In the waning days of World War II (the last month of the European Theater part of WW II), Norman (Logan Lerman)- an Army clerical worker- joins the tank crew of Fury in Germany after Fury loses one of its crew after being years together under the command of Sergeant Don “Wardaddy” Collier (Brad Pitt).  Don is war weary and he wants his crew to survive the war since ideas are peaceful and history is violent.  The tank crew of Fury is first sent with other tanks and soldiers to secure a German town before they are assigned the emission of guarding a crossroads to make sure the US supply line isn’t cut off.

FURY is full of great battle scenes and a great central performance from Brad Pitt who shows so much emotion in a soldier who is trying to hold it together as the war is having its effects on him.  He hide it from his men, but he is a little ticked off when his men (who are sometimes jerks and brutes) interrupt a nice breakfast that Don and Norman are having with two German women (and he prevents his men from raping the women).   Norman seems to be shocked by fighting in the front where Hitler has ordered every man and kid to fight.   Norman first is a crappy assistant driver after he fails to shoot at a German soldier before he attacks the tank in front of Fury.   Don wants to teach Norman lessons about being a soldier and a man.   He is tough one moment and caring for the new recruit the next moment.  

FURY is an intense war movie which shows war is hell and David Ayers crafts a technically great war movie with Brad Pitt stealing the show as a battle scarred soldier.   The third act does have holes (like why didn’t they load more ammo in the tank when being attacked by Germans and having to go out to get more in the middle of the fight).   You can’t go wrong with this movie which is better than DRACULA UNTOLD and not as classic as GONE GIRL.

SPECIAL FETAURES:

Over 50 minutes of deleted and extended scenes which includes more character development as you get to know more about the tank crew of Fury, how Wardaddy ended up in the military, a little bit about one of the other tank crews, more foul language cut from the movie, and some extended scenes wisely cut from the final film like the Horse Killing scene which the director must have loved since the only new material is at the end of the extended scene.

BLOOD BROTHERS- cast and crew discuss the experience of shooting in a  tank together

DIRECTOR’S COMBAT JOURNAL- a look at the day to day filming of FURY

ARMORED WARRIORS: THE REAL MEN INSIDE THE SHERMANS- stories from the four surviving veterans of the 2^nd Armored

TAMING THE BEASTS: HOW TO DRIVE, FIRE AND SHOOT INSIDE A 30-TON TANK- a look at the real tanks they borrowed from the Bovington Tank Museum and the mock-ups they used for some shots plus little details like Michael Pena was a better driver for the camera than the stunt drivers

Photo gallery of promo, movie, and behind-the-scenes stills

BEST BUY bonus disc:

The bonus disc sadly has the bets making-of extras that go deep into the period and production and costume design that I wish Sony’s PR people didn’t leave these two off the main disc.

THE TANKS OF FURY (46:02)- goes behind the history of the Sherman tanks during World War 2 and what the armored divisions faced during World War 2.  It feels like a program created for TV as it splits between the making of fury and the actual history fo the time period.  It has interviews with cast, crew, and real WWII vet Donald Evans who tells many of his stories about his time part of the 2^nd Armored that I wonder why they left some these stories off the ARMORED WARRIORS featurette.

THE HORRORS OF COMBAT (28:06) is a great look at the production design, costume design, and weapons of the movie as the director sought to make sure every detail was right to the period.

Code to stream and download a Digital HD copy of FURY

It is a shame that Sony still leaves theatrical trailers for the movie off the disc since it would be good to have the two FURY theatrical trailers on the main disc.

FINAL ANALYSIS: FURY is a great World War 2 movie with a great central performance from Brad Pitt as the movie carried the theme of war is hell for all involved in it.  I do wish the two featurettes on the bonus disc were left on the main disc instead of being a Best Buy exclusive (since both of those featurettes are better than any extra on the main disc).

This review is ©1-31-2015 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com