Fury (DVD REVIEW)
Fury
DVD Review by Kam Williams
Brad Pitt Plays Tough Tank Commander in WWII Flick
It is April of
1945, and the Allies are making major inroads across the European theater.
However, Adolf Hitler has responded to the attrition in the ranks of his army
by exhorting women and children to take up arms in a desperate fight to the
death.
This is the state
of affairs awaiting Don “Wardaddy” Collier (Brad Pitt) when he reaches Germany after engagements in Africa, Belgium and the Netherlands. Sergeant Collier is
the commander of a Sherman
tank that is part of a battle-hardened armored division being dispatched deep
into enemy territory to help deliver the coup de grace to the Nazis.
We meet Wardaddy
during a brief pause in the action taken to refuel, to restock ammo and to
replace his recently-deceased “best damn gunner in the 9th
battalion.” Now, he must make do with Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman), a private
with no fighting experience just plucked out of the typing pool.
The other members of
Collier’s motley crew include tank driver Trini Garcia (Michael Pena),
Bible-thumping Boyd Swan (Shia LaBeouf) and a good ol’ boy who goes by Coon-Ass (Jon
Benthal). Their next mission is to rescue some stranded GIs urgently in need of
assistance.
But prior to shipping out, Collier
wants to make sure his greenhorn is ready for the front. So, he forces him to
shoot a captured SS officer in the head to show he has no qualms about killing.
That
is the premise established at the outset of Fury, a fairly gruesome adventure
written and directed by U.S. Navy veteran David Ayer (Training Day). Fair
warning: this is a film you don’t so much watch as
endure. Picture the sheer intensity of Saving Private Ryan coupled with the
visual capture of The Thin Red Line, the harrowing claustrophobia of Das Boot,
and the utter insanity of Apocalypse Now.
Brad Pitt exudes an endearing
combination of confidence and charm as a calm leader who proves himself quite
capable of generating a genuine camaraderie among his men despite the cramped
quarters and constant close brushes of death. Moreover, he exhibits an uncanny
ingenuity when forced by circumstances to survive by his wits as their
resources dwindle.
The meat grinder that was World War II convincingly portrayed from the
point-of-view of a band of brothers who were like sitting ducks stuck in a sardine can.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated
R for sexuality, graphic violence, grisly images and pervasive profanity
In
English and German with subtitles
Running
time: 135 minutes
Distributor:
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Blu-ray
Extras: 50+ minutes of deleted and extended scenes; Director’s Combat Journal;
Armored Warriors: The Real Men inside the Shermans;
Taming the Beasts: How to Drive, Fire and Shoot inside a 30-Ton Tank; Photo
Gallery; and Blood Brothers.
To
see a trailer for Fury, visit:
To
order Fury on Blu-ray, visit:
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