This is a movie about a U.S. Army Sherman tank crew led by Staff Sergeant Don 'Wardaddy' Collier (portrayed by Brad Pitt). This deals with the latter portion of WW2, focusing predominantly on the ensuing campaign into Germany. It is a gritty, if not grisly portrayal of the reality of war and as often occurs, compromises in morality for the sole means to fight on for another day. While I don't consider it in the upper echelon of quality for this genre along the lines of Saving Private Ryan or Paths of Glory; it is passable. No one is depicted as wholly good, or wholly evil and maybe that is as accurate a description of war that can be surmised. There is no glamorization of war here, only brutality. Due to the graphic violence and obscenites (language), I don't recommend the movie to anyone 12 or under. *** out of ****
Interesting that this is one of the very few, (uh..well, really the only one I can recall) that concentrates on tanks and not foot soldiers. Strange, since WWII can be seen as mainly a clash of tanks, at least in most of the important battles. (Other branches played their parts well and bravely, make no mistake, but especially on the Eastern Front it was a mechanized war). It must have been terrible indeed to go across the entirety of a continent fighting an opponent who so outclassed you in all respects that it was generally thought to take up to 10 Shermans to defeat one full-blown Tiger II. Thank god there were so few of them.
I will definitely go see this when it hits the theaters here. I like to watch war movies, especially on the topic of WWII, and this seems to be a fresh angle.
First of all- I agree- not for anyone under 12, not for anyone who will be upset by very graphic violence and grisley scenes of dead bodies. But I thought it was a great WW2 movie. I thought it was more like "The Big Red One"- the story of a small group of 'survivors' of the war. As a WW2 buff- seeing real Shermans in action was fascinating- and the Tiger looked real- I thought that battle scene was probably too up close and personal but I think that was a nod to making it accessable to the audience. The acting is all solid- and did anyone else notice Clint Eastwood's son in the film? A nod to the only other Sherman focused WW2 film perhaps? IF you have interest in WW2- see it- it is brutal and honest and hard to watch. I told my wife and daughter I was glad they hadn't come. But I was glad I saw the film (oh the part with the contrails of the bombers overhead? You had to enjoy that Herk...)
the entire point of the shermans was their size and weight. THEY could travel in mud, the Tiger could not. the SHERMANS could negotiate narrow city streets, the Tigers could not. Superiority is not determined simply tank to tank, nor is it man to man compared (normally) even infantry. we had more TANKS than the germans had tank SHELLS. what good is your tank when you are out of ammo/fuel ( and re-supply is not coming)
Just like in Saving Private Ryan they made the Tiger commander stupid but it was fun to watch. - - - Updated - - - The Tiger looked real because it is real. It's Tiger 131 possibly the only operational Tiger in the world.
Well I think that whole battle between the Tiger and the Shermans was fairly stupid from an operational point of view, but cinematically it worked- just having scenes of Shermans with their turrets being blown off by that tiny little tank in the distance wouldn't have been as interesting to watch. Worth seeing the movie just to see the Tiger in action- yes- read that it may be the only operational Tiger left in the world after I made that post.
As a collector of WW2 firearms and bayonets I gobble up every WW2 flick that comes down the pike. Did not work out for me to catch it in the theaters, but it is coming to OnDemand soon.
I saw documentary only a few months ago a canadian ww2 veteran tank commander told of finding his sherman literally within touching distance of a tiger on the battlefield and neither one was aware of the other, it didnt go well for the sherman but the crew survived...
It might be interesting that US and Germann Waffen SS troops called the Sherman M4 "RONSON" (RONSON Lighters contemporary ad was: "Lights at the first strike") and Polish troops called it "Flaming Grave". What the Sherman was in comparison to the TIGER best is described in Belton Cooper's book "Death Traps". Cooper was in a Sherman M4 maintenance crew during WWII. The title of his book says it all. http://www.realcleardefense.com/art...nk_was_hell_on_wheels_-_and_a_death_trap.html
The Tiger tank is similiar to the Me-262...most of it's mythos is more legend than reality. Both suffered from serious reliability issues and Tigers were more likely to be found abandoned than destroyed. Crews would simply leave them where they last broke down.... My Dad was in the infantry in WW2 towards the latter part of the war and on occasion his unit would stumble across an abandoned Tiger no worse for wear externally, but internally broken down...usually the transmission was the first to break. When they worked, they were indeed formidable.
Here's a Tiger that knocked out a Pershing...got stuck and then abandoned. The 88mm gun and thick armor made them heavyweights....while I concur the Sherman was indeed a death trap for the crews....at least they were easy to fix and more mobile.
Keep an eye and see if some place shows it again- if you are interested in the era- this film deserves to be seen on the big screen. - - - Updated - - - IF I was in a Sherman that had to go up against a Tiger- within touching distance would give me a chance.
Sherman, Tiger, different philosophy and role. The sherman was built for a role of infantery support as that was what the us military at the time consider the main role of a tank. It had initialy a low velocity 76mm gun great for shelling hardden infantry position with HE rounds and provide suppressing fire from its 3 MGs. The tiger on the other hand with is high velocity 88mm was made to hunt and destroy other tanks, mostly T-34 and KV-2 on the eastern front.
30,000 M4 Shermans vs. 600 Tigers and King Tigers and 1,500 Panthers The German tanks were better, but there were fewer of them. Also the allies took out logistical links like railroads, keeping tank maintenance crews short of parts and fuel. The Allies did field some very formidable tank destroyers in the latter part of the war also...some with huge 155mm guns, but they were more often used against concrete to knock down buildings housing emplaced enemy troops.
