Blast from the past...

[Cdnwolf]

https://video.search.yahoo.com/video...t=mozilla&tt=b

[stormlion1]

Yep, when Europe was the focus of warfare planning and not the Middle East or the Pacific.

[swaghauler]

That gave me flashbacks....

[pmulcahy11b]

IIRC, I was in ROTC at the time. We were all sure we'd be fighting World War 3 sometime during our careers...

[stilleto69]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

IIRC, I was in ROTC at the time. We were all sure we'd be fighting World War 3 sometime during our careers...

Same here Paul. I thought the same thing watching the video. I also thought the same thing while my unit was deployed to Operation Desert Storm. In fact, we were all saying "hey, aren't we supposed to be fighting the Soviets, like in the commercials?"

[swaghauler]

Here's another "Blast From The Past" for you. I saw a movie playing on the Grit Channel at my favorite truck stop. It was titled "The Beast" and chronicled the battle between a Russian tank crew and a group of Muj Fighters during the Russo-Afghan war. I believe the tank was a clone of a T-64 (it had a fume extractor on the barrel and was manually loaded). The movie was worth watching if you can find it again.

[Anna Elizabeth]

@Swag - That's a good movie. I think the tank in it is a Tiran 6, the Israeli-rebuilt T-62, many of them were captured from the Syrians.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

And to add to what Swag & Anna mentioned, the movie was originally titled "The Beast Of War" and then later re-released but with the title changed to "The Beast". Starring Jason Patric and George Dzundza, released in 1988 with an R rating.
According to a few net sites, the tank was a T-54 or T-55 modified to T-55S standard and while in the West these Israeli modified T-54 & T-55 tanks were collectively known as the Ti-67 series (Tank, Israeli -1967), these labels don't help things much and don't seem much used these days.
In Israeli service it's known as the Tiran with the tank featured in the movie being either the Tiran-4Sh or Tiran-5Sh. These two differ in a number of internal and external details from each other (that I can't recall at the moment!) but they both feature the 105mm Sharir gun (Israeli version of the L7 tank gun) while other Tirans retained the 100mm gun from the T-54/T-55 series.

[Anna Elizabeth]

Thanx for the clarification, Cynic. The movie is not bad at all.

Another I like is the Russian film "Company 9". It follows young men that end up in the VDV and sent to Afghanistan in the 80s. It's a rough film, with no holds barred, and perhaps the squickiest sex scene evers not in a XXX movie, but it's a good movie.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

I knew a little about the tank from The Beast because at the time I saw it, I was a full on tank-head and recognized that it wasn't proper Soviet issue and thus I wanted to know just what it was.
Loved the movie, got a copy as soon as I could (back when it was still called The Beast Of War) and tried to convince all my friends to watch it.

In regards to Company 9, yeah I second Anna's recommendation, definitely worth watching. Another movie of the Soviet military that dates from the days of the Soviet Union is In The Zone Of Special Interest AKA In The Zone Of Special Attention although it might be easier to find it under it's Russian title V Zone Osobogo Vnimaniya or if you want the Cyrilic: - В Зоне Особого Внимания

While it's praised by many former Soviet soldiers, it's a little light on realism in some places but despite that, the actors portray the qualities admired as being "desantniki" and it became something of a cult movie for many Soviet soldiers.
There's a version available on YouTube but without any translation though it's still worth watching just for the Soviet equipment, locations etc. etc.

There is also a similar though later movie that can be seen with some subtitles on YouTube although they're really, really dodgy (auto-translate for the fail). The movie is called Countermove but also sometimes called In The Zone Of Special Attention. Countermove.
Really worth seeing if you can get past the music because there are many scenes of Soviet equipment including about six minutes in, a brief set of scenes of and on the Moskva Class helo carrier Leningrad.

[Anna Elizabeth]

Got them both on my 'Watch Later', thanx Cynic. Some really cool hardware in that 2nd link.

