TOM CRUISE - CRUISE'S VALKYRIE RIDES TO POSITIVE OPENING IN GERMANY

CRUISE'S VALKYRIE RIDES TO POSITIVE OPENING IN GERMANY

Tom Cruise's new second world war film Valkyrie has received a surprisingly warm reception from German critics.

The 20th Century Fox movie sees Cruise as Prussian army officer Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg, who carried out a failed assassination attempt on Hitler in 1944.

The production had been mired in controversy, with concerns over Cruise's suitability to play a German national hero, while others opposed the actor's involvement in Scientology.

But ahead of its release in Germany, media commentators have praised Bryan Singer's film.

"Valkyrie is neither scandalously bad nor the event of the century. Neither is it the action thriller we feared, but it is a well-made and serious film," said public broadcaster ZDF.

"Cruise plays his part decisively, coolly - a solid performance, though he won't have a sniff at an Oscar."

Cruise's belief in the dictums of Scientology had caused problems during the shooting of Valkyrie, as the movement is regarded as a moneymaking cult in Germany.

And Stauffenberg's own son had said the Top Gun actor should "keep his hands off my father".

But Frank Schirrmacher of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said the Mission Impossible star's performance as Stauffenberg would alter the global perception of Germans.

And the Koelner Stadt Anzeiger added: "[The fear that] the myth of the German resistance would be put through a Hollywood filter has turned out to be wrong and prejudicial. On the contrary, the American origin of this film is its biggest advantage."

Valkyrie debuted at number four in the US box office charts after its Christmas Day opening and is released in the UK on January 23rd.