Valkyrie - 5/19/09

[Kryptonic]

Fantastic movie, Blu-Ray, and extra features. Definitely pick it up.

[timcat4843]

Originally Posted by Kryptonic

Fantastic movie, Blu-Ray, and extra features. Definitely pick it up.

It's a shame that the audio is screwed up.

The Audio: Rating the Sound

For the most part, the lossless English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track on this Blu-ray is a powerfully robust one, but at times it does suffer from a somewhat disappointing imbalance that really could have (and should have) been better.

My biggest complaint with the whole mix is that the dialogue is considerably softer than most other releases. Right from the get-go during the scenes in Africa, the volume needs to be cranked up a few notches more than the norm to hear every spoken word clearly, and then when we're treated to bombing air strikes it is quite jarring to say the least. Surround usage is great, though, as is the presence from the LFE channel and John Ottman's score. Sadly, if only the center channel was tweaked properly we could have had a real winner here.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by timcat4843

It's a shame that the audio is screwed up.

The Audio: Rating the Sound

For the most part, the lossless English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track on this Blu-ray is a powerfully robust one, but at times it does suffer from a somewhat disappointing imbalance that really could have (and should have) been better.

My biggest complaint with the whole mix is that the dialogue is considerably softer than most other releases. Right from the get-go during the scenes in Africa, the volume needs to be cranked up a few notches more than the norm to hear every spoken word clearly, and then when we're treated to bombing air strikes it is quite jarring to say the least. Surround usage is great, though, as is the presence from the LFE channel and John Ottman's score. Sadly, if only the center channel was tweaked properly we could have had a real winner here.

That's not a problem with Valkyrie, but a problem with DTS-HD MA in general. I find that about one out of every 5 BDs encoded in DTS-HD MA has the dialogue mixed far too low. I have noticed it with Dolby TrueHD as well, but it tends to be less frequent.

[slimdude]

I just couldn't accept the fact of Tom Cruise playing a German, without an accent. It was one of the major flaws in the movie which made the entire film extremely unconvincing, and ridiculous. I don't know what the hell the filmmakers were thinking, when they cast Tom Cruise for the role. The movie would have been seem more authentic, if they've cast a real German actor for the part of Claus von Stauffenberg.

[Kryptonic]

I have had no problems with the audio. I've watched the film several times and it sounds fantastic. I've never had a problem with the dialogue being lower than the rest of the sounds.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Kryptonic

I have had no problems with the audio. I've watched the film several times and it sounds fantastic. I've never had a problem with the dialogue being lower than the rest of the sounds.

I haven't noticed it with Valykrie, but there are some other titles out there that I have noticed it with.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by slimdude

I just couldn't accept the fact of Tom Cruise playing a German, without an accent. It was one of the major flaws in the movie which made the entire film extremely unconvincing, and a joke. I don't know what the hell the filmmakers were thinking, when they cast Tom Cruise for the role. The movie would have been seem more authenticated, if they've cast a real German actor for the part of Claus von Stauffenberg.

This bothered me as well, but it was thankfully the only major fault I had with the film. I honestly thought Thomas Kretschmann would have been an excellent choice.

[MikeCL]

sweet got the last copy on the shelf!

[MikeCL]

Originally Posted by slimdude

I just couldn't accept the fact of Tom Cruise playing a German, without an accent. It was one of the major flaws in the movie which made the entire film extremely unconvincing, and ridiculous. I don't know what the hell the filmmakers were thinking, when they cast Tom Cruise for the role. The movie would have been seem more authentic, if they've cast a real German actor for the part of Claus von Stauffenberg.

Kinda reminds me of U-571 and the Americans that boarded the sub.. but about this movie i knew tom was playing the role of Stauffenberg.. So just gotta go with the flow..

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

This bothered me as well, but it was thankfully the only major fault I had with the film. I honestly thought Thomas Kretschmann would have been an excellent choice.

