The most realistic tank movie

I have to go with "A Bridge Too Far".
At least the Allied side anyways.

Good point. o.k. then, Cross of Iron, the Beast and Sahara. (Forgot about that one.)

Mike

QUOTE: Originally posted by Anthony WHICH WAR MOVIE(S) HAS THE BEST AND MOST AUTHENTIC HARDWARE IN TERMS OF TANK?

Guys, when answering Anthony's excellent original question, I think it applies to using authentic tanks and not mock ups. That's why I used the Beast movie as an example since the actual vehicle used was the same type as the vehicle it was supposed to portray. Unlike a movie like Patton where M-47s represent Tigers, or T-34 dressed up to look like Tigers.

Another great tank movie is the Humphrey Bogart movie called Sahara. It is about an M3 Lee that is separated from the rest of the US forces during the initial stages of our involvement in North Africa. Great shots of the Lee and since the movie was made in the early 1940s (1943?), the tank is as authentic as you can get in a movie, although they do use a US M3 Half-track to represent a German half-track.

O.K. you guys can never go to nitpickers.com.
Cross of Iron had some good T-34's in it.
How far back can we go? There was an episode of twighlight zone that had a Lee or a Stuart in it. (somebody help me out, it was the episode about the tankers getting lost and showing up at the little big horn).
Other than that, I would have to say BoB and SPR had the best vehicle reps for hollywood. Regardless of what they were built on.
Mike

Gendarme,

Firstly, drop the hostile attitude. Its just funny when the French get riled up. Secondly, while many of the vehicles in the movie were mockups, the Jagdpanther, and two Marders were original. They came from the British Museum collection. I'm sorry if I didn't take time to count the road wheels on the StuGs, they were mockups and were visible as such, so calling it a Stug III as opposed to a StuG IV is equally as ludicrous, because IT ISN'T EITHER OF THEM.

Yes, the Tiger is built on a T-34 chassis. Just like the ones in Kelly's Heroes. The Cromwell in the movie was used by the Brits during Market Garden, and it was quite the nice vehicle.

Now, back to civility.

"The Winter War", "Stalingrad" and "The Cross of Iron" all have good T-34 action in them. Although the scene in "Stalingrad" where the german soldier gets half of his body blown off and he sits in the field and screams until he dies is a little too freaky for me. I have seen pictures of a T-55 dressed up as Tiger that has appeared in some t.v. shows, magazine articles (I'll have to look for the exact article) and was photographed sitting in a museum yard in the U.K. When it comes to modern armor in films, I like "Behind enemy lines" and the first five minutes of "Proof of Life".

Ok, I'm going to put this debate to rest: I just put in the Band of Bros. DVD "making of..." and went to the part where they talk about making the Tigers and the engineer who did it says they used the chassis of a T-34, and hey, it looks like a T-34 chassis to me! They even show the T-34 before they built the Tiger out of it. Sorry to burst your bubble Cobrahistorian, but the Jagdpanther is a mock up also....you can see it in the "making of..." documentary in the shop being built. Still cool, but fake...

PS - the Stug in B of B would be a Stug III (not IV), as it has 6 road wheels...

Don't quote me but...I'm pretty sure that according to the making of Band of Brothers (which featured the same props company that made the Tiger in SPR) that the tank they used for the Tiger in SPR was not a T34 but a British Cromwell (or perhaps Centurion), I've got it on DVD somewhere, just can't be bothered hunting for the scene with the tank makers. Interesting though, they used the British FV 403 (or somesuch) basically the pom equiv of the M113 for making most of the other tanks they had to make, the Stug was one I think. They even went to the trouble of completely re aranging the transmision from front to rear drive, and extended the hull to allow another set of road wheels to be fitted, as the chasis they were using was one set short for a Pzkpfw IV chasis.

If somebody would make Harold Coyle's Team Yankee into a movie...that would kick some!!!

I have to agree with nzgunnie. B of B was a great movie, and quite realistic according to friends and relatives who were in the war. I'll have to pick up "The Beast" if I can get some time to watch it.

So, I guess "Tank Girl" is out for most realistic?

Jon, it is well worth the rental; however, Wal-Mart started carrying the DVD for only $5.88 recently. Yes, that's right, under six dollars. I'd pick it up even if you didn't have a DVD player since it is a real good reference for building a T-55 tank variant. The movie has a lot of guys that you'll recognize from TV or other movies but won't know their names right off (the Egyptian guy from the Mummy, one of the Baldwin brothers).

Good flick, interestingly they use US tank commands when operating the tank and the tank starts off with a 5 man crew, but the T-55 is a 4 man tank. Seems like there is a lot more space inside the turret than would be in a real tank. I'm also not certain of how the escape hatch works in a T-55, or if it even has one, but in the movie they use it like regular hatch.

I have to agree with the Major. I've got "The Beast" on tape and have watched it more times than I can count. As it is a movie about a tank in the Russian war in Afghanistan, it is a relatively original concept. Next time you stop by the video store, pick it up, you won't be disappointed.

Rick

Major G,

How is "The Beast"? I've seen it in the video store a few times, but never picked it up. Sounds interesting.

Saving Private Ryan definately used T-34's for Tiger I's, I can tell from the front road wheel. Very nice job. Also it appears that they had a pair of Marders based on Czech Light Tank chassis. Most authentic movie I have ever seen regarding WW2 armor.

The movie called "The Beast" with Jason Patric and Steven Bauer. It is about a Russian T-55 tank crew that gets lost in Afghanistan. Since it is filmed in Isreal, they use an Israeli variant of the T-55 called the Ti-67 (they captured Arabic T-55s and re-gunned them with US 105mm guns). Can't get too much more accurate than that.

I second NZGunnie's motion.
Aside from a real Jagdpanther, Marder and assorted smaller vehicles, the dummied up vehicles look good as well (StuG IV)
I was really impressed, and when that Jagdpanther came tearing through later in the series, my jaw hit the floor!

Other than that, SPR was good with the T-34/Tiger hybrids. "Stalingrad" was great with the T-34s. For modern stuff, "Courage Under Fire" was a pretty valiant attempt at taking on the Gulf War.

That's my $.02

Well it's not a movie, but 'Band of Brothers' had some pretty well made tanks in it.