The Hollywood dilemma: Heroes or reality

Rating: 9/10 (22 October 2014)

Fury raises more questions than it answers: Why does Wardaddy hate krauts so much, (and why can he speak German)? Is rape 'okay' in wartime? Did Americans kill prisoners? (When Wardaddy was testing his new crewman I thought the gun was not loaded.) Why did the US army use such lousy tanks? And the largest question: How and why can men who have been dehumanized (by our standards) by war find the courage to lay down their lives? Dramatizing these themes alone is reason to applaud Fury. Such realism has not been seen for decades: since 'The Victors', 'Attack', and 'Full Metal Jacket.' (Sorry, but Saving Private Ryan was straight out of Sgt. Rock comics). But these movies were not big box office successes. And Hollywood demands boffo box office or you don't get to make your movie. So I forgive Fury of its few Hollywoodish faults. War turns men into beasts, but do we need to see all the depravity of our heroes? The acting and the battle sequences are top-notch. Pitt could get an Oscar. (So Hollywood, me realizes) On a side note, my Russian wife and I just came home from the cinema. She wonders why Americans would fight in a foreign land. She understands why her countrymen fought. Her grandfather died at Kursk. I told her I probably would have fought Hitler, also, though I am safe in Canada. Issues to resolve later, bedtime now. I do hope Putin allows this film in Russia. He has been telling his subjects that we are Nazis and/or fascists.