As known, World War 2 has inspired countless Hollywood & European films since the past more than six decades.Be it Pearl Harbor, Saving Private Ryan, Hart's War, Schindler's List, Where Eagles Dare, Bridge on the River Kwai or the television mini-series Band of Brothers and so on.The number of films in its memory indicates the intensity of that war which was the deadliest in history.One more film has been added under its credit, the 2014 release Fury, based on American soldiers fighting on a tank bearing the name, in the last phase of World War 2 in Nazi Germany.
Plot:-
Early 1945, the American 66th Regiment, 2nd Armored division is commanded by sergeant Don Collier(Brad Pitt), also nicknamed as "Wardaddy" by his comrades.A battle hardened veteran, he commands an M4 Sherman tank named 'Fury', whose crew members include Boyd'Bible' Swan(Shia Lebeouf), Grady Travis(Jon Berthal) and Trini Garcia('Michael Pena). Many of them have been together since the North African campaign of the war.The original gunner of the tank is killed in battle and a replacement is sent by the name of Norman Ellison(Logan Lerman).Norman is a trained typist but completely untrained at war which leads him to be bullied or hazed by his comrades, especially when he is commanded to kill Germans.
Don is commanded to eliminate pockets of German resistance along the way, but encounter really tough situations where their will and might are put to the test. They get ambushed by German garrisons in open tank battles and in towns, but fight their way through.Norman repeatedly faces insults and punches by Don and his comrades for his cowardice, but gains courage overtime. They eventually reach a German town and enter the house of a German woman named Emma who is living with her sister Irma.Norman gets affectionate towards Irma and Don is determined to protect the sisters from being harassed by their American comrades.
Once they leave, a German artillery bombardment on the town targeting the American forces results in the death of Emma and Irma, leaving Norman shaken.But yet, he is forced to pull on.
As they proceed, knocking off German units along with their squadron of tanks, their tank'Fury' gets immobilised by a landmine.
This leads Don and his comrades into a flight or fight situation, knowing that anytime, their broken down tank could be on the hindsights of counter attacking German troops. What could be the final outcome? Would they continue on the fight until victory is achieved or would they themselves become martyrs for their nation?
Performances/Direction/Others:-
In terms of the performances, the actors were the real soldiers or heroes, if one decides to immerse himself or herself into the movie, just like any other movie or TV drama.
Brad Pitt as Sergeant Don Collier, played a tough and stern leader who could beat the hell out of anyone who dares challenge him or resist his orders, enemies or comrades alike.Such was displayed in his attitude towards Norman when on multiple occasions, he thrashed Norman for displaying cowardice on the battlefield, once for refusing to shoot a German kid armed with an anti-tank weapon, who ambushed and killed American tank crew members and the second occasion, on refusing to shoot a captured German prisoner.At the same time, he was a true warrior on the battlefield, commanding his comrades and the entire platoon members in destroying small packets of German resistance as they advanced into enemy territory. Despite all odds, he exhibited his humane or softer side in the scene where he warned to shoot his fellow comrades if they harassed the German family, Emma and her sister, in their house. No wonder he earned the nickname "Wardaddy".
Logan Lerman as Private Norman Ellison, played a novice or amateur on the battlefield, having no experience in war .The exact opposite of his commander Don, Norman had to undergo a lot of torment while in the army since he was trained as a typist rather than a sniper.His young looks coupled with his cowardice in acting gives you the impression of a fresher in a college, or in this case, the armed forces and would possibly remind you of the condition of several of the hundreds of thousands of young kids, teenagers in many cases, recruited in the Army during the Second World War to fight for their nation.
Shia Lebeouf as Boyd "Bible" Swan played an energetic tank gunner and a devout
Christian, giving him the title "Bible".Many of his comrades often mock at his sincerity in
his faith but nevertheless he believes in doing his duty of defeating evil to save millions of innocents.
Other performances such as that of Grady Travis, Michael Pena who played tough soldiers ever battle ready to engage the enemy were justifiable or the sisters, Emma and Irma, although brief but authentic in their roles.
Many directors and filmmakers have experimented on the concept of war and thanks to the advancement of technology and other factors, the viewer could feel the war on screen as if he himself is in that situation.I may be exaggerating a bit, but many earlier war movies in the past two decades have been filmed convincingly and battle scenes at times appeared terryfing, egs include Pearl Harbor or Saving Private Ryan, unlike the war movies of the 50's and 60's which today appear nothing more than on stage kids drama which toy guns and fire crackers shown as explosives.
This is what director David Aiyer did exactly in swaying the audiences as per the shots.He shows that war is indeed terrifying as well as the psychological impact it lays on its victims, including the very soldiers doing the fighting.This is particularly the case where Don, fires on an innocent captured German soldier pleading for his life, yet the code of conduct required the Sergeant to pull the trigger and kill him, which appeared quite saddening.
Through the help of similar battlefield locations(shot almost entirely in the English countryside), towns, tanks and weapons(specially the M4 Sherman tank Fury which the movie lays its heart on), and the originality in the look of the American and German forces, Aiyer promises the best to his audiences.
Overall:-
Being a war movie, it is obvious that it would be action cum drama packed.But due to the unforgiving nature of war, certain disturbing scenes are expected and hence this is a recommendation to watch mainly with friends rather than family.
