Historical-drama veteran Tom Cruise looks to take more than an eye for an eye in Valkyrie, a film based on a true story about a small group of German politicians’ and military leaders’ assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler (out on DVD and Blu-Ray this week). Cruise talks to Earl Dittman about his portrayal of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the controversy surrounding the film’s production in Germany, and the importance of WWII films today. Plus: this week’s DVDs and Blu-Rays, all after the jump.

Tom Cruise gives one of the more restrained performances of his career in this film from director Bryan Singer (X-Men, The Usual Suspects), which also stars Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Terrence Stamp and Eddie Izzard as players in the anti-Führer plot.

What does a World War II movie like Valkyrie have to say to movie-lovers of today?

“I read the script, and I just thought, ‘This is an incredible suspense thriller.’ And I put it down and said, ‘Is this really true? Did this really happen? Like, these were cool moments, but they actually happened? They’re in no way just movie conventions?’ And when you’re looking at a story like this, I think it’s timeless, really. In movies, we try to create the bad guys, and I just love those stories of little fish swimming upstream, against insurmountable odds. Also, for me, I grew up wanting to kill Hitler.”

Really? You really thought about killing Hitler when you were a kid?

“I did. You know, I hate these tyrants. As a little kid, when I was four years old, I remember I saw these war documentaries, like The World at War. And I remember thinking about Hitler, and wondering, ‘Why didn’t somebody just kill that guy?’ Being a guy who enjoys reading about history and knowing about it, I found this story to be engrossing. Also, it gave me some relief to know that it wasn’t everyone who was evil in Germany back then. I think we know, instinctually as human beings, that it couldn’t possibly have been everyone. And to know that yes, even in high command there is someone like my character, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, and a Resistance, who opposed it. So that did give me some relief. I found it to be really inspiring. You know, in movies we try to create these kinds of things — but this really happened.”

For you, what was the strangest part in making Valkyrie?

“When I put on the Nazi uniform, it was freaky. We had an authentic uniform, and all us, when we see that uniform, we go nuts. However, my character wasn’t actually a Nazi, he wasn’t in that party. He actually despised that ideology, and those people.”

What was it like wearing that eye-patch for the better part of the movie?

“For a few days, I was disoriented with that eye-patch. But you want to have a movie feel authentic, because then it emotionally invests the audience in it. And I think that (director) Bryan Singer had a really original and cool way to tell this story.”

Claus von Stauffenberg, your character, was unbelievably heroic. Do you think you could rise to an occasion like that in real life and be that courageous?

“I would like to think that I would. I think we all feel that way. These men were under incredible pressure, they couldn’t even tell their kids about their feelings. As a father, that’s something that struck me to the core, because I have an incredible relationship with my children. We’re able to discuss anything and everything. Particularly here in America, and the way that I was raised, we are encouraged to think for yourself, no matter what people are saying or what images are coming at you. I’ve always looked for, and been encouraged to think for myself, as an individual, and not just going with the crowd. But, that’s not how it was, that’s not how that society was. You wonder, ‘How did that happen, where people weren’t thinking for themselves? People weren’t standing up to this insanity and tyranny, and here’s this man who did.’ So to not be able to have those conversations with your children, and to say, ‘This is not okay,’ while they’re being educated and inculcated into this craziness. The day this man took the bomb to Hitler was the day his son was indoctrinated into the Hitler Youth. So he hated this, but he couldn’t tell his son, because his son might go to school and tell other children. That’s what children do. You know, he might tell them, ‘My father doesn’t like Hitler.’”

How do you feel about the gap between who you are and the way the media perhaps incorrectly perceives you, or misrepresents you?

