First heard of this project about a year ago and thought it sounded intriguing. I’m also curious to see if Tom Cruise can salvage his career and public image with a great film.
Directed by Bryan Singer and based on the true story of a World War II plot by elements of the German high command to assassinate Hitler, Valkyrie is looking better and better with each new preview.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… Star Wars was cool. It was unassailable. It wasn’t just the height of fanboy pleasures, but it was the biggest mainstream success in the history of movies.
It was 1980.
But for many, the magic of George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise hit its high point with the release of the amazing The Empire Strikes Back that year. That first sequel had taken the wonder, the fantasy, and the technical wizardry of the original 1977 film and elevated it to new heights, providing a grander, darker, more complex adventure that even bordered on delving into adult themes. (You’re whose father, Darth?) It was a magnificent time to be alive.
But something went wrong after the release of Empire, that much is certain.
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Just read an interview with the great Sam Rockwell in which this hilarious short was referenced. I’d never seen it before now and thought in light of the success of The Dark Knight you guys might get a kick out of it:
By LTC(RET) Dave Grossman, RANGER,
Ph.D., author of “On Killing.”
Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for? - William J. Bennett - in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997
One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: “Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident.” This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another.
Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.
Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.
I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me, it is like the pretty, blue robin’s egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell.
Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, And someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.
“Then there are the wolves,” the old war veteran said, “and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy.” Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.
“Then there are sheepdogs,” he went on, “and I’m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.”
If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf.
But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.
