"Anyone going to see Fury tonight?" Topic

Really looking forward to seeing this, previews look like it has great potential.

Not tonight but hoping to make it over the weekend.

When someone sees it, let us know the verdict …

Hopefully Saturday afternoon..

Want to see it soon, but we are baby-sitting a 3 month old all weekend

Just as soon as I get off work!!!

I'll watch it the next time I get a "bachelor" day when it comes out on DVD.

But of course!

I just got back from seeing it. Yes it is intense with the horrors of war but after all that is what war is about. And yes Brad Pitt was the new John Wayne in stopping the Germans. I liked seeing that Tiger I and the other vehicles such as the 251/1 Ausf. D half tracks along with the Sherman's. Overall I enjoyed it.

Planning on it

Saw it this morning. Disappointing. Didn't feel much for the characters or story. Usual cliches. Nice vehicles though.

Will add more once the "Seen" thread starts.

Saw the first showing. Good solid war movie. Watch it and enjoy it.

Weird…it's getting rave reviews and highly recommended on all the tanker veteran websites I've checked, guys that watched it last night and today. But comments on various gaming sites from civilians over the last few months (most that haven't even watched yet) are almost always overly negative.

I guess it's a case of what one wants to "see"? If one wants to see exacting detail in vehicles and equipment for example, to match what is in their expensive stack of books, and that exacting detail is lacking then the comments will probably be negative.

If one wants to see the interior turret scenes, the crew commands, the crew interaction (things the civilians have absolutely no clue about, that isn't in books). That kind of stuff, the true tank crew stuff the veterans reminisce about, done so well is probably why the veteran community is giving very positive comments.

What one wants to "see".

Saw it last night! Great movie that I really enjoyed!

Seems like a fair assessment. I've noticed that too. It's just a strange phenomena, that the guys who were there like it, yet the there's a segment who were not there refuse to see it or are overly negative because it is not perceived as realistic.

How did it end?

I'm so jaded from Hollywood losers that I really don't want to give them my money anymore period. Even if the movie turned out to be decent for a change. I saw one review that gave the plot a 9 or 10 for the first 3/4 and a 4 for the last 1/4, although overall he said the story and acting were pretty good.

Interesting that the guys who were there liked it. I've talked to WWII vets who said the first 15 minutes of Private Ryan was just hokey, and similarly WWII submariners who said Das Boot was a joke.

Wife and I saw "Fury" today. Gritty, graphic blood and gore, shows the dehumanization of war, intense combat scenes, cold bloodedness, exhausting. War is not a sport. Reminded me a lot of "Saving Private Ryan". A few hardened combat vets with the new guy who is the clerk/typist and his becoming a soldier/killer. Plus,the Last Stand against overwhelming odds at the end. I didn't like Sergeant 'Wardaddy' as much as I did Captain Miller. No message in "Fury" that I picked up as in "Saving Private Ryan" where the dying Captain Miller tells Private Ryan to "Earn this. Earn it".

I thought it was a very good war movie. Almost to the level of "Saving Private Ryan".

"Best job I ever Had"

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Very intense as others have noted. Definitely not a 'date' movie. The acting was very good; and the plot, while derivative in a few particulars, was still very good.

What I didn't get about "Fury". The last stand is an immobilized lone tank with a blown tread against a battalion of SS infantry with panzerfausts. It's my understanding that tanks have a lot of blind spots and need infantry support to protect the tanks against enemy infantry. The Germans could have easily just gone around this lone tank and continued on with their mission, but instead they continued to attack, not knowing how to take out this single immobilized tank, ineptly getting many of themselves killed.

Since we're being open about the movie now… [SPOILER ALERT!] I didn't like all the graphic gore. Yes, war is hell, but does every kill have to be a head blown off? I'm exaggerating, but it seemed forced. And every "vignette" had to end in tragedy so Norman would toughen up. What killed the movie for me was the last stand battle. Like John Tyson says, when we see the German troops marching toward the crossroad, practically every 8th guy has a panzerfaust. Really! Where were they during the battle? We had to wait until mid-way through before someone brings up a crate of panzerfausts with the officer saying that's all they have. What? Then at the end, German soldiers walk past the tank and once again, they're carrying lots of panzerfausts! And why didn't they surround the tank with their hundreds of troops (and panzerfausts)? How can they let Brad Pitt stand outside the tank for so long firing the machine gun? The obligatory "I'm scared. I'm scared, too." lines. C'mon. And to cap it off, an enemy that lets Norman live. Blech! However, the tanks were great. Other battle scenes great. Crew interaction great. Interior tank scenes great. That's my 2 cents.

