FILM REVIEW: 'Fury'

The new film, "Fury," from director David Ayer is a bloody, brutal depiction of war. Its point of view is conveyed from boots on the ground and the inside of a M4 Sherman tank aptly named Fury.

Set in 1945, the Allies are entrenched behind enemy lines in Nazi Germany. But Hitler isn't about to surrender. Pulling out all the stops, the Fuhrer even stoops to mobilizing women and children to muster forces for one final push against the enemy.

An American tank troop under the leadership of Sgt. Don Collier a.k.a. Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) has just lost one of its five-man crew. He's been replaced by Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman) a clerk typist who's never been on the battlefield let alone inside of a tank. The terrified boy soon becomes a hardened killer. A casualty of war.

As they plod deeper into Germany the fighting becomes unbearably intense. Fury and its crew eventually have to stave off a massive amount of German troops on their own. It's a last stand that's so riveting, it's almost impossible to watch. Catching your breath afterwards is even tougher.

Ayer's ("End Of Watch") direction is shockingly awesome. His attention to detail doesn't go unnoticed. Ten 70-year-old vintage tanks were borrowed from museums and private collections. The claustrophobic interior tank shots are reminiscent of those in the 1981 German film, "Das Boot." In fact, Ayer is a veteran of the U.S. Navy having served on submarines so the feel is real. We never see sunlight even though most of the action takes place during the day. The entire film has a gray hazed hue to it, seeming to reflect how dark and oxygen starved it is waging war.

Pitt is great as the heroic leader who loves his men. He also gets some of the best lines in the movie. "Do you think Jesus loves Hitler?" is one asked of his Bible-thumping gunner (Shia LaBeouf). Another, "Ideals are peaceful, history's violent" is made is made as he waxes poetic among his cohorts.

The German tanks were far superior to their American counterpart yet we prevailed. "Fury," although a fictional story, stands as a testament to brave human beings who risk everything for their country. But it also makes one question, "why?"