Well worth the viewing

Rating: 7/10 (23 October 2014)

I enjoyed "Fury", and the evening's thought it has given me.
The movie is reasonably well-cast. Once again, Brad Pitt is not the best actor, but he provides a solid core around which the others can anchor their roles. I have previously heard a great deal about how bad an actor Shia LaBeouf is (I haven't seen any of the "Transformers" franchise), but I thought he was excellent as the barking-mad gunner only just holding on to reality.
The portrayal of tank-battles was a delight to see - and the reason I went to see the movie. It was great to see a more realistic demonstration of what tanks can do than in previous tank features. The scene with the Tiger and the four Shermans made my hair stand up on end! The only thing needed to make this movie real tank-porn was more engine-sounds! The character development of the rookie didn't really work - he said he'd been in the Army for 8 weeks and had been trained as a typist, but he handled a sub-machine gun very well (and didn't forget to take it with him everywhere). Also, he seemed to go from complete naif to steely-eyed killer very quickly (seemingly a few days). I didn't buy that at all.
There are a few other problems with the construction of the movie - the clichéd ending being the worst - such as the sanitised depiction of the damage human beings sustain in war (Brad Pitt being recognisable after two grenades went off in the tank), but, hey, this is Hollywood. Other parts of it - the killing of the captured German soldier, and the uncomfortable scene in the apartment - reflect rarely-depicted aspects of war, and what happened (and is still happening) on all sides of a conflict.
I really enjoyed it, but accept that it isn't for everyone. It is a much deeper movie than many are depicting it, and that is part of its charm. It will not be as good on DVD - it needs the big screen to show the whole thing at its best - but it deserves a mention or two during awards season next year.