“You try to bridge that gap. You can’t spend your day trying to bridge that gap, night and day. But I’ve always had to deal with that. Certainly, it’s been accelerated, because, just the way the media and the internet — we all know how it’s changed, right from the beginning, with Risky Business. I remember talking with Paul Newman, and he said to me, ‘Look, you’ve just got to live your life the best you can.’ I remember back in 1985, when I was working with him on The Color of Money, I thought, ‘Oh yeah, he’s had stuff like this happen to him.’ And you don’t think about that. But look, I’ve got to prioritize, because I have a family, and I have a life. So you have to just adjust. And the basics of what I do, making movies and my love of film, that hasn’t changed. It’s actually grown.”

How do you feel about the way the media reported on the problems you had filming Valkyrie in Germany? Was it all overblown?

“It’s a great headline, but like in the film, it wasn’t everyone. You know, we had an outpouring of warmth and excitement about doing the film there, and about me being there, and my family being there. We had a great experience in Berlin. The government partially financed the film. At the end of shooting, I received a wonderful award, called the Bambi, for courage in bringing this story to the screen. And how accurate and respectful we were to the spirit of the Resistance. So this is an important story, and it’s something we should all know: that it’s never everyone, it’s never every society that feels that way. I think it’s been misrepresented in that way, too. But we had a great time, and it wasn’t just on the movie set. This was a very sensitive subject that needed to be dealt with in a proper and respectful manner — and recognized for what it is. It’s a time I know we’ll never forget, making this film.”

Does Tom Cruise, the artist and actor, ever conflict with Tom, the businessman, now that you are running United Artists? Did you worry about the cost of the film and originally planning to shoot in Tunisia and ending up in California? At the end of the day, if Valkyrie ends up not recouping its costs, will it effect other films you want to make?

“I’ve produced a lot of films. Mission Impossible was the first film I produced, and then I went on and produced all the Mission films and The Last Samurai. I’ve just produced a lot of movies beforehand, so there’s always the balance of art and commerce and the challenges of that. I like to look at those as opportunities as opposed to restrictions. So that aspect of it has always been there. It’s not just having talent in making a film, but it’s also important to know that you surround yourself with great people. I own a piece of United Artists, and we’re starting it up, but we had the writer’s strike. And, we’ve got the pending actor’s strike.”

We’re also in the midst of a crisis in our world economy.

“Yeah, and you know what? It just comes down to having very good people that I work with. I always try to surround myself with people that I respect, that I enjoy working with. That’s what we have, we have great people that we work with. I’m very happy to have these guys on board with MGM and the gang that we have. At the studio, it’s actually a very exciting time. But I am an actor, first and foremost. Even though we’ve set it up, I’ve never had an exclusive deal as an actor with anyone — ever. Even in producing films, I’ve always been very careful to not say, ‘I’m just going to be with one.’ I’m an actor. That is my love, acting. So, that’s first and foremost with me.”

Earlier this year, you received a Golden Globe nomination for your performance in Tropic Thunder. What made you want to play such an outrageous character in that film?

“I just thought, ‘Oh man, this is a character that I just have to play. I’ve got to have fat hands, and I want to dance.’ They like looked at me and went, ‘Uh, really?’” [Laughs]

Where are those fat hands now?

“Well, I actually made a pair, and they’re in Ben’s (Stiller) office. I put them in a glass box, and I made one for myself, too, right when we finished shooting. I like contacted him in the middle of the night when I was working on Valkyrie. He was in Hawaii. He had his helicopters, and I had my airplanes and my tanks.”

Why did you feel like your character had to dance?

“I don’t know? It was just fun. You just get these creative ideas.”

You’ve certainly come a long way from the dancing you did in Risky Business, a few decades ago, to the way you bust a move in Tropic Thunder.

“What a difference, yeah! Styles have changed.”

Valkyrie BD + DVD Special Features: Commentary with Cruise, Singer and writers Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander, seven featurettes and a Digital Copy disc.

