Those last bitter days

Rating: 8/10 (28 December 2014)

Fury has Brad Pitt starring as a battle hardened tank commander in those last days before VE Day. Russians to the east, Americans, British, Canadians and assorted other allies invading the Third Reich that was supposed to last for a thousand years. These were the last bitter days of the war when what was on the west were kids and die-hard S.S. troops.
While the Russians were facing a desperate resistance from the German Army because Germans in general knew what to expect from the avenging Russian bear, the western front had everyone surrendering or trying to cut deals for themselves. Not so the S.S. troops, Hitler's elite. And those we kill.
In those last days Pitt gets a new replacement, a clerk typist suddenly drafted into the tank corps. It was Logan Lerman's misfortune to miss the end of the war in Europe by only a few weeks. He has a really bad time of it with Pitt and his crew, but eventually gets into the savage spirit of impatience for these men who just want these people to surrender and get it over.
In the end Pitt gets what could be a last stand mission, hold a vital checkpoint crossroads to prevent a Nazi counterattack.
Pitt and his soldiers are not from Hollywood World War II era films. They are a savage crew. But heroism sometimes can just be a case of\ opportunity.
There might be an Oscar in the offing for Pitt and Lerman. Both are incredibly good and incredibly dynamic. The battle special effects are first rate. It's one unvarnished view of World War 2's final days.