Fury is the closest thing to a horror war movie yet, with director David Ayer presenting a dark, claustrophobic and foreboding depiction of how the “greatest generation” not only fought against the evil of Nazism, but also the monster within themselves.

It was Marlon Brando who famously shuddered at "the horror" of war in Apocalypse Now, and while many a film has portrayed the graceless brutality of war in many different ways, none have quite captured its dreaded foreboding quite like Fury does.

When the film opens upon a Nazi colonel brutally killed by the lone survivors of a hellish battle -a tank crew led by Don 'Wardaddy' Collier (Brad Pitt) & consisting of Boyd 'Bible' Swan (Shia LaBeouf), Trini 'Gordo' Garcia (Michael Pena) and Grady 'Coon-Ass' Travis (Jon Bernthal) - it is clear that writer/director David Ayer has in store a brutal and scary portrait of war that is haunting in theme and tone.

It becomes quickly evident that these men are not only emotionally and psychologically shell shocked, but spiritually broken too. There is a love/hate relationship with God at play, with his existence accepted but his purpose questioned. "Does Jesus love Hitler?" the cynical Collier asks the devout Swan. The answer is that God loves all of his children, however there isn't much of a follow through as Ayer won't or doesn't know how to write such theologically rich dialogue.

New to the group is Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman), a young clerk thrown to the front as assistant driver in a tank crew on the brink of imploding. His purity and clean conscious morality is startling when compared to his battle scarred comrades, whose “do or die” attitude both repulses and scares the young rookie.

In one scene Pitt's Collier educates his new recruit with a direct and well written statement that "Ideals are peaceful. History is violent", and it's a wakeup call for both character and audience that for Good to prevail over Evil, sometimes Evil is to be done.

The relationship between Pitt and Lerman reminds in many ways of that between Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke in Ayer’s Oscar nominated script for Training Day, only this time survival lessons are dispensed in a tank rolling across Nazi Germany instead of a supped-up Monte Carlo rolling across South Central Los Angeles. While Pitt is in many ways as monstrous as Washington, Pitt superbly plays his role in a low key, bringing that quiet intensity of his to a character that is as honourable as he is deplorable, and as fragile as he is strong.

Pitt is excellent in the part, as are his co-stars in theirs, with Logan Lerman continuing to prove his strength as a leading man, and the always impressive Michael Pena (excellent in Ayer’s End of Watch) and Jon Bernthal enhancing their roles with solid character work.

The standout though is Shia LaBeouf, with the much maligned actor soul crushingly good as the devout believer trying to make sense of the hell around him. Known more for his jittery style, LaBeouf deploys the power of controlled emotion to deliver a compelling, mournful performance that steals the show. If LaBeouf can get his head straight, Fury could very well be the beginning of a comeback, a "LaBeouf-assiance" if you will.

Of course with a title like Fury, Ayer’s WWII film is filled with terrifically intense action scenes, with duelling tanks opening fire in thrilling exchanges of brutal violence (the added element of Star Wars like ammunition beams a nice touch).

Yet it's the quiet moments in Fury that stand out the most, the still air of quiet dread before battle scenes, the contemplation of the violence that they contributed too, and especially a dinner scene where these men confront the horrors they've faced and how they've been transformed by it.