History Main / Valkyrie

* FinalSpeech: "You may hand us over to the executioner, but in three months time the disgusted and harried people will bring you to book, and drag you alive through the dirt in the streets." Nothing of the sort happened to Judge Freisler, whom the comment was directed at. In fact, he died during the British bombing of Berlin while he was sentencing two women to death - [[DeathFromAbove a bomb fell through the open roof]] in the [[KarmicDeath middle of the trial and blew him up]].

** Which can also double as a DyingMomentOfAwesome.

* HoYay (At some point in the movie it seems like Lieutenent Haeften has a bit of a crush on Stauffenberg.)

* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct (Not really time travel, but it's touched upon, and subverted. The protagonists know that the hardest part of the plot is to create a new regime ''after'' Hitler is killed.)

* HoYay (At some point in the movie it seems like Lieutenent Haeften has a bit of a crush on Stauffenberg.)
* HopeSpot: When Operation Valkyrie is initiated by Olbricht. The plan was to assassinate Hitler and then declare a state of emergency - the Wehrmacht would arrest the entire SS, Gestapo and Nazi Party leadership. A military junta would take control, officially to safeguard Hitler's legacy but in reality to end the war. The HopeSpot is where this succeeds, and the German army seizes control; simultaneously a CMOA. It lasts until Hitler [[OhCrap reveals himself to be alive]].

* TranslationConvention: After an opening transition, everybody speaks perfect English. The written documents are still in German, and during the coup the reserve army troops issue orders in their native tongue.

* XPacHeat Much of the {{hatedom}} from this movie appears to stem from dislike of TomCruise and [[ChurchOfHappyology his religion]], rather than the production values or any historical inaccuracies of the film itself.
* ViewersAreMorons: According to the DVD commentaries, many of the intricate workings of the German military machine and socio-political circumstances pertaining to and influencing the plot were greatly cut down and reduced to layman's terms through several drafts of the script.
* YouCantThwartStageOne ([[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. The plot gets far, much further than it did in real life. Of course, given Stauffenberg and the other plotters' HistoricalHeroUpgrade, the short-lived RealLife July 20 plot could count as a subversion.)

* YouFailGeographyForever: [[GloriousMotherRussia Smolensk]] in March is usually a quagmire of melting snow, ice and mud. The Berghof was built onto the side of a hill and ''not'' the direct top. The inaccurate composition of the East Prussian forests surrounding the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Wolf's Lair]].
* YouFailHistoryForever: Numerous, coinciding with DidNotDoTheResearch. In the morning whilst shaving, Stauffenberg deliberately cuts himself with the blade; it's an excuse to 'change his clothes' in the base (in reality a chance to arm the explosives), because the film couldn't portray him sweating. That's right, kids: [[UnfortunateImplications cutting yourself works]]. One of the most glaring violations is during the lead-up to the assassination attempt: Major Freyend diverts Stauffenberg from the bunker with the excuse that ''[[FlatWhat it's too hot]]'' - true to life, it was indeed a sweltering mid-July day, but nobody was going into the bunker since it was undergoing structural reinforcement carried out by slave workers. [[ViewersAreMorons For the sake of differentiation]], Stauffenberg had performed a dry run in there on the 15th. ViewersAreGoldfish, evidently. Berlin seems to look remarkably pristine given that it's been subjected to countless Allied air raids...

* CompositeCharacter - Some minor figures were combined in Ian [=McNeice's=] character which is identified just as "[[NoNameGiven Pompous General]]" in the credits.

* AllGermansAreNazis: Stauffenberg and his companions subvert this.
** Of course, they ''are'' Nazis as well...
*** They're just [[PunchClockVillain Wehrmacht officers]] and [[RealLife as a matter of fact]], although some of them had been involved in war crimes, most of them were also known for their participation in the German Resistance against the Nazi regime and for saving Jews and other minorities from concentration camps and/or mass executions.
**** Henning Von Trescow's words: We have to show the world that not all of us was like him'' says all.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome - Joseph Goebbels gets one, of all people. After the bomb has gone off and Operation Valkyrie is rounding up SS Officers and Nazi Party members left and right, he slips a cyanide capsule into his mouth and makes a phone call, whilst remaining [[TheStoic cool as ice]]. Major Remer comes in to tell him he's under orders to arrest him, and Goebbels gives him the phone, with Adolf Hitler [[DidYouJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu on the other end]]. Remer is [[{{Understatement}} shocked]] to hear Hitler is still alive. Needless to say, Goebbels is not arrested, and after Remer leaves, he just spits out the poison.
** Stauffenberg as well. When after their first assasination attempt is aborted and General Fromm threatens the conspirators not to call up the Reserve Army another time, he demands Stauffenberg say "Heil Hitler" out loud. After a short pause Stauffenberg then gives him the full Hitler salute... ''with his mutilated arm''.

** Which, of course, was TruthInTelevision.
* FinalSpeech: "You may hand us over to the executioner, but in three months time the disgusted and harried people will bring you to book, and drag you alive through the dirt in the streets."
** Nothing of the sort happened to Judge Freisler, whom the comment was directed at. In fact, he died during the British bombing of Berlin while he was sentencing two women to death - [[DeathFromAbove a bomb fell through the open roof]] in the [[KarmicDeath middle of the trial and blew him up]].
* ForegoneConclusion: Even those unfamiliar with the assassination plot itself should know this
** Believe it or not, this troper read a [[WhatAnIdiot professional review]] in a newspaper that bashed the film because of this.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade (And HOW!)
** To elaborate, here is a direct quote from the main HistoricalHeroUpgrade page:
*** In ''{{Valkyrie}}'' apparently the [[http://www.verbrechen-der-wehrmacht.de/docs/home_e.htm German officer corps actually cared about Jewish people, was disgusted by their slaughter]], and masterminded a plot to assassinate Hitler that would include the closing of [=KZs=]. [[http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/GENOCIDE/reviewstr12.htm Never mind Stauffenberg's views of Poland as "an unbelievable rabble" best under the whip, and their country as one filled with "a lot of Jews and a lot of cross-breeds"]].
**** This is mitigated by them wanting to put [[MagnificentBastard Erwin Rommel]] in charge who possibly the most genuinely morally good general and who's army was the only one that had zero warcrime to their name by the end of the war.

