Fury 4K Ultra HD

"Fury" takes place in April 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and his five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Out-numbered, out-gunned, and with a rookie soldier thrust into their platoon, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany. (Gary Reber)

Special features on the Blu-ray Disc include 16 deleted and extended scenes (HD 56:13); four featurettes: "Blood Brothers" (HD 11:08), "Director's Combat Journal" (HD 17:32), "Armored Warriors: the Real Men Inside The Shermans" (HD 12:11), and "Taming The Beast: How to Drive, Fire & Shoot Inside A 30-Ton Tank" (HD 12:48); a photo gallery; and an UltraViolet digital copy. The 4K Ultra edition contains the featurette "Tiger 131" (HD 05:25).

The 2.39:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 Ultra HD HDR10 picture, reviewed on a Sony Bravia Z9D 4K Ultra HD HDR display, was photographed in Panavision® on 35mm Kodak Vision3 film stock using the Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL2 camera system and sourced from a 4K master Digital Intermediate format. While photographed on film, grain is organic, nicely resolved, and never objectionable, for an impressive filmic experience. As well, resolution is impressive, with fine detail exhibited throughout, especially in close-ups of facial features such as scars and skin pores, hair, beards, mustaches, muddied and bloodied uniforms, and object detail throughout, especially on exterior and interior settings. Every scene is loaded with visual complexities that create an incredibly realistic setting. The wider color gamut reveals subtle gradations of hues among the prevailing darkened grays, which exhibit the dreadful world of war surrounded by death and destruction. Explosions, fire and intensely bright tracer gun fire provide effective HDR contrast. Black levels are reserved with mild crush rendering. This is an overall dim and overcast picture with occasional brighter segments, such as the village scene with the German women in their flat. Fleshtones are remarkably natural within the context of every scene. The last scene is a tour-de-force of visualization. The picture and production design is exceptionally realistic throughout with reference-quality imagery. (Gary Reber)

The Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel soundtrack, remixed for home theatre, is exceptionally well crafted in conveying the sounds of war. The holosonic® soundtrack effectively captures the intensive fighting action, the sounds of distant fighting, and the delirious and stressed chatter among the men in the tank. The sense of war is sonically impactful throughout. The four surrounds are aggressively active throughout with at times hellish intensity. Shells zoom through the air and are directionalized, as are numerous sound effects. Shells that hit their target excite low-end frequencies, with the .1 LFE channel extending to sub-25 Hz frequencies. The intensity of hits and misses are extremely dynamic and powerful, as is the machine gun and pistol shots, all contributing to an exceptional sense of sonic scale and realism within the tank and on the battle field. The synthesizer-featured orchestral/choral score extends to the height channels with segments of prominence. The soundstage is wide and deep. A segment with German troops singing while marching is haunting. Dialogue is consistently clear and effectively integrated spatially. Fidelity throughout is excellent.

The Immersive Sound element is quite active and directional, with the result of enhanced spatial dimensionality. The orchestral/choral score is extended to the height channels. Planes zoom overhead and tank fire, gunfire and explosions extend to the height channels. The battle scenes are intense and the sonics extend upwards effectively. Shells zoom and screech through the air with speed and ultimate explosive impact and at times ricochet off the tank. in the town square scene an aircraft flies low, and there is chatter and singing in the square. At times debris is heard during battle, and the pedal push in the tank to launch a shell adds a sense of punch. Hits to the tank have a dense bell quality. In a village, birds flying overhead are heard. In the final battle, the firepower accelerates with effective intensity in the height channels, with a wide canvas of sonics and the choral score.

This is an effective holosonic® spherical surround soundtrack that is reference quality throughout. (Gary Reber)