The Tiger

• Original title: Der Tiger
• Directed by Dennis Gansel
• September 18, 2025 (Germany)

A German Tiger tank is sent on a mission far behind the front line to retrieve a missing officer.

I’m not exactly sure what I expected when I turned The Tiger on. In fact, it wasn’t even the movie I was planning on watching at first. It just popped up near the thumbnail of the movie I was after. I have a bit of a thing for World War II movies. It looked dirtier and grimier than many other WWII movies I’ve seen recently so here I am. 

Going in blind can be fun for me. If I’m intrigued enough, which I was here, it’s an enjoyable experience whether or not the film knocks it out of the park. We have a tank crew sent on a mysterious mission to retrieve an officer. This isn’t an American or British tank crew but rather a group of World War II German soldiers meaning they aren’t necessarily the good guys though they’re never portrayed as outright evil. Each has a little bit of baggage and is clearly showing the stress of the war.

Tensions rise as the crew pushes deeper and deeper into enemy territory. There are intermittent moments of strangeness but those can be pushed off as the crew reacting to stress though if you watched any episode of the original The Twilight Zone you know something is up. That’s where this movie takes much of its cue from.

Given the reveal at the end, I just don’t know why one character in particular died. I don’t know why any character’s life would be in danger. They questioned how they didn’t burn up inside the tank in the opening which implies they were already dead when this all began. I’m not sure how it could’ve been done but maybe imply he wasn’t one of the dead. Or keep him out of the mission. Somehow something to indicate he was still alive or not have him get wounded at all in a set of circumstances that strike as improbable. 

I’m not calling it bad for that, but if it wanted to imply these people are already dead then there’s no reason to kill a character again. Other than that it does a nice job of hinting at the truth without telling the truth.

The characters are different enough that they make the story watchable. This is not like Fury despite the presence of a tank nor like Saving Private Ryan despite the purpose of the mission. It is no way action driven despite containing some action. It is brief encounters as they wait for something.

The telling of the story feels very personal. Almost intimate. Much of what is performed happens in the tight confines of the tank leading to an almost claustrophobic feel of events. It dawns on me that there are more moments of them reacting rather than of the audience seeing what they are reacting to. A sign of low cost (like here) that usually does not work. This is the instance that defies the norm.

One thing that strikes me was the amount of smoke that you often see emanating from the tank as it runs. What I can’t figure out is if that was some symbolism of what had happened to the crew or just a bit of style or visual aesthetic on the part of the production team. Did that much smoke come from tanks then? It bordered on ridiculous and would seem to alert anybody that there was a tank if they were trying to conceal their location. 

Even with the obvious The Twilight Zone-esque twist, The Tiger was an entertaining movie. I don’t feel like I wasted my time end. It was satisfying and enjoyable enough and not forgettable.