# Monster/Horror/Sci-Fi movies: When has a Tank been been able to do any good? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 23, 2015, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286 "2015-09-23T11:03:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/1 "2015-09-23T11:03:13Z")
I’ve been a fan of giant monster movies from a young age, almost my entire life. And they’ve taught me two things…1) The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force unswirvingly sends tanks out to confront Godzilla and his ilk when they appear, and 2) they’re completely ineffective at best, and more often simply doomed to a fiery death in short order. It’s hardly confined with Japanese Daikaiju flicks, either—sci-fi movies, modern superhero films, and I can probably scrounge up at least a couple of horror movies where the same thing happens, causing George Patton to shed a single manly tear. I mean, I understand the thematic reasoning involved—it’s the classic [“Worf Effect.”](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWorfEffect) You show the audience how imposing a new antagonist is by having them handily trounce a tough someone or something that they’re already familiar with. But still, it’s got me wondering…are there any examples in film—or any other media—where a conventional tank manages to make a decent showing, or even _prevail_, against an “other than conventional” (i.e. monstrous, superpowered, extraterrestrial, or otherwise weird) adversary? Heck, I’d even include armor operated by the “bad guys,” provided it was at least roughly a “normal” design (so no prototype “supertanks” or the like). The only example I can think of in **Battle: Los Angeles** , where a US Abrams is encountered battling some alien grunts. I think it _was_ destroyed in the end, but it was at least dishing out as good as it was getting, for awhile. So…any others? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/2 "2015-09-23T11:27:07Z")
The outstanding example in my mind is from a low-budget circa 1960 movie called **Dinosaurus** , which featured some decent stop-motion animation by guys who went on to do _The Outer Limits_. They had to cut some corners (for several scenes they used puppets instead of animating things, to save time and money), but the results were still being recycled years later on TV shows. The premise is that a T. Rex, a Brontosaurus\*, and a Neanderthal (consistency? We don’t need no stinking consistency!) get pulled from frigid waters off a Caribbean island\*\*. They’re perfectly preserved, and get revived by a strike from a lightning bolt. Hijinks ensue, with the T. Rex threatening and killing folks, a boy befriending the brontosaur, and some slapstick from the Caveman. Eventually they confront the T. Rex, and the Hero does battle with it by getting into the steam shovel that originally excavated them from the water, enabling him to fight it off _mano a mano_, or at least as _mano_ as you can get with a T. Rex’s stubby forearms. Our Hero manages to topple the T. Rex back into the frigid waters, saving the day (although the bronto and the Caveman had also died). I’ve long suspected that James Cameron saw this film, and was inspired by the T.Rex/Steam Shovel fight to create the epic battle between Ripley (in the Loader suit) and the Queen Alien in his 1986 movie **Aliens** , which is another example of the trope the OP asked for. As for actual tanks doing any good, I honestly can’t recall a case where they were depicted as being completely useful. In all the Toho _kaiju_ films they seem like window dressing – you trot them out, but the monsters virtually ignore them. There’s one in _Caltiki, the Immortal Monster_, but it isn’t shown actually confronting the blob monster in that film, and it’s not clear what good it woulds be. Gort pretty famously melts the tanks arrayed against Klaatu and his flying saucer in the original _Day the Earth Stood Still_. They used artillery (although not tanks) against _The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms_, but had to stop because its blood was making everybody sick. _The Giant Behemoth_ strikes down his antagonists with radiation before they can do him any harm. The valiens in _Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers_, like the later ones in _Independence Day_, are safe behind their force fields, so artillery is of no use. Interestingly, non-mechanized bazookas and other hand-held devices are shown as effective in these films – _Reptilicus_ is brought down by a poison-filled bazooka shell to the soft lining of its mouth. _The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms_ was brought down by a radioactive shell from a grenade launcher. A home-built bazooka turns the tide in _World Without End_. Submarine torpedos are effective, too. One brought down the giant octopus in _It Came From Beneath the Sea_, one took out _The Giant Behemoth_, and another got the alien menace in _Atomic Submarine_ (a virtually forgotten 1950s film by some of the folks responsible for _Forbidden Planet_) There’s no reason nhat a tank _couldn’t_be used to good effect against you giant monster/alien menace. They’re awesomely destructive and tenacious. There’s good potential there for some filmmaker. \*This was the 1960s. We still had Brontosaurs \*\*This always bothered me, even as a kid – _frigid_ waters in the Caribbean? Best to just go with the flow, though. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/3 "2015-09-23T13:37:55Z")
The only example I can think of isn’t exactly on-point – Buffy vs. the Judge with the rocket launcher. “No weapon forged can kill me” “That was then, this is now” “What’s that do?” ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/4 "2015-09-23T14:35:24Z")
I think Cabin in the Woods II should be a short 30 minute film. A similar example would be that Stephen King short story (Done as a short I believe) where army men take on a person and eventually prevail with a tactical nuke. They do fairly well with conventional weapons up til then. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/5 "2015-09-23T15:20:37Z")
Is the tank from “Tank Girl” a conventional tank? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/6 "2015-09-23T16:10:20Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > I think Cabin in the Woods II should be a short 30 minute film. > A similar example would be that Stephen King short story (Done as a short I believe) where army men take on a person and eventually prevail with a tactical nuke. They do fairly well with conventional weapons up til then. The short was mostly excellent; starred Jeff Bridges. There was almost no dialogue but the nuke didn’t make the cut. To go further would be heresy but, sadly, the ending sequence was kinda lame. Still, the first 87.5% is worth a look. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/7 "2015-09-23T16:34:33Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Is the tank from “Tank Girl” a conventional tank? 🙂 This and a fun movie too ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/8 "2015-09-23T16:41:28Z")
