The Fury

The Fury is a crazy thriller directed by Brian De Palma. Kirk Douglas is looking for his son who was taken by a mysterious government agency run by John Cassavetes. On the other hand a high school girl played by Amy Irving has ESP. It’s obvious that Cassavetes’ agency has something to do with psychic powers which is why they took Douglas’ son and Irving will get thrown in there as well.The first thing that stands out is Douglas’ character. He was 62 when this movie came out and they had him jumping around in action sequences and crawling around buildings like a superhero. He also has funny sequences like when he sticks up a couple and their old mother, ties up the former and becomes best friends with the latter. Irving’s character is also interesting. When she focuses her power people start bleeding. All together it makes The Fury a very unique film.

Her uncredited cameo in THE FURY was Daryl Hannah's big screen debut. It's rumored that Jim Belushi also got his motion picture start here as an extra in dark swim trunks who can be seen behind Amy Irving. Gordon Jump, who was soon to co-star as the station manager on TV's  WKRP IN CINCINNATI , has a walk-on, as well.Brian De Palma's paranormal, paranoiac spy thriller is violently bloody. In it, the son of government agent Douglas and a girl his age are kidnapped in separate incidents for the purpose of using their enormous psychic powers as weapons. A decent later-career starring vehicle for Douglas, who is looking well-preserved.Warning: this one is not for the queasy. (That final death scene is spectacular!)Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 IMDb viewer poll rating.(6.4) The Fury (1978) - Kirk Douglas/John Cassavetes/Carrie Snodgrass/Charles Durning/Amy Irving/Fiona Lewis/Andrew Stevens/Gordon Jump

Seen by many as, at best, a triumph of style over substance, The Fury holds up amazingly well some 23 years after its initial release. If anything, it seems better.Ahead of its time, The Fury follows what we would now call the classic "X-Files" formula: a government-conspiracy thriller grafted onto a supernatural Grande Guignol melodrama. Peter Sanza (Kirk Douglas) used to work for a super-secret government agency that cultivates talent for psychic warfare. Unluckily for him, his teen-aged son Robin (Andrew Stevens) is one of the most gifted telekinetics that has ever come their way. Co-worker and uber-villian Frank Childress (the late John Cassavettes) coldly decides to kill the father and take the son off to Psychic Boot Camp to become a warrior. Peter escapes and spends the rest of the film trying to re-acquire his son...by any means necessary.The screenplay is not as dumb as most critics thought when The Fury was first released. There is an uneasy Freudian sub-text about father/son rivalry at the onset of puberty, and while no one would accuse The Fury of anything like profundity, the allegory about the difficulty of adolescence and coming to grips with newfound powers and responsibilities is reasonably well developed. Add to that Brian DePalma's always-cool direction, and for ten bucks, you can't beat it. Especially if you're an X-Files fan.

Exuberant and glossy, this DePalma follow-up to CARRIE is a telekinetic feast. Incredulous and mind-blowing, this is a great pop movie with some fabulous DePalma sequences -- Amy Irving's flashback on the stairs is a dizzying and imaginative plot-mover; the opening assault will take you by complete surprise. In addition, there are some affecting performances mixed in among the hambone, but effective, performances of Kirk Douglas and especially John Cassavettes, who plays this role as if he is Rosemary's husband all grown up and evil. Carrie Snodgress is truly moving in a way too small role, and Amy Irving glows in those richly textured close-ups DePalma does so well. The story is compelling, if a bit convoluted, what with its undertone of doom and a special-effects romance that never plays itself out. If you love engrossing suspense/horror films, you can't miss with this one. John Williams' dense and lyrical score adds a mesmerizing dimension to the increasingly gory proceedings...And the finale is supremely satisfying.

The Fury has some great ideas, great acting, decent script. It was about 30 minutes too long. The ending left me cold. I’m glad I’ve finally seen this movie but I’ll probably never watch it again

I remember watching when I was younger! I enjoyed the movie, recently purchased and remember Kirk Douglas and Andrew Stevens star in it. I recommend it, especially if you liked the movie scanners.

A good 70's era movie that doesn't scrimp on the story-telling just to cram in more action. The Fury has just about everything, international spy intrigue, psychic power, violence (yup, lots of that), humor, all delivered by the great Kirk Douglas and a teenage future Mrs. Spielberg. (...and there's a gold star for anyone spotting a teenage Daryl Hannah in a no-name bit-part. "Splash" wouldn't hit the screen for another 6 years.)

"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? ...

The Fury can easily be labeled in five different genres as it switches from thriller, mystery, horror, supernatural and action. Kirk Douglas stars as a special agent who is searching for his child who holds special telekinesis powers but has been kidnapped by Ben Childress played by John Cassavetes who Douglas thought was his friend. His search takes him from the middle east to Chicago.While Douglas is looking for his son the PSI a secret service within the CIA are trying to kill him and prevent their reconciliation. Meanwhile there is a young woman Gillian played by Amy Irving who has the same telekinetic abilities and Douglas' son. Will she be able to help before it's too late?The role demands that Douglas is very energetic here, just check out some of those moves and this, at least for the first half is a very fast paced movie from director Brian De Palma who brings back Irving after her starring role in CARRIE. Well directed with only some lulls in the second half of the movie. The slow motion scene is nothing short of brilliant, this is essentially a movie about loss and an entertaining one at that. One does suspect that Stephen King's FIRESTARTER took some inspiration from this plot.Small cameo appearance from a very young Daryl Hannah as schoolgirl and John Belushi is here as an extra.

Brian de Palmers underrated classic gets the Arrow treatment.This film includes the best ever score from John Williams which is included as an isolated track.The 2K transfer is superb and the film looks better than when it was first released.The sondtrack includes both the original mono optical track and a DTS remaster of the 4 track magnetic track.The story without giving anything away is basically a fathers search for his "gifted" son who has been taken by a covert goverment agency.The screenplay is vastly different to the John Farris novel but was written by Farris himself.A strong cast lead by Kirk Douglas give good performances with a couple of exceptions.As always with a de Palma there are plot twists everywhere and the main villans demise is still one of the best in cinema history.

Bought on behalf of a relative, so thought we'd watch it first as we both like Kirk Douglas. Not a bad film, but certainly not one of Kirk's best. Worth watching but I don't think we'd like it in our collection.

Another hidden gem of a film. Amy Irving, Kirk Douglas, Andrew Stevens and others in a story of clandestine organisation, cover up and brainwashing. Young psychics think they are learning how to control and manage their gifts, whilst all the time they are being primed and drugged to be be used as tools of destruction by a 'black project' department.The story of one man's attempt to re-connect with and rescue his son, and trying to prevent another from going the same way. A well-paced story with a few twists. I'm glad this film was transferred to Blu Ray and it's one for my collection that I can watch again and again.

An under-rated de Palma thriller sandwiched between Carrie and furore inducing Dressed To Kill, this is a great film. Starring Kirk Douglas who's son is kidnapped by a government agency because of his psychic abilities (they want to train him up to be a 'weapon'), with Amy Irving as another psychic who eventually helps Douglas and John Cassavetes as a bag guy who has an explosive end.Arrow Video have released a fine looking blu-ray with some great special features. A worthy addition to any film fans collection, and a must for de Palma fans.