The Germans could have easily just gone around this lone tank and continued on with their mission

I got that from the previews. Where do you find 300 Germans that aren't fresh faced boys the last month of the war? Why did they need a cross-roads? They had nothing to cross.

Maybe the answer was that the Russians were only a mile behind them and they had to find the American lines to surrender.

SPOILER Alert – I do agree that final battle scene was either far fetched or the Waffen SS highly inept in trying to take out a disabled tank. As far as the gore and cliché here and there, it's expected in a war movie. Norman saying he was "scared" was appropriate for the situation. As a viewer, I had the same feeling at that moment for those guys, being trapped in a tank, out of ammo and Waffen SS crawling up the sides. The German letting Norman live was plausible. Every now and then I come across stories like that, even with fighter pilots. Battle scenes were very well done.

'Fury' isn't any gorier than the more "recent" war movies like 'Blackhawk Down,' 'Lone Survivor' or SPR for that matter.

Yes, the lack of panzerfausts in the last scene is perplexing, and there are other 'problems' in the movie also, but I still enjoyed it and gave it a 'thumbs up':

link

Good movie!

I also wondered about the horde of panzerfausts with the marching troops then the panzerfausts suddenly vanish when they encounter the tank. Much later after throwing several Waffen SS human wave attacks against the tank an officer brings out a crate with a few panzerfausts in it. The massive incompetence was comparable to a Japanese Banzai attack.

I will say I liked the other combat scenes a great deal especially how you could look at a town or a wood line and see nothing until the defenders started shooting.

This has been bugging me since I saw the movie. Isn't there a way to lock a tanks hatches from the inside?

Tom Reed:
There was on the tanks I trained on

I think they left the hatches "unlocked" because if a German had tried to open a hatch on the "abandoned" tank and it was locked it would have given the deception away….before the crew shot him in the face.

A review I read said it was a good example of the "B" war movies that were popular in the late '40s and early '50s (which I grew up watching), only 60 years late: the obligatory wear-weary veteran and naïve young replacement; ordinary guys who turn into heroes in spite of themselves. Better special effects, of course, and gorier.

It reminds me that I saw a movie back in those days, when I was a kid, about a tank crew that kept losing their tanks and complaining about how their tanks were inferior to the Germans until they finally got what I assume was a Pershing near the end of the war. Oddly enough, I've never seen that movie again, and I'm wondering if it was the criticism of US tanks that kept it from being shown on TV. Anyone know what its title is/was? Is it available on DVD/tape?

This movie?
m.imdb.com/title/tt0044106

I liked it.

To hell with the plot and the "message"!

What types of Shermans did they have and were they accurate?!

And how about the other AFV's?

Fury is an Easy Eight, I believe. Two looked to be M4A1(75)s. The last looked to be an M4A1(76).

The US platoon was 2 M4 with 75mm and 2 M4e8 (as far as I could tell- they were covered in "stuff"). The Germans had the Bovington Tiger (that scene alone is worth the ticket price) and
A hanomag. Vehicles seen but not in action: M8 scoutcars, schwimwagen, desyroyed P4s and panthers, US halftracks.
The only thing that looked off to me was one of the German trucks seemed like it was too modern but I am no expert (and it was blown up real fast anyway!)
Apparantly all the vehicles were real. No CGI.

Yes! That certainly looks to be the movie I remember. Thanks!

'The Tanks are Coming,' seriously? And look at the smile on that guy. What is this, a Hallmark family film?

There was another unbelievable story of a man holding off a bunch of German infantry and tanks with a .50 cal on the back of a disabled tank destroyer. He personally killed or wounded dozens of Germans. Rather amazing feat of arms.

This Citation was awarded to Audie Murphy for "Conspicuous Gallantry and Intrepidity Involving Risk of Life Above and Beyond the Call of Duty In Action With the Enemy", 26 January 1945.
The citation reads:
2d Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, which was attacked by 6 tanks and waves of infantry. 2d Lt. Murphy ordered his men to withdraw to prepared positions in a woods, while he remained forward at his command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery by telephone. Behind him, to his right, 1 of our tank destroyers received a direct hit and began to burn. Its crew withdrew to the woods. 2d Lt. Murphy continued to direct artillery fire which killed large numbers of the advancing enemy infantry. With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, 2d Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer, which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machine gun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German fire from 3 sides, but his deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver. The enemy tanks, losing infantry support, began to fall back. For an hour the Germans tried every available weapon to eliminate 2d Lt. Murphy, but he continued to hold his position and wiped out a squad which was trying to creep up unnoticed on his right flank. Germans reached as close as 10 yards, only to be mowed down by his fire. He received a leg wound, but ignored it and continued the single-handed fight until his ammunition was exhausted. He then made his way to his company, refused medical attention, and organized the company in a counterattack which forced the Germans to withdraw. His directing of artillery fire wiped out many of the enemy; he killed or wounded about 50. 2d Lt. Murphy's indomitable courage and his refusal to give an inch of ground saved his company from possible encirclement and destruction, and enabled it to hold the woods which had been the enemy's objective.

