Uriah43 This movie begins with an Army Command Sergeant Major named "Zack Carey" (James Garner) relocating to a new assignment somewhere in Georgia. What makes Zack so unusual is that during the course of his military career he has managed to build a Sherman tank from scratch and he is taking it with him to his new post. Although this is his last tour of duty he soon discovers that he is not destined to retire in peace as a brawl at a nightclub puts him and his entire family in the sights of an evil law enforcement official by the name of "Sheriff Buelton" (G. D. Spradlin). However, what Sheriff Buelton fails to take into account is that, even though he has a great deal of authority in the local area, it isn't wise to bully a man like like CSM Carey too far--especially when he has a Sherman tank at his disposal. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that, even though this picture was a minor success when it first came out, having seen it again just recently I must admit that the film itself is rather uneven and hasn't improved with age. Yet despite its obvious flaws, it's still entertaining to a certain degree and because of that I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Aaron1375 I enjoyed this movie, by the looks of the score I am a bit alone in my opinion of this film. The story has a guy in the army who somehow owns his own personal tank moving onto a new army base. I am rather sure they probably explained how he had his own tank, but it has been awhile since I last saw this film so I do not remember parts of it all that well. What I do know is that one evening James Garner's character (the one with the tank) goes into town and ends up taking out a deputy. This infuriates the sheriff of the town and he wants revenge. He seems to have some problem with the military folk and it is against the law to punch a cop even one who deserves it. Of course, this part of the film makes little sense to me, usually a southern town like the one depicted here would embrace the military and be patriotic even bashing the lawman for bruising the army guys hand or something. Same strange hatred of the military appeared in the film "First Blood". Most of these bases also offer jobs to the locals and provide income as a lot of military guys have a lot of money to spend on frivolous things. That aside the sheriff gets his hands on the army guy's son and now the army guy is ticked, so ticked he uses his tank to break his son out of a boot camp style prison. A cross state chase soon occurs as they know they will not get a fair trail where they are so they head to either the next county or state, do not recall which. Some good humor to follow along with some good action. The movie gets a bit to heavy handed near the end and the thing with the dad getting his ribs broke was a bit to much, but all in all I found this movie quite enjoyable.

marzolian I didn't see this when it came out, so when it appeared on cable late one night I didn't expect very much. But it exceeded my expectations. It's the story of an honorable man who is pushed too far.Yes, there are some stretches of the imagination to be made. For example, with all the gunfire, I don't remember anybody getting killed or seriously wounded. The good guys are too good and the bad guys are too bad.But I enjoyed a few scenes a great deal. For one, the portrayal of the small town, that seems idyllic at first but is rotten to the core. I especially appreciated the scenes between Sgt. Carey and his son, the way that the military was shown pulling together as a family, and the others who help the group trying to get to the state line. These were all people that I wanted to cheer for.

Coxer99 Garner's performance and quiet, comic authority carry this otherwise dull film about a sergeant major who owns his own Sherman battle tank, which he uses to rescue for son from the clutches of a redneck sheriff.