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

And to add to what Swag & Anna mentioned, the movie was originally titled "The Beast Of War" and then later re-released but with the title changed to "The Beast". Starring Jason Patric and George Dzundza, released in 1988 with an R rating.
According to a few net sites, the tank was a T-54 or T-55 modified to T-55S standard and while in the West these Israeli modified T-54 & T-55 tanks were collectively known as the Ti-67 series (Tank, Israeli -1967), these labels don't help things much and don't seem much used these days.
In Israeli service it's known as the Tiran with the tank featured in the movie being either the Tiran-4Sh or Tiran-5Sh. These two differ in a number of internal and external details from each other (that I can't recall at the moment!) but they both feature the 105mm Sharir gun (Israeli version of the L7 tank gun) while other Tirans retained the 100mm gun from the T-54/T-55 series.

Thanks for the heads up. I never would have guessed that because the barrel had a fume extractor/thermal sleeve on it. That's why I guessed the T64. They had both, where the T-62 didn't and the original T-55 had neither. It the S model the T-55 that had the laser ranger sighting system too? I know Iraq had a large number of "modernized" T-55 tanks.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Big giveaway for the T-64 is the road wheels, they're much smaller than those on the T-54 & T-55 and they're evenly spaced along the hull. The T-54, T-55 have only five road wheels compared to the six on the T-64 and the first and second wheels are spaced further apart than the second through to fifth road wheels.

The T-62 on the other hand, while looking "generally" similar to the T-5x series (for example, still having five large road wheels), has evenly spaced road wheels from 1st to 3rd and then a larger space between 3rd & 4th and 4th & 5th.

The T-54 & T-55 look like an overgrown T-34 with a domed turret, no surprise as they are an evolution of the T-34 design via the T-44. Even the T-62 is a child of the T-34 as it is nothing more than an evolution of the T-55. Tank designs of that period accepted into Soviet service tended to be evolutionary developments of older designs rather than revolutionary developments until they accepted the T-64.

Going back to the Tiran, apparently Israel only had about 100 captured T-62 MBTs available for conversion to Tiran-6 standard, hence why we don't see many of them compared to the many hundreds of T-54, T-55 variants in Israeli service.
And going back to the movie, another factor that added to the confusion was the tank had a five-man crew whereas the T-5x series only had a four-man crew (driver, commander, gunner, loader).


Sheesh, once a tank-head, always a tank-head
I like military smallarms too

[Twilight2000v3MM]

I remember seeing a movie in the 80s with a Rock Hudson as the president. I think it was called WWIII or Defcom III (Ill look it up after I post this). It was a Soviet invasion of Alaska by SF unit and a AK NG unit was defending an oil pipeline pumping station... I think. Its been YEARS since Ive seen it but IIRR it was entertaining.

[Ancestor]

The Beast is the only war movie that my military ambivalent wife has ever watched with me. She loved it, as do I. I really don't know why she liked it, but that's saying something as she refuses to watch any of the war movies that I either like for enjoyment or relate to my own military experience.

[Ancestor]

Another lost Cold to Hot War flick that I loved was "By Dawns Early Light". It was a made for HBO movie that aired shortly after the wall fell about an accidental nuclear war. As I recall, it not only starred James Earl Jones at a senior GO but also Powers Boothe ("red BLOOD!") and Rebeca De Mornay as the Pilot/Co-Pilot of a B-52. My older boy (a really smart young man and born Doomer) and I watched it on the Internet last summer and he loved it.

The spooky thing that he pointed out to me was that the entire accidental war was caused by "rebels in the Ukraine using a captured nuke"...

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

Big giveaway for the T-64 is the road wheels, they're much smaller than those on the T-54 & T-55 and they're evenly spaced along the hull. The T-54, T-55 have only five road wheels compared to the six on the T-64 and the first and second wheels are spaced further apart than the second through to fifth road wheels.

The T-62 on the other hand, while looking "generally" similar to the T-5x series (for example, still having five large road wheels), has evenly spaced road wheels from 1st to 3rd and then a larger space between 3rd & 4th and 4th & 5th.

