Chris Larkin Movies

At the absolute height of World War II, German generals hatch a daring plan to assassinate Adolf Hitler and effectively render the German war machine impotent. Directed by Bryan Singer, Valkyrie stars Tom Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the real-life mastermind behind the elaborate plot known as Project Valkyrie: a plan to assassinate Hitler and overthrow his government from the inside. Stauffenberg has been a loyal soldier and an asset to the Reich for his entire military career, but after losing an eye, a hand, and three fingers in an Allied bombing, he reaches a breaking point. The destructive madness that his country is unleashing on the world has become too terrible for the colonel to stand silent. He joins the resistance movement -- a treasonous act, punishable by death -- and risks his life and the life of his family for the chance to change history. Comprised of high-ranking officials working in secret, the German Resistance has access to the inner workings of the government and military, putting them in the perfect position to dispatch the dictator and then use his own official contingency plan to seize power -- before the army, the S.S., and loyal party members can put someone just as diabolical in the Führer's place. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

British actor Robert Carlyle stars as the 20th century's most infamous dictator in this two-part TV biopic. The film covers the life of Adolf Hitler from his childhood to his emergence as absolute ruler of Germany in 1934. Most of the ground covered should be familiar to history buffs: Hitler's failed efforts to become a great artist, his frustration at watching his adopted country fall apart at the seams during World War I, his resolve to put Germany back on its feet by exploiting the nation's horrendous postwar economic woes and its ingrained anti-Semitism, his 1923 arrest, the publication of Hitler's virulent screed Mein Kampf, the growing popularity of National Socialism, and the fatal error made by senile German chancellor Von Hindbenburg (Peter O'Toole) to "neutralize" Hitler by giving him a relatively unimportant political post in 1933. Also covered is Hitler's abortive romance with his half-niece Geli Raubal (Jena Malone) and his longer relationship with the estimable Eva Braun (Zoe Telford). Given the difficulties faced by actor Carlyle and the screenwriters to successfully convey pure, unadulterated evil, much of what we learn about Hitler is conveyed by the observations and reactions of other characters, notably crusading but ineffectual anti-Nazi journalist Fritz Gerlich (Matthew Modine), and especially German publisher Ernst Hanfstaengl (Liev Schreiber) and his wife, Helene (Julianna Margulies). Originally a staunch supporter of Hitler, Hanfstaengl eventually comes to realize the danger the man poses to the world ("He's not human. He simply studies others to become human."); in contrast, Helene, who at the outset is vaguely opposed to National Socialism, is ultimately seduced and swept up by the movement. Not surprisingly, this film stirred up a great deal of controversy even before it aired; some Jewish leaders and prominent Holocaust survivors worried that Hitler might come off as being sympathetic (a concern that may have dictated altering the film's title, which was to have been Hitler: The Early Years); and one of the film's producers was summarily dismissed after issuing a public statement which seemed to compare Germany's blind, unthinking allegiance to Hitler to America's rallying behind George W. Bush during the Iraq crisis. Hitler: The Rise of Evil originally aired May 18 and 20, 2003, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Unlike the 1970s dramatic series of the same name, this 2001 version of The Six Wives of Henry VIII told the story of the Tudor monarch's tempestuous reign (1509 to 1547) from the viewpoint of the women in his life. Hosted by British historian David Starkey, the series was a heady combination of sober statistics and lively dramatized reenactments. Originally telecast by the U.K.'s Channel 4 in four parts beginning October 23, 2001, the miniseries devoted its first episode to Catherine of Aragon, the second to Anne Boleyn, the third to Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves, and the fourth to Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr. The Six Wives of Henry VIII was seen in America via PBS beginning July 16, 2003, this time as a two-parter (two episodes per telecast, that is). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi