The terrible realities of war

THE grim brutality of war comes into frantic, frightening focus in Fury, an unrelenting, blood-splattered look at the final chapter of World War II in Europe and the efforts of an American tank crew to stay alive - and sane - amidst the chaos and carnage.

This is a movie that doesn't pull many punches in its depiction of the many horrors associated with battle, from appalling conditions in the field to a pattern of cruel and inhuman behaviour among war-weary soldiers that will cause hardened viewers to squirm and shrink deeper into their seats. "Wait until you see what a man can do to another man," says a major character in an early scene - and we don't have to wait long to find out.

Written and directed by David Ayer, Fury is the name painted on the gun-barrel of an M4 Sherman tank commanded by Sgt Don Collier (Brad Pitt), nicknamed "Wardaddy", a battle-scarred, unsmiling and when necessary - which is often - ruthless combat veteran.