I am clearly suffering from massive brain failure this morning because I can’t find the author, book or even Google search terms that help me identify this story… but the plot is a massive alien invasion of Earth. The only people who can defend the Earth are resurrected Nazi tank crews and their super-powered tanks. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/9 "2015-09-23T18:38:23Z")
In all fairness, a modern rocket launcher can’t be described as “forged,” really. Genre blindness takes another casualty. And in a tiny nitpick, conventional weapons DO bring down one of the saucer men in "Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers, in their first appearance in the film; after that, except for one instance, they use their force field and conventional weapons become useless. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/10 "2015-09-23T19:07:05Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > I am clearly suffering from massive brain failure this morning because I can’t find the author, book or even Google search terms that help me identify this story… but the plot is a massive alien invasion of Earth. The only people who can defend the Earth are resurrected Nazi tank crews and their super-powered tanks. There’s an element of that in John Ringo’s **Posleen War** series. ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/11 "2015-09-23T19:07:19Z")
In the anime (and possibly manga) “Dominion Tank Police” the good guys use tanks. To both great effect and massive collateral damage. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/12 "2015-09-23T19:13:37Z")
> [@MostlyClueless](#): > > In the anime (and possibly manga) “Dominion Tank Police” the good guys use tanks. To both great effect and massive collateral damage. And, hilariously, they never quite succeed in apprehending Buaku or the Puma sisters. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/13 "2015-09-23T19:22:11Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > The short was mostly excellent; starred Jeff Bridges. There was almost no dialogue but the nuke didn’t make the cut. To go further would be heresy but, sadly, the ending sequence was kinda lame. Still, the first 87.5% is worth a look. Are you talking about Battleground? ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/14 "2015-09-23T19:26:11Z")
Tanks perform a military function that is not as sexy as say bazookas or nukes. If they could move at close to the speed of light you’d have a lot of flicks about it. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/15 "2015-09-23T20:21:09Z")
A tank did knock Iron Man out of the sky in _Iron Man,_ which is way better than most of his other adversaries did. Realistically, it should killed him, but the title of the movie ain’t “Russian Tank.” Granted, he then blowed it up real good, but it helps when it’s your name on the tiny anti-tank rocket. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/16 "2015-09-23T20:28:16Z")
> [@MostlyClueless](#): > > In the anime (and possibly manga) “Dominion Tank Police” the good guys use tanks. To both great effect and massive collateral damage. Also in anime is “Those Who Hunt Elves” where three people from our world find themselves in a “dungeons and dragons” fantasy world. However, they have a battle tank with them (and the world has diesel fruits so they can refuel!) Okay, a big scary ogre says “Rahr.” 90mm antitank gun. No more ogre. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/17 "2015-09-23T21:14:07Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > There’s an element of that in John Ringo’s **Posleen War** series. The one book _Watch on the Rhine_ deals with the Nazis. That’s basically a companion book to the series and not in the main story line. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/18 "2015-09-23T22:18:43Z")
Tanks are incredibly destructive; tungsten or depleted uranium “Sabot” rounds are rated in mm of armor penetration, with the [M829-family of SABOT rounds developed for the M256 Rheinnmetall 120mm gun (the primary armament on the M1 Abrams-series MBTs, as well as the Leopard-series, the Japanese Type 90, and the S. Korean K1-series) rated anywhere from 670mm to 420mm of rolled-homogeneous steel armor.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M829) That’s anywhere from ~14.5 in. to ~26.5 in. of penetration in [specifically hardened steel armor.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolled_homogeneous_armour) I shook my head in weary resignation during the 2003 _Hulk_ movie, when the Hulk grabs an M1 by the gun barrel and flings it like a trash bag; the gun mount/mantle wouldn’t support the entire weight of the vehicle in such a way, and the turret race ring wouldn’t support the weight of the hull in such a manner, either. Assumiong that the Hulk were actually strong enough (an M1A1 is “only” 67 short tons/126,000 lbs), he most likely would’ve either ripped the main gun out of the turret, or perhaps ripped the turret (~20+ mt all by itself) right off of the hull. Then, in the 2008 _The Day The Earth Stood still_ movie, an aircraft launched missile, hijacked by Gort, strikes an M1 in the side of the turret, and it cracks open like an eggshell; assuming the missile was some sort of anti-armor missile, the tank armor wouldn’t “crack open;” rather, the missile’s plasma jet would simply bore a hole through the armor. Tanks in modern movies are incredibly nerfed, otherwise the movie would be over _very_ shortly after just about any modern MBT showed up. There’s a funny passage in John Ringo’s book, _The Last Centurion,_ in which the protagonist a material/weapons depot commander in the ME trying to destroy a couple hundred M1A1 Abrams so that they cannot fall into enemy hands when he and his unit pulls out. His efforts are, to say the least, stymied by the incredibly tough, compartmentalized design. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/19 "2015-09-23T22:22:30Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Are you talking about Battleground? Yes, indeed! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286/20 "2015-09-23T22:33:13Z")
Wait a minute…that was William Hurt and not Jeff Bridges? Well shut my mouth. Bald, they resemble each other. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monster-horror-sci-fi-movies-when-has-a-tank-been-been-able-to-do-any-good/732286.md?page=2)