War is hell and for Don ‘Wardaddy’ Collier (Brad Pitt), Boyd ‘Bible’ Swan (Shia LaBeouf), Trini ‘Gordo’ Garcia (Michael Peña) and Grady ‘Coon-Ass’ Travis (Jon Bernthal) that hell comes in the form of a tank they have named “Fury”. The group has been working together for a while, with Wardaddy taking the lead, and they have lived through many horrible situations. The American tanks are weak compared to the German ones and they have witnessed fellow crews finding their death. Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman) has never fought before, has been trained to speed type and has never seen the inside of the tank. Still he is assigned to join these men on the Fury, who aren’t too happy with that. Norman quickly finds out what war is about as the American troups slowly move further into Germany.
Director and writer David Ayer chooses an original concept for the movie focussing on a tank crew. Of course there have been many movies in which tanks appear, but I can’t think of any which solely focus on life on a tank. The performances of the actors are strong and convincing, with each of their characters dealing with the situation they’re in differently. Whether that is through God or living without rules, they have a common goal of surviving this horrible war. The characterisation in this movie might seem to shallow for some, but as these are characters who have known each other for years I feel it wouldn’t work if they suddenly started to tell their background stories. Through the way they act and an occasional anecdote you get a sense of them.
War is shown in a very raw way. Everythinig is dirty, bodyparts regularly fly through the screen and any form of law seems to have been forgotten. It is a movie that will slowly crawl under your skin because it makes perfectly clear that any soldier can die at any moment. Life isn’t valuable, it is just something to man these vehicles and can be easily replaced.
Ayer makes some daring choices, like the use of tracer rounds on the tanks, which gives the feeling that lasers were being used during the second world war. The choice is understandable though as it makes the fights a lot clearer to the audiences as you wouldn’t be able to see any bullets.
As a viewer you only see part of life on a tank and it is unimaginable what people who fought in real wars have experienced. The movie might not be named together with classic war movies like Saving Private Ryan or Full Metal Jacket, but it shows the realities of war without trying to turn these men into heroes. They are soldiers who, like the soldiers you see in Vietnam movies, don’t want to be there fighting the enemy. They want to survive and get back home, but it is something they are not sure they’ll be able to do. For the crew of Fury it seem that the saying “Hell hath no Fury” doesn’t apply to them, as the tank shows them hell, which impacts them deeply. And so does this movie on its viewer.
A good war movie should be confronting and moving – unfortunately, most war movies have done little to curb the number of conflicts around the world these days.
I can’t wait to see this one, sounds like a ripper. I thought Ayer’s work on Sabotage and End Of Watch was terrific.
Although I didn’t like Sabotage I did think End of Watch was great (even ended up on my top 10 list that year). This one though is well worth seeing. I saw it on the a big IMAX screen and it left an impression.
Intriguing critique, Nostra:
Sherman tanks had one great disadvantage. They were gasoline powered. And their armor wasn’t much to write home about. Easily susceptible to German tanks and their 88mm high velocity guns. Shermans also had thee excellent advantages. Their turrets were powered and faster to rotate. They were easy to operate and repair and upgrade in the field. And there were A LOT of them!
When Allied armor took on German “Wolfpack” tactics to swamp Panzers and Tigers. While willing to take the losses. Germans often deciding to abandon their usually one of a kind, over engineered tanks when damaged or run out of diesel or gas.
And remember with tracer rounds. They were usually placed one in five rounds of belted ammunition. The film seems to get several things right, but few too many wrong.
I have not looked into the exact details and based my information on what the movie gave me. Interesting read!
I like it when it comes to tank battle. That Jerry’s Tiger against those Shermans, I love how the camera moves—giving the impression that tanks are the most powerful war machine, but, certainly, a worst place to die.
I love the depiction of war in Fury, but not, the characterisation.
Yeah, it is very unique to see it in a film. It does show how powerful they are, but also how scary it would be if you are fired upon, knowing you can’t escape. I can understand what you say about the characterisation, other movies spend more time on it…here they chose not to do that.
Hi Nostra! I’m not a fan of war movies nor Brad Pitt but I might rent this as I’m curious about Shia’s performance here.
Me neither, but I was interested in it because of the people involved. Shia was ok, although I had the feeling that in every scene he was about to cry. I read he actually had one of his teeth pulled for the role (something no one asked him to do) and you really have to pay attention to see it.
It seems like most everyone who has seen this movie really enjoyed it. Somehow, I missed it at the theaters, so I’ll be waiting for it to come on DVD. But I do want to see it for all of the good reviews alone.
Yeah, I was going in not really knowing what to expect, but thought it was pretty good.
I haven’t seen it yet but I do enjoy World War II films and have been very impressed by Ayer’s previous work. I’m very much looking forward to catching up with it.
Then I’m sure you will appreciate it.
I loved this one. I’m glad you got a chance to check it out. Great review!
Thanks a lot Jeff