Not sure why all the high ratings.

Rating: 5/10 (19 October 2014)

I am not sure why this movie is getting all the high reviews. As already noted, this is the story of a family of 5 tank members that fight in a close quarters in a Sherman tank towards the end of WWII.
The tank scenes in the movie, of course, keep you on the edge of your seat, however there were several scenes that dragged on and on and really did not contribute to the story. Ofttimes I found myself saying 'all right already, move on'. I thought one of the tank member's roles was so overacted it was totally unbelievable.
I also think the gore was excessive and overdone. In Saving Private Ryan, the horrors of war were appropriately placed and truly showed viewers for the first time how frightening real battle was. Not so here. Although it was important for the audience to know that death was violent in a tank, the volume of the gore was unnecessary after a point. Too much.
I think the movie is a great tribute to those who drove tanks in WWII and for sure if you are a tank aficionado, this movie is worth seeing. However, the story line may bore you at times and you may find yourself wishing that there was more tank action instead. I think this film is worth some nominations for it's cinematography and honorable mention for Brad Pitt but in no way is this an epic war movie that one would run out to buy the DVD for to watch over and over again.