Director: David Ayer
Writer: David Ayer (Screenplay)
Starring: Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena, Jon Bernthal, Jim Parrack, Brad William Henke, Xavier Samuel, Jason Isaacs
Plot: April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened Army sergeant named Wardaddy commands a Sherman tank and his five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered, out-gunned, and with a rookie soldier thrust into their platoon, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: One of the best modern war films
Story: Fury starts by informing us that during World War II American tanks were outgunned by the advancing German tanks and that the US tanks suffered staggering losses. April 1945 Hitler has sent every man, woman and child out to battle. We start by meeting Wardaddy (Pitt), Bible (LaBeouf), Gordo (Pena) and Coon-Ass (Bernthal) the unit in the tank known as Fury. Returning from their latest mission one man down they get a fresh young blood Norman Ellison (Lerman) who has only been part of the army for 8 weeks.
New mission orders come down and Wardaddy leads a platoon on the next mission which is to meet up with another platoon and take over the next town. Captain Waggoner (Isaacs) gets the platoon ready for the next mission which is a rescue mission, this goes down well but it is already taking its toll on Norman. Moving onto the town we see just what the Germans will do to the people who wouldn’t fight, while our unit slowly takes over the town.
The unit take the town and Wardaddy and Norman get a chance for a quiet moment during the reality of war that shows the true character of the 5 man unit. Receiving orders to intercept a German squad targeting the supply train we get bought back to the true reality of war. The next mission leaves the tank alone to complete and the five men must face impossible odds against nearly a full squadron of German soldiers.
Fury manages to show the true horror of war with this story, it puts the battles scenes together to what we expect but the brilliant peaceful moment in the middle really is the highlight to me. The characters each show the difference in the people who go to war as well as show that a lot of it is how they are dealing with the situation. I do feel we have a slightly weak point in the Norman character as we watch his start not willingly, slowly turn into a fighter only for him to want to surrender at the end, to me this doesn’t make sense to his character evolution. Taking that away we get what you would expect in a war film but this time we are all about the tanks which is slightly different to what we are used too. As I am not the biggest war film fan I was surprised by this one and thought I enjoyed the whole thing. (9/10)
Actor Review
Brad Pitt: Wardaddy the leader of the platoon who clearly has been affected by his time in the war but can’t let his men see his weakness. He is very reluctant to have the new blood in his tank but knows that he to support and force him to become a soldier. Wardaddy will also stand up for his unit and is even willing to sacrifice himself to save them. Brad gives a great performance but even though the characters are different I think this will still be his second best war film performance. (8/10)
Shia LaBeouf: Bible the trademark religious member of the unit, who always gives final rights to anyone he kills but is also an effective gun man. Shia is an actor I really don’t like but this is one of the best performance I have seen from him. (8/10)
Logan Lerman: Norman Ellison the fresh recruit sent to Wardaddy’s unit who clearly has no experience fighting in the war and only signed up as a typist. He finds himself horrified by what he sees in the first moments of war and can’t pull the trigger on the Germans. As the story unfolds we watch how he becomes part of the tank team and finds it in himself to fight for his unit and country. Logan gives a good performance stepping away from some of his audience friendly roles. (8/10)
Michael Pena: Gordo driver of the tank who tries to be the first friend of Norman but also knows that his hesitation could end up getting him killed. Michael gives a good performance as we know he is a great supporting actor. (8/10)
Jon Bernthal: Coon-Ass the engineer of the tank who makes sure everything runs smoothly from the inside but doesn’t have the most combat time. Jon manages to return to his Walking Dead days here and you feel like he has taken the Shane character to the next level. (8/10)
Support Cast: Fury has a supporting cast that includes the support tanks and soldiers as well as the enemy trying to hunt them down. They all help but none get a chance to shine as well as the main five.
Director Review: David Ayer – David goes a great job directing and making this film make a real impact on the war genre in film history. (9/10)
Action: Fury uses great combat scenes and takes risks with them too, relying on the tanks battles to feel intense with plenty of explosions. (8/10)
War: Fury uses the war element very brilliantly and uses the effects of war between the battles and the quiet moments to show how easily things can change. (9/10)
Settings: Fury uses what would look like real locations for the battles making you feel like you are traveling with the unit. (9/10)
Special Effects: Fury has great effects with how brutal the kills are throughout the film. (9/10)
Suggestion: Fury is one to watch but I do feel that some people might find it too violent so been warned. (Watch)
Best Part: The peaceful attempt at dinner.
Worst Part: The forced kill.
Action Scene Of The Film: Final battle.
Kill Of The Film: Head explosions.
Believability: The idea could have happened but how things happened is less likely. (3/10)
Chances of Tears: No (0/10)
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Similar Too: Saving Private Ryan
Oscar Chances: No
Box Office: $212 Million
Budget: $68 Million
Runtime: 2 Hours 14 Minutes
Tagline: War never ends quietly.
Trivia: During filming, Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf almost got in a real fight with Scott Eastwoodwhile the cameras were rolling. Eastwood, riding on the back, kept spitting tobacco juice on the tank. Pitt and LaBeouf felt this was disrespectful to their “home”, and exchanged words with Eastwood. Things grew pretty heated until Pitt and LaBeouf found out the script actually called for Eastwood’s character to spit his tobacco juice on the tank.
Overall: Fury is easily one of the best war films I have seen, this to me puts it in the same league as Platoon, Saving Private Ryan and Inglorious.
Rating 
