Stop That Tank!

In the years leading up to World War II, the armor on armored vehicles being used by many countries was thin enough that a very large rifle could actually have a realistic chance of disabling a tank. Numerous countries had what are now known as anti-tank rifles for this purpose, such as the German Panzerbüchse 39, the Polish Wz 35, or the USSR's PTRS-41. America never really had one as they jumped right to rocket launchers (such as the bazooka) for anti-armor purposes. The subject of this film is training soldiers how to make effective use of the British .55 inch rifle, more commonly called the Boys anti-tank rifle. This weapon was designed in the late 1930s for use by the british military in order to combat german armored vehicles, but what this film doesn't mention is how just about every anti-tank rifle became obsolete once tank armor got reinforced. Anyway, the film begins with a pretty humorous animated section (done by Walt Disney) in which Hitler himself is leading a group of german tanks towards a town. As the tanks start firing, Canadian soldiers (armed with the Boys Mk. 1) shoot back at the weak points of the vehicles. Hitler is shot by one of the rounds and tumbles down into Hell itself, where he meets Satan. Hitler throws a fit in front of him over how superior german engineering has been stopped in its tracks (literally) by something as simple as an oversized sniper rifle. The weapon in question is then examined in detail, using various animations and live action sequences featuring servicemen. The Boys Mk. 1 is a bolt action, magazine fed anti-tank weapon that feeds from a box magazine which contains 5 enormous .55 inch diameter bullets, which is about the same size as 14 millimeters. This gives it very hard hitting penetration ability against vehicles such as tanks and can even punch through their armor. Unlike most guns with detachable magazines, the one on the Boys is top mounted, allowing gravity to assist in the firing process as the bullets don't need to get pushed up into the receiver. The film explains how shooting a tank coming straight at your position is a pretty simple task. A target moving straight at you is not moving laterally from your perspective and can thus be considered stationary (in a way). When using the gun, it makes the most sense to aim for a few specific areas on an enemy tank. Arguably the best place to aim is at the vision slit for the driver, as killing him will instantly stop the vehicle. A similar effect can be achieved by shooting at its tracks, and by hitting the turret ring the tank's cannon can be prevented from turning. When shooting vehicles moving diagonally or straight across from you, sniping it will be a lot easier if you can put your sights where they need to be before the target gets there. The Boys Mk. 1 only has iron sights and no attachable scope or other optic, so this is important. Using schematic views, the viewer is shown how the rifle works, how to disassemble and clean it, how to use its safety mechanism so it doesn't fire accidentally, and why it includes a muzzle brake. Also known as a recoil compensator, this device is fitted on the very end of the gun's barrel in order to redirect the huge back blast created by the expanding gases leaving the barrel when the gun is fired. The device vents gas away from the barrel on both sides, so that recoil is reduced and the gun comes to rest faster, making subsequent shots more accurate. Even with this thing though, the Boys Mk. 1 has tremendous kick to it and will punish your shoulder very fast. It really needs to be fired laying down. Finally, after learning how to clean the Boys Mk. 1, we're told that there's a popular army saying that goes "a rifle is like a woman: treat her right, and she'll never let you down." As someone who can't get enough of ww2 related things, whether it's films, books, video games or anything else, I was excited to watch this. It is undoubtedly propaganda, as the german tanks in the beginning all look like they're ready to fall apart any second as they trundle along. Furthermore, Hitler's ridiculous nature is shown as he rants to the Devil about not being able to do anything against anti-tank weapons, and Satan himself can't even hear himself think with his tantrum going on. The film is clearly meant for those already in the military, and more specifically, those who were assigned to use this gun. Like I said earlier, anti-tank rifles as a whole lost their utility very fast, and once tanks such as Panzer IVs and Tiger 1s were rolling out of The Fatherland's factories, the amount of damage they would do was laughable. To deal with these threats, the US would adopt the bazooka and the british would adopt the PIAT (projector, infantry, anti-tank), a type of spigot mortar that launched a shaped charge explosive. While laborious to charge (as it was spring loaded), it uses no gunpowder, so the shooter doesn't automatically give his position away upon firing. Overall, this is a very hit or miss short film, no pun intended. It was only made for those in the military, and if you don't have an interest in ww2, you'll probably disregard it right away. I still think it's an important part of history, since it shows how even big animation studios like Disney realized that the nazis had to be stopped.

If your into WW2 history (hence why I watched this) then maybe this is worth a look at but unless you want detailed instructions on how to fire and maintain a Boys anti-tank rifle I can't really see much point watching this.

The cartoon at the start is interesting if you're into old cartoons but they make up such a small part of the overall film that they're not enough to provide a suggestion.

During the Second World War the animation studios did a lot of informational films. This two-reel combination cartoon and live action from the Disney Studios was meant to show Canadian troops how to care for and use their anti-tank guns. It is enlivened by a short cartoon at the beginning showing Hitler and a bunch of heiling tanks being taken out by some anti-tank troops. Then follows the instructional, live action sections, and the whole thing is ended by a cartoon gag, showing a Private-Snafu-type of soldier in a British helmet going to bed with his anti-tank gun.

You may, of course, find the instructional section rather dry, but the cartoon sections are fairly amusing.

This is a case where I'll withhold rating a film--mostly because it really is not the sort of thing you can score. That's because the cartoon is NOT meant for the general public and its value is quite ephemeral. It's a movie made by the Disney Studios for the Canadian government. In fact, during WWII, the studio made several films for the Canadians--all in an effort to bolster the war effort. Of course, the studio also made many cartoons for the American government at that time.

"Boys Anti-Tank Rifle" (also called "Stop That Tank") was a film made in an effort to allay the fears of men who were given this anti-tank gun. That's because it had a terrible reputation and was only effective on light tanks. Heavily armored tanks simply were too difficult for the Boys to damage. So, the film uses a bit of humor and mostly cartoon simulations of the gun as well as live footage to explain its use as well as to insist that it IS effective and useful (which, in many instances, it wasn't).

So is this film worth seeing? Well, for the average viewer, absolutely not. However, for history lovers, it's worth seeing--though certainly not a 'must-see' movie.