Movies In History: Der Tiger

I watched this 2025 German movie a couple of months ago and hadn't gotten around to posting a review of it.  With the launching of a Donald Trump war against Iran, it feels a bit odd to do so now.

This review contains spoilers.

Der Tiger, released in the US as The Tank, is about, on the surface, an improbable mission given to the crew of a German Tiger tank that has just seemingly survived the detonation of a bridge to go deep into Soviet territory and rescue a behind the lines German commander who was apparently on some secret mission commanding a body of men likewise behind the lines.  Their former CO, they learn that he did not die, as claimed, at Stalingrad.  Because of the nature of the film, it's been compared, unfairly as in my view, with Apocalypse Now or Heart of Darkness, upon which its based, but the theme is completely different.

Going into it, on the surface the premise is absurd.  A tank would make a very poor means of rescuing anyone, let along a Tiger I was was very prone to mechanical breakdown. They're far from stealthy. And the Eastern Front, like the Western Front, was a dense combat environment.  It wouldn't work.

And that's not actually what the film is about.

In reviews of this film, a lot of reviewers are simply baffled by it. The excellent Fighting On Film podcast was one.  But, from a certain prospective, the film makes perfect sense.

That sense is a Catholic one.

I don't know if the director is Catholic, but if he isn't, he's heavily invested in Catholic views.  The clues are there throughout the entire film, from beginning to end.  The tank and its crewmen (with one exception) aren't on a mission to rescue their former commander, whom they do meet at a bunker, but rather they're on a trip, literally, to Hell.

During the trip we learn of the reason why.

Everything is there.  Odd grim reminders.  One wounded tank crewman is is taken out of the stricken tank to go into "the light".  A Mass, in Latin, is on the radio, which the Nazi era German radio would never have broadcast.  The entry into the bunker is guarded by metaphorical angels, although they superficially do not seem to be so.  The fires of Hell are at the end.

All in all, frankly, this film, which is nearly 100% metaphorical, is very well done, but a person needs to be aware of the imagery and background, which I suspect a German audience, where the two significant Christian religions are Catholicism and Lutheranism, which is based on it, may be more than most American ones, in order to grasp it.

In material details, this movie is pretty good, although it seems odd to even discuss the topic in this film. The depictions of German and Soviet armor are excellent, and the uniform details well done.  The tank crew, as mentioned, is of the SS, and they wear SS tank crew uniforms.

Friday, September 7, 1945. Green River Railroad Bridge Fire. A final and unnoticed parade.

Today In Wyoming's History: September 7:  1945 1945  Trains were halted west of Green River as a bridge was destroyed by a fire.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

Eh?  I thought you stopped posting items from 1945, now that the war is over.

I have, but as noted, when something interesting comes up, I'll still post it, and this item, while minor, is interesting. Trains were such a huge part of American, and Wyomingite, life in 1945, and this would have referred to a bridge on the UP line, which had been jam packed the entire war.  The disruption would have been significant.

The event didn't hit the local press, to the extent I can access it, that day.  News of an upcoming big parade in Tokyo did.

Truman was reported to be taking the Democrats to the left, which is where they pretty much already were save for Southern Democrats.  He nonetheless was appointing a Republican to the Supreme Court.

The Sheridan Press was not only reporting that new houses were going to be a lot more expensive post war, but that exciting new fabrics were on the way.

The Coronado washing machine was back after the war.

The Sheridan Press was also promising that you'd be able to buy airplanes at department stores.

In other news, the Berlin Victory Parade of 1945 was held, with the Soviets debuting the JS-3 tank to the public.

The parade itself drew sort of a "m'eh" response, as the world had already moved on to the post war and was tired of these displays.

The tank had been designed to take on German heavy armor and it was a monster, but it arrived too late to see action in the war.  It was the third in a series of tanks named "Joseph Stalin".  It would see some use in post war fights, particularly in the Middle East.

Australia ratified the United Nations Charter.

Last edition:

Monday, September 3, 1945. The new Post War World.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, British Empire, Culture, Dutch Empire, Economics, Education, French Empire, It was because of World War Two, The Cold War, The Post War Economy Myth, United States, World War Two, Yeoman's Fourth Law of History

Saturday, June 30, 1945. Mopping up.

