Bound
by a shared destiny, a bright, optimistic teen bursting with scientific
curiosity and a former boy-genius inventor jaded by disillusionment
embark on a danger-filled mission to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic
place somewhere in time and space that exists in their collective
memory as "Tomorrowland."
During
a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a
fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and
finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager
supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist
and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.
mars, nasa, isolation, botanist, based on novel, stranded, space, engineering, survival, mars the planet, astronaut, science, space ship, deep space explorer, battle for survival
Last
months of World War II in April 1945. As the Allies make their final
push in the European Theater, a battle-hardened U.S. Army sergeant in
the 2nd Armored Division named Wardaddy commands a Sherman tank called
"Fury" and its five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines.
Outnumbered and outgunned, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds
in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.
People
seem to think that war films are pretty hot right now, but they aren't.
Having my ear so close to cinema I know for sure that there is always
one or two war films floating around in the projection booths, but
people are making somewhat of a big deal out of Fury, so I suppose the
reel question is will this be a Flag For Our Fathers or will it make us
wish for Apocalypse Now?
So lets get this out of the way now. Fury
isn't as good as Saving Private Ryan, but then I don't think it ever
meant to be, comparing the two movies is like saying that Saun Of The
Dead isn't as good as The Book Of Eli, just because both films has
similarities (in as much as they are set at the end of the world)
doesn't mean they are anything alike. These are two films that are near
logger heads with each other.
You see Fury is contained, and given
an almost claustrophobic feel to it, the entire film is either inside
or at close proximity of the tank that Collier commands. This gives the
movie a focus, and a focal point. We are never given a rest from the
tank and it's enforcing nature, we are given no repreave from it, just
like the men themselves, we are trapped in a steel giant that is only
purpose is to kill people.
To say that Fury is bloodthirsty would
be an understatement, actually that's not fair for me to say. Fury
doesn't enjoy itself in gore, it only tries to give us an accurate
portrayal of what it must have been like for those brave men and women
who faced death on a daily basis.
That's what David Ayer does
really well, he controls his audience. In the opening scene we are shown
Collier (Brad Pitt) ambushing and attacking a German officer, it is
crude and desperate and over quickly but we can tell even then that is a
man who cannot cope with the horrors he has had to endure.
Looking
back there are so many moments in Fury that stand out as impressive.
There is a single second where Collier shows his true emotions and it is
incredible to view. Collier is a man who is forced to be a hero, he
never chooses it, he wants only to survive this war.
Any war film
can be impressive in it's action sequences, anyone can make loud noises
and explosions and fighting, but if a war film can still shock and grip
and captivate you in the slower periods, in the silences, that's when
you know for sure you have an outstanding movie, and that is what
happens with Fury.
Like all war movies, Fury ultimately builds to a
climatic finale and truly I think it's one of the best I've ever seen,
not because of the action or it's quality of visuals but because we have
invested too much into the characters we have seen on screen.
The
film of course would be nothing without the men inside the tank, those
being Brad Pitt (who helms the best), Shia LaBouf, Logan Lerman, Michael
Pena and Jon Bernthal. With these men there is no star, or main
character, outside the tank the two leads are Logan Lerman (Who plays
the new recruit) and Brad Pitt, however once we are inside the tank all
men are equals, and dare I say it, but Shai LaBouf is actually quite
good in his role. It's also always nice to see Jason Issacs on screen
(hello to you).
Fury is a poignant and painful reminder of how
much war can take from each of us, it is a film that never wants us to
relax and we never do. Gory and gripping, Fury deserves a high spot in
the history of war movies.
