Really Surprised!

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Following on from the success of CARRIE , Brian de Palma gives us another movie about psychics and telekinesis - except this time, it's mixed up in a taut thriller concerning Kirk Douglas hunting, and being hunted by, a secret government agency who have kidnapped his son. This is an example of de Palma at his best, with lots of style and Hitchcockian moments, plenty of action, and some real show-stopping scenes. While the film may feel episodic in nature, with a number of plot strands eventually tying together, a stellar cast help to make this one unmissable.Kirk Douglas is the good-natured hero, a role he had played a hundred times, so as you would expect he's naturally good at it. Andrew Stevens appears in a minor yet pivotal role as his son, and is scarily convincing. Carrie Snodgress lends solid support as Douglas' lover, while Charles Durning - an actor usually playing the hero's partner in films like COP - is surprisingly good in an understated role as a doctor. However, acting honours should go to Amy Irving - frequently moving as she struggles to come to terms with her new-found psychic abilities - and John Cassavetes, who steals his scenes as the chief villain of the piece.From the unexpected and shocking opening - where a beach resort is the scene of a violent shootout - right up until the truly epic finale, this is a film which does everything right and keeps you riveted to the screen. While the plot may be a typical one, seen in the likes of King's FIRESTARTER, it's what de Palma does with it that makes this watchable. Good scenes include a car chase through fog-bound streets (watch out for a very young Dennis Franz as one of the drivers), another moment which highlights just what slow-motion was made for and obviously took a long time to get just right, and the climax, which brings a whole new meaning to the term 'tragedy'.Horror fans will no doubt be delighted by the wealth of bloody scenes and glowing eyes on offer, climaxing in a shocking moment where Fiona Lewis' bloody body is twirled through the air like a broken puppet. But of course, this is just to make way for the real finale, where chief villain Cassavetes gets his just desserts as Irving makes him literally EXPLODE! This effect, shot from thirteen angles by de Palma, is simply awesome. It would make the film worth sitting through even if the rest of it was worthless, which of course it isn't. Created by Rick Baker, the special effects work here wasn't even matched by Cronenberg's later SCANNERS. These moments and more make THE FURY a must see for movie fans.

A government agent (Kirk Douglas) is determined to come to his son's rescue, when a sinister official kidnaps him to harbor his extremely powerful psychic abilities.I find it interesting that Brian De Palma chose this as the follow-up to "Carrie". I mean, really, another film about young people with psychic powers? But it is actually quite different in spirit and acts as more of a pre-cursor of "The Dead Zone" and "Scanners".We not only get the screen debut of Daryl Hannah, but an excellent score from John Williams that was highly praised by critic Pauline Kael, who called it "as elegant and delicately varied a score as any horror film has ever had".

Kirk Douglas plays former CIA agent Peter Sandza, who is determined to find his son Robin(played by Andrew Stevens) who has been kidnapped by a secret government organization called Childress, (led by John Cassavetes) who want him,(and others) who have powerful psychic abilities to be used in times of war. Peter enlists the help of a Childress student named Gillian(Amy Irving) to rescue Robin, and defeat the evil Childress.Brian De Palma film is high on melodrama and violence but short on credibility, with a plot that seems like an extension of "Carrie"(which also starred Amy Irving) only isn't as good. Still, it does a showstopper of an ending...if you can stomach it!

The Fury isn't a bad film but it isn't great either. It's a bit muddled in the beginning and hard to really understand what the hell is going on. The book is rather focused and precise and much easier to understand and follow. This feels like the writer and director got a bit sidetracked somehow.The film definitely has flavors of the 70's with it's melodramatic, somber acting and overdone set design. We see character actors indicative of that era and some of it feels very dated. There aren't a lot of characters to like here. The boy Robin and the girl played by Amy Irving are interesting and we really want to know more about them and what their abilities are. They aren't given much of a chance to reflect and say how they feel about their telekinetic talents. We see what they can do, why didn't they use their rage to change things earlier on?Some of the scenes get lost and become a bit silly in comparison to the melodrama in other scenes. I was shaking my head when Kirk Douglas was in the car with the policemen. As I say, it isn't a bad film but there are certain elements that can become frustrating. What worked back then just doesn't work that well today for this type of film.