Wow, now THIS is how you make a war movie. If you’re a war movie buff, especially WW2 movies, you owe it yourself to check out GREYHOUND (2020) ASAP.

Based on the book THE GOOD SHEPHERD by C.S. Forester, who produced the classic Hornblower series, GREYHOUND focuses on U.S. Navy Commander Ernest Krause, captain of the destroyer GREYHOUND and assigned to escort a convoy of supply ships streaming across the North Atlantic to aid besieged Britain. It’s his first operation, and he’s about to be baptized the hard way into the horrors of the Battle of the Atlantic. The most dangerous part of the voyage is a stretch of sea in which the convoy will be unprotected by air cover and under constant threat by German U-Boats. Almost immediately, a wolf pack collects around the ships, intent on ripping the convoy to shreds.

Starring as Krause, Tom Hanks also wrote the script, and he didn’t mess with the accuracy. The movie rolls out like a military procedural. We see the destroyer’s bridge crew work together under his direction, as he is forced to respond to constant threats and make tough choices with barely a break. The film gets everything right–the procedures, the gun battles, the way the crew look at their captain not only for direction and inspiration but to check if he’s cracking under the strain. The tension is terrific, the roiling cold seas a powerful setting, the German U-Boats with their distinctive insignia terrifying as they boldly attack like sharks. Characterization isn’t staged or forced to try to make us care. Good acting by Hanks and his captain’s mannerisms and working style tell us everything we need to know about him and make us root for him.

If you can’t tell yet, I loved this one and highly recommend it. It defies typical Hollywood movie conventions to offer something simple, entertaining, and pure.

MIDWAY (2019, streaming on Google Play) is military historical actioner focusing on the experience of bomber pilots in WW2 from the Pearl Harbor attack to the Battle of Midway, considered a major turning point in the war. As my next WW2 series is about carrier aviators fighting in the Pacific, I considered this essential viewing. The film largely got panned by critics, so I expected it to be lifeless, but while the characters are pretty weak, the action and history is pretty darn good, and overall I’d give it a B.

The funny thing is the action is so good that if this came out before say SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, I might have loved it for that alone, but films are the product of their times, and you can’t rely on action alone to make a lovable war movie these days–you need strong characters and a strong script.

The film follows an ensemble cast with some good actors, focusing mostly on Dick Best, a bomber pilot; Layton, an intelligence officer; and Admiral Nimitz, who replaced the scapegoated Admiral Kimmel as commander of the Pacific Fleet after the Pearl Harbor attack. None are particularly interesting. Layton fights with “Washington” (the senior military leaders), believing his intelligence is more accurate, and while he’s right, this is hammered over and over and in a sanctimonious way. Dick Best has the strongest character; for the first half of the film he’s not likeable–cocky is one thing, constantly belligerent is another–but he learns some humility along the way, which by the end makes him somebody we can root for. Nimitz is the most human and likeable, though we never really see the tough and brilliant commander he was, and after the midpoint, he functions mainly to clap Layton on the back.

Historically, the film is pretty accurate, covering all the major movements and battles of the carrier ENTERPRISE during the first months of the war. The sweep of time and events is cool for history buffs and is supposed to be epic, though it may be too ambitious, as a lot of it feels rushed and without depth, including a diversion to cover the Doolittle Raid that ends with a few scenes in China probably to satisfy the film’s Chinese financiers. Because of this rush, a lot of the dialogue feels way to pointed, such as a senior officer–I think it’s supposed to be Admiral Kimmel–telling Layton during the Pearl Harbor attack, “You were right! I should have listened to you!” Of particular interest is showing what’s happening among the Japanese battle commanders during Midway, which lends some gravitas and weight to the story.

So overall, it’s no SAVING PRIVATE RYAN–which though heavy handed combined incredible action with a simple story and a small cast of characters we can get to know and root for–but overall, hell, I have to say I liked MIDWAY. Regardless of its flaws, it’s a fast-paced actioner that makes a big effort to stick to historical accuracy, has great action, and is just plain fun to watch.

THE WHITE TIGER (2012) is a Russian war film based on the novel TANKIST by Ilya Boyashov about a Red Army tank commander obsessed with finding and destroying a mysterious German Tiger tank that appears out of nowhere to wreak havoc on the Soviet forces. I thoroughly enjoyed this one as virtually unique among war films.

Normally, I take Russian war movies with a grain of salt, as they’re often over the top and ridiculously gung-ho. Probably the best I’d seen was TANKERS (2018), which had a lot of good elements and a grounded, lived-in atmosphere that pulled me in. WHITE TIGER is even more detailed, grounded, and immersive visually but takes a completely different approach to the storytelling, focusing on a fantastical element as the central plot: a Russian tanker and Nazi ghost tank seemingly created by the war and bound to each other as enemies.

The film begins with the aftermath of a horrific tank battle. In a burned-out T34, a Russian tank driver is discovered horribly burned but somehow alive. He miraculously recovers from his wounds unable to remember who he is and able to “talk” to tanks. Meanwhile, intelligence officer Fedotov learns about the White Tiger and that the Germans themselves don’t know what it is or who commands it. To counter the White Tiger, he gives the driver his own tank, beginning a mythic fight set against the backdrop of the war.

Visually, the film is incredible, with amazing sets, diorama views of the Russian advance, and an enormous attention to detail. The action is solid. The characters are engaging if not particularly deep, and the plot if very simple and somewhat inconclusive, with plenty of attention given to other things going on in the war, such as the German surrender at its end. This may put off some viewers but I enjoyed the juxtaposition between the eternal, mythical fight between the Russian tanker and the White Tiger (similar to Captain and the White Whale in MOBY DICK) and the grounded, realistic depiction of the actual war.

The complete film is watchable on YouTube, which I normally wouldn’t encourage, but I couldn’t find it anywhere else. Check it out if you enjoy war movies and are open to something different and strange.