The T-54 & T-55 look like an overgrown T-34 with a domed turret, no surprise as they are an evolution of the T-34 design via the T-44. Even the T-62 is a child of the T-34 as it is nothing more than an evolution of the T-55. Tank designs of that period accepted into Soviet service tended to be evolutionary developments of older designs rather than revolutionary developments until they accepted the T-64.

Going back to the Tiran, apparently Israel only had about 100 captured T-62 MBTs available for conversion to Tiran-6 standard, hence why we don't see many of them compared to the many hundreds of T-54, T-55 variants in Israeli service.
And going back to the movie, another factor that added to the confusion was the tank had a five-man crew whereas the T-5x series only had a four-man crew (driver, commander, gunner, loader).


Sheesh, once a tank-head, always a tank-head
I like military smallarms too

Thanks for the "heads-up." I was confused by the location of the fume extractor on the barrel. If the Israelis' put a 105mm cannon in that chassis; It would explain why the extractor is centered on the barrel instead of towards the muzzle like most older Soviet Tanks.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

The modernized T55s also featured an Avco/Lycoming diesel engine. More reliable than the stock engine.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Originally Posted by Twilight2000v3MM

I remember seeing a movie in the 80s with a Rock Hudson as the president. I think it was called WWIII or Defcom III (Ill look it up after I post this). It was a Soviet invasion of Alaska by SF unit and a AK NG unit was defending an oil pipeline pumping station... I think. Its been YEARS since Ive seen it but IIRR it was entertaining.

World War III. I remember back in elementary school we were all hyped about it but our teacher (a VN vet) was disgusted by both our enthusiasm for war and the film in general (the "20 guys in a single Huey" was offputting to him, I seem to recall).

The mini-series was supposed to be a full-blown TV series but after production of the first few episodes, the network execs canceled it, so they reshot some footage, excised some more, and had the show concluding with a full-scale nuclear war commencing (thus ending the world).

On the subject I always really liked the opening sequence of Damnation Alley and the beginning and end of WarGames. Chilling stuff.

If you can find a copy, check out the documentary Missile, by Frederick Wiseman. Of particular interest is this sequence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wynz3FtUBZc

"It's all screwed."

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by raketenjagdpanzer

World War III. I remember back in elementary school we were all hyped about it but our teacher (a VN vet) was disgusted by both our enthusiasm for war and the film in general (the "20 guys in a single Huey" was offputting to him, I seem to recall).

The mini-series was supposed to be a full-blown TV series but after production of the first few episodes, the network execs canceled it, so they reshot some footage, excised some more, and had the show concluding with a full-scale nuclear war commencing (thus ending the world).

On the subject I always really liked the opening sequence of Damnation Alley and the beginning and end of WarGames. Chilling stuff.

If you can find a copy, check out the documentary Missile, by Frederick Wiseman. Of particular interest is this sequence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wynz3FtUBZc

"It's all screwed."

I had a thing for Kathy Lee Crosby. She could have flown my Helo any day.
I did find it funny when they made their last stand at the pumping station that the Russians used explosives (RGD-5 hand grenades) to kill David and the last defenders INSIDE the pump house. That would be a little hard on the gauges and electronics in there.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Originally Posted by swaghauler

I had a thing for Kathy Lee Crosby. She could have flown my Helo any day.
I did find it funny when they made their last stand at the pumping station that the Russians used explosives (RGD-5 hand grenades) to kill David and the last defenders INSIDE the pump house. That would be a little hard on the gauges and electronics in there.

No one ever accused the Russians of doing things with precision.

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by raketenjagdpanzer

No one ever accused the Russians of doing things with precision.

So true. BEAR in a china shop.....

[pmulcahy11b]

For my money, the best and most accurate of WWIII movies is Threads. Gave me and my girlfriend nightmares for weeks.

[WallShadow]

I'm with Paul about Threads; the kind of film that makes you want to take a bath, but your mind just doesn't feel clean anymore.

I agree. Threads was quite the film. It was depressing.