The Tank Museum in Bovington has obtained the tank used in Steven Spielberg’s new World War One blockbuster War Horse.
The fully operational replica of a British Mk IV tank is set to go on display when the film is released later this week, and will also be used in the museum’s tank displays later in the year.
The full sized replica was based on the Museum’s own Mark IV, which was built in 1917. OSCAR award-wining special effects company Neil Corbould Special Effects LTD, whose credits include Saving Private Ryan and Gladiator, visited The Tank Museum in 2010 to take measurements from the vehicle and copy original documents related to the MK IV tank held in the Museum’s Archive.
“The vehicle is wonderful re-creation with all the presence and menace of the real thing,” said museum curator David Willey. “But inside, it remains simple and modern.”
The `tank`, which has been kept at the museum until the release of the film, was built around the engine, transmission and track from a modern commercial excavator.
It makes a brief appearance in the film, helping to symbolise the brutal impact of technology on the battlefield and the changes in warfare that the Great War ushered in.
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