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Film Reviews

Valkyrie: Riding Roughshod Over History?
Luke Turner , January 23rd, 2009 05:31

We've come to expect Hollywood to rewrite history, says Luke Turner. But in the case of Von Stauffenberg, the mono-armed, cycloptic plotter who tried to blow up Hitler, is there even space to do this?

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The Eagle Has Landed
The Scene of Battle: An imaginary village called Studley Constable, somewhere in England

Behind Enemy Lines: Michael Caine plays a German officer tasked with a top secret mission to capture Winston Churchill, aided by a man from the IRA (Donald Sutherland) with a peculiar knack of calming dogs. There's no moral lesson here, for this is an enjoyable, out-and-out action caper where, interestingly enough, it's the German force, rather than the gung ho Americans tasked with dealing with them, who come across as heroes.

Trivia: American Colonel Clarence E Pitts is played by Larry Hagman, better known as JR from Dallas.