White Tiger (2012 film)

Plot

A Soviet tank driver is pulled from a battlefield in the summer of 1943, his body burned over 90% but left without scars. He suffers retrograde amnesia, forgetting his identity while keeping his combat skills. Named Ivan Naydenov, from the Russian word for "found," he returns to duty believing he can talk to tanks as if they were people. Rumors emerge of an unstoppable Nazi Tiger I, painted white, that appears, destroys, and vanishes into the forest. Both sides call it the White Tiger. The rumor triggers Naydenov’s memory: this tank is what injured him. Soviet officers think the Tiger must have sunk into an impassable swamp, but Naydenov insists it hides in the forest. The Soviets build an upgraded T-34/85 prototype with stronger armor, a more powerful engine, a stabilized gun, and a crew of three. Naydenov is chosen as commander and driver, with Kryuk as gunner and Berdyev as loader. Ordered to destroy the White Tiger, Naydenov hides his tank in the forest and uses another T-34 as bait. The White Tiger appears, destroys the bait, and hits Naydenov’s tank from behind at close range before retreating. Naydenov believes "The Tank God" wants him to destroy the White Tiger and gives him the ability to understand tanks and survive battles. He thinks the enemy tank is unmanned, a ghost of war. Counterintelligence Major Fedotov comes to believe Naydenov and helps him. A captured German officer reveals the legend of an undead tank spreads fear in the German Army, not hope. A large Soviet tank force is wiped out by the White Tiger, which fires faster and more accurately than any human crew. Naydenov chases it into an abandoned village, destroys a Panzer IV hidden in a barn, then engages the White Tiger. Kryuk disables its turret, but their gun barrel jams with mud and misfires before he can finish it off. The White Tiger retreats.