Audie Murphy was not totally surrounded by a 100 guys, every 5th guy with a panzerfaust… He also didn't let the Germans crawl on top of his tank before he opened fire, he engaged the enemy at a distance

Been burned too many times. I'll await the reviews and when it comes on television.

Wingleader – yeah, I think they should have opened up with everything they had while they were in road column
Of course _ h-wood like dirty tricks.

I wasn't very impressed by the German PAK40 's who managed to miss four Shermans at about 200m range crossing an open field and yet the Shermans managed to take them out despite being hidden in trees and by firing at them whilst moving.

I sort of enjoyed it but it had more holes than a swiss cheese.

Reluctantly went to see it, my sons mate (as theyve been playing world of tanks a lot recently) really wanted to go then he pulled out, but we went anyway.

I had low expectations, so not surprisingly it was better than I thought it would be.

Yeah, a lot to critise but i'm just going to talk about what i thought are the positives. SPR showed the violence of war in a new way, harrowing. I thought Fury, in the early scenes, showed the grim depressing nature of war in way not seen in films before. The war was nearly one, the Nazis clearly facing defeat but the killing went on. The allies had to carry on killing or be killed, no glory just a depressing, sickening chore.

All the tank crew characters were tired, jaded and in different ways you felt their fear. In most war films soldiers appear to readily go to their deaths, you rarely get that sense that they just dont want to die, they dont want to be there. You felt that here, with the youthful platoon commander putting on a brave face, each of the tank commanders facing a Tiger, of couse the new hull gunner as he freaks out.

The claustophobia and stess was also portrayed, strugging to aquire targets, to load quickly, all the time the enemy could stike first. A lot of films portray the horror of war, but some how you still identify with the hero, its usually horrible for everyone else but here, through no matter who's eyes you looked it was horrorful for you.

The weakest part was the ending, they just could have made the defence of the cross roads just that bit more believable, tactically.

Saw it, liked it. Wife liked it too (she's a treasure!). I thought the brutality of the GI's was a little OTT (where were all the officers and SNCO's?)and rampant crossdressing on the front line looked silly. It was as if the production team got hold of a warehouse full of authentic WWII uniforms and threw them out randomly at the cast.

Yes, it's an anti war message, we get that, but making every other scene look like Apocalypse Now or Platoon really isn't necessary to drive it home. Violence and thuggery for it's own sake. I felt slightly embarrassed for the elderly man in front of us who got up and walked out – maybe he was a WWII veteran.

The special effects and the acting were superb though and IMHO were what saved the movie. The ending could have been more believable if the heroes had engaged the enemy at long range in daylight, laying down enough firepower to keep them at bay.

Not all SS were supermen or even well trained veterans – some units performed very poorly indeed. The last stand seems a lot more plausible when you consider not only Audie Murphy's heroics but the unknown KV 2 crew at Raisenai on 23rd/24th June 1941. They held off the advance guard of the 6th panzer division for a full day!

link

Saw it last night and came away niggled by the holes already mentioned. Thinking about it know though I think it was pretty good – but It's pretty amazing realy that it's taken so long for a half decent film to be made about such an important aspect of ww2.

One thing though – weren't they all a bit old? Apart from Norman, that is.

Most of what struck me has been mentioned above – it's very Hollywood, and the tactics displayed rarely make sense, but the kit was very, very nice.

The thing that really got to me was when they were fighting the Tiger and suddenly they switch to an overhead view for when they knock it out. I suddenly felt I was watching someone playing "World of Tanks." It was very jarring.

Overall, pretty good really. Most war movies are cliche-ridden and this one is no exception, but well worthwhile for the tanks and other props. OTH, my wife now wants a tiger (or two) to supplement her P.IVs before we get the Bolt Action tank-battle rules. Can't think why.

As to the age of the actors, It is always hard, when you look at actual photos and footage from the time, young men look much older that they actually are because of what they have been through.
Casting someone in their early mid 20's would look too young.

As Indie says, it's not the years, it's the mileage…