Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Finally saw this yesterday and enjoyed it.

Is it just me or did it seem like they were aiming for a PG-13 rating with this and just happened to miss it? For being rated R I thought the violence was pretty tame and they went out of their way to avoid nudity for the most part. Definitely not a "hard" R rating. Not that it really matters to me, I just found it curious.

Also, assuming the Mad Max universe is still in Australia, why did all the cars have their steering wheels on the left side? Pretty sure all previous films had them on the right side.

 

Most of the action in the film was implausible anywhere on earth, so why nitpick on little continuity concerns such as this?

 

I dunno, I guess because the previous films all pretty clearly took place in post-apocalyptic Australia. Even in this new one a lot of the characters had Aussie accents, although that's another thing that could be nitpicked: why so many non-Aussie accents, especially Theron's character who, as explained in the film, was born and raised there.

 

I would say a Fast & Furious movie is more implausible. Since most of Fury Road's stunts were done for real it is probably one of the more plausable action movies of its kind in years. Highly unlikely. But more plausable.

 

Masterpiece.
Future cinema.
Planet Hulk check in here.

 

Well I watched it last night having deliberately avoided this topic and the reviews in general and I was left feeling more than a little disappointed. Yes it’s a good film in its own right but as one of those fans who went to see all the originals in the cinema and having watched Mad Max dozens of time I wasn’t prepared for the Furiosa/Feminist retake on a Mad Max.

Initially I though Tom Hardy was a good choice for a modern day interpretation of Mad Max but lets face it; he’s now been reduced to little more than a bit part in his own film.

 

Maybe I didn't read much into it, but I don't get the feminist angle people are seeing. Is Fury Road somehow different than Terminator 2 or Aliens?

 

Yeah, I don't get the 'feminist' thing either. It was a pretty awesome, benchmark action flick with quite a few smart, attention to detail moments which I really appreciated.

I loved the fact that there was lightening during the big sand storm, because it's a fact that due to the electrostatic buildup in such phenomena, you would get electrical discharge (same thing in volcanic eruptions).

Another nice touch was the closing of the air intakes on the truck when the sand was being raked up over the hood, and then reopening afterwards. The improvised oral fuel injection method was fun. I also liked the bendy pole riders descending on their targets - totally cool imagery and original.

The enhanced orange desert-scape worked really well (it could have been set on Mars!). In summary, I really liked this high octane flick a lot.

 

It's implied in the movie that the oceans have dried up, leaving vast salt flats, and that this happened about 20 years prior to the events of the film (after Theron was taken). This would suggest that the action of the movie could take place pretty much anywhere since everywhere is presumably accessible by (very long) automobile journey. The "wives" had a variety of accents -- American, Aussie, and English. I'm not sure there's any reason to believe that the events of this picture take place in Australia aside from the presence of a few characters (most notably the Immortan Joe family and Theron's lieutenant Ace) with Australian accents.

 

I felt pretty manly after watching the movie. (I'm a guy.) Got me motivated to finally replace the alternator in my mom's car.

Couldn't get past most of the craziness of the movie to read much into it.

 

This was great!!! best film this year or last

 

As I said previously, throughout I just didn't care no matter how hard I tried to.
FR held nothing to me other than the fact that I appreciated the man hours put on and the fact that Miller finally got to bring Max back...but for me it was just a relatively well made video game cutscene.
No real depth, and the CG elements combined with the heavy color timing basically neutered all the practical stunts which was terrible.

With all the work put in and how WB finally got behind it, I was extremely surprised at how it didn't quite work out.

Personally I think the big problem with the series is the lack of story. None really have a strong narrative and the idea that Westerns were only simplistic trifles drives me nuts. What would have made a great Max film would have been to build upon the original trilogy's ideas and place Mel into a story reminiscent of the deep moral quarandries of say an Anthony Mann western.

And after re watching all of them, not only did I realize that the first is my favorite but also that there really could have been a good film in Thunderdome.

