At the very beginning of the movie while the opening credits are still rolling, we get the pleasure of hearing a U.S. Army unit being wiped out to the last man by the Germans (heavily implied to be the tank platoon that Fury is a part of as they're in battle with German tanks), with at least one speaker being Killed Mid-Sentence and another exclaiming "It's all over!" before a frantic voice asks if anyone can hear him but getting no reply.
Imagine signing up for the Army and expecting to serve in the rear as some guy typing up paper work. Then some Sergeant comes to you and is like "Look, you're reassigned to that guy's tank because his last guy got killed in the front line, have fun, Replacement!" If that doesn't put a damper in your expectations of surviving the war, nothing will.
And then one of your first assignments is to go into said tank and clean it up from the last fight. Said mess is the guy you've been assigned to replace. And then, as you are cleaning, you come across the guy's face.
Parker's screams as he burns alive from his flaming tank...then he puts his pistol to his temple...
In fact, the Fury soundtrack "Ambush", seems to incorporate Parker's screams into its chords.
The weapon used to cause Parker's death above is also Paranoia Fuel if you know what it is. It is a German Panzerfaust, an extremely effective and near-silent anti-tank weapon when used correctly in the later part of the war. The weapon was so simple a child (like in the movie) could use it. And unlike the anti-tank guns and tanks the German had, which only ever reached the thousands in produced numbers, the Panzerfausts were produced by the millions, and Allied troops had to deal with the massive quantity of Panzerfausts since they landed in June 1944. Imagine Parker's scenario played over thousands of times with every time a German manages to score a hit on a Sherman.
To make this "better": The M4 was actually the safest tank to be in, in spite of the reputation it picked up post war due to Death Traps. Usually, a Sherman crew could bail out when the tank was struck - a T-34, Cromwell, or other Allied tanks? They probably didn't have enough room to try and get their gun out.
A corpse on one of the muddy roads has been run over so many times it has the shape and consistency of wet paper.
The execution of the German POW. The man is just trying to surrender, and he begs for his life, showing his family and his life, before being offed by Norman.
The German POW is wearing a US Army overcoat. Regardless of why he was wearing it (probably just because it was cold in April of '45), the assumption is that he took it from a dead GI (the infantrymen threatening him even keep saying things like, "Where'd you get that GI coat?" and "Who'd ya kill?"). According to the Geneva Conventions, an enemy soldier captured wearing any article of your own side's uniform or gear or carrying your side's issued weapon is legally considered an infiltrator and subject to summary execution. The Germans would (and did) do the same thing. Notice that other captured Wehrmacht troops were not harmed by the Americans. Troops on both sides were warned about this and told to get rid of any captured enemy gear before surrendering. It was his own fault for not doing obeying the most basic of The Laws and Customs of War.
The rotting corpses of hanged German citizens. Worse is that it was done by their own people on their dictator's orders, and worse still is that most of them are children.
Sign on a Murdered Child's Corpse: I am a coward and didn't want to fight for the German people.
The effects of a white phosphorous round on a squad of German troops, stumbling out like shambling ghosts, wreathed in the deadly white, burning-hot smoke coming from inside their bodies and their agonized wails and screams filling the air. Honestly, if you know anything about white phosphorous at all (like that it burns at about 2,750 degrees Celsius/5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, can spontaneously reignite even after being dunked underwater, etc.), you probably flinched as soon as you heard the call for a "Willy Pete" round. No doubt about it, Norman gunning the soldiers down afterward was an act of mercy, and Wardaddy commends him for it too.
Notably, the Infantry Sergent seems to find their suffering amusing, while Garcia states they should have just let them burn. The sheer ruthlessness on display from the otherwise heroic soldiers is rather chilling, though given who they're fighting, it may be a little hard to blame them.
The fanaticism of Nazi Germany's remaining defenders is this. So ingrained with the desire to protect their ideology that they are willing to shell and burn their own cities and execute their own people just to slow down their inevitable defeat. Just imagine being one of those helpless citizens stuck in between the Allied forces and their own country. And this has historical basis - Hitler was basically punishing Germany for losing the war and made it government policy.
After a fair bit of brutal street fighting, which ends with the Germans surrendering after the American tanks and soldiers pour a sea of bullets and shells into the buildings they are fighting from, we see the German soldiers marching out with their hands up. Most of them are obviously children. Not in the New Meat sense like Norman, but literal Child Soldiers. The monstrous SS officer forcing the children to fight against the Americans is summarily pointed out by the Germans and executed on the spot by the Americans.
