WWII Tanks of 'Fury'

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Director David Ayer tweeted the first promotional photo from Fury, his movie about a World War II tank crew commanded by Brad Pitt and fighting in Germany near the end of the war.

Ayer has bold plans for the movie, saying he wants to "bring a fresh execution to the genre… This will have incredible, visceral action and complex rich characters. I plan to bring tank combat to life in a way that lands with a modern audience."  Ayer has an impressive track record with L.A. cop films, either writing and/or directing some of the best recent movies in the genre: Training Day, Street Kings, Dark Blue and End of Watch

Last year's underrated End of Watch was especially impressive for the way Ayer managed to capture the day-to-day cop experience and show LAPD officers in a positive light after the series of epically crooked cops he'd created for the previous movies. His experimental camera techniques helped define the story and intensify the action. If he can bring some of that approach to Fury, he may be able to achieve his stated goals. Ayer's also had some experience with enclosed spaces in war movies: he wrote the script for the 2000 WWII submarine thriller U-571.

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In doing his research for the part, Pitt met with WWII vet Ray Stewart of Gastonia, NC, a tank gunner who fought at the Battle of the Bulge. Pit has his own WWII movie experience: his over-the-top performance as Lt. Aldo Raine in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds is one of his career highlights.

Fury also stars Michael Pena (who deserved an Oscar nomination for his performance in End of Watch), Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman (from the Percy Jackson movies) and Clint's son Scott Eastwood. Ayer seems to be committed to keeping up with social media during the shoot, so you can follow him on Twitter (@DavidAyerMovies). There's also an account for the movie (@Furythemovie), but they're mostly retweeting the director for now. Fury opens in November 2014.

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