I agree with the other posters about seeing the movie for the drama and of course the tanks but don't look at it as a realistic depiction of combat tactics. The final scene with the SS battalion is, of course, the main example of "Hollywood" combat. The scene is inconsistent in that right after the German soldiers realize the tank is still "alive" an overhead shot shows the German column splitting in two - streaming out to either side of the tank. That would be a textbook application of a flanking attack - the best way to take out an immobile strong point.Yet in all the subsequent combat scenes the infantrymen are shown engaging the tank from a frontal angle only. So what happened to all the troopers who were streaming around the tank in the first few seconds?

There were other unrealistic depictions as well:

Sending 5 Sherman tanks - UNSUPPORTED BY INFANTRY - to take out a target behind enemy lines!

A column of German infantry marching straight down a road in broad daylight late in the war. Guess the US Army-Air Corps had that day off.

Neglect of environmental features for tactical use - both the tank crew and the Germans could have used the large house to the side of the road to their advantage in the final scene but it was ignored by both. The Americans could have detached one of their turret-mounted MGs and moved it to the house - that way they could have covered the road from two directions while the Germans could have used it as cover by moving behind it and then around the tank. But in the end it was an enjoyable movie and - like one of the previous posters said - worth seeing just for the tanks.

The difference for me with this movie,versus most previous war movies was that most previous movies had a few seconds or minutes of realistic,accurate stuff while "Fury" had a whole bunch of realistic,accurate stuff.
Yes,I also saw some cool back-lit vehicles in the opening scenes. PzIV,Panther,251,arty and even a limber!
Well worth the admission price.
J

Seen it twice already, taking my dad and grandpa to see it tomorrow I think. Jerry's right about it looking gritty and realistic the whole time- that was great. I thought a great, albeit gruesome addition was the panzerfaust ambush towards the beginning, I don't remember ever seeing a mainstream WWII movie actually using panzerfausts. In Band of Brothers I remember a 2 second clip where an SS grenadier was running with one among a group, but that's all. But I digress, the ambush scene really showed how nasty a hit by those could be. Was a jaw-dropper for me, as I had read about it countless times but seeing it play out, I muttered "wtf" to myself. It was horribly realistic, but that's what makes it great.

Everyone else nailed the potential fibs with the PaK scenes, the Tiger scene, and the Hollywood fight at the end. Even with that, my verdict is that this one is a must see, and one for the collection.

Also I liked the variation in US uniforms as well- hadn't seen much of that before. I even noticed the 2nd armored's camouflage here and there. German uniforms were just as well done, but ti would have been neat to get more of their perspective in the battles.

I liked it

-Conor

well i am planning on seeing it in a couple of days. Being an ex Army tanker as well as an historian i will try not to be too critical. Looking forward to the Tiger scene, thx for heads up on that one

Having just seen the movie, I must say that I'll see it again.

Seeing 'accurate' equipment, armor and uniforms made it all worth while for me, and the scene with the Tiger had me on the edge of my seat. Loved it (yes it was Hollywood).

That Tasca M4A3E8 in the stash will be coming out soon !!

Personally, I Loved "Fury" for it's relatively accurate depiction of life in a tank and the sheer amount of authentic WW2 equipment in it .Kudos also to the producer for including the "ugly" side of war as well as the moments of humanity shown by the tank crew towards the civilians in the captured German town .
Yes, some of the battle scenes may be a bit "over the top" in terms of dramatics, but I believe the aim of the script-writer was to showcase the utter confusion that can occur in a close-in combat situation and for that I say a big " Bravo "!
I myself was from an armoured unit during my active days in the armed forces so I know that what is depicted in the movie is pretty close to reality .
5 stars out of 5 and I will definitely watch it again, as well as get the DVD when it is released for sale . Cheers!
Kenneth.

Went to see the film yesterday with No 3 daughter (hey it has Brad in it!). She wasn't sure what it would be like but said afterwards that it was really good. I thought Mr Pitt was very good in it. My daughter said it was amusing to see Disney actors like Shia LaBoeuf rolling around in the mud!
Overall I think it worked. I can't comment on how realistic it was as I'm not a WW2 vet, but it impressed the hell out of me! Like everyone else, the Tiger sequence struck me as pretty realistic depiction. However that the Tiger was slow is an urban myth. Top speed on the road is about the same as a Sherman, around 30mph. But the turret does turn much slower than that of a Sherman.
I don't understand some of the comments about the last sequence, the final battle. The SS DID use the house as cover and to infiltrate, so the tank crew put two shells into it. You need to go watch it again! Also the SS officer said make the most of the Panzerfausts, that's all we have. Perhaps since this unit was intending to push on it was trying to conserve scarce resources? Also by this stage of the war, the "SS" would consist of kids and old men just like every other unit - the vets had mostly been lost on the Eastern front or frittered away in the Ardennes. I am minded of some reports from the Ardennes, where the judgement was made that German small unit tactics were amateurish in the attack, bunching too much and failing to make best use of the ground. This final scene reminded me a bit of "Sahara".
The Pakfront scene is possibly the most contentious, but the tank crews were briefed that A/T guns were present, even if they didn't know the precise location,so "fire and movement" was very much on the cards. Pretty difficult to track a moving target across a field. By contrast the Shermans didn't need a precise hit using HE, near was close enough.

my VFW Post sent seven or eight men to see the movie. One was a WWII vet right out of the Battle Of The Bulge. Another did about two months over there in a M26, and then went to Korea in an M26 (you've probably seen them interview him on Tank Battles) rest were from several eras. All kinda laughed at what they saw. The M26 guy said a column caught in the open like that would have been destroyed in five minutes or less. The two older guys said the Panzer Faust was iffy, and mostly used by reserves. Yet they had a deep fear of the Panzer Scheck. Three or four of these guys were extremely upset by the movie using the nickname "War Daddy"!!! The old guy said he knew Lafayette Pool on a first name basis, and was in tears. One guy was an Officer, and said he'd met Mr. Pool once. Was pretty upset as well.

Most of all Bob said that being in an M26 still made you fear a Tiger tank, and being in a Sherman usually meant you were going to be jello in the end. Plus a Pak 40 rarely missed at 300 yards.
gary

I saw the movie the first weekend. Thought it was good and fairly realistic. My big gripe was the SS commander gutting his unit to kill one disabled tank. He totally forgot his mission which was to get into the American rear and cause havoc. He should just have gone around the Sherman and not bothered to engage it. After all, he had no supplies or follow-on troops coming that a disabled tank could attack. Other than that it was enjoyable, a cut above the typical Hollywood war movie and geat eye candy.

Late bloomer ... I finally got to see 'Fury!'

As expected, the movie's subtitles were virtually impossible for me to keep up with since my vision is borderline blind and I am not at all fluent in Deutsch. Glad I waited until I could watch it in the comfort of my home where I could rewind at will and enjoy it with pizza and a couple of beers! I was entertained!

Happy New Year, fellow modelers!

—mike