I was just able to finally watch the movie this past week. My buddies at work kept pressuring me to see it since they know I used to be a tanker but I never had the time and I really dislike sitting in movie theaters no matter how good the movie is. It finally came to Vudu and I bought a digital copy early. I loved it. I'm sure I am pretty biased towards the movie due to the fact that I was a tanker in real life but that movie really hit home for me. I understand how it feels to be in charge of a tank crew. I understand the bond between those guys and it's a bond closer than almost any other bond in the military due to how often they are together. You literally live in a tank as a tanker. Like they showed in the beginning of the movie you will use the bathroom in the tank, eat in there, sleep in there, relax in there etc for weeks at a time. All in very close proximity to the other guys in there with you. It forms a really strong bond. I felt the way Wardaddy cared about his boys the way I cared about mine. These guys depend on you to keep them alive, you are their tank commander. I loved my guys like my family and they were the best damn tankers in the Army. My loader was just an absolute workhorse. That kid would be up every morning well before the rest of us and had that tank ready to go the second we got up. Rain, snow, wind, sun it didn't matter. That kid would be up and moving about getting everything squared away every single day without hesitation. He'd simply stuff a dip in his mouth and go, it could be a hurricane outside and he would be on top of the turret strapping stuff down and checking the tracks and gears. He never complained, never whined, nothing. He just did things. Him and my driver would bicker back and forth ALL DAY LONG. They hated and loved each other. I swear more cuss words and trash talking was exchanged between those two in one day than most normal people hear in a month. But I dare anyone else to harass one of them. The second anybody else trash talked either of them the other one was right there ready to knock their lights out. This is OUR tank crew, WE can talk (*)(*)(*)(*) to each other, not YOU. My driver was a funny smartass who liked to do things his way who had a permanent middle finger on his forehead. He always knew what I MEANT rather than what i would say. I would routinely get told to "Just sit up there in the hatch and be quiet" and stop trying to tell him how to drive HIS tank. And he was right. I'd be up there doing a million and one things at a time, trying to direct the driver, direct the loader, communicate on the radio, scan the horizon etc. I'd try to tell him something like "hey hard right! hard right!" and he'd just go left instead and say "See this is why I don't listen to you Sgt you can't see or tell directions for (*)(*)(*)(*), I don't know about you but the last time I checked tanks can't (*)(*)(*)(*)ing fly and thats a pretty big ass cliff". Then I'd laugh and hop down in the turret and reach through the tiny spot leading to the drivers hatch and smack him in the head for being a smartass. I'd do anything for those boys. There would be times when we were all dead beat exhausted from long missions and they would have guard because they were the lower enlisted. Even being dead tired they still mustered the energy to trash talk each other until they passed out one by one. I didn't mind, my guys are awesome and they bust their asses each and every day. I'd simply light up a few cigs and grab a few energy drinks and hang out through the night while they slept. They'd routinely wake up instantly in the middle of the night and freak out knowing that one of them was supposed to be on guard. I'd simply look down in the turret and see them stirring about then tell them to go back to bed. I've got it tonight boys. What warmed my heart the most was that although from the outside looking in those boys hated each others guts, inside they were best friends. One night one of them was supposed to be on guard but had fallen asleep. The other guy was still awake and instead of waking him up he simply sat up and put the radio headset on and sat on top the turret. I was still up sitting there smoking a cig and I asked him "Why don't you wake him up? It's his turn isn't it?". He simply replied "He's exhausted Sgt, it's been a long ass day and driving this thing ain't no cakewalk, all I do is pretty much chill up here in the turret with you all day he's the one who does all the work, I got this". I smiled and finished my cig and stayed up with him. Thats the kind of crew I had. Those boys were amazing. The hardest thing I've done in my career was leaving my boys and switching jobs. I left and went to flight school right before my unit deployed again. All I kept thinking about were my guys. What if something happens to them? This is my crew what if they get hurt and Im not there? What about our tank? Is it ok? I miss my tank, I miss my boys, I want to go home...They called me when they could to tell me how they were doing. They said their new TC was a hardass who they didn't like and didn't want to fight for. I knew that guy before I left and I wanted nothing more than to find him in town somewhere and ring his neck. How dare you treat MY crew like crap? They just kept saying it wasn't the same anymore. It wasn't OUR crew. Now its just a tank, our crew made it our home. I felt more guilt and sorrow during that time than at any other time in my life. I was doing something better for myself, I always dreamed of being a pilot, but leaving my boys behind, especially right before they went to war, broke my heart. My boys gave me the best farewell they could give. Nice party at a bar, a bottle of my favorite whiskey and a flask with our crew names and nickname stenciled on it. We hugged, held back the tears, got hammered, and said our goodbyes. Sorry for the long post but thats why this movie hit home for me. During the final scene in the movie I broke down. All I could see were the faces of my boys. What if that was my crew? My boys? I felt the heartache when Wardaddy said he promised to keep his boys alive and he failed. I could only imagine how I would feel if I had to say those words. If something happened to my boys under my watch I don't know what I would do. Excellent movie for me. The cool "war" parts were realistic and nice but the emotional and personal side are what I appreciated the most. They really captured the heart and soul of a real tank crew. And I appreciate the fact that they didn't "Hollywood" it up.
Well not too badly anyway. When you saw that SS battalion marching many of them were carrying panzerfausts but somehow none of them managed to hold onto them and they couldn't use any of them until a fresh crate of them had been opened. That being said watching those shells from the Sherman bouncing off that tiger was amazing.
Yeah, that looked cool. However, in reality at that range it's likely that those shells would have even gone through the frontal armour of the Tiger. It was point blank.
The fury was a pretty standard film, but what the heck was that piano/lunch/shaving Brad Pitt scene. It was absolutely absurd. WTF.
