John Wayne's Platoon

Rating: 5/10 (8 November 2015)

Perhaps the biggest surprise in Fury is how the last wave of murderous Nazis is not led by Hitler himself, with Brad Pitt's heroic Sarge chucking a spear at Adolf and nearly killing him.
A movie with major identity problems, Fury starts off as some kind of Casualties Of War drama with a wide-eyed rookie (Logan Lerman) pushed around by hardened comrades and a ruthless sergeant; then, with a complete 180, it turns into over-the-top schlock as Pitt and his men slaughter like a million enemies who charge at them with much trampling of boots and ominous singing - there is a priceless bit when the approaching Germans sound like they are intoning the Carmina Burana acappella style. The last act plays like a zombie movie, as the scarred, barking Nazis besiege the protagonists, whose brave deeds are accompanied by a soundtrack of heroic trumpets and mournful strings. It's so portentous I chuckled quite a bit, such as when a shovel-wielding Nazi dives into the tank attempting to club Pitt.
The best sequence is a tense confrontation between tanks attempting to outmaneuver each other. It's a solid set-piece, and lacks the rah-rah rhetoric of the final battle.
5/10