Damn...still pissed a Mel starring MM4 never happened. FR is not bad but it just squandered potential so badly that I can't begin to fathom all the accolades it's been getting.

 

The character needed a reboot with a new and younger actor.
With the huge cast and costuming, it wouldn't surprise if Gibson was in the new movie.

In Maxillian mode Mel did kinda' make a Mad movie
Get the Gringo (2012)

It rocks!

 

BTW, I bought the ROAD WARRIOR Blu-ray out of a cheap-o pile at WalMart or maybe Target.

It is, in fact, the international MAD MAX II edition, not the American edit, even though the cover and disc art says ROAD WARRIOR.

I knew something was up when the movie started out MAD MAX II. There were noticeable little extra slivers of footage absent from the American edit: Wez pulling the arrow out of his bicep and pulling the boomerang out of his boyfriend's skull, etc. It doesn't make the movie any better or worse, although were it released now I'd prefer the American edit, since the prosthetics aren't state of the art.

 

Huge disappointment. Basically nothing grabbed my attention except for the art direction which admittedly was outstanding. I guess what turned me off the most was the super-ultra-bombastic and utterly unrealistic "computer game" style in which the film was shot. The cinematography in the action scenes and the editing just plain irritated me - got tired of it pretty quickly. Basically after that first chase scene I knew I wasn't gonna like this. Oh and the characters, I didn't feel invested in the characters one iota. No memorable dialogue, no coherent story, no sense or purpose - just one big 2-hour load of nothing.

8,4 on IMDB??? Gimme a break!

 

That's about right - I'd give it a 9 personally. It's the best action flick with the most gorgeous visuals and attention to detail that's ever been made. Sorry you couldn't appreciate it.

 

That's OK, to each their own.

I personally liked Road Warrior much better but that's just me.

 

That's one of the most surprising things about it. I'm looking forward to the BR to be able to savour it all.

John K.

 

Total mad crazy unstoppable energy blast. Almost plot free, but given that 94% of the movie is a chase scene, that matters not at all. As to whether Max or Furiosa was the star...?

Neither. The stunts were. Clearly.

This was the biggest blast I've seen for ages.

Also, crazy mad subwoofer rumbling loud. I actually felt bad for my neighbours. Fortunately, the wife was away - she normally acts as the volume limiter on movie nights.

Any movie which doesn't have an inexplicable flame throwing guitar hero will be a let down in the future.

 

Get the Gringo is fantastic

 

I naturally rewatched The Road Warrior after seeing Fury Road and I think Fury Road is a movie for it's time. It had to be different. We're living in a post-video game age, whether you like it or not and George Miller is savvy enough to know that. The Road Warrior was a movie of it's time but it's looks a little cheap and cheesy now and the racing stunts that seemed so amazing then simply aren't enough now to compete with the hyped up action we now see at the movies (and in video games). The Road Warrior still has some better characters -- I'll call the bad guys even, but Mel and the heli pilot were better "good guys" -- but I still came to love Furiosa and Tom Hardy. The first time I watched Fury Road I felt disappointed, but the second viewing ....wow, I realized how good it was as a work of action film art.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I'll definitely be checking it out again when I get my hands on the Blu-ray. Perhaps I'll be better able to wrap my brain around it on the second viewing. But yeah, the first viewing was a huge letdown.

And just for the record, it's not like there was no redeeming aspect in the movie for me. As I said, the art direction and production design were stunning, that's for sure.

 

Mad Max: Fury Road returning to IMAX 3D theaters next week for a limited run, starting September 11th.

 

Cool. Maybe I'll make it to an IMAX streaming booth for a second viewing in that fashion. Whoops, no, I guess not. My local IMAX is starting "Wolf Totem" in 3D on the 11th.

Well, this week I picked up the 3D Blu-ray (Oh, bad, bad, doubly dead medium), so I guess just have to watch it whenever I want and as often as I want. Maybe back up and slo-mo a few extra delicious bits. I have a great screen and sound system, but I admit it's not quite the full experience...I suppose I could make the floor sticky and scatter some lit iPhones around.