I don’t know much about military affairs, so after watching "The Battle of Midway" last year, when the military fans around me talked about the military mistakes, I could only listen to them in silence. Of course, this movie The same is true of "The Greyhound". Before the trailer of this movie, I had never heard of this warship, let alone this escort mission. After all, in the vast World War II battlefield, a few submarines, one or two The damage of a battleship is probably not something worth remembering.
However, this incident is absolutely unforgettable for those who have experienced it.
Spoiler alert
Last year’s "Decisive Battle of Midway", I think it was a very popcorn movie. From the Pearl Harbor incident to the destruction of many Japanese aircraft carrier battleships in the Battle of Midway, the dense anti-aircraft fire, through the clouds, whizzed. However, the fighter jets that passed, or dived and dropped bombs, were not as fine as the special effects, but still could bear the title of "war production".
However, it always seems that something is missing.
After watching "The Greyhound", I know that "The Battle of Midway" lacks people in the war.
It’s not that "The Battle of Midway" did not intend to portray characters. In fact, the film portrays many characters, from leaders, to officers, to pilots, to crews, almost every level is deliberately portrayed. , Also have prototypes.
However, under the background of war, especially under the splendid artillery special effects and the roar of the aircraft dive, the characters in the movie did not seem to really stand out from the "heavy artillery warship". Compared with them, those engines, those dropped bombs The moment seems more worthy of being remembered.
But "The Greyhound" provides an interesting perspective. Although it is obvious that the investment in the movie is not large, almost all the scenes of the event are on a small battleship (if this battleship is placed in a battle, probably It's not worth mentioning), the special effects are naturally not comparable to the air-space integrated aircraft carrier battle group. However, it is against this background that the captain of the Greyhound played by Tom Hanks has an even more image. protrude.
Or, let me put it another way, the protagonist of this film is both the captain and the ship. Even in many cases, I can feel the almost overlapping attitude of the two images. The captain leads the battleship, and the battleship He became the captain again, and these two intentions became more and more inseparable with the development of the film.
Let us briefly look at how the film accomplishes this evolution.
The duration of the movie is not long, so the interplay between each scene is very short. With the shots of the German submarine floating and sinking underwater and the sharp and aggressive soundtrack, the tension becomes more intense.
The first scene is the Greyhound chasing and destroying a U-shaped submarine alone.
In this scene, the Greyhound was fledgling. Although very nervous, it was well equipped, and the submarine was destroyed by depth charges before it even had time to launch a counterattack.
However, in the second scene, the situation reversed. The German submarine dropped the bait. The Greyhound was unfamiliar with the bait's sonar echo and suffered from equipment failure. A lot of ammunition was wasted for no reason, and after that, it could only be attacked by naval guns. And this mistake allowed the German submarines to blow up a large number of merchant ships.
In the third scene, the situation continued to deteriorate. Although with the help of the friendly Dickey, the Greyhound still had a considerable disadvantage with the use of naval guns. Although the two ships combined to destroy a U-shaped submarine, The Greyhound itself was hit, and several crew members were killed.
The fourth scene, almost the darkest eve of dawn, is also dawn.
Under the attack of the two submarines, in order to protect the safety of the merchant ship, the Greyhound did not ask the friendly ship to help, but to meet it alone. In the high-intensity confrontation and dealings, finally waited for the British aircraft and defeated it. German army.
And I describe the above process, of course, for the audience, they have seen the situation and the situation gradually deteriorate in each scene, and completed the reversal when the last single tree is difficult to support. However, as I said before, the movie is just In this way, there is no character's soul in it.
The state of the captain played by Tom Hanks also perfectly blends the situation of the battlefield.
At the beginning, although the captain did not have much rest, he used a creative strategy to annihilate his opponent in one fell swoop.
But as the heating on the ship disappeared and the radar failed, Tom Hanks was also expressing his cold all the time, but at this time, he was still very wary.
When the third confrontation came, he hadn't eaten or rest for a long time, and the Greyhound was injured for the first time.
Between the third and fourth acts, we even saw an image of a captain showing exhaustion, almost unable to sleep, and dripping blood on his feet, but it was in such a scarred state. Next, the captain and the Greyhound persisted, waiting for the support of the aircraft to complete the escort mission.
With the completion of the Greyhound mission, the captain finally returned to his room and could sleep well.
Therefore, we can see that the captain’s entire mental attitude is almost in sync with the situation of the Greyhound battleship, and it is this sense of synchronicity that moves at the same pace, which divides our worries about the situation of the battleship to the situation of the ship. The anxiety of the long body and the worsening of the battle seemed to be draining the captain's physical strength. As a result, compared to the giant gun, the insignificant personal image of the giant ship is connected with the ship itself, and our emotions can be more poured on the characters.
This is what makes this film different from "The Battle of Midway". Although there are not so many special effects that burn money, such a lively and real character gradually affects our hearts with the development of the film's plot. He is fragile, But also very strong.
Seeing the back, I suddenly remembered Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea", where the old man and a huge marlin attacked each other. Both the man and the fish exhausted all their energy and energy.
The wind blows to the empty sea, and a lonely old man drags his exhausted body and wanders on the vast sea, just like a warrior after the war.
Yes, I didn't sleep endlessly. I only relied on coffee to boost my spirit. I fought wits and courage with the hidden German submarine for a few days and nights. The captain, although tired, decided to be a warrior.
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