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Let's get this out of the way first: "Fury" is a violent movie.

It is violent by necessity, since writer-director David Ayer ("End of Watch") is singularly determined to depict, with some degree of authenticity, the visceral feeling of being in combat. And in combat, people die, and they die in sudden, shocking and brutal ways, which this movie shows.

"Fury" is set in April 1945, in the final days of the European combat of World War II, as Allied troops are pushing into Germany and the Germans are fighting a ferocious last-ditch defense. Part of that Allied force is a platoon of M4 Sherman tanks, the battered beasts of the American Army, but not as technologically advanced as the Germans' best tank, the Tiger.

Ayer focuses on the five-man crew of one tank, dubbed Fury. Four of the men are war-hardened veterans: the driver, nicknamed Gordo (Michael Peña); artillery gunner "Bible" (Shia LaBeouf); mechanic Travis (Jon Bernthal); and the tank's commander, Sgt. Don Collier, aka "Wardaddy" (Brad Pitt). The new man on the crew is the assistant gunner, Pvt. Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman), a green clerk-typist who's never seen battle.

Wardaddy is a fascinating study, a philosopher in battle fatigues, and Pitt subverts his movie-star persona to give the character its edge. Wardaddy knows the war will be over soon but that the end will be violent and "a whole lotta people gotta die" first. He has vowed to protect his men and has little use for a rookie who might get them all killed.

Ellison is the audience's conduit into the emotions of this crew, our window to understanding how these men have steeled themselves to kill on command. As Ellison becomes tougher, he endures moments of terror and — in a quiet moment when he and Wardaddy meet two young German women (Anamaria Marinca and Alicia von Rittberg) — tender heartbreak.

Ayer attunes his cast so tightly to each other — like five fingers forming a powerful fist — that singling out individual performances is missing the point. The men of "Fury" fight as one, all the way to the film's hellacious final battle, and give weight to the visual pyrotechnics Ayer musters. —

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'Fury'

An American tank crew at the end of World War II fights to the end in this viscerally alive war movie.

Where • Theaters everywhere.

When • Opens Friday, Oct. 17.

Rating • R for strong sequences of war violence, some grisly images and language throughout.

Running time • 134 minutes.