"These five 96th Div. Texans are considered "aces" by their buddies in Co. I, 383rd Inf. Regt., an ace being anyone who has killed five or more Japs. From bottom to top: S/Sgt. Vernon Z. Wilkins, 101 Chicago St., Delhart; Pfc. Albert Welfel, El Campo; Pfc. Richard S. Groce, 318 Lafitte St., San Antonio; PFC Roy D Clepper, Florey; and Pfc. Russell Linnard, of Pharr, Texas. 30 June, 1945. Company I, 383rd Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry Division."  I wonder what their lives were like after the war.

Today in World War II History—June 30, 1940 & 1945: 80 Years Ago—June 30, 1945: In the Philippines, Luzon is declared secure. Organized Japanese resistance ends on Mindanao in the Philippines.

Sarah Sundin's blog.

Indeed, some Japanese troops would hold out on the Philippines on an individual basis for decades. 

" Jap tankette knocked out in battle for Shuri. Tank is about 10 ft. by four and about five feet in height, and carries two men. Relative size is shown by Lt. M. A. Miller of 94 Parkway Rd., Bronxville, New York. 30 June, 1945. Photographer: Henderson, 3240th Signal Photo Det."  Tankettes were a British concept from between the wars, but had fallen out of favor almost everywhere before World War Two.  Japan, which existed in military isolation, kept them.

American forces on Okinawa completed a week of mop-up operations in which 8,975 Japanese were reported killed and 2,902 captured, showing how intense operations remained.

While not apparent to anyone yet, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps had effectively concluded the main part of their ground fighting in the war.  Ground combat, however, carried on for the British and Dominion armies, and the Chinese Army.

Former U.S. Army Air Force base Liuzhou, China, was recaptured by the Chinese.  They also took Chungchin on the Indochinese border.

The French the 5e REI, a Foreign Legion regiment which had been stationed in Indochina, was deactivated, having been decimated in their retreat into China.

Truman appointed James F. Byrnes to be Secretary of State.

Last edition:

Friday, June 29, 1945. Downfall.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Harry S. Truman, Japan, Operation Coronet, Operation Downfall, Operation Olympic

 

Why the Marine Corps should adopt the M10 Booker

Wednesday, May 16, 1945. The Haguro sunk, U-boats surrender.

Okinawa.

The Royal Navy sank the Haguro ending the Battle of Malacca Strait.  Admiral Kaju Saguira, age 49, was one of the casualties.

Fourteen U-boats surrendered to convoys in the Arctic.

The British liberated Alderney.

Heavy fighting occurred on Okinawa with the Japanese succeeding in knocking out some U.S. tanks.

Physicist Leo Szilard wrote a letter to J. Robert Oppenheimer trying to convince him that  atomic bombs shouldn't be used against Japan.

Last edition:

Tuesday, May 15, 1945. Germans fully surrendered, Chinese Army in retreat.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Austria, Axis Powers, Battle of Poljana, Battle of the Malacca Strait, Burma, German Wehrmacht, Japan, Okinawa, Philippines, World War Two, Yugoslavia

Another US light tank bites the dust.

For some reason, the US just can't seem to develop a light tank that it likes.

US Defense Dept shuts down Booker tank program

Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go light tank. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Last edition:

M38 A1s, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 4x4, Artillery, Automobiles, Korean War, Military, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Radio, Trucks, Wyoming (Dubois)

M32 Tank Retriever, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

This is a M32 tank retriever, which is obviously based on the M4 Sherman chassis. These were used by the U.S. Army starting in World War Two, although a tank retriever based on the Lee/Grant chassis was also used.

These remained in use during the Korean War and into the 1960s when it was replaced by the M88.

