Review of Fury (2014) by Axgrinder — 23 Oct 2014

Not on my list of best war movies. Saving Private Ryan set the modern day standard for conveying the sounds, imagery and fury of war. Fury the movie has plot themes that, unfortunately, parallel Saving Private Ryan without adding any insights. The acting of Brad Pitt (as a tank commander), as well as that of his fellow tank crew members, is credible. Where the movie falls short is in its direction and the lack of a particularly new or unique story line. The film contains too many contradictions, which kill its credibility.

Director (David Ryan) seems intent on sending the message that death in war is totally random. Paradoxically, everyone who dies in this movie is killed by a perfect shot. We are shown many sudden violent deaths, but the large number of people who get stabbed cleanly through the eye socket or have their head blown off straight across the neckline, in a relatively bloodless and painless way, seems oddly unrealistic. (About halfway through, you may find yourself wondering how many people have had their heads shot clean off.) Compounding the problem, Pitt does most of his fighting on top his tank, rather than inside it. The movie reminds us that in WWII American tanks had inferior amour plate, and we see tank after tank destroyed from a single enemy hit. Yet, when Pitt’s tank runs over a mine buried in the road, it merely disables the tank tread. Moments later we see one of Pitt’s crew running up that same road, apparently unconcerned about the presence of additional mines. The final sequence is reminiscent of the movie 300, with Pitt fighting off dozens of crack SS troupes from on top of his tank. None seem capable of hitting a fixed and exposed human target, except fora German sniper, inexplicably dressed in full camo gear (including a stringy face cover) despite the fact that it’s nighttime and pitch black outside.

Classic WWII movies from the 1960’s like Patton, The Longest Day, and Battle of the Bulge, though highly romanticized, have more interesting story lines about the history of WWII. In the 1980’s, Platoon and Apocalypse Now showed us bizarreness and insanity of war. In the 1990’s, Saving Private Ryan, showed us the real imagery and noise of war, reminded us why sometimes we have to fight, and the depth of the sacrifices that some individuals have made in the name of freedom. The only unique sequence in Fury occurs when Pitt, after helping liberate a German town, protects two vulnerable women from possible rape and abuse from his own men, which may account for the final oddity of this movie: women seem to find this movie appealing.