Tom Hanks Fends Off Relentless German 'Wolfpack' Attacks in 'Greyhound'

Matt Vespa | August 13, 2020 5:30 PM

There aren’t really that many movies about this particular battle in World War II. There should be. I can understand prior to why this was sort of project kept off the books given the limitations as a lot of the filming would be contingent on weather conditions. The costs would be pretty steep, but "Greyhound" on Apple TV did a fine job within a 90-minute timeframe to capture the chaos and tension that pervaded the ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean as they fought the Nazi “wolfpacks.” And yes, I get that with these sort of war films, green screens will have to be heavily utilized. It's still pretty good.

The film gets right into it. The convoy loses its air cover as the planes have reached their maximum range. The captain of the Greyhound, played by Tom Hanks, braces for his long, arduous journey into the “black pit,” where German U-Boats are preparing to attack. The German Kriegsmarine did their best to choke off Britain’s supply chain during the Battle of the Atlantic, some have said if Adolf Hitler got to increasing U-boat manufacturing sooner, it might have succeeded. Early transport ships ventured into the open ocean unescorted.

Almost immediately Hanks’ character has to deal with an aggressive and elusive German wolfpack who unleashes a fury against the convoy under the cover of darkness. He has hours until he’s within range of Allied air cover from Britain. In the meantime, it’s 'search and destroy.' Deploying classic anti-submarine tactics at the time to save his men, his ship, but also that of the convoy. Those supplies much reach Britain.

The film has been praised for keeping a decent pace and continuing the narrative within that relatively brief running time for a war movie. The screenplay, written by Hanks, is very detailed in the naval lexicon and the action sequences are pretty well-executed as well. You get to see the chaos and peril during these crossings, along with a decent portrayal of a Nazi wolfpack attack. It’s one of the theaters of this war that really isn’t covered in Hollywood, though winning this battle was essential to the war. With no victory in the Battle of the Atlantic, Operation Overlord, among other things, would have been impossible given the men and material needed to be transported to the British Isles.