Very Polished, Hollywood Movie

Rating: 6/10 (6 February 2015)

It would have been more interesting if Jon Bernthal was the commander, and Brad Pitt played the loser redneck for once. In some parts, it seemed like Brad was channeling George Clooney's character from O'Brother Where Art Thou.
This could have been a much better movie, but it felt too modern and thrown together. The characters were caricatures of war movies - the foreigner, the fresh-face, the a-hole, the bible thumper, the boss. Shia LeBeouf and Logan Lerman stood out as the most authentic, though.
The ending was really far-fetched. It felt too much like the Call of Duty/Medal of Honor video games. The scene in the apartment with the girls felt really awkward, too.
It's still an entertaining movie - if you're not a WWII history buff or war movie fan. They did work to make the tank feel like home to them, and the guys really did feel like they had bonded. There were some heart-wrenching moments, of course, and you kind of knew who was going to die before it happened. The tracer rounds were a nice touch.
It got its point across - war sucks.