Gritty & Intelligent, with a couple of let downs

Rating: 6/10 (9 November 2014)

Would've given the film a higher rating, but in one scene day turns into night instantly over two to three camera pans. It's not an effect, it's just really obvious and detaches you from the action.
Speaking of, the film is action-packed, although a little gung-ho America it all seems fairly realistic. Certain aspects, such as having green tracer fire for Germans and red for the Americans seemed a little...strange and for stupid people to understand who was firing at who, very star wars.
The acting is actually very good for the most part although the story let it down a little bit, with the fighters showing very little morality and overly dehumanizing the German forces who in reality were also just men on the march, not necessarily all chanting sadists who want to carve everyone up.
Interestingly for a film that mentions allied forces, we meet none of them, all the dialog is either German or American sources.
Despite these few pitfalls, the film is gloriously entertaining. All the characters have distinct enough personalities that you get their cohesion rather than a faceless shooting match between two sides. The insight into a veteran commander and his rookie assistant gunner/driver as well as the scarred remains of the tank crew make for enough of a story to break up the breathtaking and intense action.
Definitely worth a see at the cinema for its depth and special effects. Please be aware it is a glorified, Hollywood-esque picture, with gratuitous violence rather than realistic firefights, but that doesn't make it any less fun.