During World War II, the German Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) is severely wounded in Africa and returns home to Nazi Germany. Stauffenberg helps conceive Operation Valkyrie, a plan approved by Adolf Hitler which, in order to manage turmoil within Germany, would implement a shadow government in the event of the Nazi Führer's death. The Colonel eventually joins the German Resistance and becomes part of the July 20 Plot, a conspiracy to assassinate Hitler and execute Valkyrie in order to take control of the country and make peace with the Allies. Stauffenberg finds himself taking on not only the responsibility of leading the coup, but also the task to assassinate Hitler himself.
and then there's this......
Quote:
German response In June 2007, prior to production, a German Defense Ministry spokesperson said that filming of Valkyrie would not be allowed at the country's military sites if protagonist Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg was portrayed by Tom Cruise, due to the actor's adherence to Scientology, which has been labeled a dangerous cult by the German authorities. The spokesperson further indicated that the ministry had not at that time received official filming requests from Valkyrie's producers. Colonel von Stauffenberg's son also voiced concerns over Cruise's portrayal of his father, saying that he would not oppose the film's production, but hoped that Cruise would drop the role. "I fear that only terrible kitsch will come out of the project. It's bound to be rubbish," Berthold Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg said. "Cruise should keep his hands off my father." Later in the month, the ministry reversed its stance and welcomed production of Valkyrie. The initial controversy reportedly stemmed from German member of parliament Antje Blumenthal, an authority on cults for the conservative CDU party and well-known opponent of Scientology, who had claimed that the German Defense Minister had assured her that the film would not be shot in the country. In addition, Cruise was attacked by junior politicians such as Rudolf Köberle, the state secretary for interior issues in the state of Baden-Württemberg, who also cited Cruise's affiliation with Scientology. Thomas Gandow, a spokesperson for the German Protestant Church, said Cruise's involvement in the film would "have the same propaganda advantages for Scientology as the 1936 Olympics had for the Nazis" and compared the actor to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2007 1:35 pm Posts: 4407 Location: Philadelphia/Los Angeles Gender: Male
Yea this was supposed to be coming out this summer. Typically it's not a great sign if a film gets pushed back by as much as 6 months. I was definitely looking forward to it.
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2007 1:35 pm Posts: 4407 Location: Philadelphia/Los Angeles Gender: Male
lowlight79 wrote:
Test screenings referred to Cruise's German accent as "comical"
Well hang on a sec... see I don't really know much of anything about the true story and real men behind the movie, I've always assumed that the character Cruise played is American, because the first full length trailer's been out for several months now, it features a good bit of dialogue from him, and there's not even a hint of an attempt at an accent, he sounds just as American as he has in all of his other films. I know he's got plenty of people who rail on him for his acting ability, but there's just no way he's playing a German native, his speech is American as apple pie. And there have got to be other characters that are British, and not German, because for example you can see (& hear) Kenneth Branagh speaking in his own native English accent, again, not even trying to do a German one, and this is Brannagh we're talking about, you know he could pull of a German accent without blinking, the man's an awesome actor. (actually come to think of it, most of the main characters in the trailer are heard speaking with British accents)
Joined: Thu Dec 16, 2004 1:54 am Posts: 7189 Location: CA
Orpheus wrote:
Monkey_Driven wrote:
What German accent?
I guess that's the joke.
These days you either have to emulate Mel Gibson and do it authentically or just not even try. The mixed accent thing is just getting strange.
Modern Aramaic speakers didn't find the Passion too authentic. Of course, there's all of about 10 of them left in Syria, so we are lacking a suficient sample size.
I am mainly supporting this film because I like Tom as an actor. I'm sick and tired of people mentioning scientology and jumping on couches. I am hoping he does real well in this film. Here is the trailer...
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2007 1:35 pm Posts: 4407 Location: Philadelphia/Los Angeles Gender: Male
m1chellelovesPJ wrote:
lowlight79 wrote:
Tom Cruise's german accent was called "comical" This is going to be so bad.
oh so bad...
maybe he should have listened to...for example Rammstein...
Well here's the weird thing with that... I understand that sometimes with mainstream studio Hollywood films, if they're telling a story that's entirely "foreign", they'll do a cheat with languages and whatnot. Like case in point "Hunt For Red October", great flick, but they didn't wanna have to use subtitles for half the damn movie. Though I like the way they handed it there, you got like 10 minutes or so with the Russians speaking their language, and subtitles, and that one scene with the officer where McTiernan slowly pushes the camera in as he's speaking Russian to this super closeup of his mouth, then as soon as he starts to pull back, he's speaking English, and that stays the rest of the way. It was his way of acknowledging to the audience at least, yea we know this is bogus, but...
Now with VALKYRIE, I do'nt know if you know but this is actually the 2nd full trailer, the 1st has been out for several months now (well, the release date's been switched around multiple times). And you think about it, obviously all the main characters are German, yet everyone is speaking in (what is their true native accents of) British, as most of the actors are British. But then oh wait a sec -- there's Tom Cruise not even speaking British, he's speaking with an American accent So you have ALL the characters I believe supposed to be German, and yet speaking in two different accents -- NEITHER which is German.
_________________ Be sound.
Last edited by Samwise on Fri Sep 26, 2008 1:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2007 1:35 pm Posts: 4407 Location: Philadelphia/Los Angeles Gender: Male
Sorry I know this is sort of a tangent, but I heard a report on the radio a couple weeks ago that apparently Steven Spielberg has pretty much publicly stated that he's severing all ties to Tom Cruise. He's still apparently pissed at him for not helping as much as he could've for the press on WAR OF THE WORLDS, that was right in the thick of him slowly going crazy in public, jumping on Oprah's couch and the infamous interview with Matt Lauer. Plus it seems the Spielbergs personally know many people who have been greatly helped by the medication that Cruise was dissing. Her never intends to work with Cruise again.
I mean I'm not exactly sure where they got this, every morning they do an entertainment news segment and it's basically bullets of stories culled from someplace else, not like they've got any roving reporters themselves or something. But still, I find it hard to believe Spielberg would say that.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:01 am Posts: 19477 Location: Brooklyn NY
trailer was disgustingly overstylized
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LittleWing sometime in July 2007 wrote:
Unfortunately, it's so elementary, and the big time investors behind the drive in the stock market aren't so stupid. This isn't the false economy of 2000.
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So you have ALL the characters I believe supposed to be German, and yet speaking in two different accents -- NEITHER which is German. 
