Customer Reviews

The Fury (Widescreen)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This sci-fi horror espionage thriller has a weak script and clumsy plot but some beautiful horror set pieces. As with Brian De Palma's previous film, CARRIE, the focus here is a sweet young girl (Amy Irving) with awesome telekinetic powers. She's searching for her "psychic twin" captured by a secret government agency for use as a military weapon; Kirk Douglas plays the boy's superspy father who's also looking for him. As with CARRIE, you fall in love with the girl just as the most awful things start happening to her--and, this being De Palma, those awful things involve lots and lots of blood. The movie builds its tension slowly, leisurely, and then, wham, you're hit with some of the most intense horror sequences ever put on film. De Palma's a very smart director who's not all that interested in script or plot--he's just interested in orchestrating the terror sequences for maximum effect. If you give in to the film's sometimes quirky rhythms and oddball attempts at humor, it's quite a ride.

This movie has so much potential, yet it's a mess of a movie. Everytime Kirk Douglas is on the screen, some inane, silly thing occurs. Really, though there are some stand-out suspenseful moments scattered throughout, the only real reason to watch this is for the ending. Pure brilliance! Seriously, check this out just for the ending.

Long maligned as an Alfred Hitchcock rip-off, Brian de Palma can rest on his laurels, having given us such visually stunning examples of horrific ballet. In "The Fury" there are so many scenes of intense but beautiful violence that you wonder where the imagery originated. While DePalma has often said he was influenced by the masterful Hithcock, he doesn't rip him off; he accentuates the master with his visually stunning style.
The slomo and quiet scene in which Carrie Snodgress meets an untimely fate is mesmerizing, even knowing what the ultimate outcome is; likewise the scenes where Amy Irving "sees" events that have or will happen. DePalma's camera swerves and sizzles. The lovely Fiona Lewis' demise is horrifically fascinating in its cruelty. (No, I'm not sadistic). The cast: isn't it fun to see scruffy Dennis Franz in one of his first roles as the gum-chewing, love my car cop? And Kirk Douglas, no longer a youngster, still looked amazingly fit and masculine in a role he would never get to play in today's youthful standards. Amy Irving is gorgeous and quite a good young actress; Andrew Stevens is handsome and effectively icy; Charles Durning and Carol Rossen appropriately vile; John Cassavettes is a devilish villain; and the almost forgotten Carrie Snodgress is a delight. Writer John Farris wrote the book which he adapted for the screen, and did a fine job. Too bad he waited so long for sequels---they probably won't get filmed, but they should. THE FURY is one of DePalma's best.

When I was a young child in 1978-79 watching this on HBO I thought this movie was cool because people blew up in it and a fairground ride went spinning out of control.

25 years later, I watch it again and hardly anything is cool about it. The dialogue is laughable, Kirk Douglas is ridiculous as a geriatric James Bond who leaps out 4 story bedroom windows in his underpants, comandeers a shiny new Cadillac just to drive it off the end of a pier, and seranades his girlfriend with an obscene phone call.

John Cassavetes looks like he's trying to parody some Dr. Strangelove-type villian by walking around in a sling with a black glove on his useless hand, glaring at everyone and spouting the worst sort of "bad guy" cliches.

What else? Well, when Carrie Snodgrass goes flying through the windshield of a car, the windshield shatters like some plate glass saloon window from a low-budget Western. And there's plenty of blood in this movie, but not a drop of it looks real.

Andrew Stevens goes from lovable son to patricidal maniac without so much as a shred of explanation. Amy Irving escapes from a supposedly fortress-like prison by simply shoving a bunch of packages at someone and running out the backdoor. Oh, yeah, you know when Andrew Stevens is really, REALLY mad when the veins on his forehead pop out. Sometimes his eyes even glow blue. There's more, but what's the use recounting it?

I'll give it two stars because it's not the worst movie ever. But at times it really comes close. Isn't DePalma supposed to be a genius or something?

"The Fury" is another Brian DePalma flick dealing with telekinetic abilties. This time it's Amy Irving (from Carrie) as the girl with the amazing mental powers. She's awesome! Her struggle to understand and deal with her state is portrayed brilliantly. Meanwhile, Kirk Douglas is a government agent, betrayed by his own partner (John Cassavetes) who tries to assassinate Douglas. He escapes death and goes underground. His son (who also has telekinetic abilities) is taken by the government to be used as a weapon. Douglas goes on a hunt for his son (Andrew Stevens), stopping at nothing to get him back from Cassavetes and the dark agency he represents. Eventually, Kirk Douglas' character meets up with Amy Irving; and gets her to help him. Lots of great DePalma touches throughout! Of course, everyone knows about the fantastic "explosion" finale. "The Fury" would be a cool part of a triple feature with "Carrie" and "Scanners"! Watch for Dennis Franz in a funny role as a cop. John Williams does the music, so how can you lose? ...

