USS Greyhound : La Bataille de l'Atlantique

Spectacle? Dramatization? No. This movie allowed me to experience ww2 naval combat without the bombast of the usual action movie. It felt realistic with a decent amount of suspense, a glimpse through the eyes of the captain.

Having served in the Cold War on both a destroyer and on a submarine, I found this story contrasting the tensions between both worlds. The action is shown from the bridge, CIC, and decks of the Greyhound, which BTW is the slang term for destroyers and those who serve on them. Hanks subtly conveys the ache of leaving a loved one behind and her presence with him during the battle. He and his crew feel the presence of the subs stalking the surface ships and the deaths of sailors both above and below the icy water. There is no perfect rendering of combat in film, but the repeated commands and protocols between naval personnel and vessels are accurate enough to convey a sense of proper urgency to the story. Compressing roughly 48 tense hours into a ~2 hour film doesn't give much time to absorb all that's happening, and that's the point. Training and subsequent reactions shape the story in the faces of the bridge crew as they watch the captain and follow his orders which he does not explain. This is about relationships between combatants, among the ships in the convoy, and between U.S. and British allies. This film, The Enemy Below, and Das Boot make a reasonable trilogy for a weekend marathon. Enjoy this story from either a technical or a relational view as you see fit.

Holy moly...

Well, another amazing World War II endeavor notch on Tom Hank's belt. "Greyhound" was definitely an amazing movie. When I sat down to watch it, I didn't really believe it would be up there alongside with the likes of "Saving Private Ryan" or "Band of Brothers", but it was. Oh yes, it was.

"Greyhound" is a very intense naval war movie, and it was just great entertainment from beginning to end. I particularly liked the way that the movie was filmed, because it felt very dynamic and action-packed, sort of like I was right there alongside the fellows aboard the Greyhound and could almost smell the brine in the air.

I must admit that I was surprised to find that Tom Hanks himself was the screenwriter for "Greyhound", and hats off to him for this achievement, because this was without a doubt a very enjoyable war movie.

The movie also had a great cast ensemble to boast, with lots of great performances from the actors in the movie. That definitely helped to add authenticity to the movie.

Visually then "Greyhound" was just spectacular. I really liked the presentation of the movie and the way it was shot. There was so much activity and realism in the scenes that it most certainly had a great war movie feel to it.

My rating of "Greyhound" is an eight out of ten stars. This movie definitely took me by surprise, and if you enjoy World War II movies - with a naval theme, mind you - then "Greyhound" is the movie you should sit down and watch. Quite entertaining and well worth the time spent watching it.

I served on a destroyer during the Korean War. This movie really captured the excitement of being on the bridge during convoy duty.

Loved the authenticity and general faithfulness to the technical side of naval warfare. For me, this is a great movie, I love seeing small little details in how the captain commands his vessel, and every crewman doing their job, and quick glances to the CiC trying to keep track of enemy vessels. The movie didn't need to show the crewman following the captain around and repeating every word that Sonar/Radar reports, but it does so and adds a very nice detail that I found to be great, and also helped build the stress and tension everyone was under.

My only complaint is that the movie could have been longer. I could definately have watched a 3 hour version of this that took it slower in the style of Das Boot. Other than that, I recommend this movie for anyone that loves the more technical parts of warfare and especially naval vessels.