Fury (2014)

Fury (2014)

Fury is a 2014 American-British war film written and directed by David Ayer. The film stars Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña, and Jon Bernthal. The film portrays US tank crews in Nazi Germany during the final days of World War II. Ayer was influenced by the service of veterans in his family and by reading books, such as Belton Y. Cooper's Death Traps, about American armored warfare in World War II. Ayer aimed for a greater degree of realism in the film than in other World War II dramas.

Rehearsal began in early September 2013 in Hertfordshire, England followed by principal photography on September 30, 2013, in Oxfordshire. Filming continued for a month and a half at different locations, which included the city of Oxford, and concluded on November 13. Fury was released on October 17, 2014. The film received positive reviews from critics and proved to be successful at the box office.

Storyline

April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened Army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and his five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered, and out-gunned, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.

Plot

As the Allies make their final push into Germany, Don "Wardaddy" Collier, a battle-hardened U.S. Army staff sergeant in the 66th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Division, commands an M4 Sherman "Easy Eight" tank named Fury and its five-man, all-veteran crew: gunner Boyd "Bible" Swan; loader Grady "Coon-Ass" Travis; and driver Trini "Gordo" Garcia. The tank's original assistant driver/bow gunner, "Red", has been killed in battle. His replacement is Norman Ellison, who has only been in the Army for eight weeks and is trained as a typist, not a tank crewman. As soon as he encounters the men, Norman is immediately subjected to harassment and hazing. Norman is then ordered to clean the tank, and vomits outside after finding a part of Red's face. While at a forward operating base, it's revealed that Wardaddy greatly despises the Waffen-SS, shown when he harasses an injured captive SS non-commissioned officer before telling Norman to kill every one of them he sees.

The surviving crew, who have been together since the North African Campaign, belittle the new recruit upon meeting him, both for his lack of experience and for his reluctance to kill Germans, especially the teenagers of the Hitlerjugend; while passing through a road adjacent to a dense forest, Norman spots three Hitlerjugend soldiers advancing towards the column, but freezes when he sees that they are teenagers. Norman's decision not to kill the teenagers is proven wrong when the soldiers destroy the lead tank with Panzerfausts, resulting in the death of their platoon leader, Lieutenant Parker, and his crew. After killing all three of the soldiers himself, Wardaddy viciously confronts and reprimands an intimidated Norman for failing to shoot them. Later, during a battle with German anti tank guns, Norman, under harassment and pressure as Gordo tells him to do his job, lacks time to load his weapon, and misses the Germans when he does fire the weapon, further enraging Wardaddy. In an effort to 'educate' him to the realities of war, Wardaddy orders Norman to execute a captive German artilleryman for wearing a U.S.-issue uniform in violation of the Geneva Conventions. When Norman refuses, Wardaddy forces the gun into his hand and executes the prisoner by pulling the trigger over Norman's hand.

Wardaddy leads the tanks to capture a small German town. There, he asks Norman about killing the German soldiers, to which Norman sarcastically replies that he was starting to enjoy it. While searching a house, Wardaddy and Norman discover a German woman, Irma, and her younger cousin, Emma. Norman and Emma go into the bedroom together and it is implied that they have sex. After they come out of the bedroom, the four have breakfast together, but the rest of Fury's crew barges in, harassing the women and angering Wardaddy and Norman. Shortly afterwards, a German bombardment hits the town, killing Emma and some of the American soldiers caught out in the open in the square.

A platoon of four tanks, led by Fury, receives orders to hold a vital crossroads, protecting a clear path to supply trains and a camp full of nurses and rear-echelon troops (the map shows Emmerthal south of Hameln, where the railway from the Ruhr district to Hanover crosses the Weser river). On the way to the crossroads, they are ambushed by a heavily-armed German Tiger I, which quickly destroys one of the tanks. The remaining three tanks attack the Tiger, despite knowing they are outgunned. The Americans make an effort to rush and outflank the Tiger, but both of Fury's fellow Shermans are destroyed in the attempt. With some decisive and experienced maneuvering, Fury gets behind the Tiger where its armor is weakest, and destroys it. Bible notes that he believes they were spared for a reason and the men proceed to the crossroads, knowing that they are the only tank left to protect the camp down the road.

Just as they reach the crossroads, the tank is immobilized by a landmine and cutting off their radio. Norman is ordered to scout a nearby hill and he spots a reinforced company of three hundred Waffen-SS panzergrenadiers heading their way. The crew initially wants to abandon the tank and escape on foot, but Wardaddy refuses to leave. The crew, not wanting to abandon their leader, decide to stay and plan an ambush.

