YOU review FURY – A sleeper hit worth seeing

What an evening! Sadly to say not a brilliant one for our readers up in Johannesburg as Ek’sdom ESKOM’s rolling blackouts decided to hit our pre-screening of the rather awesome Fury that left the cinema darker than the shelled-out remains of a Panzer. We’ll try and make it up to you, promise! However, we did manage to get the screening of Fury up and running (also after a few glitches) in Cape Town and the response has been an overwhelming BRILLIANT from all of you. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and intend on watching it again, a sentiment shared by many of you too.

Before we get to your thoughts of the movie let’s have a quick recap of what it’s about:

In April 1945, the Allies are making their final push in the European theater. A battle-hardened Army sergeant named Don “Wardaddy” Collier (Brad Pitt), leading a Sherman tank and a five-man crew, undertakes a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Hopelessly outnumbered, outgunned and saddled with an inexperienced soldier (Logan Lerman) in their midst, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds as they move to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.

I suppose we can use the so-called benchmark set by Spielberg’s award winning 1998 Saving Private Ryan to give an indication of how ‘real’ Fury feels and I can tell you that writer/director David Ayer not only equals Spielberg’s gritty depiction of war but surpasses him in creating characters with depth. In fact in order to help prepare the star-studded cast for filming Ayer had them sent to boot camp where the Navy seals grilled them. Brad Pitt, who brilliantly plays the battle-hardened “Wardaddy”, said the training was “set up to break us down, to keep us cold, to keep us exhausted, to make us miserable, to keep us wet, make us eat cold food. And if our stuff wasn’t together we had to pay for it with physical forfeits. We’re up at five in the morning, we’re doing night watches on the hour.” Ouch. And not one nod from the Oscars, for shame! The main cast also had to live in a tank together, where they not only ate and slept, but even went to the loo. So much for star treatment. Then again working with a director who describes himself as “ruthless” this is to be expected.

Nick’s very short review (this is already a long article and Kervyn has a fantastic review you can read here!)

Fury is one of the better war movies out there. Ayer manages to bring the realities of how war is anything but glorious to every scene he shoots. From epic tank battles where your heart is leaping out your mouth to equally as tense moments where the crew ‘enjoy’ dinner with two German women, Ayer doesn’t lose your attention for a second. The performances are brilliant. Pitt acts at his best as a man broken but holding it together for his crew. Michael Peña (End of Watch) and Jon Bernthal (Wolf of Wall Street) are fantastic and their on-screen friendship is palpable. Shia LaBeouf also puts in a harrowing and emotional performance that will have you forgive him his offset antics. But for me it’s the performance of young Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief), who portrays Norman – a green rookie who doesn’t want anything to do with killing – that stands out. His transition from wet-behind-the-ears rookie to warrior feels real and not forced on us. Lerman really offers the audience a portal into a world that very few of us today have, or will ever have to, experience. Also the music score by Steven Price is as epic as any Hans Zimmer movie.

The only thing that let the movie down for me was the last act. It came across as a little too American action genre for my liking but this was overshadowed by performances that will have you revisit the movie days after seeing it.

Well that’s my penny’s worth, what do you have to say?!

An absolute 5 out of 5 from me!  I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be paying money to go watch it again when it releases this weekend.  It’s engrossing, absorbing and utterly gripping.  From the directing and cinematography to the acting, it really is a movie that deserves to be acknowledged as what it is – a movie masterpiece!  And to have the “dinner scene” about midway through the movie contain as much tension as any of the tank battles says a lot about the quality of the performances and script.  Can’t recommend this movie enough – go and see it! – Jonathan Schutte 5/5

World War movies always make me sad about humanity, thinking that you would kill millions of people just for a piece of land and power, that’s so depressing. Well, this movie is the worst… no, wait… what? I mean it’s so real and emotional that I still think about these soldiers and their tank three days after I saw it. Seriously Fury was very intense and emotional. I would give it a 4, just because I hate war movies.  – Stephanie Jones – 4/5

We thoroughly enjoyed the movie it was really well worth the watch and would recommend to anyone considering it, would give it a 4/5 for reasons (spoilery so redacted!) – Kean Malcolmson 4.5/5

This was a movie that I have been very excited to watch since first seeing the trailer last year and it did not disappoint. I thought the characters were solid and there were some good performances from the leading cast. Aside from the brief “it ain’t no fun if the homies can’t get none” attempts, (what happens in Germany I suppose) there was plenty of action to keep you on edge and also a decent build-up to form a connection with the characters. I thought Shia LeBeouf was great in this movie. As far as old war movies go this is one of my favourites. – Alwynne Baatjies 4/5

Fury is a graphic and violent story with focus. From the start to the end credits you are taken on a journey with these five souls. Your view of these events is first hand and intimate. There are very few scenes where one of the crew or the Fury itself is not present. This really anchors you in the story. Brilliant seamless acting. Stunning visuals and a great score. The writing is also quite special, there are no inconsistencies that I could pick up. This resulted in a great sense of immersion.  Francios Campbell 5/5

I thought Fury would be another “pound-your-chest in patriotism” American war flick. What I got was a tale about scars that war leaves on the human soul. The five souls in the tank were continually scrambling for pieces of normality wherever they could find it, be it eggs, a bible quote, a kiss or in the commander’s case: his tank. Fury exposes the horrors of war and how it’s victims cope with it and for that reason I will give it a – David Fourie 5/5

Fury was mind blowing. All the good parts of Saving Private Ryan with killer performances from the leads plus a phenomenal soundtrack. Christo Kruger 5/5

When the scene opened with 1945 it all became very “nostalgic” for me. My dad was 13 then,  I remember the stories he had told me – my college boyfriend’s mom was a child in Germany during this time and I can recall word for word what she had told me. It all became very real. The movie was incredible – everything seemed authentic and of the correct era. To me this is the best kind of movie – the kind that’s not over when you leave the cinema.  Melissa De Villiers 5/5

Some great feedback there and I hope you all tell your friends about it (yes, that’s why you get to see it before others, word of mouth advertising, now dance puppets!)

Thanks to everyone who came and made the evening something special. We will let you know soon about more competitions but if you want to be on the ball before others keep an eye out on our twitter feed and on our Facebook page!

Once again thanks to Times Media Films for this fantastic opportunity!

Last Updated: January 4, 2017