Film review: Fury conveys the horror of war
It's hard to forget the title of David Ayer's second world war movie as it's painted in thick white letters on the barrel of a Sherman tank. "Fury" is not just the nickname of the metal beast commanded by Brad Pitt's sergeant — it also seems to be the directorial style with which Ayer approaches this most intense of anti-war films.
Starring: Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Peña, Jon Bernthal
Director: David Ayer
Category: IIB
It's hard to forget the title of David Ayer's second world war movie as it's painted in thick white letters on the barrel of a Sherman tank. "Fury" is not just the nickname of the metal beast commanded by Brad Pitt's sergeant — it also seems to be the directorial style with which Ayer approaches this most intense of anti-war films.
Like Das Boot on wheels, it's set in April 1945, as the Allies rumble across a tumultuous Germany — the people either desperate to surrender or engaged, as the pre-titles tell us, in "fanatic resistance".
An early scene backs this up, as "Fury" comes under fire from a pocket of Nazi youth. This is just a brief introduction to the shocking scenes Ayer has in store.
Pitt, with an attitude as severe as his short back and sides haircut, plays Sergeant Don "Wardaddy" Collier, a veteran who has already fought the Germans in North Africa. Within minutes, he's skewering a Nazi in the eye. "Ideals are peaceful," he later explains. "History is violent."