Top Five: Battle Tank Movies
1) The Beast Of War (1988)
By far and without question, this is the greatest battle tank movie ever filmed. The real selling point of this movie is its realism. It’s authentic right down to the nuts, bolts and lingo that are in a real tank. Instead of those questions about the meaning of life, like some war movies are inclined to do, in this movie you’ll find the commander tearing his driver a new asshole on the merits of conserving brake fluid during a hot war. This is the Das Boot of tank movies. In that movie the sub crew relied on being kept afloat by a simple rock or keeping the electric engines running, this crew relies on their (sturdy) T-55 in the same way.
Some try to argue that the proverbial ‘Beast’ of the title is the tank, but it can’t be. Because the tank is crucial to the survival of the crew, and their expertise is crucial to keeping it running just enough to make it to safety. Ammo, fuel and hope are scarce. This is a survival action thriller that manages to incorporate all of that realism without losing any of the excitement.
I’d really like to see them remake this movie, from an American point of view and with the M1 Abrams, which was deployed in Afghanistan with the USMC in the latter stages of the war.
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