Enjoyable but could have been better

Rating: 8/10 (20 October 2014)

With WWII being one of my favorite topics and Brad Pitt being my favorite actor I was certainly looking forward to this movie.
Pros: We see decent character development with the young adult, Norman, transforming from a scared kid to a warrior.
We got a look of Hollywood's take of the life inside of tank during WWII, which was very interesting.
We see an intense tank battle scene about Â¾ of the way through the movie.
We see a jaw dropping clip of what I assume to be hundreds of B-29 Superfortress bombers flying high in the sky on (or returning from) a massive bombing campaign. Although this clip was only about 20 seconds long it made seeing the film worth it to me.
We experience just the right amount of humor throughout the movie. There were a few scenes that cracked a small amount of humor, which is just right for a war movie. Too many action/drama movies seem to use too much humor in their movies, which ruins it for me.
Cons: The film appeared to be based on only one or two days, which sped up the character development way too fast (not a major con, just me being picky).
There were a couple of "cheesy" moments in the film, which I do not like to see in war/drama films.
The major con in this movie, for me, was the final battle scene. I hate to be "that guy" who points out the unrealistic scenes, but the final battle scene was incredibly unrealistic. 150-200 SS members battle it out against one immobilized tank and lose 100+ lives in the process. That would not have happened, even if the SS members were new and inexperienced.
Finally, I did not like how the SS soldier let Norman live at the very end. The SS were known for their brutality, and since Norman and his mates killed 100+ Germans in that scene I do not see that SS soldier sparing Norman's life.
Overall I found the movie to be entertaining but I was a little let down. 7.5 / 10