In the World War II movie Fury, Brad Pitt plays the commander of an American tank crew that has fought together from Africa through Italy and France; against all odds, they have survived and are now in Germany during the final months of the war. An unseasoned clerk typist is thrust upon the tight crew as a replacement; he is seeing the horrors of war for the first time, and we relate to the action through his eyes. His eyes don’t see much except for brutality by both belligerents and a Germany that is physically and emotionally devastated.
Unlike the traditional WW II films of the 20th century, these GIs are not atrocity-free. Battle-hardened, war-weary and staggering to the finish, these guys are very tough and they behave in some very unattractive ways.
Fury superbly depicts WW II tank and anti-tank tactics that I’ve never seen handled as well in a movie. There is a tank and infantry assault on dug in infantry supported with light artillery. And there is a tank-on-tank battle between three American Shermans and a German Tiger tank; the Tiger was far superior to the Sherman and the veteran Sherman crews – who don’t seem to be afraid of anything else – know to be terrified of it.
This is not a feel good or a date movie. Fury works as military history and as an action picture – all the way to the final, grim slaughterfest.