During World War II, Wehrmacht Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) is severely wounded in Tunisia, and is evacuated home to Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, Major General Henning von Tresckow (Branagh) attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler by smuggling a bomb aboard the Führer's private airplane. The bomb, however, fails to detonate and Tresckow safely retrieves it to conceal his intentions. After learning that the Gestapo has arrested Major Hans Oster, he orders General Olbricht (Nighy) to find a replacement. After recruiting Stauffenberg into the German Resistance, Olbricht delivers Stauffenberg to a meeting of the secret committee which has coordinated previous attempts on Hitler's life. The members include General Ludwig Beck (Stamp), Dr. Carl Goerdeler (McNally), and Erwin von Witzleben (Schofield). The Colonel is stunned to learn that no plans exist for after Hitler's assassination.
After a bombing raid on Berlin, he lights upon using the plan Operation Valkyrie, which involves the deployment of the Reserve Army to maintain order in the event of a national emergency. The plotters carefully redraft the plan so that they can dismantle the Nazi regime after assassinating Hitler. Realizing that only General Fromm (Wilkinson), the head of the Reserve Army, can initiate Valkyrie, they offer him a position as head of the Wehrmacht in a Post-Nazi Germany and recruit him into the fold. With the rewritten plan needing to be signed off by Hitler (Bamber), Stauffenberg visits the Führer at his Berghof estate in Bavaria. In the presence of his inner circle, Hitler praises Stauffenberg's heroism in North Africa and signs off on the plan without fully examining the modifications.
At Goerdeler's insistence, Stauffenberg is ordered to assassinate both Hitler and SS head Himmler at the bunker Wolf's Lair. At a final briefing, Colonel Mertz von Quirnheim (Berkel) instructs the committee members in how to use pencil detonators. Stauffenberg also reaches out to General Fellgiebel (Izzard), who controls all communications at Wolf's Lair, to cut off communications after the bomb blast. On July 15, 1944, Stauffenberg attends a strategy meeting at Wolf's Lair with the bomb in his briefcase, but with Himmler not present at the meeting, Stauffenberg does not get the go-ahead from the committee leaders until the meeting is over. Meanwhile, the Reserve Army is mobilized by Olbricht, unbeknownst to Fromm, to stand by. With no action taken, Stauffenberg safely extracts himself and the bomb from the bunker, and the Reserve Army is ordered to stand down, believing that the mobilization was training. Enraged, Stauffenberg to the committee to protest the indecisiveness and blames the bungling of Goerdeler, who has been selected to be chancellor after the coup. When Goerdeler demands that Stauffenberg be relieved, Beck informs him that the SS is searching for him and implores him to leave the country.
On July 20, 1944, Stauffenberg and his adjutant Lieutenant Haeften (Parker) return to the Wolf's Lair. To Stauffenberg's dismay, he discovers that the conference is being held in an open-window summer hut, whereas the plotters had intended to detonate the bomb within the walls of the bunker for maximum damage. While his adjuntant waits with a getaway car, Stauffenberg leaves the briefcase at the meeting. He calls for the go-ahead from the committee, but without Himmler at the meeting, no order is given by Beck or Olbricht. Stauffenberg talks to Mertz and agrees to go ahead with the assassination. With the bomb armed, Stauffenberg leaves the hut for the getaway car. When the bomb explodes, Stauffenberg is certain that Hitler is dead and flees the Wolf's Lair. Before shutting down communications, Fellgiebel calls Mertz about the explosion but cannot clearly convey whether or not the Führer is dead.
As Stauffenberg flies back to Berlin, Olbricht refuses to mobilize the Reserve Army until he knows without a doubt that Hitler is dead. Behind Olbricht's back, Mertz forges his signature and issues the orders anyway. With Operation Valkyrie underway, Stauffenberg and his fellow plotters order the arrest of all SS officers and begin to take control of Berlin's government quarter, which will allow them to command the entire Reich. Rumors reach Berlin that Hitler survived the blast, but Stauffenberg dismisses them as SS propaganda. Meanwhile, Fromm learns from Field Marshal Keitel that Hitler is still alive. The General refuses to join the plotters, resulting in his arrest. When Hitler reaches the Reserve Army by telephone, the SS officers are released and the plotters are besieged inside the Bendlerblock. The HQ staff flees, but the ringleaders are arrested. A court martial sentences them to death and they are executed by firing squad. Other plotters commit suicide or are shown as they are tried and hanged later.
From Wikipedia, ofcourse.
Now I'm waiting for her to reply to my text.
God, this is such a boring blog entry.
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