Tank

1984’s other tank movie stars the always enjoyable James Garner as the soon-to-retire U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major Zack Carey. After relocating his wife (Shirley Jones) and son (C. Thomas Howell) to a podunk Georgia town, Zack butts heads with one of those small-minded, small-town sheriffs that populated countless movies of the 1970s and ‘80s. But G. D. Spradlin's Sheriff Cyrus Buelton is no JW Pepper or Buford T. Justice. There's no goofy, semi-lovable shitkicker vibe to be found in this depiction of a beyond contemptible power-mad Southern sheriff. Like everything in the picture, Spradlin's character is exaggerated to a fare-thee-well, yet there's something about this antagonist that rings a little too close to the truth to dismiss. Thus, the steaks in this bizarre entry in the pantheon of disposable paternalistic '80s comedies marketed as "fun for the whole family" feel legit.

Garner's Zack is an old-school gentleman for the '80s, a conservative guy who's fully able to reassure his son that he loves him. He's the type of honorable, turn-the-other-cheek military man who will violate army protocol when he sees a subordinate abusing their kid. He's also the kind of family man who, when his wife finds out that he earned that sheriff's wrath by defending the honor of a prostitute (Jenilee Harrison) in the employ of the local deputy (James Cromwell), kicks him out of the house for "going out whoring" as if that were a fairly common occurrence in their relationship.

The movie is unique in its depiction of the tensions between local civilian authorities and the military stationed in Southern towns. These dynamics are not exactly explored on a deep level, but they do make this picture distinctive. Everything builds to the point when the evil local cops get their grubby, corrupt hands on Zach's innocent son, and the old Sergeant must climb aboard his most prized possession, a fully restored Sherman tank, to wage a war of his own. The movie coasts along on Garner's affable charms and then delivers on its promise of seeing him and his tank smash buildings, run over cop cars, and blow stuff up. Surprisingly entertaining.