One of the most discussed events of 2014 in the world of cinema is the release on the big screens of the American action movie “Rage” (the name in the original sounds like “Fury”), the main role in which went to the highest paid actor in Hollywood - Brad Pitt.
The plot of the film takes place in the conditions of the Second World War. It is known that victory in it was given hard to all countries that opposed Germany. That is why many critics and movie buffs were skeptical of the movie novelty in advance - they were afraid to see another blockbuster, the plot of which would show that only thanks to the heroism of a simple American guy one of the most protracted and bloody wars was won. And on October 30 in Russia and Ukraine the premiere of the film “Rage” took place, a review of which was written by journalists almost on the same evening (and more than one). So did the Americans succeed in breaking the stereotype, or did the worst fears of moviegoers come true?
Summary
"Rage" is a film in which the action takes place just a few weeks before the capture of Berlin - in April 1945. Allied forces entered Germany, occupying city after city. In the American tank unit is a certain Don Collier (Brad Pitt) with the rank of sergeant. Don is not fighting the first day, the tank became literally his second home. The crew of Collier is one of the few who managed to get out of all the troubles without loss of personnel.
However, in one of the battles a machine gunner dies, and Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman) - a young man who has never held weapons in his hands, much less shooting people, takes his place. Don’s crew immediately receives a rather dangerous mission, but Collier has real fears that due to the infantility of the rookie, the commander will not be able to save his combat comrades, and most importantly - to complete the task.
In the first skirmish through the fault of Norman, who refused to shoot at the Germans, one of the crews of the unit was killed. Don Collier forces Ellison to kill a person (a prisoner of war) for the first time in his life, after which he “gets a taste” and begins to fulfill his duties properly.
In one of the German cities, Norman meets the German girl Emma (Alicia von Rittberg) and becomes attached to her, but the bombs dropped by German fighters on the allied forces fall into a residential building, and Emma dies before his eyes.
The tank unit, led by Collier, is advancing to the next city to reinforce the allied forces, but the armored fascist Tiger tank destroys it — only the Don crew can survive. Don, Boyd (Shia LaBeouf), Norman, Grady (John Berntal) and Trini (Michael Peña) move to a fork in the road to unite with their troops there, as envisioned by the previously assigned combat mission, but stumble upon a mine - the tank crashes . The crew could not fix it, because after a while the SS battalion came to the place where they were stuck.
5 members of the team enter the battle, knowing that they will die. The children of Don managed to destroy a large number of SS soldiers, but the combat stocks soon expire, and the tankers die one by one. Norman is the only one who managed to escape: he is found next to the destroyed tank and the bodies of dead friends the next morning, the Allied forces.
Cast
The review of the film "Rage" cannot ignore the interesting selection of actors for the project. In fact, the director David Eyer used the old Hollywood trick: there is only one truly venerable star (Brad Pitt) in the film, which “shines” against the background of the vast majority of little-known names.
Of course, there is Shia LaBeouf and Logan Lerman. However, LaBeouf, who is known to everyone for the sensational Transformers franchise, in Fury plays the role of a patient and gentle Saints, who is sometimes invisible in the frame (but this in no way detracts from the actor’s talent). And the rising star Lerman, by definition, can not compete for the attention of the viewer with the "experienced" Pitt. Proceeding from this, critics dubbed the picture “Brad Pitt's film,” which, perhaps for the better, because nothing distracted attention from the character of the actor and his talented game.
In addition, supporting roles were played by John Berntal (the role of the loader in the crew) and Michael Pena (the role of the driver). The most successful work of John Bernthal - participation in the movie "The Walking Dead" and the movie "The Wolf of Wall Street". Michael Pena starred in many famous projects, but played, as a rule, secondary roles ("Twin Towers", "American Scam").
The comrades of the Don Collier crew were little- known actors Jim Parrack, Kevin Wens, Lawrence Spellman and Daniel Betts. The episodic roles went to Scott Eastwood (the son of a famous filmmaker), Jason Isaacs (played the role of Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter series), Xavier Samuel (Twilight. Eclipse, Light Me) and Brad Hanke (TV series The Bridge, / f "Draft Day").
The roles of German girls in the captured city went to Alicia von Rittberg (star of German TV series), Anamaria Marinka (Romanian actress) and a certain Evgenia Kuzmina - the wife of Bill Block (producer of the picture).
Brad Pitt as War Dad
If it were not for Pitt’s participation in the movie Rage, the movie review by many critics was unlikely to be so positive. The film was shot in the style of a realistic chronicle, and if its cast had not been adorned with a really interesting creative personality, a good half of the audience would have refused to watch the dry details of military life.
Brad Pitt began his career as a hero in melodramas: an attractive appearance made directors see in him only a hero-lover. But over time, the actor showed everyone that he is not so simple.
The turning point in his creative career is the main role in David Fincher's Fight Club: no romance, no softness, no emphasis on appearance - Pitt proved that he can be tough, that can be cynical, that can be different. Further, his roles become more diverse and interesting.
As for Rage, the character of Pitt, nicknamed the Battle Dad, is simple and understandable: he is a person who is well versed in his business and does not bother his head with idealistic nonsense. Don Collier knows only one thing: he is at war, he is the boss, and if he hesitates at least for a second, then they will kill not only him, but also his crew. Like any good military man, Don is used to following orders, so when he loses his unit and even a combat vehicle, he still tries to hold on to his assigned positions and as a result dies.
Logan Lerman
Logan Lerman played one of the key roles in the movie Rage. The review of journalists did not pass by his person.
