MGM internal memo on trailer buzz. Good to know the Fan-Boy and Video Sharing communities feel the film has the potential to be "awesome".

I saw the trailer tonight before "Eagle Eye"... it looks interesting but I think the American accent will be distracting. For some reason I can accept the "English" accent as some universal accent used in movies that don't want to bother with the actual accent of the language the people theoretically would be speaking, but not an American one.

That said, is it really hard for a set of accomplished actors to actually speak with a German accent? Maybe the producers thought it would be MORE distracting to see Tom Cruise speak in one, even if it was a good one?

So I don't get any huge goose-bumps from that trailer. Likewise, I agree that the various accents are not fitting. It's ashame since the production values look top notch.

Maybe this will be the opposite of Pearl Harbor. Good story, good production, but poor execution; versus bad story, good production and worse execution. Ironic I know.

The new trailer (Probably the same as before Eagle Eye, I'm not sure) uses yet another modified Saw theme, but the trailer is pretty sweet. Accents aside, I see no problems with the execution.

( Trailer 6: http://www.apple.com/trailers/mgm/valkyrie/ )

this is early december now?

Yup, It actually looks pretty good. I'm looking forward to it and i'm hoping it works for Singer.

I did some reading about the actual July 20th plot and my interest in this film is definitely higher. It's a very interesting story and this is a cast of tremendous talent, so I'll be there opening weekend.

From IMDB:
"Trade Review: Valkyrie Will Be "Modest Success"

11 December 2008 1:39 AM, PST

Despite numerous predictions that the Tom Cruise historical drama Valkyrie, about the plot to assassinate Hitler during World War II, would become a disaster for both Cruise and his UA studio, the Hollywood Reporter in a review has called it a "coolly efficient, entertaining and straightforward tale" and has predicted "modest success" for it. "Singer has crafted a fine film," Kirk Honeycutt concluded in his trade review. "One just wishes for even greater details -- and a different ending." (The assassins were, of course, caught and executed.) The film is due to open on Christmas Day."

Could someone PLEASE update the fucking thread title? This is NOT coming out in 2009.

the review thread might be a better place to post those things : http://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk/...er-cruise.html

Whoa! spoiler alert please.

No wonder it keeps getting pushed back.

Cruise distractingly bad in `Valkyrie'

Much ado has been made about "Valkyrie," starring Tom Cruise as would-be Hitler assassin Col. Claus von Stauffenberg.
There is the release date, which has been moved around several times until finally being set for Christmas, the perfect time for a feel-good movie about killing Nazis. There's the marketing of the film: Is it a historical thriller featuring Cruise in an eye patch, or is it a straight-up action picture full of explosions? And then, of course, there is the Cruise factor itself — the fact that his very presence adds a layer of tabloid-friendly fascination.
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.)
It's too bad, too, because "Valkyrie" looks great. With its impeccable production design and German locations — including the Bendlerblock in Berlin, where Operation Valkyrie began and where members of the anti-Nazi resistance were executed after it failed — it feels substantial, never CGI-fake, and it moves fluidly. No one ever doubted the ability of Bryan Singer, director of the first two "X-Men" movies, to make a solid, energetic actioner. But — and this is going to sound like more piling on — Cruise undermines the potential of "Valkyrie" at every turn.
He's outclassed and outmatched by every member of the strong supporting cast, any of whom would have been more believable as Stauffenberg: Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp and Bill Nighy as fellow German officers, even Eddie Izzard, who's a unique and unexpected choice.
Then again, the script from Christopher McQuarrie, who won an Academy Award for writing Singer's breakthrough film "The Usual Suspects," never fully fleshes out his motivations. (Nathan Alexander is a co-writer.) Stauffenberg is depicted as a loyal but wounded army officer who loves Germany yet finds himself increasingly horrified by Adolf Hitler's rise to power.
But we never get a sense of inner conflict, of the doubt he may have felt in betraying his duties, of the fear he may have faced in putting himself and his family in danger by going through with the plan. When Stauffenberg states with clenched-jawed, hushed certitude, "We have to kill Hitler," we'll just have to take his word for it that he feels strongly about the task he's about to lead.
He joins the German Resistance for the last of several failed plots to take out Hitler, scheduled for July 20, 1944. Stauffenberg was to plant a bomb and then head a regime change known as Operation Valkyrie, based on Hitler's own emergency plan to keep the government running in case of his death.
As we all know from the start, that didn't happen — Hitler killed himself a year later — and surprisingly, Singer never generates enough suspense to make us forget that as we're watching. The whole effort feels rather smoothly detached. The actual bomb-orchestration sequence is well-staged and has a few breathless moments, but a scene that's supposed to be pivotal and poignant — when Stauffenberg reluctantly thrusts his partially amputated arm in the air and declares "Heil Hitler!" — instead comes off as laughable.
"Valkyrie," a United Artists release, is rated PG-13 for violence and brief strong language. Running time: 120 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.

Really, what was Singer thinking casting Cruise? It seems pretty obvious that he was all wrong for the part.

I think it was more a case of Cruise hiring Singer.

you're right this is Cruise's first big movie as a movie exec. not really a step in the right direction.

Tom Cruise to Run United Artists Film Studio

Morning Edition, November 3, 2006 · Tom Cruise is planning to take over the United Artists studio with his producing partner, Paula Wagner. The news comes just two months after Cruise's bitter break with Paramount Pictures. While no one questions Cruise's track record as a star, many wonder if he can successfully produce movies in which he doesn't appear.

This movie is currently at 67% on Rotten Tomatoes. That's pretty good, considering I was expecting a lot worse. And that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is at a poor 76%.

76% is poor?

A movie that is expected to be a Best Picture nominee should at least be a 90% on RT.

There's only been 19 reviews accounted for on RT. I think it will drop drastically as the word is the film is terrible and Cruise is simply laughable in his role. I wouldn't be surpised to see this in the 40% range... or lower.

i'm at a loss as to how anyone could favorably review this. i don't care if it's decent in terms of tension, etc. they have tom cruise, tom wilkinson, kenneth branagh, and a bunch of other not german actors playing fucking Nazi officers in world war II. it's fucking laughable. what bits i've seen of cruise look like something that should have been in front of Tropic Thunder sandwiched between a Booty Sweat ad and the trailer for Scorcher V.

Maybe they watched it?

I'm surprised that people care so much about whether or not the people playing Nazis speak German or have a German accent. Seems pretty trivial to me. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I would imagine that there are more significant things to praise/criticize than whether the characters have accurate accents or not.

Amen! I have fairly low expectations for this flick, and I probably won't bother seeing it in theaters, but I'll still hold off on flinging crap at it until I see it.

Reason the rating is good is because by the Nazis.

We've never seen anything like that before!