'Fury' has fantastic set pieces. The special effects are incredible and the sound is brilliant. The film is very gory and there are lots of explosions and body parts flying all over the place. I could tell that the movie was trying to follow in the footsteps of 'Saving Private Ryan' by stealing a lot of the characters and trying to recreate the depth and heart of that film. However, it didn't realise that 'Saving Private Ryan' took a lot of ideas from old war movies and paid homage to them whilst delivering awe-inspiring and moving scenes of battles. 'Fury' did not have this. A lot of the dialogue and interaction between characters was laughable. The romance that tried to be thrown in at the middle of the film did not work and just seemed bizarre, The characters were one-dimensional and just seemed like walking stereotypes. The film felt more like 'Tropic Thunder' than 'Saving Private Ryan'. 'Fury''s lack of long shots of the landscapes and battles meant that the film did not seem as vast or beautiful as other films of the genre. However, the action scenes were very well done and it was exciting and superbly directed. ★★★½

WWII through the eyes of a Sherman tank crew RELEASED IN 2014, "Fury" details the exploits of 'Wardaddy' (Brad Pitt) and his Sherman tank crew during the final month of the European theater of World War II. A meek new guy who knows little about tanks, Norman (Logan Lerman), joins the crew and must learn to kill. Making a final push into the heart of Nazi Germany, the Fury crew makes a heroic stand when their tank breaks down. Writer/director Dick Ayers wrote the screenplay for 2001's excellent "Training Day." In "Fury" he successfully shows the soldiers’ view of WWII through the eyes of a Sherman tank crew. I know of no other war film that sets out or accomplishes this; Oddball and his crew from "Kelly's Heroes" (1970) perhaps comes closest. I mainly judge films by whether or not the story keeps my attention. After all, what good is great action, thrills and incredible special effects if the story (or the way it's told) is dullsville, like, say, "The Mummy Returns" (2001) or "Man of Steel"(2013)? "Fury" kept my attention from beginning to end and the characters are all memorable. Speaking of which, the three remaining crewmembers are 'Bible' (Shia LaBeouf), 'Coonass' (Jon Bernthal) and 'Gordo' (Michael Peña). 'Bible' is fittingly an evangelical who strives not to lose his spirituality while brutally annihilating people in the name of war, whereas newcomer Norman is a mainline Christian (Episcopalian). A handful of scripture passages are quoted during the course of the movie, including a couple near the end by Wardaddy. This is an interesting revelation because Wardaddy has become hardened by the war after three years fighting from North Africa all the way to the nucleus of the Nazis. This implies that he was a devoted believer before the war but only a glimmer of his former spiritual affection remains. There are other quality character bits interspersed throughout the film, like how annoying drunk bastages may not be so bad once they sober up. Beyond the above, the film offers the typical tragic insights about the nature of war. The long final stand in the last act may be unlikely, but it makes for a heroic and thrilling ending to a war movie (yes, it's a MOVIE, not a friggin' documentary). At the end of the day "Fury" arguably ranks with the best WWII movies, like "Where Eagles Dare" (1968), "Enemy at the Gates" (2001), "The Eagle has Landed" (1976), "Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957), "The Dirty Dozen" (1967), "The Thin Red Line" (1998), and "Inglourious Basterds" (2009). As far as comparing it to the overrated "Saving Private Ryan" (1998), the first half hour of that movie is great, but the rest of it leaves much to be desired (remember the lame dog tag sequence?); "Fury" is leagues better IMHO. The melancholic and moving score by Steven Price is a highlight. Alicia von Rittberg (Emma), Anamaria Marinca (Irma) and Jason Isaacs are featured in fairly notable roles. Speaking of Emma, the brief romance between her and Norman is decidedly forced, which is one of the few negatives of "Fury," but I get the point of that sequence. THE FILM RUNS 134 minutes and was shot in England. GRADE: A-

This film is about a tank crew in WW2 that is going into the final days of the war and still facing Hell. The characters are very credible, and this passes the ultimate test of "credible characters in incredible circumstances". The five members each have a different level of humanity, from the novice to war who still has total humanity down to the one tank crew member who is a total brute. Yet even he has some humanity left in him, but he hardly shows it. The other three are the tank commander (Brad Pitt), who handles brutality of war with objectivity, his second, who handles brutality by trying to be right with God, and the other one uses comedy to handle it. I've been in the military, and it is quite common for "clerks" to be tossed into war like cannon fodder, because that is what "clerks" are viewed as being by everyone else, from officers down to the one stripers. In fact, the clerks are considered to be the most disposable members of the forces. We know that today. People didn't always know it in WW2. The final self sacrifice at the end seems a bit much, but when you take into consideration that it's a spare of the moment decision, and mistakes are made with quick decisions, it's plausible. Not probable, but plausible. Also, the final battle scene with five men doing so well against an incredibly larger force; well, that is sold to us by the amount of smoke around the tank, and the fact that if you are on the other side, surrounding the tank, you wonder if you are shooting at your own teammates across from you. I think it would have been a better movie if the five soldiers all just abandoned the tank and tried to walk back to safety, but that's just me. Other than that, it was an exceptional film that passes all the tests.