NEW ON BLU-RAY AND DVD

True Blood: The Complete First Season
From creator Alan Ball (the man behind Six Feet Under), comes the original, eccentric, sensual world of True Blood, based on the bestselling Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris and starring Academy Award-winning actress Anna Paquin as the mind-reading, Vampire-loving Sookie (a role that just garnered her a Golden Globe for Best Actress). Sink your teeth into one of the more shocking, witty and sexy television series of the last few years, and HBO’s highest-rated series since The Sopranos. This release comes just in time to let those who missed it’s original airing to catch up before the second season of the show premieres on HBO next month. True Blood: The Complete First Season also offers six revealing audio commentaries, including one in which Paquin discusses Sookie feelings and desires and what it was like performing her own stunts. Other clever BD/DVD features include a tongue-in-cheek documentary on Vampire life in America, droll TV commercials for Tru Blood (the artificial blood beverage for the mainstreaming Vamp), pro-and-con Vampire PSAs, TV and print product ads targeted towards the Vampire, and in approximately seventy picture-in-screen video commentaries with Lafayette (Nelsan Ellie), the gay, ultra-colorful and socially-conscious resident cook/drug dealer/rent boy, who dishes all the dirt, speaks the skinny and all the behind-the-bedroom-door 411 about everyone living in Sookie’s hometown of Bon Temps, Louisiana.

Eden Log
Eden Log, an Official Selection of The Toronto International Film Festival, is a creepy science-fiction thriller cinematically cross-bred with a scary creature feature. As the film begins, a man wakes up deep inside a dark, damp cave, apparently suffering from amnesia. He can’t remember how he ended up in a cave, and more importantly, who in the hell the male corpse next to him is and what caused his mysterious death. As he searches for a way out, he soon discovers he’s not in a run-of-the-mill kind of eerie, deep-in-the-earth cavern, he’s lost in an underground labyrinth filled with abandoned labs of Eden Log, a company of unknown origins and purposes. His race to get to out of his underground prison is made even more desperate when a strange creature begins to stalk him. This is a hallucinatory parable filled with twists and turns.

24: Season Seven
Considered the most exciting and action-packed season since its debut with “Day One,” the long-awaited, critically-acclaimed and just-concluded (this past Monday night) Season Seven is one long adrenaline-fuelled ride for fans and newcomers alike. The countdown on the 24 clock starts a full four years after the conclusion of Season Six  — with the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) shut down and while Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) is being tried by the Senate for all his wrongdoing at CTU. In the middle of his hearings for his high crimes against the U.S. government, Jack is forced back into action when the government and its citizens are put into jeopardy when terrorists from a foreign government get a hold of a hi-tech device that could bring down the country’s infrastructure. As usual, only Jack’s expertise can help to save the day. While the minutes tick away, Jack is required to take matters into his own hands, with the help of his old CTU friends — Tony Almeida, Chloe O’Brian and Bill Buchanan — and new allies — the gorgeous Agent Walker and the first female President of the United States (Cherry Jones). The BD+DVD of 24: Season Seven contain such special features as audio commentaries from the cast and crew, 14 deleted scenes and several featurettes including “24-7: The Untold Story.”

My Bloody Valentine 3D
This 3D remake of the classic horror film My Bloody Valentine — the tale of the small town of Harmony, which faces horrifying consequences on the Valentine’s Day anniversary of a deadly mining tragedy — is a bloody fun and exciting home-viewing experience. The bonus materials on the Blu-Ray and Special Edition DVD include audio commentary, two featurettes – “Deep Inside My Bloody Valentine” and “Sex, Blood and Screams” — deleted and extended scenes, a gag reel, 3D and 2D widescreen versions of the film, four groovy pairs of 3D glasses and a digital copy of the film (BD only). The BD edition of the slasher flick that made a miner’s mask and a pickaxe a popular, last-minute Halloween costume, this 3D remake (starring Supernatural leading man Jensen Ackles) also allows fans to hook up with slasha-holics on the net with the interactive MoLog and Lionsgate Live blog tool sets.

