Fury | Eastern North Carolina Now

    The official citation, regarding Lt' Murphy's most prestigious commendation, reads in part: For an hour the Germans tried every available weapon to eliminate Lieutenant Murphy, but he continued to hold his position….His directing of artillery fire wiped out many of the enemy; he killed or wounded about 50. Lieutenant Murphy's indomitable courage and his refusal to give an inch of ground saved his company from possible encirclement and destruction and enabled it to hold the woods, which had been the enemy's objective.

    Considering the last scene of film (spoiler alert), one has to question just how familiar Writer David Ayer was with the fantastic real battle events of Lt. Audie Murphy. Is that last scene in "Fury" imitating what would well be considered one of the bravest efforts of valor by any American soldier?
The tank crew of Fury at rest upon their battle carriage from left to right) - Boyd 'Bible' Swan, played by Shia LaBeouf; Don 'Wardaddy' Collier, Brad Pitt; Norman Ellison, Logan Lerman; Trini 'Gordo' Garcia, played by Michael Peña; Grady 'Coon-Ass' Travis, played by Jon Bernthal: Above.     Click image to expand.

    The M4A3E8 Sherman tank was almost as big of a star as Actor Pitt. Possessing the titular name of Fury, the most modern of all Sherman tanks, was faster that any Panzer, wielded a 76mm howitzer, capable of firing armor piercing shells, with an improved rate of fire and better accuracy. The problem here is that the Wehrmacht's Tiger heavy tank, which was significantly slow and not as nimble, had armor nearly 4 inches thick, and sported a giant 88mm canon that could easily rip through a Sherman's 3 inch armor, while the the Sherman's incredibly responsive 76MM canon shot rounds that more often than not just bounced off the Tiger's thick skin.

Trini 'Gordo' Garcia, Michael Peña, pilots the battle carriage Fury: Above.    Click image to expand.


    I mention this because there is a battle scene where the Sherman Fury faces off against a Tiger and it is one beast of a battle. Today's film's with their outstanding Cinematography interlaced with leading edge visual effects lend an extreme realism that just works to the point of audience disbelief, and in "Fury", it worked quite well.

    The ensemble acting effort by the crew of "Fury" was special, believable, and more than pulled its weight to further the narrative. In fact, the film went far beyond the obligatory character development, so we, the audience, might care about the outcome of these violent soldiers killing with impunity, and with a rare manic gusto. After one violent and frantic scene, we are treated to a relief comment that offered an introspect in the Fury's crew's incredible zeal to survive. Once the killing is done with great gore and violence, each crewman sounds off, and with with some measure of conviction: "Best Damn Job I ever had."
Wardaddy, Brad Pitt, stern to the point misogyny, instead provides a rare fresh eggs breakfast to this Fraulein, played by Anamaria Marinca, and her niece. For Wardaddy romance, rough or otherwise, was never an option: Above.     Click image to expand.

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    From this unbelievable violence to Boyd 'Bible' Swan, Shia LaBeouf's character, who aimed and fired the 76MM canon with great accuracy, who also kept God's word forever on his lips, we are treated to a complex character. Brad Pitt's Wardaddy, similarly, found time to wax biblical; not only did 'smite thine enemy' with an old testament wrath, did speak scripture but only to Shia LaBeouf's character, while managing to command an iron fist of devotion from the disparate factions of his well coordinated crew.

    With Wardaddy, one never really knew whether his would act with virulent impunity or reveal a purposeful compassion. Brad Pitt's Wardaddy was complex, so was the film, and as a memorable exposé of the Hell of last days of a terrible war, the film worked well. In summation: "War is Hell", the film was damn good.

    Rated R. Released on DVD January 27, 2015. 135 minutes of runtime.



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