KELLY'S HEROES--Shermans, Tiger Is

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 4:23 pm

I watched KELLY'S HEROES on dvd the other night for the first time in maybe 20 years. I enjoyed it a lot more the second time around.

I particularly enjoyed the 3 Shermans attack the German rail yard because very few movies have realistic tank scenes anymore (the movie was filmed in Yugoslavia because they had lots of Shermans). I enjoyed the Tiger Is (converted T-34s), too. I watched the Tigers in slow motion and it appeared they have zimmerit.

KELLY'S HEROES is more enjoyable to watch for the tank scenes, along with BAND OF BROTHERS) because the movie did a good job of being realistic. That's contrasted by other tank scenes from PATTON and THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE where they substitute big US tanks for German tanks. If I remember correctly, the Panther tanks in A BRIDGE TOO FAR are Leopards with a little window dressing.

Col.Pickle · Post by **Col.Pickle** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 5:57 pm

I love being able to watch movies and identify what tanks the producers spruced up to make 'em look the the original thing.

jrs. · Post by **jrs.** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 3:50 pm

There is a guy on the internet selling pre fab panther turrets!. They say that soon they will have a full on panther kitt??? Visually its a great replica!

If a man owned a real Tiger he could do a good business in hollywood rentals!

kimtheredxd · Post by **kimtheredxd** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 4:53 pm

I always loved the paint shells on Kelly Heroes. It still amazes me that they went to such trouble to be as accurate as possible,for the weapons and gear etc.For what is essentially a comedy movie I feel.

Website · Post by **Teamski** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:24 am

dragon53 wrote:I particularly enjoyed the 3 Shermans attack the German rail yard because very few movies have realistic tank scenes anymore (the movie was filmed in Yugoslavia because they had lots of Shermans). I enjoyed the Tiger Is (converted T-34s), too. I watched the Tigers in slow motion and it appeared they have zimmerit.

HEHEHE..... Kelly's Heroes realistic?? LOL. Shermans with loud speakers blairing country music shooting up a railyard is not what I consider plausable...... The Band of Brothers on the other hand is just about as realistic as you can get.....

-Ski

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 2:28 pm

TEAMSKI:

In terms of being realistic, I meant they used real Shermans and Tigers (modified T-34s). I cringe everytime I watch PATTON and see M-48 Patton tanks with a German cross painted on them.

I watched the KELLY'S HEROES dvd again last night and the choreography of the the Sherman/railyard battle scene is fantastic. Yesterday, I got the limited edition cd of the soundtrack and it mentions that director Brian Hutton worked painstakingly to film the Sherman/railyard and Sherman vs. Tiger scenes. It took so long that it frustrated Clint Eastwood who left the set and returned to the US.
Hutton also directed Eastwood in WHERE EAGLES DARE.

popeye357 · Post by **popeye357** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:39 pm

I just watched it after reading this, I would have never thought the Tigers were T34's Now after looking closer I can see that the turrets are way forward, love the black paint, maybe Ill do an FOV like that.

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 9:23 pm

POPEYE357:

Look closely and you'll see the movie's military experts even have zimmerit on the Tigers.

Wieslaw · Post by **Wieslaw** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 9:25 am

It is one of my favorite war movies. The tank scenes are really both realistic and funny! Remember it was 1970; I wonder you could show another movie from that time with real Shermans and quasi-real Tigers.

GooglyDoogly · Post by **GooglyDoogly** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 11:05 am

A little OT rant:

You know what I don't get? Steven Spielberg is great when it comes to details with his special effects. And he's a big WWII history buff. So I don't get how he could put a sucky-looking Tiger in one of the best WWII movies ever, Saving Private Ryan.

To be fair, that Tiger looked AWESOME! Except for the lower hull/running gears. Anyone with a little knowledge of WWII armor would cringe seeing those wheels.

I wouldn't have minded as much, but since there's a big scene that focused clearly on the road wheels....it was just...*ick*

I just can't believe Mr. Spielberg would do that. That's kinda like seeing a T-rex with a stub tail in Jurrasic Park.

And aren't those M-47s in The Battle of the Bulge?

