Fury

2014

Character: Don ‘Wardaddy’ Collier
Release Date: 15 October, 2014
Directed By: David Ayer
Written By: David Ayer
Genre: Action/Drama/War
Tagline: War never ends quietly
MPAA Rating: Rated R
Produced by: Columbia Pictures, QED International, LStar Capital, Grisbi Productions, Le Crave Films, Huayi Brothers Media
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Budget: $68.000.000 (estimated)
Filming Dates: September 2013

Cast:
…Brad Pitt…Don ‘Wardaddy’ Collier
…Shia LaBeouf…Boyd ‘Bible’ Swan
…Logan Lerman…Norman Ellison
…Michael Pena…Trini ‘Gordo’ Garcia
…Jon Bernthal…Grady ‘Coon-Ass’ Travis
…Jim Parrack…Sergeant Binkowski
…Brad William Henke…Sergeant Davis

Filming Locations:
London, England, UK
Watlington, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Oxfordshire, England, UK (army camp)
Los Angeles, California, USA
Bovingdon Airfield, Bovingdon, Hertfordshire, England, UK (On location)

Synopsis:
April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy commands a Sherman tank and his five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Out-numbered, out-gunned, and with a rookie soldier thrust into their platoon, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany..

Trivia & Facts:
• Fury marks the first time a genuine Tiger I tank has been used in the production of a WWII film. Fury features “Tiger 131” from the UK’s Bovington Tank Museum, the only fully functioning Tiger tank in the world.
• Many of the outfits in the film were based on real exhibits acquired from museums around the world.
• Shia LaBeouf reportedly pulled out his own tooth and did not shower during filming.
• The cast underwent a rigorous month long course of boot camp, in which the final test was manning a real tank during a combat exercise. Despite being considerably older than his cast mates, Brad Pitt made sure that he participated in all of the physical training alongside the other actors.
• At age 50, Brad Pitt is much older than the average noncommissioned officer in WWII, who would likely be in his early to mid 20s. Considering his age, choice of sidearm, and long service record mentioned in the film, it’s entirely possible that his character is also a WWI veteran. This may explain why his character knew the German Language before WW II started as stating in the beginning of the movie.
• Brad Pitt’s and Jon Berthal’s haircuts in the film weren’t formal haircuts for soldiers in the World War II-era. But, tampered looks like theirs were popular among soldiers with a lot of combat experience, who most likely did it themselves.
• The musical piece played by Norman on the piano and sung by Emma is called,”Virgin Slumber Song.”
• During filming, Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf almost got in a real fight with Scott Eastwood while the cameras were rolling. Eastwood, riding on the back, kept spitting tobacco juice on the tank. Pitt and LaBeouf felt this was disrespectful to their “home”, and exchanged words with Eastwood. Things grew pretty heated until Pitt and LaBeouf found out the script actually called for Eastwood’s character to spit his tobacco juice on the tank.
• It has been reported that Shia LaBoeuf became a Christian while filming ‘Fury’. LaBoeuf’s actual words were, “I found God during Fury. I became a Christian man, and not in a f___ing bulls__t way – in a very real way. I could have just said the prayers that were on the page, but […] it’s a full-blown exchange of heart, a surrender of control.” He commented that talking with Brad Pitt, who grew up in a conservative Christian home but rejected Christianity, and with David Ayers, the Christian director of ‘Fury’, helped crystallise his thinking.
• Fury is about the U.S. 2nd Armored division. The 2nd Armored is also known as “Hell on Wheels”.
• Writer and director David Ayer had the actors fight each other on set before shooting scenes to tighten their bond.
• The song the SS troops are singing while they march to attack the crossroads is a actual SS march song entitled Marschiert in Feindesland.
• The cut Bible has on his face is real. Shia Labeouf self inflicted it each time it was necessary to add another layer of realism to his performance.
• Two brands of cigarettes are used in this movie, Lucky Strike and Camel. If someone was required to be seen smoking during a scene, they could either choose a herbal version or a real cigarette with the filter removed. The herbal cigarettes burnt away after approx 1 minute. The cigar being smoked by the Infantry Battalion Doctor during surgery is a genuine Cuban, as were all other cigars.
• The Assault Rifle carried by Brad Pitt is a German made Sturmgewehr 44 also known as a StG 44.
• The Main Shermans used in Fury were : Fury M4A2 76mm HVSS from Bovington Tank Museum, M4A2 75mm VVSS from Tay Restorations, M4A2 76mm HVSS from Jeep Sud Est, M4A4 75MM VVSS from Adrian Barrell, M4A1 76mm VVSS.
• In one scene you can clearly see Shia LaBeouf smoking an American Spirit cigarette due to its distinct logo printed on the paper.
• Use of the term 86, certainly in a military movie, would be a reference to Article 86 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Absent without leave…i.e, he’s 86, meaning not present. In this case, the radio was out, and unavailable as it should have been.
• Wardaddy’s pistol is a Smith & Wesson M1917, issued primarily in WWI to supplement the standard issue Colt M1911, which was in short supply. They were also issued on a limited basis to second-line and non-deployed troops during WWII.
• This is not the first time Jon Bernthal has played a character in a WWII setting. He portrayed Marine Sergeant Manny Rodriguez in the award-winning HBO miniseries “The Pacific”.
• Michael Peña plays “Gordo”. Gordo means “fat” in Spanish.
• Despite this film being about Nazi oppression, the producers used security men with Rottweiler dogs to intimidate members of the public into not taking photographs of filming from perfectly legal public footpaths.
• This is the third WWII movie Brad Pitt has been in. The others are Inglorious Basterds and Seven Years in Tibet.
• In a pivotal scene a character recites John 2:16 to Shia LeBeouf’s Character (Boyd Swan): For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. This same passage was used in Lawless, in a poignant scene for Shia LeBeouf’s character in that movie.
• The Sherman tanks seen in this movie were considered the weakest of tanks at that time period. However, the L55 M1A2 76mm gun mounted on Fury was capable of penetrating the front armor of the Tiger tank at ranges up to 700 meters, further if HVAP ammo was used. Also, since the side armor of a Tiger is actually thinner (60mm vs 80mm) than the rear armor, an experienced tank commander would fire at the side armor of the Tiger, given the chance.
• The weapon wardaddy referred to as a “grease gun” in the final battle scene was a M3 submachine gun.
• In late 2014, Sony Pictures was the victim of a major hack of their computer systems in which confidential corporate information and several unreleased complete movies were posted for public consumption. Among reams of other information, DVD-quality download of this movie appeared online; only two months after its cinematic release.
• When asking Norman where he is from on his acquaintance with the Fury crew, Norman attempts to say Pittsburgh, but is stopped short by Travis. Logan Lerman was previously in “Perks of Being a Wallflower,” filmed in Pittsburgh.
• In a opening scene, a superior says he thought he’d never see Wardaddy alive again. He responds “The devil watches over his own” perhaps a reference to one of Pitt’s past movies “The devil’s own”