After disguising Fury to make it appear as though it has been severely damaged and knocked out, the crew waits for the German soldiers inside the tank. Wardaddy breaks out a bottle of whiskey and shares it with the others. Norman takes a hearty slug of whiskey, and Coon-Ass calls him "a fighting, fuckin', drinking machine", leading the men to dub him "Machine". When the Germans arrive, the crew takes them by surprise. Outnumbered and outgunned, Wardaddy and his men nevertheless inflict heavy losses on the Germans using both the tank's and the crew's weapons. As they begin to run low on ammunition, Grady is killed when a Panzerfaust round hits the tank and goes through his stomach, and Gordo is shot while he is about to throw a grenade, causing him to drop it into the tank. He puts his body between the grenade and the rest of the crew and sacrifices himself. A disoriented Bible is shot by an SS sniper when emerging from the tank to give Wardaddy grenades. Wardaddy is gravely wounded by the sniper while climbing back into the tank. Norman and Wardaddy take refuge inside the tank where they share their last words. When SS soldiers drop two grenades into the tank, Wardaddy, wounded and unable to move, orders Norman to escape through the bottom emergency hatch of the tank. Norman dives through the hatch and takes shelter in the crater made by the landmine explosion as the grenades detonate, killing Wardaddy. A young Waffen-SS trooper discovers Norman beneath the destroyed tank but seeing him defenseless and also a young soldier fighting a war not theirs, the soldier spares his life and does not report him.

The next morning, Norman awakens and crawls back into the tank. He covers Wardaddy's corpse with his coat and takes his revolver as he hears movement outside. As Norman awaits his fate, he is discovered by the U.S. Army, who tell him that he's a hero. As Norman is being transported to safety, he looks back at the carnage of the hundreds of dead German SS troops surrounding the remains of the knocked-out Fury.

Cast

• Brad Pitt as US Army S/Sgt. Don "Wardaddy" Collier
• Logan Lerman as Pvt. Norman "Machine" Ellison
• Shia LaBeouf as T/5 Boyd "Bible" Swan
• Michael Peña as Cpl. Trini "Gordo" Garcia
• Jon Bernthal as Pfc. Grady "Coon-Ass" Travis
• Jason Isaacs as Cpt. "Old Man" Waggoner
• Scott Eastwood as Sgt. Miles
• Xavier Samuel as 2nd Lt. Parker
• Brad William Henke as S/Sgt. Davis
• Jim Parrack as S/Sgt. Binkowski
• Anamaria Marinca as Irma
• Alicia von Rittberg as Emma
• Kevin Vance as S/Sgt. Peterson
• Branko Tomović as German Corporal
• Iain Garrett as Sgt. Foster
• Eugenia Kuzmina as Hilda Meier
• Stella Stocker as Edith

User Review

People seem to think that war films are pretty hot right now, but they aren't. Having my ear so close to cinema I know for sure that there is always one or two war films floating around in the projection booths, but people are making somewhat of a big deal out of Fury, so I suppose the reel question is will this be a Flag For Our Fathers or will it make us wish for Apocalypse Now?

So lets get this out of the way now. Fury isn't as good as Saving Private Ryan, but then I don't think it ever meant to be, comparing the two movies is like saying that Saun Of The Dead isn't as good as The Book Of Eli, just because both films has similarities (in as much as they are set at the end of the world) doesn't mean they are anything alike. These are two films that are near logger heads with each other.

You see Fury is contained, and given an almost claustrophobic feel to it, the entire film is either inside or at close proximity of the tank that Collier commands. This gives the movie a focus, and a focal point. We are never given a rest from the tank and it's enforcing nature, we are given no repreave from it, just like the men themselves, we are trapped in a steel giant that is only purpose is to kill people.

To say that Fury is bloodthirsty would be an understatement, actually that's not fair for me to say. Fury doesn't enjoy itself in gore, it only tries to give us an accurate portrayal of what it must have been like for those brave men and women who faced death on a daily basis.

That's what David Ayer does really well, he controls his audience. In the opening scene we are shown Collier (Brad Pitt) ambushing and attacking a German officer, it is crude and desperate and over quickly but we can tell even then that is a man who cannot cope with the horrors he has had to endure.

Looking back there are so many moments in Fury that stand out as impressive. There is a single second where Collier shows his true emotions and it is incredible to view. Collier is a man who is forced to be a hero, he never chooses it, he wants only to survive this war.

Any war film can be impressive in it's action sequences, anyone can make loud noises and explosions and fighting, but if a war film can still shock and grip and captivate you in the slower periods, in the silences, that's when you know for sure you have an outstanding movie, and that is what happens with Fury.

Like all war movies, Fury ultimately builds to a climatic finale and truly I think it's one of the best I've ever seen, not because of the action or it's quality of visuals but because we have invested too much into the characters we have seen on screen.

The film of course would be nothing without the men inside the tank, those being Brad Pitt (who helms the best), Shia LaBouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena and Jon Bernthal. With these men there is no star, or main character, outside the tank the two leads are Logan Lerman (Who plays the new recruit) and Brad Pitt, however once we are inside the tank all men are equals, and dare I say it, but Shai LaBouf is actually quite good in his role. It's also always nice to see Jason Issacs on screen (hello to you).

Fury is a poignant and painful reminder of how much war can take from each of us, it is a film that never wants us to relax and we never do. Gory and gripping, Fury deserves a high spot in the history of war movies.