Review of Fury, The

Introduction

I thought I remembered this film before I sat down to watch it, and as soon as I did it all came flooding back. This is one of those films that usually gets bunged on a terrestrial channel at about midnight at the weekend, and I`m sure I`ve seen it quite a few times now. However, you might confuse De Palma`s The Fury with Cronenberg`s Scanners, since there are plenty of parallels between them, including the fact that they were both released at the cinema at about the same time in some places...

The plot is a mixture of government conspiracy, teenagers with special powers, and a father/son/good/evil parallel (Star Wars anyone?) Look out for Daryl Hannah in a very early role too.

Video

We get an 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, but there`s quite a bit of damage and grain shining through on this one. Some of the dark scenes suffer quite badly and there`s a lack of detail at times. On the plus side, the colours are quite good.

What you do get of course are lots of De Palma trademarks, cameras spinning around, slow motion shots and long tracking shots. And then you get some savage bloodletting too, with two scenes in particular that stand out on that count.

Audio

A DD4.0 soundtrack (don`t get many of them do you?) It`s a bit of a halfway house remix really, as they didn`t go the whole hog and step up to 5.1, and what you`re left with is rather dull and uninspiring. Most of the sound comes from the front, and it does sound a little rough around the edges at times.

A shame it`s not better then, as it would have been the perfect showcase for an excellent John Williams score.

Features

The two extra features are a trailer (rubbish) and a stills gallery, which is actually rather good!

Conclusion

A bit of a mixed bag this one. The plot does take a while to unfold, and it`s not exactly fast-paced, but it`s just enough to keep you watching and waiting for the next piece of action. There are some nice set pieces, and some nice De Palma trademarks, but it really is the sort of film that you spot on late at night on TV and watch it because there`s nothing better to do. When you make a point of sitting down and watch it, it`s not quite so deserving of your time.

The disc isn`t great either, as more work could have been done to improve picture and sound, and more extras other than the stills gallery might have improved it too.

All in all, this one`s only worth a rental if you can`t wait for it to appear on TV again sometime soon.