Lerman, unlike Pitt, has not starred in war movies before. Maybe that's why Logan was easy to get used to the role of the young Norman Ellison - the new shooter-radio operator in the crew of the Battle Dad. Lerman’s character introduces a conflict into the development of the plot, since he is clearly a weak spot in the company of professional military men - he is afraid of blood, never killed, frivolously falls in love with girls.
The crew of the Sherman tank are afraid that Norman will become the reason that they will not reach the end of the war. But under the pressure of circumstances, Lerman’s character changes, as a result, only he remains alive after the final battle.
Shia LaBeouf and his character the Holy
The review of the film "Rage" from many film critics could not do without a positive assessment of the sudden reincarnation of Shaya LaBeouf: the young actor replenished his piggy bank of the roles he played with another characteristic character - Boyd Swan (tank crew gunner).
Boyd is a deeply religious person who constantly quotes the Holy Scripture, for which he received the nickname of the Holy One. Boyd Swan himself understands that he "got everyone with his sermons," but as a faithful comrade, he is still respected by the crew. During the final battle dies one of the first.
Director and other tape makers
"Rage" is a David Ayer film. The American director wrote the script with his own hands and even acted as a producer.
This is not Eyer's first experience in working on military dramas: he wrote scripts for films such as U-571 and Training Day. Ayer is also the author of the script for the first part of the Fast and the Furious franchise. Ayer’s desire to touch upon a military theme in his works is quite understandable: he served in the US Navy and knows military affairs firsthand.
In the drama Rage, David Eyer managed to move away from politics and the idealization of war. Without an assessment of what is happening, the director simply shows a chronicle from the life of tankers of the Second World War, his characters are endowed with the most controversial features and ordinary human fears. These are not characters of comics and habitual action games - they are ordinary service people who just do their job.
Any review written on the film “Rage” does not bypass the talented camera work of Roman Vasyanov, a graduate of the Moscow State Institute of Cinematography. Vasyanov as a cameraman worked in the project of V. Todorovsky "Vise" and A. Kavun "Hunting for Piranha". In Rage, the cameraman helped David Ayer create the most realistic atmosphere by filming material in such a way that the viewer creates the effect of being on the battlefield or in the tank.
The producers of the picture were Bill Block ("District No. 9", "Vanilla Sky") and John Loesher ("Patrol"), Stephen Price ("Gravity") worked on the musical accompaniment.
Interesting Facts
Work on a historical drama is not an easy task (it was in this genre that Rage was filmed). The review of the film (the facts of the mistakes made are obvious) necessarily refers to the shortcomings and oversights of the film crew. Some of them are visible even to an inexperienced viewer.
- During the end of the battle, 2 grenades are thrown into the Don Collier tank, an explosion occurs. But when Norman returns to the tank in the morning, it is clearly visible that the dead commander is in perfect condition with uniforms and skin.
- Shortly before the end of the film, Norman gets into an ambulance and watches from inside how allied soldiers scurry around the tank - the glass of the car is so dirty and muddy that practically nothing is visible. However, when the operator shoots from the outside, it looks clean and quite clearly shows the audience the actor’s face.
- The final battle begins in the afternoon, but after a few minutes, a deep night sets in.
There are a few more kinolapy that can only notice people who are versed in military affairs. But on the whole and in general, a realistic setting was recreated. For this, the leading performers were trained by a professional tanker, and the M4A2 76mm HVSS tank was specially fitted to the set from the Bovington Museum, in which not a single screw has been replaced since World War II.
The director insisted that the actors really feel the "dirt, sweat, blood and tears" of the war. Shia LaBeouf, for example, regarded it literally and practically did not wash during the filming.
Premiere
The picture came out on the big screens in the fall of 2014. The schedule for the film “Rage” (a review from local journalists came out immediately after viewing) the prime minister looked something like this:
- October 15 - USA and Jamaica;
- October 17 - The Bahamas, Canada;
- October 19 - Great Britain;
- October 30 - Azerbaijan, Israel, Kazakhstan, Russia, Slovenia, Ukraine, etc.
Box office
Whatever the review of the film “Rage” written by journalists was, the box office exceeded budget costs by 114 million dollars. The proceeds from Russian hire amounted to 8.5 million dollars.
Ratings
Given the reviews compiled on Fury (film reviews have a big impact on ratings), we can say that the film’s world rating is close to 78%. In Russia, the picture won 71% of positive reviews. The Fury rating by IMDb is also quite high - 7.65.
Reviews and reviews of the movie "Rage"
Film critics and viewers in general remained grateful to the director for the lack of politically controversial moments in the film and the democratic approach to the statement of facts. Fans of war films also praised the realism of field shooting and an attentive approach to technical details.
The story review of the film "Rage" showed that everything in it develops quite logically and naturally, except for the finale. Viewers note that the director still could not resist and turned the assault on an immobilized tank literally into fantasy: the Germans could not get to Don Collier from a close distance, which is visible on the roof of the tank, clearly. What is even more surprising - for some reason the German sniper waits until all his comrades are killed, and only then proceeds to fulfill his duties. In a word, more demanding viewers privately dubbed the painting "a comedy of mistakes."
Conclusion
Due to the complexity of the genre in which the picture "Rage" was shot, the review and reviews on it cannot be unambiguous. But the thoroughness with which the crew was preparing for the release of the film, the sincere desire of the director to achieve high realism, as well as the large box office, are undoubtedly the reason for watching the tape.