The execution of said monstrous SS officer in the town can be a bit unsettling. The fuckercertainly deserves it, but there is no ceremony, no "And This Is for..." statement, or anything. Wardaddy simply asks the Burgermeister if that’s the guy responsible for hanging kids. The Burgermeister's traumatized Blunt "Yes" reply indicates his own disgust with the man, but he clearly seems to think the American troops will conduct some kind of their famed democratic process and perhaps take him away formal trial, or at least take the guy out back and out of sight before wasting him. Instead, he's simply placed in a clear line of fire while the infantry sergeant calls one of his guys to pull the trigger. The soldier selected looks like the Angel of Death (they even call him "Angel") in a GI uniform: clothes disheveled, helmet and hood pulled low over his eyes, face shadowed and only barely visible, but carrying an unmistakable Death Glare nonetheless, and an M1A1 Thompson submachine gun best suited for close-range combat. He gruffly shoves the Burgermeister out of his way, sprays a dozen rounds into the SS officer's chest, then keeps walking without batting an eye. The mayor is stunned at the nonchalance of the whole thing.
Wardaddy: [In German] Is he the one who’s been hanging kids?
Wardaddy: Yeah, him. The SS cocksucker with the busted wing.
Infantry Sergeant: [Grinning] Hey, Angel! This one's yours! Auf weidersehen, asshole!
The SS officer himself is unnerving too; he's completely emotionless even when it's clear he's going to die, and the way his body jerks and shakes as he's gunned down doesn't look human either. It's possible he didn't realize what was happening until "Angel" raised his gun but it's also possible he was well aware of it and maintained his cold, emotionless demeanor all the while. It's hard to tell which is worse.
In Emma's apartment, Garcia briefly mentions a battle in France where an entire German army was routed and the corpses of tens of thousands of humans and horses were left to rot. He is referring to the Falaise Pocket/Gap. Dwight D. Eisenhower said of it:
The battlefield at Falaise was unquestionably one of the greatest "killing fields" of any of the war areas. Forty-eight hours after the closing of the gap I was conducted through it on foot, to encounter scenes that could be described only by Dante. It was literally possible to walk for hundreds of yards at a time, stepping on nothing but dead and decaying flesh.
The battle against the Tiger may be pure Hollywood Tacticsnote No COMPETENT Tiger commander would have left a secure defensive position to advance on a group of charging Shermans instead of standing off and using its superior weapon to pick them off at range, though by that point in the war, the Nazis were desperately short on all tanks and tank crews, let alone tanks in good working order or competent crews, but it's a devastatingly effective demonstration of the horrifying power of Germany's elite war machines — the Tiger was such a logistical nightmare that only about 1300 were ever produced, but they really were that unstoppably powerful. The absolute horror on Norman's face when the Shermans land their first direct hit square on the Tiger's front armour only for it to bounce off without the slightest effect effectively conveys to the audience what a nightmarish opponent this is they're fighting, and that's before it lands direct hits on the other two tanks accompanying Fury - with horrifying and lethal results.
Sergeant Peterson takes a direct hit from a shell capable of destroying his tank in one shot (which happens immediately after). He doesn't just lose his head, the shell gouges out half his upper torso!
The scene is absolutely terrifying in a way no fictional movie can represent because it reflects real historical events. Allied crews felt badly outgunned. The lucky ones died instantly along with their machines when shot, the rest got burned alive inside metal coffins while half-buried with pieces of their former teammates. Worst of all, none of this is new to armored warfare. It's been like this since the beginning.
And it's worth noting that Tigers operating by themselves was not the doctrine they (nor lighter tanks like the Sherman) were originally designed for. When they were first fielded, entire formations of Tigers would be used to break through enemy lines. As their numbers dwindled and they were spread thin due to attrition, they were forced to engage in fights with much worse odds.
The final battle, especially after the sun goes down. Fury is dimly illuminated by the burning farmhouse and the muzzle flash of her own guns, wreathed in thick black smoke, surrounded by dead and mangled bodies, with the screams of terrified wounded and dying Germans competing with the noise of gunfire over it all. War Is Hell for sure, but this is a glimpse of a true nightmare.◊
The SS officer is still walking around screaming orders as he burns to death, and his body is so wreathed in flames that you can't make out a human silhouette at all.
Deleted Scenes
"Rose - Extended"
Fury's platoon finds remnants of a death march, with dead concentration camp inmates scattered all over a field. Probably omitted because the film is pretty dark as is.
The scene where Grady tearfully tells Wardaddy that he's reached the end of his rope and can't take anymore. One of the reasons he states is he's terrified of hearing shells hitting Fury and not knowing if the next one will make it through. The nightmare fuel for Grady is that out of all the crew members, he's the only one who has no view outside during combat. Wardaddy is in his cupola, Norman and Gordo have periscopes, Bible has cannon sight to look through. All Grady can do load the shells he's told to load and tell Bible he's clear.
, an extremely effective and near-silent anti-tank weapon when used correctly in the later part of the war. The weapon was so simple a child (like in the movie) could use it. And unlike the anti-tank guns and tanks the German had, which only ever reached the thousands in produced numbers, the Panzerfausts were produced by the millions, and Allied troops had to deal with the massive quantity of Panzerfausts since they landed in June 1944. Imagine Parker's scenario played over thousands of times with every time a German manages to score a hit on a Sherman.
