Greyhound is a 2020 film that debuted on Apple TV from director Aaron Schneider, while starring Tom Hanks. The movie centers around U.S. Navy commander Ernest Krause (Tom Hanks) and his convoy of Allied submarines as they trek across the North Atlantic to deliver supplies to the allies in England. The movie in its entirety does an excellent and thorough job of creating an action-packed yet tense climate through an emphasis on the close quarters of the submarine. Hanks, who is no stranger to war movies, also shines in a role much different from many of his more notable energetic characters in playing the stoic Krause.
The primary conflict of the film comes with German U-Boats ambushing the convoy of submarines, and therefore creating intense battle scenes throughout the movie. The film does a nice job of diving deep into the world of World War 2 technology, by explaining the strategies of how the U-boats intercepted the fleet as well as complex techniques involved in fighting off the German attackers.
Blake Neely’s score is superb in highlighting both the hostile and dreary environment of the North Atlantic combined with the intensity of the film’s battle scenes. Through this, the viewer can sense “cabin fever” intensifying throughout the movie which is an essential theme of the happenings within Krause’s submarines. The cinematography both displayed within the submarine and on the ocean through the usage of CGI also contributes tremendously to building the ominous essence of the film.
Greyhound is also excellent in its depiction of moral conundrums and risks that have to be taken by Krause, such as when he puts his ship at further risk from oncoming torpedoes in his effort to rescue Greek sailors who were gunned by U-Boats. Scenes like this are crucial to the film’s character building, as it allows us to understand the mentality of the characters in a film that lacks many flashbacks or previous allusions to life before the war.
Greyhound does fall a bit short on providing historical context behind the Battle of the Atlantic in a way that other recent war movies such as Dunkirk excelled in. However, it does not fall short at all in providing detail for the particular situation at hand with the German ambush that we see in the film. All in all, Hanks’ role combined with the moral and emotional, yet still, realistic drama of Greyhound make for an excellent film.