Five years after launch, Tom Hanks’ fast-paced WWII thriller Greyhound is continuing to be a constant presence on Apple TV+’s streaming chart. At the time of writing, the film sits at #4 on Apple TV+’s global movie chart and has been on that chart for an incredible 570 consecutive days despite plenty of other movies having come and gone since.
Tom Hanks has found a home on Apple TV+, having released several exclusive movies on the streaming platform that prioritizes quality dramas and comedies over licensed churn. Greyhound is directed by Aaron Schneider from a screenplay by Hanks, who also leads the more than capable cast which also includes Elisabeth Shue, Rob Morgan, Josh Wiggins, and new Emmy winner Stephen Graham. The plot of Greyhound reads:
“U.S. Navy Cmdr. Ernest Krause is assigned to lead an Allied convoy across the Atlantic during World War II. His convoy, however, is pursued by German U-boats. Although this is Krause’s first wartime mission, he finds himself embroiled in what would come to be known as the longest, largest and most complex naval battle in history: The Battle of the Atlantic.”
Greyhound is a stripped-down, tense thriller set over a few days in the Battle of the Atlantic, and was adapted from C.S. Forester’s 1955 novel The Good Shepherd. Despite many war movies clocking in at well over two hours in length, one reason why Greyhound perhaps draws more attention than most is that it plays out its story in a lean 91 minutes.
‘Greyhound’ Is an Underrated Movie That Has Found Its Way on Apple TV+
Greyhound was a movie that was not initially set to debut on streaming, and was slated for a theatrical release in June 2020. However, the indefinite delays of the Covid pandemic saw Sony sell the distribution rights to Apple TV+. The movie was released in July 2020 and was an immediate hit, which raised a “what-if” question about how well it could have done if it had received a full release in cinemas.
Greyhound managed to gain some fairly positive reviews, and both critics and audiences were tuned into the same wavelength. The film scored 78% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer and 76% on the audience side of things.
If you are not of the many people who have streamed Greyhound to keep it charting on Apple TV+, the film is waiting to be discovered on Apple TV+ right now. If you have watched it, then there could be worse ways to pass less than two hours in the company of a “captivating” war-based action thriller with some “very intense battle scenes” like Greyhound again. Currently, a sequel to the movie is in development.
- Release Date
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July 10, 2020
- Runtime
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91 minutes
- Director
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Aaron Schneider
