruise in an eyepatch.

December 24, 2009 Full Review Source: Florida Times-Union | Comment
Florida Times-Union

Maintaining tension in the face of a foregone conclusion is no mean trick, but Mr. Singer and company do as well as anyone could hope.

August 30, 2009 Full Review Source: Washington Times | Comment

It's never a pretty sight when a limited performer tries to "stretch" by way of cosmetics

August 26, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion | Comment
CinePassion

[Cruise] looks about as German as Jackie Chan would in a lederhosen.

August 1, 2009 Full Review Source: Cut Print Review | Comment
Cut Print Review

It's the perfect film for our age of reassessment and ambiguity.

July 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | Comment
Film Freak Central

Earnest and understated movie about the General's plot against Hitler. Despite Cruise's reputation for derring-do characters, this is a very human German colonel that he plays.

July 13, 2009 Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | Comment
rec.arts.movies.reviews

[A] pleasing throwback to 1970s war-intrigue pictures. [Blu-ray]

June 19, 2009 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | Comment (1)

...finally can't help but come off as something of a minor disappointment...

June 16, 2009 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comment
Reel Film Reviews

The movie proceeds to show how everything, little by little, falls out of place -- not the most thrilling of events to cover, but interesting all the same.

May 28, 2009 Full Review Source: Window to the Movies | Comment
Window to the Movies

[Cruise] brings a gung-ho excitement and energy that's generally missing from war movies today (they're more concerned with being stern and glum and anti-war).

May 22, 2009 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comments (2)
Combustible Celluloid

An interminable costume drama strictly for Tom Cruise fans and for World War II buffs.

May 22, 2009 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | Comments (4)
NewsBlaze
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Valkyrie

The true story of the plot to murder Adolf Hitler in 1944 is rather well known in Germany, but probably less so in other countries. The cast they combined for this is outstanding, probably could have used a few more Germans in German roles, but it's hard to complain about the starpower meeting here. Director Singer

December 7, 2008
ironclad1609

Super Reviewer

A near miss. There was a lot going for this one, including a strong cast, conspiracy-theory intrigue and a sizeable amount of action. Unfortunately, it took a while to get going, and overall, it just interrupts itself too often, spinning its wheels for most of the first hour before the plot really takes off. A good

December 14, 2008
danperry17

Super Reviewer

    1. Adolf Hitler: Do you recognize my voice?
    – Submitted by Jeff J (8 months ago)
    1. Col. Claus von Stauffenberg: We have to kill Hitler.
    – Submitted by Jeff J (8 months ago)
    1. Gen. Erich Fellgiebel: When the S.S. catch you, they will pull you apart like warm bread.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)
    1. Major-Gen. Henning von Tresckow: You scared me half to death.
    2. Col. Claus von Stauffenberg: You'll be closer than that before we're finished.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • Operation Walküre - Das Stauffenberg Attentat (DE)
  • Walkyrie (FR)
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