2 days ago
53 min
Fury (2014)
This week we are reviewing Fury, the 2014 World War II combat film written and directed by David Ayer — the man behind Training Day and End of Watch — starring Brad Pitt as the battle-hardened tank commander Don "Wardaddy" Collier, alongside Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena and Jon Bernthal. April 1945. Five men. One Sherman tank. Three hundred SS soldiers at the crossroads. This is not a film about glory. It is a film about what war costs.
Before the film, the Scotsman wants gravitas. The Aussie does a wrestling announcement. Then two customer service stories — one so infuriating it nearly ends in a formal complaint, one so good it nearly ends in a marriage proposal to a man called John. You will know which is which within ten seconds.
On the film itself — the Scotsman loved it. The Aussie did not. "It's Saving Private Ryan in a tank," says the Scotsman. "That's an insult to Saving Private Ryan," says the Aussie. And from there it only escalates.
The Aussie thinks the glowing bullets look like Star Wars. The Scotsman informs him, with barely concealed fury, that tracer bullets are real, have existed for over a century, and are common knowledge to anyone with even a passing interest in military history. The Aussie had no idea. He is not quite embarrassed enough to back down.
The dinner scene in the bombed German apartment divides them completely. The Aussie calls it a rushed love story. The Scotsman calls it the most human moment in the film. Neither will concede. The argument about whether Brad Pitt was a good leader or a man who walked five people into a suicide mission goes for longer than it should and gets genuinely heated.
The one thing they agree on — and they do agree, eventually, reluctantly — is Pitt standing on top of the tank, absorbing fourteen thousand bullets, holding a conversation, while three hundred SS soldiers politely queue directly in front of him and apparently nobody thinks to go around the back. Even the Scotsman calls it. "Hollywood stupid." Coming from the man defending the film, that is saying something.
Jon Bernthal is singled out as the standout performance. Shia LaBeouf gets credit where credit is due, and the Aussie admits the casting was not the problem — it was everything else. The bond between the crew, the claustrophobia of the tank, the way the film makes you feel the weight of what these men are carrying — all of it lands. The ending, however, does not. At least not for the Aussie.
Rohan Reminisces goes deep into 2014 — and this week it is actually worth listening to. Real emotion, some genuinely shocking moments, and one answer from the Scotsman so wrong it causes actual pain. Trivia closes the episode and it is one of the best of the year. Do not skip the end.
Ratings: 3.4 from the Aussie, 4 out of 5 from the Scotsman. The Aussie picks next. The Scotsman is already worried.
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