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 5:46 pm

GOOGLYDOOGLY:

I haven't seen SAVING PRIVATE RYAN in awhile, but I assume the Tiger is aconverted T-34 like in KELLY'S HEROES and BAND OF BROTHERS. Since there are no Tigers left, they make the best of what they can get---a passable Tiger/T-34---which is a heckuva lot better than the German M-48 Patton tanks in PATTON. I saw some trivia about SAVING PRIVATE RYAN which said there weren't any real Tiger units in the area that the final battle scene took place.
I haven't seen THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE since I was a kid, but I think I remember they are M-47s.
An M3 Jeb Stuart can be seen in THE DIRTY DOZEN.

grockwood · Post by **grockwood** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 8:52 pm

I am not sure if it is was made at the same time, but the movie " Is Paris Burning?" had lots of Shermans in it and a couple of M24 made to look like Panthers. They were very well done though if they had been next to the Shermans in any scene, the small size would have looked odd.

GooglyDoogly · Post by **GooglyDoogly** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 8:58 pm

dragon53 wrote:GOOGLYDOOGLY:

I haven't seen SAVING PRIVATE RYAN in awhile, but I assume the Tiger is aconverted T-34 like in KELLY'S HEROES and BAND OF BROTHERS. Since there are no Tigers left, they make the best of what they can get---a passable Tiger/T-34---which is a heckuva lot better than the German M-48 Patton tanks in PATTON. I saw some trivia about SAVING PRIVATE RYAN which said there weren't any real Tiger units in the area that the final battle scene took place.
I haven't seen THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE since I was a kid, but I think I remember they are M-47s.
An M3 Jeb Stuart can be seen in THE DIRTY DOZEN.

Yep, you're right. It's actually a Tiger/T-34 combo, kinda like the Tiger that was used in Band of Brothers. I understand the need to make do and just use whatever there is out there.

But the thing is, that movie isn't exactly a low-budget production. And it's a movie by Steven Spielberg! I would have thought that it would have been quite easy to create a moving mock-up of a "perfect" Tiger I. Heck, if they can make a remotely-controlled, full-size, realistic T-rex, a moving scale replica of a Tiger I isn't really that big of a deal.

And add the fact that Mr. Spielberg is a huge WWII nut. So, yeah. But from the upper hull and up, that Tiger is pretty...

Heh, I remember watching BoB when I was a teenager. It was spectacular to see a battle between M-24 Chaffees and M-47s.

popeye357 · Post by **popeye357** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 1:45 pm

The T-Rex was a robot???

I saw the zimmermit after looking again, is the color of the Tiger black or a very dark grey?? FOV lookout!

Threetoughtrucks · Post by **Threetoughtrucks** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 10:13 pm

The reason Kelly's Heros was so realistic (as far as equipment) is because it was made in Yugoslavia, which had tons of WW2 equipment in reserve. After WW2 Tito accepted anything offered him. All that reserve stuff was offered to the movie company. That's why the movie has so many tanks, half-tracks, jeeps even the High Speed Tractors abd bridge equipment.

Before Yugoslavia was broken up a buddy of mine (who was creating a WW2 museum) wrote to dozens of countries who was thought to have WW2 equipment asking for donations of equipment.

He received an answer from Yugo with a shopping list of so many rare pieces (US and German, including an 88mm gun)...it was not believed. My buddy selected an M-18 Hellcat (his museum was dedicated to anti-tank units) and two months later he got a call from a Yugo container ship at the Brooklyn docks to come down and get his free tank. I went with him and the M-18 had been restored 100%. Painted, running, even working radios, wartime stock of ammo, live ,50 cal and main gun (which in itself caused problems).

He wrote asking for more but that was the time Yugo was broken up and all that stuff was used and mostly destroyed in the Balkan wars. I know of at least some M-36's that survived and were for sale in the UK a few years ago. A few found their was here and a few are being restored.

I took pics, of the M-18 delivery, I'll post a few pics, if I can find them. I haven't even got all my "big" guys unpacked but I'm working on it.., slowly with all the holidays

TTT

1958Zelda · Post by **1958Zelda** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:46 am

Threetoughtrucks,would love to see those pictures,if you locate them please post,does your buddy still have a museum? thanks.

