Fury 4K Blu-ray Review
By Chris Heinonen on
Audio Quality
Video Quality
Overall
Summary: April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered and outgunned, 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.
Movie Review: Fury slipped by my radar when it first came out but watching it at home with no idea of the plot, it proves to be a very good film. While there are some occasional bits to lighten the mood, overall it carries a very dark tone with the horrors of war. All of the characters have to make choices they don’t necessarily want to do in order to survive, but at the same time, they try to do things to preserve their humanity.
If you are going to find fault with it, it likely comes from the portrayal of the Nazis. Aside from one brief scene, they’re never represented as anything other than cruel, evil people and aren’t given any humanity at all. Obviously, it’s impossible to portray the Nazi ideals as anything other than that, but given that many of the soldiers they are fighting against in the film are women and children since Germany is about to lose, they probably could have had some more depth to them somehow.
Technical Review: Fury was shot on 35mm and then given a 4K digital intermediate. From the earliest shots, there is a clear, fine film grain but it never distracts from the film. The amount of detail here is superb, from stubble on faces to the muddy ground and tanks looking far better than they had before. Fury was one of the first 4K HDR movies to stream on Amazon, and having compared that to the original Blu-ray, this release clearly outshines them both.
Fury is not a flashy transfer at all, but it looks rock solid. Colors are muted but accurate, and HDR is used only when necessary. Fires and tracer bullets pop off the screen when used, but this moderate use of HDR also prevents the issues with film grain noise and HDR from cropping up. A couple of darker scenes look to have slightly raised black levels, where more shadow detail could be used, but overall the transfer of Fury is very impressive.
The soundtrack is a flat-out superb Dolby Atmos track from the very start. There are plenty of bombs, tank cannon shots, and gunfire in the film that is all reproduced perfectly. The impact of every bomb dropped is felt, and the Atmos channels are used to place the destruction all around you. Even in busy scenes of heavy gunfire I never struggled to understand what anyone was saying, as vocals are clear. There is nothing keeping this track from being a reference grade that you can use to show off your home theater.
Special Features: Some features are located on the Blu-ray disc.
- “Tanks of Fury” Documentary
- Four Featurettes:
- “No Guts, No Glory: The Horrors of Combat”
- “Tiger 131”
- “Heart of Fury”
- “Clash of Armor”
- Theatrical Trailers
- Over 50 Minutes of Deleted & Extended Scenes
- Director’s Combat Journal
- Three Featurettes:
- “Armored Warriors: The Real Men Inside the Shermans”
- “Taming the Beasts: How to Drive, Fire & Shoot Inside a 30-Ton Tank”
- “Blood Brothers”
- Photo Gallery
Review System: Sony X900F LCD, Sony UBP-X800 UltraHD Blu-ray Player, Oppo UDP-203 UltraHD Blu-ray Player’, KEF Ci5160RL-THX Fronts, Ci3160RL-THX Center, 2x Ci200RR-THX Surrounds, 4x CI200RR-THX Atmos Speakers, Anthem MRX 1120 Receiver, SVS SB-4000 Subwoofer.
Pros
Film transfer looks almost perfect with fine grain, tons of detail, and great use of HDR at times, reference-class Atmos soundtrack.
Cons
Some slight elevated black levels in a couple of scenes where it could be darker with more shadow detail.
Summary
Aside from a couple of very small issues, the image and audio on Fury are absolutely superb. The film looks exactly as it was shot with only slight bits of HDR added, and the soundtrack packs a ton of impact.
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