Fury isn’t the best war drama around, not even in the top 5, but it’s still well made and features a great cast, with Brad Pitt delivering a fine performance (one of his best in some time), that elevates the writing while Ayer’s direction keeps the pacing just right. The Blu-ray released by Sony has excellent video/audio transfers while the bonus material is quasi in-depth with 50+ minutes of deleted/extended scenes.
Fury
(2014)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Action, War
Sony | R – 135 min. – $34.99 | January 27, 2015
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: David Ayer Writer(s): David Ayer (written by) Cast: Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena, Jon Bernthal, Jason Isaacs, Scott Eastwood DISC INFO: Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), French (DTS-HD MA 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1) |
THE MOVIE – 4.0/5
As a director, David Ayer is becoming somewhat of a name with his violence-riddled exploitation films from cop-dramas Harsh Times, Street Kings (neither of which I cared for) and End of Watch (which was pretty good) to Sabotage (had its moments but far too frenetic for my taste) and now his WWII opus, Fury, a film with high hopes that doesn’t quite reach its potential and yet still manages to impress at the end primarily for the acting than anything else.
Fury opens in April 1945, a Sherman tank commanded by Don ‘Wardaddy’ Collier (BRAD PITT) takes heavy fire from the German Nazis as the five-man crew fights behind enemy lines. Sustaining some damage, the tank returns to base for their next mission. The remaining crew includes Boyd ‘Bible’ Swan (SHIA LABEOF), Grady ‘Coon-Ass’ Travis (JON BERNTHAL) and Trini ‘Gordo’ Garcia (MICHAEL PENA) and recently assigned to replace a fallen comrade is Norman Ellison (LOGAN LERMAN), 8-months a soldier and originally trained as a clerk with no combat experience let alone ever having been inside a tank for that matter.
The crew travel through war zone German taking out targets and being targeted by mightier German tanks. With other units sustaining casualties, Don and his crew take on German soldiers and along the way, Norman grows up fast. During their travels, their tank is damaged nearly beyond repair and a German platoon marching toward their location where upon they must hunker down and defend: it’s five against 200+.
As a war drama, Fury is well made under Ayer’s direction. The writing, however, isn’t the strongest (and he did benefit from Denzel Washington’s performance in Training Day) but with a talented cast headed by Brad Pitt, who is a bit older than what a person in his position would’ve been back then, provides the right weight; Shia LaBeouf, as a appalling person that he may be, does give a solid performance in a thinly written role; Jon Bernthal once again is fantastic; and Logan Lerman was perfectly cast as a green soldier. Jason Isaacs also has a woefully brief appearance as a commanding officer.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.5/5
This release comes with a cardboard textured slip cover. Inside is a redemption code of the Digital Copy.
Deleted Scenes (56:13; HD) – We get 16 extended/deleted scenes which provide a bit more background for the characters and a bit more plot but not sure anything especially missed. If there were a commentary, I suspect it was about pacing and keeping the running time, which was already 2 hours and 15 minutes, would’ve taken the movie to nearly 3 hours. ** Blu-ray Exclusive **
Blood Brothers (11:08; HD) featurette looks at the cast and the unity they shared working on the film and included learning from WWII vets.
Director’s Combat Journal (17:31; HD) provides behind-the-scenes footage with David Ayer looking at his directing style and process. ** Blu-ray Exclusive **
Armored Warriors: The Real Men Inside the Sherman (12:11; HD) – We get interviews with WWII veterans who had experience inside the Sherman tank. ** Blu-ray Exclusive **
Taming the Beasts (12:48; HD) provides insight into the cast learning how to drive the tank.
Photo Gallery with pictures of the production including the cast and crew.
VIDEO – 4.75/5
Sony Pictures unleashes Fury onto Blu-ray presented with a 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. Not overly surprising, but the picture does provide excellent and sharp detail levels throughout while also keeping the dreary and gray tone of the wartime era, so there’s not a whole lot pop of colors save for a scene or two (such as the lunch scene). There were no obvious signs of artifacts, pixilation or aliasing making for a clean transfer.
AUDIO – 4.5/5
The disc boasts a strong DTS-HD Master 5.1 track making the most out of the war-action sequences but also is good with the more subtle, dialogue driven moments as well, which is nice and clear. There’s a special boost with mortar fire, tank rumbling and impact explosions which gives it good depth with the LFE kicking in for that extra oomph.
OVERALL – 4.0/5
Overall, Fury isn’t the best war drama around, not even in the top 5, but it’s still well made and features a great cast, with Brad Pitt delivering a fine performance (one of his best in some time), that elevates the writing while Ayer’s direction keeps the pacing just right. The Blu-ray released by Sony has excellent video/audio transfers while the bonus material is quasi in-depth with 50+ minutes of deleted/extended scenes.
Brian Oliver, The Movieman
Published: 02/01/2015
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.
