Is Brad Pitt's Fury Based On A True Story?

In his video review of David Ayer's "Fury," former /Film writer David Chen praises the film for its thrilling tank battles and depiction of war as a gory hellscape. The graphic war movie centers on Brad Pitt as a tank commander guiding his crew through Germany in April 1945. His young, mostly inexperienced soldiers each deal with the horrors of war in their own way — whether it be turning to faith, cowering in fear, or pulverizing the enemy with rage — as they infiltrate Nazi enemy lines. 

Director David Ayer refuses to shy away from the brutal violence of war, squeezing viewers into the tanks' tight spaces so that we can understand the immense pressure, claustrophobia, and camaraderie the soldiers felt. One of the most harrowing images is when a tank rolls over a body, pulverizing it into mud, blood, and torn flesh, turning it into a mangled and soupy mess. Since this film is so gritty and shows no mercy in portraying the gruesomeness of war, it makes us wonder whether any of the details of this story really happened.

1945 was an important year for World War II because the Allied forces helped liberate Europe from Nazi occupation. However, the specific tank crew and the nightmarish battles they undergo in "Fury" were not necessarily true but certainly inspired by what a tank crew would experience at that time. While the narrative may not have perfect accuracy, the entire production design was put together with painstaking detail, as David Ayer explains in an interview with Oregon Live:

"[W]e got Signal Corps photos, real photos from the period, and did our best to duplicate what we saw ... We printed our own German camouflage scanned from actual German uniforms. We got the only running Tiger tank in the world in the movie, which is a first."

David Ayer employed the actual weapons, uniforms, and M4 Sherman tanks that were used during the tense final months of European invasion, a now-or-ever escape from Nazi occupation. The "Fury" production team also wanted the maps that the commanders were holding to be completely accurate as well. This would show the audience the types of tools, as well as the level of detail and planning, the Allied forces needed for their war strategies. David Ayer and the production team collaborated with map specialist Gord Beck from McMaster University and librarian Larry Laliberté from the University of Alberta to obtain genuine maps from the 1940s that they printed and turned into realistic-looking props (via Canada Broadcasting Corporation). 

This tangible verisimilitude, combined with David Ayer's tight framing inside the tank and unflinching violence in battle scenes, creates an intense depiction of what World War II really looked and felt like.

In "Fury," Brad Pitt plays the hardened commander Don Collier who must keep his tank crew in line amongst bloody chaos. Although his character is fictional, the nickname "War Daddy" also belonged to Lafayette Pool, who History Net describes as "a man burning with desire to be in the forwardmost position when engaging enemy forces." 

Pool's bow gunner and assistant driver, Corporal Bert Close, (who, like all the characters in the film with their nicknames, was dubbed "School Boy" by his tank crew for his glasses) describes him as "confident of himself, and his attitude was good for us all." Pool was a prolific soldier, honored in Yank, the Army Weekly for killing over 1,000 Germans and taking 250 more as prisoners of war. Pool was as aggressive and fearless as Brad Pitt's character, who does anything he can to defeat the enemy.

Despite "Fury" not explicitly being based on a true story, David Ayer was so committed to realism that he pushed his actors to the brink so they would understand the rigor of battle in their own bodies. After meeting veterans and studying World War II tanks, the ensemble endured a grueling boot camp, which Brad Pitt detailed to IndieWire:

"We had some of the SEALs' best design this for us. And it was really an amazing experience — the way it was structured to break us down, to make us understand hardship, make us be cold, wet, hungry, physically exhausted, and then gave us tasks that would bring us together, bond us, discover each other's weaknesses and strengths, and establish a pecking order." 

In a /Film interview, David Ayer describes Pitt as a relentless actor who won't walk away from a scene "until every drop of sweat's on the field," making him perfect for this demanding role.

David Ayer also broke down his actors psychologically, explaining: 

"I'm a big believer in the lizard brain and human physiology. Make it as real as possible. You can't act real behavior. They have this incredible craft and skill, but I want to help them by getting the adrenaline, stress, and excitement going — and sometimes I undermine them and confuse them."

In other words, Ayer drove his actors to the point of exhausted frustration so they could tap into primal emotions instead of relying on calculated acting techniques. On set, David Ayer would share secrets told in confidence in order to stoke the tension and turn the actors against each other. This emotional manipulation was unnecessary; he should have trusted the actors' talents to reach the emotional heights he wanted.

World War II veteran Bill Betts was interviewed by The Guardian about "Fury." Betts knows firsthand the kind of terror the characters experience in "Fury," having to lay in a pool of his own blood for 10 hours after being injured. He praises the use of tanks in the film:

"'Fury' accurately portrays how superior the German tanks were. A Sherman provided you with protection against most enemy fire, but against a Tiger, it could easily become your coffin ... So, like in 'Fury,' we always had to be one step ahead." 

Yet Betts feels that nothing, especially the two-dimensional art form of cinema, "can really come close to the true horrors of tank warfare ... I saw people being blown up and burnt alive. Going to see 'Fury' you don't get that dreadful, nauseating smell of burnt flesh."

The scene that Betts felt was too far-fetched was the heroic final hold out against Waffen SS troops:

"The Germans seemed to be used as canon fodder. In reality they would have been battle-hardened and fanatical troops who would have easily taken out an immobile Sherman tank using Panzerfausts (an anti-tank bazooka). They also seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of ammunition and fuel. A Sherman tank only does five miles to the gallon so I think they would have run out long before the final showdown."

While David Ayer strived to be as accurate as possible, especially in the production design, some elements of war just cannot be captured. The truth of war is far more terrifying than we could ever imagine. There are many other great war movies that are based on true stories, but David Ayer's is certainly one of the most visceral.