The trivia item below may give away important plot points.
• Despite the dramatic ending, in recognition of armored servicemen it should be mentioned that the ordnance battalion attached to the 2nd armored division would have had “fury” cleaned, painted inside, patched, repaired, and reissued in about 48 hours.

From the gallery

Quotes
Wardaddy: Ideals are peaceful. History is violent.

Boyd ‘Bible’ Swan: Here’s a Bible verse I think about sometimes. Manytimes. It goes: And I heard the voice of Lord saying: Whom shall I send and who will go for Us? And… I said: Here am I , send me!
Norman Ellison: [Mumbling] Send me.
Wardaddy: Book of Isaiah, Chapter six.

Wardaddy: I started this war killing Germans in Africa. Then France. Then Belgium. Now I’m killing Germans in Germany. It will end, soon. But before it does, a lot more people gotta die.

Wardaddy: Best job I ever had.

Wardaddy: [Referring to Fury] It’s my home.

Wardaddy: I had the best Assistant Driver in the entire Ninth Army in that seat. Now I got you. I promised my crew a long time ago I’d keep them alive. You’re getting in the way of that. It ain’t like the newsreels up front.

Wardaddy: Wars are not going anywhere, Sir.

Sergeant Davis: Thought you were dead, Collier.
Wardaddy: The Devil watches over his own.

Norman Ellison: You’re wounded.
Wardaddy: Sure am.
Norman Ellison: Sergeant Collier?
Wardaddy: My name’s Don.
Norman Ellison: Sorry. Don?
Wardaddy: Yeah kid?
Norman Ellison: I’m scared.
Wardaddy: I’m scared too, son.

Wardaddy: You think it can’t get worse? It can. And it will.

Wardaddy: Wanna talk Mexican? Find another tank. A Mexican tank. This is an American tank. We talk American.

Wardaddy: That’s home. Do what you’re told. And don’t get too close to no one.

Wardaddy: We ain’t never run before. Why we goona run now?

Wardaddy: Next German you see with a weapon you rake the dog shit outta him, I don’t care if it’s a baby with a butter knife in one hand and momma’s left titty in the other.

Wardaddy: See that? That’s a whole city on fire. I bet that’s where those bombers were heading. The dying’s not done. The killing’s not done.

Norman Ellison: Sergeant Collier? I think I want to surrender.
Wardaddy: Please don’t. They’ll hurt you real bad. And kill you real bad.

Wardaddy: I’ll question him. What’s your favorite color? You like chicken or beef? You a good dancer? You like fat girls?

Wardaddy: Norman, open this goddamn hatch, you cocksucker!

Wardaddy: I’m sorry, Boyd. I did my best.

Wardaddy: Keep walking. American lines are that way. Keep moving. Hands up high. There you go. Move.

Wardaddy: We ain’t here to ask them questions.

Wardaddy: I know what I did. He’s an SS. They’re real assholes. I kill every SS I can. You’d seen what I seen you would too.

Wardaddy: Shut up and send me more pigs to kill!

Wardaddy: You’re an animal. A dog. All you understand is the fist and boot.

Wardaddy: Button up!

External Links
…Official website
…IMDB