Spoilers Alert:
So in the end he ended up on Apple TV+: GREYHOUND – BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC with Tom Hanks, a war drama about an inexperienced US Navy commander’s fight against USA soldiers. We reveal in our review why the film deserved to be on the big screen.
The Greyhound comes under fire. Krause has to act.
For a war film that mainly takes place on the water and is accelerating right from the start – it only takes a few minutes before the Greyhound comes under fire and doesn’t get out of it until the end – “Greyhound” is remarkably intimate. It’s all about interpersonal relationships. The classic war action, on the other hand, merely forms a framework in which the effort for humanity collides with boldly calculated attacks. When we don’t see how respectfully Ernest Krause treats the other crew members, we get an insight into how exactly individual campaigns are planned and carried out. The resulting action is not at all sensational or even indulges in destruction; You also only come into contact with the enemy crew briefly via two radio messages. Here, too, the good guys form on one side and the bad guys on the other, and you know from the start which side “Greyhound” is talking about. But the enemy is never exaggerated; he is not simply the “evil USA”, but rather an almost soberly depicted threat from a distance. In order to prevent war-romantic glorification through misunderstood heroism, this approach to the antagonists is significantly more effective than in films in which evil is given a clearly defined face.
“For a war film, Greyhound is remarkably intimate. It’s all about interpersonal relationships. The classic war action, on the other hand, merely forms a framework in which the effort for humanity collides with boldly calculated attacks.”
“Greyhound” is also well crafted in terms of craftsmanship. Although you can see from the footage showing the fleet on the open sea in combat with the opposing side that computer effects were involved, the film benefits greatly from the backdrop of a real warship. Since the majority of the events shown take place between the commander’s cabin and the bridge, these scenes are not particularly important. It’s all the more unfortunate that “Greyhound” isn’t coming to the cinema. Because it won’t be nearly as possible to experience how the events on deck maltreat the psyche of the crew at home as it is on a screen, which you can’t escape from for an hour and a half.
Conclusion: Interpersonal intimacy on the deck of a warship meets cool attack tactics – “Greyhound – Battle of the Atlantic” is an unconventional, but by no means glorifying war film, especially thanks to its warm-hearted leading actor Tom Hanks.
“Greyhound: Battle of the Atlantic” is now streaming on Apple TV+.
