Movie: Greyhound

[fragger]

I just watched this, and I thought it was superb. I know WW2 movies are not everyone's cup of tea, but I thought this one was remarkable, the best Battle of the Atlantic movie I've seen since Das Boot. Tom Hanks wrote the screenplay and plays the captain of the film's namesake destroyer as it leads a convoy escort force across the Atlantic. There is minimal preamble before the movie turns into non-stop suspense, and the palpable tension never lets up until the end. Some people were quite critical of the CGI, but I thought it was extremely well done and authentic-looking without being flashy or clever. I don't know, I think some folks are just very hard to please in that department these days.

The action is realistic, not over-the-top or sensationalist. The ever-reliable Hanks turns in a great performance - you can almost feel his mounting exhaustion as the stress of never-ending vigilance and having to make rapid tactical decisions in the face of a near-constant U-boat threat takes its toll on him. It wore me out just watching him

What really impressed me was the portrayal of the ship's crew - highly disciplined and professional, not constantly spewing out irritating, gung-ho wise-cracks every minute like some war movies I could name. It was down-to-earth and believable. Apparently one of the chief criticisms of the movie was that it "relied too much on naval jargon". Well, hello - you have a warship being operated by scores of men who have to efficiently w0#k together as a cohesive crew, which means rigidly adhering to the procedures of their respective duties, which in turn means rigidly observing the rules of communication between them, because their lives depend on it. There's a difference between "jargon" and the necessary language for effective operation. I think those critics were just miffed that it wasn't dumbed-down enough for them...

Anyway, I highly recommend this for any WW2 movie buff.

Loosely based on the novel "The Good Shepherd" by C. S. Forester.

[Art Blade]

sounds promising, I'll keep an eye out for it

[nex]

Just watched the trailer, can only be good with Tom Hanks in the lead role. Thanks mate, will keep an eye out for it.   

[Dweller_Benthos]

Yeah I'll keep an eye out for it, sounds pretty good, thanks for the heads up!

[PZ]

It does sound good. I like war movies, so this one sounds like a winner 

[nex]

I just watched the first 15-20 min of it, if the rest is the same then it's one hell of a good movie 

[fragger]

I should have included the trailer, here you go:

[Art Blade]

I'll have to wait for it for quite some time because they don't even know yet when it's going to be released on BR.

[nex]

Watched it this past weekend, you're right fragger, Tom Hanks at his best.   

[fragger]

Yeah nex, I think I could watch just about any movie with Tom Hanks in it. He never fails to deliver.

[PZ]

Still not available to me just yet with my current subscriptions, but soon I imagine 

[fragger]

I think you would really enjoy it, PZ