Not the film I was expecting

Rating: 9/10 (25 October 2015)

Having scanned the reviews of Fury, I was expecting a typical 'how we won the war' kind of B movie, with all the clichés in place. But that's not what I discovered upon watching the film. This is one of the more powerful anti-war statements I've ever seen on the screen, cleverly put together, tightly directed and remarkably well-acted.
The title tells you what the film is about: *fury*. The fury that overcomes soldiers in war. This film, better than any other I've seen, demolishes the myth of the heroic warrior. Instead, what we see are the degraded, brutalized monsters that war creates. Brad Pitt, in particular, is brilliant as an utterly horrific character. He perfectly represents what a person must become in order to be an effective soldier.
The focus of the story is on Pitt training a new member of the tank crew, a young guy who's previously only been a clerk. Pitt tries to tear apart this man's humanity as quickly as possible, for his own good and the good of the whole crew. At first, we can only see Pitt as an evil madman. But events in the film gradually prove that his attitude is the only valid response to the insane circumstances.
The focus is on the US troops, but there's no favoritism. The action takes place at the very tail end of the European war, with the US marching through Germany. But the Germans (quite accurately) are shown as still highly disciplined, still dangerous, willing to fight to the last man. This movie isn't even remotely about which side was 'right' and which was 'wrong.' It's about the experience of the troops who are forced to make up in blood for what the politicians have failed to achieve with diplomacy.
Previous war films have always held back a bit, stopped short of showing us the full horror of war. This one goes several steps further, and is therefore far more successful at showing us why soldiers return to society as crazed wrecks. This is the only film I can think of that really gives us a gut-feel for what PTSD is all about. We see what happens to men when they're forced to abandon their humanity in order to simply 'get the job done.' Ultimately, even survival becomes a secondary consideration. By the end, we begin to understand - with massive irony - what a 'good soldier' truly is. What he *has* to be.
I wouldn't recommend Fury to everyone. The level of violence is gut-wrenching, partly in terms of visual gore, but even more strongly in terms of emotions. Things happen in this film that are truly beyond all reason, logic or morality. But that's exactly the point. Fury is a brutal, nasty movie, but it does give us at least a dim sense of war is *really* like. And therefore, what a heinous, unforgivable crime we commit when we allow wars to happen.