Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Fury Blu-ray Movie Review

One angry man.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III December 1, 2021

Celebrated director Fritz Lang made his unlikely American debut with Fury, a drama heavily emphasizing the danger of mob mentality. Our hapless target is Joe Wilson (Spencer Tracy), a gas station owner finally making the trip out West to see his beloved fiancée Katherine Grant (Sylvia Sidney) after several months of separation. While on the road, Joe is arrested for the kidnapping of a local child, a conclusion based on nothing more than circumstantial evidence -- he fits the physical description of their wanted suspect and shares a habit of eating salted peanuts. This is no murder mystery, of course: we know Joe is completely innocent of the heinous crime... but gossip spreads like wildfire and, within hours, a revenge-starved mob of locals descends on the jail to enact their own brand of vigilante justice.

An ensuing riot sees the jail basically burnt to ground, and poor Joe with it... or so we'd think. We never see it happen, but Joe actually escaped in the fire and now secretly resides on the outskirts of town, quietly waiting out the ensuing trail in hopes that his attackers will be sentenced to death for his "murder". His brothers Tom (George Walcott ) and Charlie (Frank Albertson), the first of only a few to see him alive, try to talk him out of the plan but, fueled purely by hate, Joe perpetuates the lie by refusing to show himself in public. Is he now just as guilty as the mob?

The setup for Fury unfolds without a hitch, smartly introducing Joe and Katherine before their separation and his turn of fate. We see things largely from his perspective: blindsided by bad luck, outraged as gossip spreads, and increasingly worried as the deck is stacked against him. Fury's first half is paced incredibly well, with its second half devoted more to the slow-burning trial, Joe's sudden reveal, and the big question of whether or not he'll finally tell the truth about his survival. While parts of the whole story don't necessarily hold up to scrutiny, its sharp portrayal of human behavior -- rumors and gossip, "the telephone game", and witch hunts -- are as timely as ever, but luckily the film doesn't maintain its full-on cynicism as the story unfolds. While it never quite reaches the heights of Lang's German films like Metropolis, M, and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, and doesn't feel as polished as some of his later work such as Man Hunt and Hangmen Also Die, it's a supremely confident American debut with mostly great performances all around.

If there's one weak link in the chain -- and this stems from more of a personal opinion -- it just might be Tracy himself. He's never quite sold the legitimate "tough guy" image for me, usually carrying a stoic demeanor that peaks at more of a simmer than a rapid boil and is more suited to lighter fare than this. His act works well enough for at least half of the film's running time but rarely elevates Fury's most heated moments to the right temperature, which unfortunately undercuts some of the dramatic tension at critical moments. Again, nothing more than personal opinion here: I'd make the same observation about Bad Day at Black Rock or a dozen other of his films... so if Tracy's mannerisms have never bothered you in the past, they certainly won't here. But considering Fury revolves around hot emotions (and still works well enough in spite of this), it may have been even stronger with a more convincing actor in the lead role.

Regardless, Fury's strengths are obvious and Warner Archive's Blu-ray offers fans and first timers a great excuse to (re)discover this timely film. Led by an outstanding new 4K-sourced restoration, it's a another great catalog release from a boutique label known for their no-nonsense, purist-friendly approach to home video releases.

Fury Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Warner Archive's exclusive 1080p transfer of Fury is advertised as being sourced from a new 4K scan of preservation elements, and the results are up to the boutique label's usual high standards. This is a very dense and film-like image with excellent fine detail and plenty of natural grain right in line with its nitrate source material. Tight close-ups are exceptionally clean and crisp with a full range of deep blacks, bright whites, and subtle gradients that suffer from no obvious banding or other compression artifacts. As usual, the overall image is very clean with no glaring signs of dirt, debris, or other damage, yet has simultaneously not been scrubbed with noise reduction which allows its natural textures to shine through. In all respects, this is basically a flawless presentation of the available source material and, like most Warner Archive releases, frequently rivals most actual 4K discs in proportionate video quality, running at a consistently high bit rate with more than enough room to breathe on this dual-layered (50GB) disc.

Fury Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Similarly, the DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio supports the one-channel soundtrack perfectly well, only suffering from mild hissing and crackling during a few sporadic stretches -- it's likely that age-related wear-and-tear make these problems unavoidable, and I for one am glad that Warner Archive doesn't go too heavy-handed on their restoration efforts to smooth over or correct everything. The resulting mono mix, split evenly between the left and right channels, is still largely clean with no obvious sync issues or dropouts. Dialogued is nicely balanced between dialogue and background effects with plenty of room left for the original score by multiple Academy Ward-winning composer Franz Waxman, most famous for his work on films such as Sunset Boulevard, Rebecca, Rear Window, and A Place in the Sun.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only.

Fury Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with attractive poster-themed cover artwork and no inserts of any kind. The two bonus features are ported over from Warner Bros.' 2005 DVD edition.

• Audio Commentary - This feature-length track is largely handled by celebrated filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, with intermittent comments by late director Fritz Lang sourced from vintage tape-recorded interviews made by Bogdanovich during a four-day stretch in mid-1965. It's a very well-organized and enjoyable track that covers the film's development and production, Lang's pre-American output and arrival at MGM, the four-page outline originally titled "Mob Role", cinematography and editing, stances on capital punishment, Lang's contemporaries, and much more. Their comments are rarely scene-specific and there are several lengthy gaps but it can be very informative at times, and the presence of Lang gives this track an undeniable air of authenticity.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:12) - This vintage promotional piece can also be seen here.

Fury Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fritz Lang's Fury is as confident an American debut as you'd expect from the German director, a blistering drama with plenty of emotion, mostly great performances, and more than a few unforgettable moments. The scathing portrayal of mob mentality has aged extremely well, making it as accessible for first-time viewers as a film worth rediscovering for those who haven't seen it in decades. Warner Archive's welcome Blu-ray offers an expected amount of durable support, mostly in the form of a flawless new 4K-sourced restoration that's flanked by two vintage bonus features. Whether this one's a blind buy or a DVD upgrade, Fury is certainly a disc worth picking up. Recommended.