War has played a key role in the history of the United States, from the nation's founding

right down to the present. War made the U.S. independent, kept it together, increased its

size, and established it as a global superpower. Understanding America's wars is essential for understanding American history.

Welcome to Key Battles of American History,

a podcast in which we discuss American history through the lens of the most important battles of America's wars.

Here is your host, James Early.

Thank you. your host, James Early. Hello and welcome to another episode of key films of World War II in Europe.

This is your host, James Early, as always.

And of course, as always, I'm joined by my buddy Sean McIver. This week, we are going to be

talking about the 2008 movie Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise. So as always, let me set the table,

and give some basic info, and then Sean's going to tell us a little bit more about the background

of the film. The movie is two hours and one minute long. It's not super well rated among the critics.

It got a average positive rating of 62% on Rotten Tomatoes from the critics and 65% from the fans.

The rating at IMDB is 7.1.

It is directed by Brian Singer and it stars Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nye, Terrence Stamp,

and our old friend Tom Wilkinson.

And there's other people as well, but those are the top-billed people.

It's based on an original screenplay.

And as far as awards, it's, you know, I got a few nominations here and there,

nothing at the big major award ceremonies, but was nominated for the Academy of

Science Fiction or by the Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy and Horror Films for seven Saturn

Awards. Best Action Adventure Thriller film, Best Director for Brian Singer, Best Actor for Tom Cruise,

...