Terminator 2 Skynet Edition Blu-Ray + Limited Edition T2 Complete Collector’s Set
With Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles having just wrapped up its second season on TV and Terminator: Salvation about to make its way into a multiplex near you, arguably the coolest film of the franchise, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton), is being released on Blu-Ray and as part of a slick, multiple-disc collection. With the Terminator 2 Skynet Edition, fans of the ultimate action film can see and hear multiple versions of the movie in explosive, THX certified high-definition and all-new DTS-HD Master Audio. Loaded with over eight hours of interactive BD content — over 140 minutes of behind the scenes video and multimedia galleries, storyboard-script views, audio commentaries, quizzes and games – plus BD-Live. The Limited Edition T2 Complete Collector’s Set is a six-disc set containing a 14” T-800 Endoskull bust (that plays sound effects from the film while its eyes light up) and the Terminator 2 Skynet Edition BD, plus both the Extreme Edition DVD and Ultimate Edition DVD – which, combined, include every T2 special feature ever released on DVD. (Oh yeah, there’s a digital copy of the film, too!).

ALSO ON DVD:Arnold Schwarzenegger DVD Collection
If you are sill jonesing for more Arnold after the T2 Skynet BD, pick up this affordable DVD collection. For the first time, four of the most explosive films with California’s current governor are available together in one set. The four-disc package includes Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Total Recall, Red Heat and The Running Man (just released on BD). Hasta la vista, baby.

Friday Night Lights: The Third Season
As it continues to score one critical touchdown after another, here’s your chance to relive Friday Night Lights in its championship Third Season. Return to Dillon, Texas, a town that virtually shuts down every Friday night for the high school’s football games. With every team member treated like royalty, the pressure put on the players of the Dillon Panthers is immense — from devising touchdown-scoring strategies on the gridiron to facing new challenges and uncertainties at home and hardships in their day-to-day lives. With a stellar cast that includes Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton and Taylor Kitsch (Gambit from X-Men Origins: Wolverine), this edition of Friday Night Lights features all of Season Three’s 13 episodes, audio commentary, deleted scenes and a never-before-seen storyline from the season’s finale.

Fanboys
With a combined sense of zeal and obsession (and the power of “The Force” behind them), four childhood buddies take to the road on their own mission to seek out a galaxy far, far away (in Northern California) in the cult hit Fanboys.  This a road-trip comedy shows how the deep, pure love for “”the greatest movie saga of all time” can provoke some pretty strange behavior from its fans. The comedy follows a group of Star Wars fanatics (with a capital “F”) — played by Sam Huntington, Chris Marquette, Dan Fogler, Jay Baruchel and Kristen Bell — and their effort to reignite their slowly fading friendship. What’s their plan? A hare-brained scheme to break into George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch in order to catch their own sneak preview of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace — a full half year before it hits screens anywhere on the planet.  Along with an all-star line-up of surprising cameo appearances from Star Wars alumni Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams and Ray Park, as well as Seth Rogen, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes and Star Trek’s William Shatner, the Fanboys DVD bonuses include deleted scenes, commentaries with cast and crew, webisodes and four funny featurettes.

Russell Brand In New York City: Extended and Uncensored
British pop icon. Rock star. Ladies man. Russell Brand, the scene-stealer of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the controversial host ofMTV’s 2008 Video Movie Awards (and the hilarious bloke on the cover of the current issue of DRIVEN), made his Comedy Central debut with his critically-acclaimed standup special, Russell Brand In New York City. In his wild, outrageous and naughty routine — documented on this DVD — Russell details the difficulty of handling his newfound fame in America, recounts the time he met the Queen, and instructs women on how they should approach him. In this DVD Russell proves why he’s being called the hottest thing to come out of Britain since The Beatles (which would theoretically make him twice as big as Jesus). In addition to Brand’s hour-long standup routine, the DVD contains Russell’s notorious 2008 MTV VMA monologue and the two gut-busting featurettes.