You're absolutely right! Thomas Kretschmann was born to play Claus von Stauffenberg, and he's a good actor as well.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by slimdude

You're absolutely right! Thomas Kretschmann was born to play Claus von Stauffenberg, and he's a good actor as well.

I enjoyed him as Major Cain in Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Damaskinos in Blade II, and as Fegelein in Downfall. He also plays the voice of Professor Z in Cars 2.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by slimdude

I just couldn't accept the fact of Tom Cruise playing a German, without an accent. It was one of the major flaws in the movie which made the entire film extremely unconvincing.

Sorry, I just never understood this complaint about the film. I'm the opposite way, people speaking in English with German accents always sounds silly to me. The real events didn't happen with people speaking with accents. They spoke unaccented German. Either make the film in German, or in English, but not some strange midground, where we're pretending these people are Germans struggling to speak in a second language.

I'm also a big fan of the "Wallander" TV series for this reason. All the actors speak unaccented English and we understand that they're meant to be speaking Swedish. I'm likewise nervous about THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, as everyone but Daniel Craig will be doing accents, and Christopher Plummer's already sounds uneven in the trailer alone.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by slimdude

You're absolutely right! Thomas Kretschmann was born to play Claus von Stauffenberg, and he's a good actor as well.

Kretschmann and writer Christopher McQuarrie are friends. McQuarrie actually wrote VALKYRIE as a vehicle for Kretschmann, intending to direct it as an indie. When it became a big-budget studio behemoth, Kretschmann found himself relegated to a supporting role.

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/1907..._valkyrie.html

So, when I was going to direct it, I was talking to Thomas Kretschmann, I’ve known Thomas for a long time, and we were talking about making this movie. The problem was not Thomas, the problem was me – I was not a director that somebody was going to give all this money to. And another problem was the subject matter – maybe if I’d come to them with another spec script, that would’ve been a reality. But, it was me, coming to them with a movie about World War II, totally populated by Germans, that doesn’t end well.

With Bryan attached, it went from a script that no-one wanted to read, to one that no-one needed to read. They just wanted to make the movie. But, they only wanted to invest so much money into it, the kind of offers we were getting were around that $20m mark, and that was never going to get this movie made. We were being foolishly optimistic – and it was only when Tom came aboard that it was properly looked into.

So there were points where there was me and Kretschmann, with a script we really believed in, but that nobody else believed in. Suddenly, Bryan came on board, and I turned to Thomas and said: “Look, we can hold on to our ideals and never make this movie, or we can let it go and become part of something bigger.” Kretschmann said, “It’s an important story that needs to be told; let’s let it go.”

That’s how it became a movie with Tom and Bryan, and how I became producer, and how Thomas became Major Remer and how the movie turned into what it is. And we’re all glad it turned out as it did.

Still, in the end Cruise actually looks much, much more like Stauffenberg (for what it's worth).

[MikeCL]

damn the flak guns and aircrafts and just the damn phone ringing made me jump lol.

[MikeCL]

Great movie but man did it feel short but it's 2 hours!

[DetroitSquirreL]

Originally Posted by MikeCL

Great movie but man did it feel short but it's 2 hours!

That always shows me its a really good movie if that much time goes by without knowing it

[DetroitSquirreL]

I LOUVE Tom Cruise but I actually like him in this film

[HD Goofnut]

I just uploaded the best part of the film in HD:

Valkyrie - Opening (HD) - YouTube

[pablo1984]

Sorry to arrive late but...are the extras subtitled in spanish or in english?

[s2mikey]

Originally Posted by slimdude

I just couldn't accept the fact of Tom Cruise playing a German, without an accent. It was one of the major flaws in the movie which made the entire film extremely unconvincing, and ridiculous. I don't know what the hell the filmmakers were thinking, when they cast Tom Cruise for the role. The movie would have been seem more authentic, if they've cast a real German actor for the part of Claus von Stauffenberg.

It was a dodgy choice but he actually does OK with it. The film is good enough to overcome this but casting directors need to think things through a little better.