Best and Worst Tank Movies of All Time

There haven't been many, and those few are a mixed bag of humor and combat

By

Updated on 08/13/18

There have been hundreds of war movies featuring infantries, quite a few focused on submarines and many about of fighter jets. But there have been very few tank war movies. "Fury," released in 2014, was one of the first movies to focus on war as seen from the perspective of a tank commander. Several other movies have used tanks for part of the action, war or no war. Here's a chronological best-and-worst list of tank movies:

01

of 06

"Patton" (1970)

Best!

"Patton" was one of the first films to show tanks in combat. Relatively early in the film, Gen. George S. Patton takes control of American II Corps and faces off against Gen. Erwin Rommel at El Guettar, Tunisia. What follows is one of the largest, most ambitious battles ever filmed as dozens of American and German tanks trade fire amid swarming infantry soldiers and air and artillery attacks. The tanks used for filming were real and operational, though post-World War II versions, meaning that the filmmakers re-created a tank battle to 100% scale.

02

of 06

"Tank" (1984)

Worst!

This 1984 James Garner film isn't really a war movie. It's supposed to be a comedy. The plot involves Sgt. Maj. Zak Carey (Garner), who is stationed at a Georgia Army base and gets into a feud with a corrupt sheriff. When the sheriff arrests Carey's son on trumped-up drug charges to get back at Carey, Carey takes an Army tank from the base and busts his son our of jail, effectively going to war with the sheriff. So maybe it was a war movie.

03

of 06

"The Beast (of War)" (1988)

Best!

This movie, set in Afghanistan, features a Soviet tank commanded by a cruel Russian officer that gets lost in the wilderness, with enemy troops closing in. The Russians deal with survival, a crazed commander, and harsh conditions. The film was released in just a few theaters but has become something of a cult classic.

04

of 06

"Tank Girl" (1995)

Worst!

Again, this isn't really a war movie, but it does have a tank and a battle. Lori Petty plays one of the few survivors in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic future. She steals a tank and uses it to battle a giant corporation that controls the world's dwindling water resources. One of her allies is a half man / half kangaroo played by Ice-T.

05

of 06

"Saving Private Ryan" (1998)

Best!

One of the most popular war movies of all time ends with Capt. Miller (Tom Hanks) and Pvt. Ryan (Matt Damon) attempting to hold a village with a small contingent of U.S. soldiers during World War II. They might have had a better chance if they weren't facing a German Tiger tank. The finale—tank vs. human soldiers—is exhilarating, violent, and intense, and it shows tanks to be rather durable and not easily destroyed.

06

of 06

"Fury" (2014)

Best!

This ultra-violent film starring Brad Pitt features an American Sherman tank crew fighting behind enemy lines in the closing days of World War II. The camera switches between the massive battlefield, where tanks fire at one another and a single hit can kill an entire crew, and the claustrophobic interiors of the tanks, which are filled with sweat and blood. The was the first war film to focus on tanks and the sorts of battles that they fought.