New 'Valkyrie' Trailer Hits
Filed under: Drama, War, Trailers and Clips
It's been an interesting ride for Tom Cruise's Valkyrie. It's received lots of apprehension, unkind words, a false Photoshop drama and a bit of a jostle with its release date. The film's mission to get to the screen seems almost as dangerous as von Stauffenberg's quest to assassinate Hitler. Now its arrival is almost upon us, and with that, we've got a new trailer.
If you want to get the trailer off on the right foot, Terence Stamp (who plays General Ludwig Beck) is definitely the way to do it. The honor, tenseness, and drama -- it plays out as a trailer should. But I just can't get behind Cruise's lack of an accent. Sure, the accents from everyone are far from accurate, but in a sea of British talent, Tom's voice sticks out like a sore thumb. If there was even the slightest hint of an accent (as if he was trying to suppress it and sound American), it'd even work. But as is, the only thing I can think is: "Who is that American dude in the German army?"
That being said, everything else has me really curious about this feature. How about you?
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
Shelf Life: Fight Club_thumbnail.jpg)
Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
_thumbnail.jpg)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-31-2008 @ 1:16PM
Sam said...
I'm always trying to figure out what people's issues with accents are? I mean let's be honest, why is it important that they have accents? If you wanted authenticity they'd all have to be SPEAKING GERMAN, not english with german accents. That's something that even bothered me about "Schindler's List". We've established that we're watching a movie about Nazis, set in Germany. If you ask me its less authentic(and pretty stupid) to have actors portraying German's speaking english with an accent, because they wouldn't be speaking english in the first place, and since we as a moviegoing nation refuse to read the dialogue of a film in a foreign language film (unless its aramaic) I don't think it adds to the realism of the film, it's just that actors like to show off "range". The only time a change of accent is acceptable is when the actor is portraying a character in their original language, but of a different regional dialect. I wonder if Germans get irked by someone portraying a German from Berlin but the dub is by someone with a Bavarian accent, or a Swiss-German accent. There are differences.
Reply
10-31-2008 @ 1:36PM
Matt said...
I agree with sam about the accents but most importantly I just want to say I think that I might have really enjoyed this movie, but Tom Cruise is in it. I have just become so annoyed with that weirdo that I refuse to see another one of his movies. I truly just want him to go away.
Reply
10-31-2008 @ 1:51PM
Andy said...
I'm sorry, but I have to disagree Sam. His accent is incredibly jarring in comparison to the rest. I mean, he's an actor right? Couldn't they sort him out with a voice coach or something? I'm not saying it's right that the cast have English accents as opposed to German ones, but it can be excused to an extent as they still have a general European air to them. But the American one stands out like several sore thumbs.
Still, looks pretty interesting. Also, the trailer music sounded an awful lot like the 'twist reveal' music from the Saw films. Or am I imagining it?
Reply
10-31-2008 @ 2:01PM
E-Rock said...
No, ur not imagining things, that was definitely the Saw theme.
Reply
10-31-2008 @ 2:16PM
Kurt said...
Dude... was that Eddie Izzard?
Reply
10-31-2008 @ 2:34PM
TG said...
I think it boils down to consistency. There have been countless movies with an American or British cast portraying people from other countries who do not speak English to each other in real life. In Schindler's List, the whole cast spoke English with a German accent. No problem, no one cared. In Gladiator set in ancient Rome, the cast spoke with an English accent (save the African character), not a "Latin" accent. Again, no big deal.
But if 99% of the cast has a uniform accent and one actor, the lead in particular, does not, it stands out. Sean Connery movies are the one exception to this rule. If he's playing a Russian, he does it with a Scottish accent and somehow gets away with it because, well, he's Sean Connery.
I'm going to cut Cruise some slack though. If the movie is well reviewed I will see it.
Reply
10-31-2008 @ 5:14PM
Allen said...
I can't even get to accent or no accent. Tom Cruise?....no thanks.
He was never a good actor but there was something about him that made you want to root for him. How can you get that same feeling now that you know what he's like?
Reply