Watching Fury I found myself remembering a conversation I had with one of my classes. The students were reflecting on how we, as a country, tend to forget the bad and dwell on the good. They even referenced Tim Wise who once said something along the lines of nobody talks about July 4th like ‘lets get over it’ but we act like we ought treat slavery and discrimination like its in the past and move on. They related that to the relationship we have with wars. For example, we remember D-Day and all the good we did to help win WWII, but Vietnam is a blight best forgotten. It turns out that philosophy is even more nuanced. Fury is the first film I’ve encountered to talk openly about U.S. forces being overmatched in that war–in this case by the German Tiger tanks.
The overmatched situation here was of course made into the positive. It quickly unraveled into a U.S. against impossible odds situation–which of course means it is a fair fight. Up until that point Fury is among the best war films written. There is a great deal of story that unfolds and relates the character of hardened soldiers and the temporary nature of life in wartime. This is a film well worth seeing, and I feel the director should churn out a few more war treatments–perhaps even give ‘Nam a shot.
Of course, nobody would see that film. We didn’t win that war.