by Peter O'Connell
Fury. 134 mins. Released Oct. 17, 2014. Rated: R for strong sequences of war violence, some grisly images, and language throughout.
In the bleak spring of 1945, the diverse five-man crew of a U.S. tank dubbed “Fury” fight their way across Germany. They encounter starving refugees, children drafted into the Wehrmacht for a last stand, women fearing rape, German snipers in American uniforms and fanatical SS battalions. The tank is commanded by a battle-hardened sergeant nicknamed “Wardaddy,” played with what can only be called “commanding” panache by Brad Pitt, who also co-produced the film.
Writer/director David Ayer makes the interaction of the crew members, particularly Wardaddy's efforts to turn a sensitive newbie (Logan Lerman) into a “killing machine,” as compelling as the battle scenes. Those are compelling indeed as the American and German tanks go at each other in open fields like huge, voracious insects. The battles in the open contrast powerfully with the claustrophobic conditions inside the tank. Films in the past have depicted the claustrophobic nature of submarine warfare, but few have addressed tank warfare.
Some of Fury's themes and characterizations have appeared in movies going as far back as the World War II era itself, but the film's intensity makes it all seem fresh. And this realistic movie does not flinch from depicting its American heroes not just as heroic but also as made brutal by war. Like Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (1998), Fury reminds us of how the “Greatest Generation” got its name. They were no angels, but they passed through hell. Some came home; some didn't.
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