* KarmicDeath: General Fromm refuses to join the conspiracy and orders the executions of Stauffenberg, Beck, Merz, Haeften and Olbricht. He has them killed to prevent anyone from figuring out that he knew about the assassination plot and allowed it to proceed, since he would have ''joined'' them if Hitler died from the blast.
** In real life, Fromm then went to Goebbels to take credit for crushing the plot. Goebbels promptly had Fromm executed.
** No he wasn't. He was executed almost 8 months later on orders of Hitler, shortly before the end of the war.
* MagnificentBastard: Joseph Goebbels comes across as one, strangely enough. (There was nothing magnificent about him in real life, though.)

** Not to mention Bill Nighy. Try watching him in ''The Boat that Rocked'' and then in this.

* PunchClockVillain: Major Remer, who carries out Operation Valkyrie and is manipulated by both sides. In the very end, he arrests Stauffenberg without any enthusiasm at all.

** On the other hand, the real life Stauffenberg hated Wagner's music.
* TearJerker: The execution scenes, accompanied by a really powerful melody.

** In case the name doesn't ring a bell, he's the bald guy with the glasses that demonstrates the workings of the bomb.

* YouFailHistoryForever: Numerous, coinciding with DidNotDoTheResearch. In the morning whilst shaving, Stauffenberg deliberately cuts himself with the blade; it's an excuse to 'change his clothes' in the base (in reality a chance to arm the explosives), because the film couldn't portray him sweating. That's right, kids: [[UnfortunateImplications cutting yourself works]]. One of the most glaring violations is during the lead-up to the assassination attempt: Major Freyend diverts Stauffenberg from the bunker with the excuse that ''[[FlatWhat it's too hot]]'' - true to life, it was indeed a sweltering mid-July day, but nobody was going into the bunker since it was undergoing structural reinforcement carried out by slave workers. [[ViewersAreMorons For the sake of differentiation]], Stauffenberg had performed a dry run in there on the 15th. ViewersAreGoldfish, evidently.
** Berlin seems to look remarkably pristine given that it's been subjected to countless Allied air raids...

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/valkyrie-poster-cruise.jpg

Suffered somewhat from DoomedByCanon and UnpleasableFanbase. Firstly, as a film striving for the most basic of historical accuracy, any audience member with an education will know the ultimate outcome of the film's central plan. Also drew criticism for the actors of various nationalities NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent - but no doubt would have been equally derided had they [[OohMeAccentsSlipping attempted to sound German]].

** The German Resistance members could be count as well.
* LaResistance

* ForegoneConclusion: Even those unfamiliar with the assassination plot itself should [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready know this]]

** To be fair a lot of American and British officers of that era would have used that language about Jews and other races as well. They still risked their lives fighting Nazism and have all been lionised today as well.

** Stauffenberg as well. When after their first assasination attempt is aborted and General Fromm threatens the conspirators not to call up the Reserve Army another time, he demands Stauffenberg say "Heil Hitler" out loud. Stauffenberg then gives him the full Hitler salute... ''with his mutilated arm''.

* AffablyEvil: Adolf Hitler. When he meets Stauffenberg for the first time, he prises him for his service and his sacrifices for Germany and then tells his fellow national socialists that they could learn a lot of things from him.

* FatBastard - Hermann Göring, whose small appearance consists of lounging around a lunch table like a fat pig.

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: The central communications officer handling the military orders during the coup. He refuses to take a side and is so bent on remaining neutral that when presented with a MortonsFork, he ''sends through both orders''. Finally, he [[spoiler: blocks communications [[NeutralNoLonger from Stauffenberg]]]].

*** They're just [[PunchClockVillain Wehrmacht officers]] and [[RealLife as a matter of fact]], although some of them had been involved in war crimes, most of them were also known for their participation in the German Resistance against the Nazi regime and for saving Jews and other minorities from concentration camps and/or mass executions.

** "We have to show the world...that not all of us was like him".

* AffablyEvil: Adolf Hitler. When he meets Stauffenberg for the first time, he prises him for his service and his sacrifices for Germany and then tells his fellow nationalsocialists that they should learn a lot of things from him.

*** They're just Wehrmacht officers and [[RealLife as a matter of fact]]- altought some of them has been involved in war crimes - most of them were also known for his great activity in German Resistance against the Nazi regime and for saving jews and non - jews from concentration camps and/or mass executions.

* EurekaMoment (Guess [[RichardWagner what]] Stauffenberg is listening to when he gets the idea for Operation ''Valkyrie''?)
* EyePatchOfPower (TruthInTelevision. Cruise actually spent months learning to work with the eyepatch, and stated that while he found it difficult to work with, he acknowledged the real von Stauffenberg would have found it difficult as well)

* To be fair a lot of American and British officers of that era would have used that language about jews and other races as well.They still risked their lives fighting nazism and have all been lionised today as well.

*** They're just Wehrmacht officers and [[RealLife as a matter of fact]]- besides some of them has been involved in war crimes - most of them were also known for his great activity in German Resistance against the Nazi regime and for saving jews and non - jews from concentration camps and/or mass executions.

* AllGermansAreNazis: Stauffemberg and his companions subvert this.

*PrecisionFStrike