Fury

I’ve always had a love for history and especially American wars, so seeing “Fury” was a no-brainer for me. I assumed it was going to be good with Brad Pitt, Jon Bernthal, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Pena, and rising star Logan Lerman, but it far surpassed all of my expectations. David Ayer captured my heart working on films like “U-571,” “Training Day,” “End of Watch,” and “Sabotage,” and he definitely did not disappoint with “Fury.”
The film starts in April 1985 when the Allies make their final push into Nazi Germany. We are immediately thrown into the action when the last tank of the 66th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Division, “Fury,” is making its way back to its American base camp. We are introduced to Staff Sergeant Don “Wardaddy” Collier (Pitt), gunner Boyd “Bible” Swan (LaBeouf), loader Grady “Coon-Ass” Travis (Bernthal), and driver Trini “Gordo” Garcia (Pena). The tank’s assistant driver/bow gunner had been killed and Lerman’s Norman Ellison is the replacement. The only problem is, Norman was trained as an Army typist and has never even seen the inside of a tank or been on the front lines of the war. The established crew, predictably, gives Norman a very rough time and has no sympathy for his inexperience. Norman has no time to become adjusted to the horror and brutality of war before he is directly responsible for another tank’s demise, and Wardaddy lets him know just how angry he is with him. After a brief skirmish, in which Gordo orders Norman to shoot dead bodies, Norman breaks down and says one of my favorite lines in the film, “I was trained to type 60 words per minute. I was not trained to shoot dead bodies…” Wardaddy decides to teach Norman a lesson about war by forcing him to shoot a captive German soldier. After this rather traumatic experience for Norman, Wardaddy makes a change and we see him beginning to feel responsible for the younger soldier. A small group of American tanks, including Fury, continue on to take a German town and the men are given the night to relax, drink, and enjoy some local female company. Wardaddy takes Norman to a nice apartment occupied by two women, but the other three men find them and a tragic scene takes place that shows inferior the seasoned men feel to Norman. The next day the tanks leave the town to take the neighboring one, but they are intercepted by a battalion of SS Officers and the final battle takes place.
As I mentioned before, I expected to like “Fury.” What I didn’t expect, however, was exactly how much I would love it and how emotional I would get. War movies have the unique ability to draw you in and make you instantly care about the characters, and “Fury” is no exception, especially dealing with the topic of tank-warfare. Tanks involve being in such close quarters with the crew, and you definitely get the feeling that these men are truly brothers. They’ve been with each other since the beginning of the war and Norman’s arrival brings about a great deal of tension. The scene in the apartment really hits hard and it is extremely obvious that the men don’t feel as important to Wardaddy anymore. They feel like Norman is being given special treatment and they feel betrayed by their leader. The tank has become their home and Norman threatens their already established brotherhood. Predictably, they do all eventually accept Norman and even give him his own war-name. “Fury” is, essentially, one giant emotional roller coaster. The men constantly joke with one another when they’re not in battle, but when it is time to fight the fun disappears. Each battle sequence carries an air of despair and intensity that keeps you on the edge of your eat and biting your nails. A movie focused on tank warfare isn’t common, so “Fury” gives a very fresh take and a wholly different perspective on war.
I believe “Fury” will go down in history as one of the great war movies alongside “Saving Private Ryan,” “We Were Soldiers,” “Glory,” “Pearl Harbor,” and “Letter From Iwo Jima.” It does a spectacular job of displaying both the horrors and the brotherhood of war. I’m not an emotional person at all, but “Fury” had me openly crying multiple times, and I would give it 9/10.