By Levi Lester Posted January 11, 2017
All info is sourced from Wikipedia for the film “Fury.” The fictional film “Fury” is rated R for drama, action, language, and violence. The film was directed and written by David Ayer and it takes place in the remaining days of World War II against Nazi Germany and takes the perspective on what U.S tank crews dealt with in the bloody tank battles. Ayer gained his inspiration for “Fury” from the high casualties of tank crews in Europe and the intense battles fought to push the front line in Germany in books such as “Belton Y” and “Cooper’s Death Traps.” Ayer’s idea also came from that of veterans who served in his family. The film’s main premise was to focus on creating a realistic environment to capture how these battles were so brutal, unlike World War II dramas that lacked realism to depict such events.
Don Collier (Brad Pitt) a staff sergeant in the 2nd Armored Division commands an M4 Sherman that he calls (Fury). Don’s crew consists of Boyd Swan (Shia LaBeouf), Grady Travis (Jon Bernthal), and Trini Garcia (Michael Pena). The crew having been together since the North African campaign are introduced to a new recruit Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman) who was originally a clerk typist. Norman, who is very inexperienced in being a part of a tank crew is immediately designated to be a part of Fury’s tank crew after the death of Fury’s bow gunner “Red” who was killed in action.
When the division moves deeper into Nazi territory Norman’s experience begins to put the crew in harm’s way when Norman fails to carry out his orders as the tank’s bow gunner. Don who is outraged with Norman’s failure to act starts to dislike him as the other crew members begin to as well. During the skirmish in a small German town, the crew gets bunked together in a small German family’s house for the night. The next morning the town is bombarded by German artillery and the division is ordered to evacuate the town as the deaths of the family begin to traumatize Norman and change him not only physically, but mentally also.
Don’s platoon is ordered to hold a vital crossroad a few miles out of town in order to protect the Allies rear guard in the assault deeper into German lines. All alone on the crossroads three German Tiger I tanks attack Fury and almost destroy them, but with Norman’s sharp thinking, the crew manages to survive taking down the tanks with their heavy guns and clever tactical maneuvers. Later moving down the road to reach the crossroads the tank is hit by a tank mine and unable to move putting the crew in the middle of the crossroads. Hesitant to continue and hold the area the rest of the crew begin to have second thoughts to fall back; however Don orders the men to hold their position and wait until the enemy arrives. Norman is ordered to scout ahead only to find a German battalion moving towards the tank and expected to reach them by nightfall. Recollecting the battles they’ve fought the crew begins to accept Norman and even give him his own nickname as they share their last drink and devise a plan to counter the incoming Germans. The tank is made to look broken down only to act as a decoy in order to attack the battalion when they least expect it. When the battalion arrives all hell breaks loose and the crew launches an all-out assault on the battalion shattering them in half using the tank’s heavy weapons and the cannon itself. Halfway through the fight, the crew begins to run low on ammo desperate to stay alive and fend off the enemy. One by one the crew are killed and sacrifice themselves to save Norman as he escapes via an emergency hatch at the bottom of the tank. One German soldier sees him but later spares his life for Norman to escape and become known as a war hero for holding a vital area for the Allies when he returns. Fury is acclaimed for its impactful story and became a box office success earning over $211.8 million dollars with a budget of $68 million. The film overall received positive reviews and was very highly noted for Ayer’s direction he took in making the film.