This is a very well done movie for the time that it was filmed. We didn't have the superlative special effects of ILM to enhance this movie so we have to depend on the acting ability of the cast. Kirk Douglas, a young Amy Irving, Charles Durning, Carrie Snodgress, John Casssavetes and of course Andrew Stevens. The cast alone should entice you to see this one. Without going into too much of the plot, yes a horror/thriller movie can have a plot. Kirk Douglas has been searching for his son played by Andrew Stevens, in order to get him back from a nasty bunch of folks at a government run facility for especially gifted children with extraordinary mental abilities. Lots of action, suspense filled, a joy to watch Andrew and Amy when they both must have been just out of their teens. Portions of this movie, especially at the end are not for children or preteens, if you don't want them up all night. But for the true horror/suspense fanatic this movie is right up your alley. Buy it and you will not be sorry you did!!!

You already know the plot, so I'll get right to the meat of it. "The Fury" is one of the coolest De Palma movies there is. I first saw this movie on TNT when Joe Bob Briggs did a show called Friday night Monstervision. He did drive-in totals, and I'm sure those totals would help you now.
This movie has: 23 dead bodies. 1, full-torso body explosion. 1 car wreck with crash and burn. 1 boat wreck with crash and burn. 1 car wreck with bloody civilian casualty. 1 former Playmate turned inside out.
Hey, the movie sold me with those and it got better from there. How can you resist a movie where a bad guy has no use in one of his arms. Especially when a character asks what happened to that guy's arm and Kirk Douglas cooly replies, "I killed it. With a machine gun." Now that's entertainment.

The Fury is a great film that takes some elments from other films such as Carrie, and spins a totally different tale of violence and psychic powers. This was De Palma's first blockbuster movie- even if it didn't do as well as they thought at the box office. It's about a teenage boy named Robin who is kidnapped after a murder attempt at his father. The father (played by the magnificent Kirk Douglas) survives, and is still trying to find his son after 11 months. But the boy has psychic powers- which is the reason they want him in the first place. These "powers" psychically link him to a girl named Gillian (Carrie's Amy Irving), who tries desperately to help the father locate his son in an attempt to meet him.

But the experiments that the people who kidnapped him make him under-go have a strange effect on Robin- they turn him into a destructive beast who will stop at nothing to get his own way. Gillian also has destructive powers- if she touches someone at a certain moment, they will bleed, some a little, some a lot. And she can either use these for good, or for evil...

The father and Gillian search for Robin, and when they find him, he turns out to be a shadow of his former self. One who was once a good, fun-loving teen has turned into a monster that will kill to get what he wants...

While not as good as Carrie, it is a well done thriller by a master of suspense, Brian De Palma. The film has shocking moments that will make your mouth gape open, so be prepared. This is, all in all, a scary yet fun film.

Also recommended films by De Palma: SISTERS, PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE, CARRIE, DRESSED TO KILL, BLOW OUT, BODY DOUBLE, and RAISING CAIN.

A secretive dark government snakes its way through both the
narrative as well as the character portrayals ... an abduction
orchestrated by a black-suited leader with a penchant for cigarettes ... the X-Files, right?
Not so fast; Brian DePalma and John Farris were the artists
for this motion picture, not Mr. S. King or Mr. C. Carter.
And when I say 'artists', I mean just that; not some mass
market hype-a-rama telling you the film is important and that
you WILL see it at any cost.
Take my word for it: At the price offered by Amazon, you'll
hopefully (affordably) order a copy, and take a dose or three
of this maligned and overlooked gem. Sure, it may look 1978-
dated, but as you watch it, you'll see how widely its influence
still trickles into the craft of film.

Dismissed at the time of its initial release as a mishmash of themes and genres, time has been kind to "The Fury" (1978), Brian De Palma's visually spectacular adaptation of the novel by John Farris. An ex-government agent (Kirk Douglas) seeks the help of a young girl (Amy Irving) with incredible psychic abilities to help locate his son (Andrew Stevens), who has extraordinary powers of his own and has been kidnapped by an ultra-secret organization who plan to use his talents for their own sinister purposes. Farris' own script has a neat symmetry, encompassing Middle Eastern terrorism, government conspiracies, psychic horror, and a series of Grand Guignol death scenes, orchestrated to a turn by De Palma whose growing confidence as a filmmaker sees him fully engage with the concept of Pure Cinema which has characterized much of his work ever since.

Highlighted by John Williams' magnificent score (a genuinely eerie composition, one of the best of his career), the film opens slowly, builds momentum, and culminates in a breathtaking sequence which closes the movie on a note of screaming hysteria (the final thirteen shots have been celebrated and vilified in equal measure by disbelieving audiences ever since the movie first opened!). De Palma's technical precision is matched by his excellent cast, including John Cassavetes, Charles Durning and Carrie Snodgress, all of whom loan these outrageous proceedings a gravity which lesser actors might have scorned. Look quickly for a very young Daryl Hannah in an early pre-stardom role.

20th Century Fox's region 1 DVD runs 117m 46s and features a brand new anamorphic (1.85:1) transfer which is marred by excessive grain throughout, though not enough to spoil the overall presentation. The remastered 4.0 soundtrack spreads the music across the soundstage to detrimental effect, diluting the sonic impact of key scenes, though Fox have also included the original 2.0 mono track (mistakenly identified as surround on the packaging), and this version is exceptionally strong and vivid. There's also an anamorphic trailer, a stills gallery, and English captions.