MG-42 · Post by **MG-42** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 9:49 am

Threetoughtrucks wrote: The reason Kelly's Heros was so realistic (as far as equipment) is because it was made in Yugoslavia, which had tons of WW2 equipment in reserve. After WW2 Tito accepted anything offered him. All that reserve stuff was offered to the movie company. That's why the movie has so many tanks, half-tracks, jeeps even the High Speed Tractors abd bridge equipment.

Before Yugoslavia was broken up a buddy of mine (who was creating a WW2 museum) wrote to dozens of countries who was thought to have WW2 equipment asking for donations of equipment.

He received an answer from Yugo with a shopping list of so many rare pieces (US and German, including an 88mm gun)...it was not believed. My buddy selected an M-18 Hellcat (his museum was dedicated to anti-tank units) and two months later he got a call from a Yugo container ship at the Brooklyn docks to come down and get his free tank. I went with him and the M-18 had been restored 100%. Painted, running, even working radios, wartime stock of ammo, live ,50 cal and main gun (which in itself caused problems).

I took pics, of the M-18 delivery, I'll post a few pics, if I can find them. TTT

>>> * = * I'd like to see this myself Charlie. "The M-18 Hellcat happens to be one of my favorite U.S. WWII tanks behind the M-26 Pershing". *

Mitch v MG

Threetoughtrucks · Post by **Threetoughtrucks** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 11:30 am

Guys:

My "buddy" still has the museum as far as I know, but we had a falling out and we haven't talked in ten years. We weren't close, just friends of friends with common interests (1/1 WW2 vehicles). Since I've been into 1/18 and 1/6, I've lost track of alot of my old 1/1 buddies.

I still have the pics of the M-18 arriving on the contsainer ship, just have to locate them. I saw them a few months ago so I know I have them. Just have to unpack the right box. I just yesterday found five boxes of toys. I've been looking for. Two boxes of 1/18 toys and three boxes of 1/6 "mandolls" and cannons, etc. Even found my missing 1/6 horse for my German cavalry.....jeez, I could't figure out where that had gone.

Now my neat shelving has to be reorganized to accomodate my toys and dollies.

I will post pics as soon as I can.

TTT

hotrodrock · Post by **hotrodrock** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:43 am

I have seen combat photos of Shermans with huge loud speakers attached to the turrets. Used for broadcasting propaganda and surrender appeals. Who knows, maybe they did play some country western music!

Threetoughtrucks · Post by **Threetoughtrucks** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:10 pm

At least if they played country music, it would actually be music that existed during WW2, some of the country songs used in KH wasn't written until way after WW2......... am I being too picky???

KH is one of my favorite war flicks of all time. The equipment was great, the story was awesome and the actors were a great cast.......and I loved the music...

TTT

Col.Pickle · Post by **Col.Pickle** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 11:06 am

hotrodrock wrote:I have seen combat photos of Shermans with huge loud speakers attached to the turrets. Used for broadcasting propaganda and surrender appeals. Who knows, maybe they did play some country western music!

If I was a German soldier I'd probably be more afraid of non-stop country music than I would be of the actual tank

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:00 pm

GROGNARD:

I noticed the long-barreled Shermans, too. How about the zimmerit on the Tigers?

grockwood · Post by **grockwood** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:37 pm

What I like about Kelly's heroes, beside the great military equipment is that while the bank with the gold story is wild, the people making the movie tried to be as accurate about everything else. The scenes with the infantry riding the Sherman through the small villages. The cat and mouse game with the Tigers. A lesser movie would have the Tiger and Sherman fighting on even terms. The scene where Oddball places a call from the little French cafe was great. It reminded me of the scene in "Is Paris Burning" where the Free French tankers stopped at a cafe just outside of Paris and made phone calls to their families and friends to let them know they were coming home.

Small Scale Military Headquarters

KELLY'S HEROES--Shermans, Tiger Is

KELLY'S HEROES--Shermans, Tiger Is

Re: KELLY'S HEROES--Shermans, Tiger Is

* 100% Restored M-18 Hellcat