Last edition:

M24 Chaffee, National Museum of Military Vehicles.Labels: 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, Armor, Army, Army of the Republic of Vietnam, Korean War, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Vietnam War, Weapons, World War Two, Wyoming (Dubois)

M24 Chaffee, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Like the M26 Pershing, the M24 Chaffee shows the speed of armor evolution during World War Two.  A much more modern light tank than the M3, it remained in service until 1953 with the U.S. Army, and various other armies long after that.  The tank was heavily, if not terribly successfully, used by the ARVN during the Vietnam War.

M4 Sherman. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

 Last edition:

M577 and M113. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2020s, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Tracked vehicles, Wyoming (Dubois)

M113A1 Fire Support Vehicle. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

This is an armored M113 personnel carrier of a type modified for the Vietnam War, in this case by Australia, where the M113 first saw combat service.   In Vietnam, they were often up armored to take into account their vulnerability.  The addition of the turret and cannon provides such an example with a Saladin armored car turret and 75mm gun.

Last edition:

M88 Recovery Vehicle. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: Armor, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Tracked vehicles, Wyoming (Dubois)

M88 Recovery Vehicle. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Still in use, the M88 Recovery Vehicle is a tank retriever based on the M48 chassis.

 Very heavily armored, it's outlasted the phasing out of the M48 and M60, and continues on in service.

Last edition:

M60. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1950s, 1959, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2020s, Armor, National Museum of Military Vehicles, The Cold War, Wyoming (Dubois)

M60. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

The M60 was the great U.S. tank of the Cold War, and continues to be a great tank to this day.

Effectively an improved variant of the M48, so much so that in some armies it would be regarded as a variant of the prior tank, the M60 took all of the improvements to the M26 line of tanks over the decades and more or less perfected them.  Indeed, some of the improvements, such as the 105mm gun, were retrofitted to the prior M48.

M60s remain in use around the world in upgraded versions.

M48 Patton. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

The fourth tank to descend from the M26 Pershing, including the Pershing, the M48 was a long serving and very successful U.S. tank. It entered service in the mid 1952 in the U.S. Army, and it is still in service with various nations, including South Korea and Taiwan.

The M48 was the second of the US Cold War tanks to actually see action in a Cold War war, the M46 being the first in Korea, with the M48 seeing extensive use by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps in Vietnam.  The tank was already a second class tank in the US military by that time, the M60 having come on, but it was a perfectly modern tank and more than able to take on anything in theater.  The tank was later upgraded to near M60 capabilities with the change from a 90mm gun to a 105.

The M48 entered US service in 1952, and was last used in the National Guard in 1987.

Related Threads:

The M26 and its children

Last edition:

M47 Tank. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1940s, 1949, 1950s, 1953, 1955, Armor, Army, Korean War, National Museum of Military Vehicles, The Cold War, Tracked vehicles, World War Two, Wyoming (Dubois)

M47 Tank. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

The tank in the photograph above is a M47 "Patton" tank, the successor to the M26 Pershing.  The tank had a limited production run, entering service in 1951 during the Korean War, and being declared a limited standard in 1955.  Production ceased in 1953, and the tank was deployed to Korea in small numbers for testing.

The tank was the third tank to be based on the M26, including the M26. The second was the M46 "Patton", which was an upgraded M26 which was used during the Korean War.

A M5 Stuart light tank is in the background.

Related threads:

The M26 and its children

Last edition:

Japanese Type 7 305mm gun, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1930s, 1940s, Artillery, Imperial Japanese Army, Japan, National Museum of Military Vehicles, World War Two, Wyoming (Dubois)

M8 Buford. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

 

The M8 was a light tank that was adopted to replace the M551 Sheridan, but which never went into production and was phased out before it was even introduced.

Last edition:

National Museum of Military Vehicles. World War One Display.

Labels: 1910s, Armor, Army, Artillery, Automobiles, British Army, French Army, German Army, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Swiss Army, World War One, World War One Automobiles

National Museum of Military Vehicles. World War One Display.

 

Inside of Renault tank.

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Last edition:

Punitive Expedition Display, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Dubois Wyoming

Labels: 1910s, 1916, 1917, Army, Clothing, Dubois Wyoming, George S. Patton, Mexican Border War, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Pancho Villa, The Punitive Expedition, Weapons, Wyoming (Dubois)