Fury (2014)

The next person who tries to tell me that Brad Pitt is not one of the finest actors of his generation will get a sour look from me and then I will turn them onto FURY, his latest great role as a tank commander in the last days of WW II.

I have long loved me some Bradley since he was Tristan in Legends of the Fall, so seeing him hit another great part out of the park was no surprise to me. I was more surprised to see him to another war picture on the heels of Inglorious Bastards. And what a great war picture Fury is. The vision of tanks doing their work during WW II is thrilling and heartbreaking. Like Das Boot, it's the claustrophobia that makes this story work in a fresh and new way. We have seen war movies before but nothing from quite this perspective or approach.

The film also doesn't shy away from the less glorious aspects of being a soldier and the terrible effect it has on the human soul. That, for me, is the only reason to make or see a war picture. The line between good man and good soldier should never be a static one. What man does to other men in war is an abomination, but so is what a man does to HIMSELF.



There are many scenes that will surprise you, like the encounter between two German sisters and Pitt's character. To the victor goes the spoils has never been more true. Humanity is the message here and I was often overwhelmed by the dichotomy on display in this picture.

This is Oscar worthy material and if some nominations get more people to see this picture then I am happy. Big fan.

Michael Pena, (wearing at top hat no less ?!) gives one of the great speeches in movie history. On par with what Robert Shaw did in JAWS. Pena was fantastic in End of Watch which was the great police drama the director of Fury, David Ayer did before this picture. These two seem to bring out the best in one another and I have always thought Pena was criminally overlooked in the Hollywood.

I will admit to watching this one with a little vodka and Old Toby so I may be biased but damn this movie was good. I rarely am shaken out of my jaded nature but this movie performed that feat on me. It restored my faith in humanity, something that unfortunately gets harder and harder to do these days.

I love a last stand movie more than any other, especially when the creators have put in the time to make the characters real to me. I wanted to suffer as they suffered. I wanted to be one of them. Only the best movies evoke those kind of emotions. And as sure as God made little green apples, Fury did that for me.