Customer Reviews

Tank

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This film will never be remembered as great cinematic art. It will never ever be remembered as great comedy. As drama, it is fairly hokey. That doesn't matter, though. It is fun.

The story is of a Sergeant Major who accepts his last post outside a small southern town. This SGM, however has his own Sherman tank that he and his son restored. The problem is that the town and the entire county is run by a corrupt sherrif who is into liquor, prostitution and bribery. The SGM makes the mistake of hacking of this sherrif so the sherrif arrests the son on a bogus drug charge and sends him to a hellhole of a prison camp. It seems that nothing the SGM can do will help his son so he takes matters into his own hands, fires up the tank and rides to the rescue. From there, is is a chase to the state line.

Most of the elements of this movie are extremely predictable. Stereotypes abound. You almost know what is going to happen before it happens. That does not detract too much from the fun of seeing it happen, though. Some of the antics are so patently absurd as to be unworkable but they work in this movie, whether or not they would ever work in the real world. Its just silly fun.

James Garner is extremely likable as the sarge. This is by no means his greatest work but it looks like it was fun to make. Shirley Jones plays his wife and C. Thomas Howell is the wronged kid. So too are their performances less that stellar but they get the job done.

The good guys win. So does the viewer. Don't expect high art, just the fairly frequent laugh.

I really enjoy the 'movie'. I have had it on VHS for years, waiting for it to come out on DVD, to replace the VHS copy I have. However if you previously purchased the first release from Goodtimes Home Video, DON'T waste your money on this 'so-called' newer release.

Other than the picture on the box, this 'newer' release from Universal is no different than the original release of this title from Goodtimes Home Video!

The Product Details 'fails' to mention that this Universal release in the Full Frame Format, just like the version from Goodtimes Home Video. It also 'fails' to state that the Universal release is in 'Mono' just as the release from Goodtimes Home Video. So what's the difference? Both are Full Frame, both are in Mono, which the Product Description fails to mention. The only difference is the picture on the box!

In one of the reviews I read, it stated, "This movie was previously avalable from Goodtimes Home Video in Full Screen Format. As this release is from Universal Studios we can only hope it will be released in it's Original Aspect Ratio."

Well it wasn't! And again, the Product description failed to state this! Also the new release from Universal, just as the release from Goodtimes Home Video, didn't add any additional menu features included on the DVD. So again, what is the difference? They are the same exact DVD, packaged in two different boxes, with the exception that the Goodtimes release is in the 'snap' type box and the Universal is in the 'clamshell' type box.

James Garner's usual excellent performance makes the difference in this otherwise predictable movie. One of the all-time great movie lines: "I do believe I've got you covered." Definitely worth watching once; teenagers will watch this one again and again.

I was raised in an Air Force family and I find that there is a certain realism to this movie and the way people in military families are often treated by the people of the country they represent. James Garner, Shirley Jones, and C.Thomas Howell portray an Army family whose older son and brother has already given his life in the service of his country. After a minor incident in a local bar, the Sherriff of a corrupt town frames Garner's son for possession of marijuana and has him incarcerated on a work farm in which many of the boys who are held mysteriously disappear. Garner combats the situation using the Sherman tank that he owns, taking Jenilee Harrison,whom the Sherriff had forced into prostitution, along for the ride. In the adventure that ensues, a viewer should receive two major lessons: Never get a military father upset, and never mess with a kid who cut his or her teeth on combat boots.

The last time I saw this movie, I was a kid. One day, I saw it on TV, and decided I wanted to have it on DVD. Amazon had it. I love this movie! Cheezy 80's aside, you gotta love the Sherman tank opening up a can of whoop on them good ol boys! A perfect additon to your war movie/80's movie collection!

THis is a fun movie for the entire family! It shows that life is not always fair or pleasent but that standing beside/behind the people you charish is a precious thing. It also has enough action to be exciting and not sappy.

This is a pretty decent film. I especially loved James Garner. His character is a Master Sergeant in the army and Garner plays him with a full measure of tough charm. If you liked Garner in "The Rockford Files" then you will probably like him in this as well.

The plot has to do with Garner using an old Sherman tank to bust his teeneage son (C. Thomas Howell) out of a prison farm in Georgia. The kid was put in there by a corrupt local sheriff. After exhausting all the usual methods of helping his son, the Sergeant is driven to desperation. He wants to use the tank to transport his son all the way to Tennessee, where he hopes to get a fair hearing from the officials there. Of course, the trip is fraught with complications.

The plot is not meant to be taken too seriously. It is a largely light-hearted film. I enjoyed watching it and it was a true pleasure to see James Garner do such a great job.

Sgt-Maj. Zack Carey (James Garner) is a 52-year-old veteran who's been in the Army almost 30 years and often seems as tough as nails, but he has a strong feel for justice and a deep attachment to his family--wife LaDonna (Shirley Jones) and 16-year-old son Billy (C. Thomas Howell), whose older brother Jonathan followed his dad into the service and was killed a couple of years earlier at 20. The Careys arrive at Fort Clemons, GA, for what they hope will be their last posting, bringing with them Zack's pride and joy, a fully operational WWII Sherman tank he spent 15 years restoring. Though his CO (Sandy Ward) tries to persuade him to stay in with the suggestion that he could well find himself "the next Sergeant-Major of the Army," Zack isn't biting: he has an offer in for a fishing boat and wants to settle down while he still has a few years to really relate to his one remaining son. Then, without really planning it, he runs afoul of tyrannical and corrupt Sheriff Cyrus Buelton (played with slimy elan by G. D. Spradlin) and his chief deputy, bullying Euclid Baker (James Cromwell), when he tries to stand up for a young prostitute named Sarah (Jennilee Harrison). Buelton in response frames Billy for drug trafficking, forces Zack to sell the newly-purchased boat and turn over the proceeds to him, and ships Billy off to the local prison farm anyway. Now Zack gets mad--and a man with a working tank is not someone you want mad at you, as Buelton and Euclid very quickly find out.

At first the movie is a bit slow getting started, as we watch Zack settling into his duties and learn by his actions what kind of man he is. But when he and his tank pay a visit to the sheriff's office, things start heating up. Sarah, knowing she can't stay in Clemonsville, hitches a ride, Billy is broken out of the camp, and the trio heads for the Tennessee state line while LaDonna goes to see the Governor of Tennessee. This is a story of how might may make right for a while, but finds its comeuppance in the end, of how ordinary folks (like Danny Nelson as Mr. Gant, who supplies the fugitives with gasoline, home-cooked food, and advice on a route, though he knows full well Buelton will seek revenge) reach their limit, and of how a father and a son come to understand each other. As the tank comes heartbreakingly close to its goal only to be stopped within sight of it--and a gang of motorcyclists creatively shows the way to rescue--you may feel like cheering.

LOL. I loved this movie as a kid and had to have it in my collection. Still enjoy it after so many years!

This movie is still a great watch even after 23 years! I'm not just saying this because my father (James Newton)had a part in it, but even after I showed friends they enjoyed it too! It makes you want to join the Army just to have a tank of your own. Hoo Ahh!