Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

[SeanC]

I would never have dreamed, when I saw this film in theatres months ago, that it would win six Oscars, including Editing.  Too bad that George Miller couldn't win, but I'm sure he's happy for Margaret (his countryman Baz Luhrmann similarly directed his wife to a few wins).

[Eyes High]

Mad Max: Fury Road? More like Feminist Max: Fuck the Patriarchy. It really was the best.

 

I saw this movie for the second time recently and I wound up laughing with sheer, giddy delight at the audacity of the production design and the action sequences. This movie had everything, really: hedgehogmobiles, acrobats swinging back and forth atop poles with balletic grace, multiple cars flipping over and crashing into each other, a lesbian separatist biker gang...

 

I'm so pleased this movie won so many Oscars. Margaret Sixel's Oscar for Best Editing was particularly well-deserved. She did fantastic work.

[DollEyes]

 I love the Oscar wins too, but I was disappointed that one of the winners didn't say that their Oscar looks "shiny & chrome."

Edited March 1, 2016 by DollEyes

[ElDosEquis]

I pretty much wait for all movies to come out on DVD so I can watch them at my own pace and re-watch them - usually within the next day or so.

How quickly I do is a good indicator of how much I liked the flick.

 

MMFR was a total dud.

 

I guess I am at the age where I don't process 'action' as quickly as I used to/or as people brought up on 'action' do.

 

Give me an idea of what the characters are about and a little story line. Stop with the quick cuts -nothing more annoying that seeing something for a split second and then thinking, "what did I just see?" (gonna need a new dvd player soon).

What was the purpose of the tats, the IVs, the I live, I die? Why did they hijack the War Rig? Why didn't they just call Uber for a ride?

The only thing that would have saved the movie was Ted Nugent playing the guitar followed by Ringo Starr, Don Henley and Mick Fleetwood playing behind him?

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I didn't get this one at all. Then again I don't remember being the biggest fan of the original. I should have remembered that. I guess it's on me then. I enjoy a good action but honestly I do need some story and I admit shutting this off half way through (and bitching about a movie I haven't at least finished does break a rule of mine and a personal pet peave) but this one lacked any story that I could see.

 

 

Its story is The Hero's Journey.

 

And there's more than one hero, since between Max and Furiosa there are dual paths to greatness. Even Nux gets his moment to shine, albeit through sacrificing himself.

[Morrigan2575]

Just watched the movie, well the last hour of the movie.  I'm going to need to see it again because there was a lot I just didn't understand. However,  I have 2 very minor complaints and one major issue.  

Minor complaints...why were the steering wheels on the wrong side? It's an Australian movie, shouldn't they be driving on the right side. Why did all the main "good" characters have American accents? I know Mel Gibson used an American accent in the sequels but I don't see the point now adays. You had a British Mad Max and a South African Furiosa, let them use their real accents.

Ok now, the major issue, I didn't like that they used The Many Mothers as little more than Red Shirts.

Othe than that it certainly had the look and feel of a Mad Max movie. Lots of action, crazy characters and set pieces. I loved that the bad guys had their own musical accompaniment.  If you're going to war make sure you bring a kickass rock band.

[Sharpie66]

I read somewhere (maybe here?) that pointed out that the guitar and drums were the George Miller version of the Scottish bagpipes and drums leading the troops to battle. Loved that idea!

[Morrigan2575]

oh that's actually really cool.

[Shriekingeel]

Raw stunt footage surfaces. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3786373/Who-needs-special-effects-Raw-footage-Mad-Max-Fury-Road-shows-incredible-LIVE-stunts-award-winning-movie.html

[Shriekingeel]

Does anyone have a list of the scenes added to the USA Network showing? I know there were at least a couple, having obsessively rewatched this on HBO. 

[Joe]

Added scenes? I need to know, seriously. If there's an extended cut, I've never heard of it. Though those scenes may be the ones from the DVD. A woman offers herself as a milker, and something involving Rictus, Miss Giddy, and Angharad.

[Spartan Girl]

I finally saw this. I was never a Mad Max fan, but this really was good! Furiosa should have her own movie!

[Joe]

3 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

I finally saw this. I was never a Mad Max fan, but this really was good! Furiosa should have her own movie!

You could argue that this was Furiosa's movie. But George Miller has said that he does have a Furiosa movie planned out. Will he actually do it? I don't know. He's also said he wants to do a small project before diving back into the world of Max, though he hasn't yet actually started anything. Given that he's 72 and movie making can be a tiring process, who knows?

[Shriekingeel]

I thought that telescopic device that Furiosa uses to see the Valkyrie on the tower was new. I also don't remember Dag talking about being pregnant in the original print. 

[Cobalt Stargazer]

9 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

I finally saw this. I was never a Mad Max fan, but this really was good! Furiosa should have her own movie!

I agree with @Joe, Furiosa is a bigger part of the movie than Max. She's the one who decides to go rogue and take the other women with her, and she only reluctantly takes Max along because he's as much of a prisoner as they are. I would not mind at all seeing what happens after the Citadel has been freed either.

[Spartan Girl]

54 minutes ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

I agree with @Joe, Furiosa is a bigger part of the movie than Max. She's the one who decides to go rogue and take the other women with her, and she only reluctantly takes Max along because he's as much of a prisoner as they are. I would not mind at all seeing what happens after the Citadel has been freed either.

Arguably it was her movie, but Max still got the title.

[Joe]

7 hours ago, Shriekingeel said:

I thought that telescopic device that Furiosa uses to see the Valkyrie on the tower was new. I also don't remember Dag talking about being pregnant in the original print. 

I don't know about theatrical, but they're both in the DVD cut. Maybe you saw an edited version?

[bijoux]

This movie was not at all what I expected. I put it on one Sunday afternoon thinking, action flick? Sure, why not. And I found it a heartbreaking depiction of slavery from the very start and an uplifting tale of fighting for freedom, both your own and others', by the end.

[AimingforYoko]

2 hours ago, bijoux said:

This movie was not at all what I expected. I put it on one Sunday afternoon thinking, action flick? Sure, why not. And I found it a heartbreaking depiction of slavery from the very start and an uplifting tale of fighting for freedom, both your own and others', by the end.

Plus a flamethrowing guitar!

[paramitch]

For me, the thing that is most moving to me about "Mad Max: Fury Road" isn't the fact that its characters escape from enslavement or captivity.

It is that the journey they travel is one to empowerment, to self-awareness and redemption. And to a conclusion in which they realize, most of all, with joy and with sadness, that they are not things. The journey takes almost everything from them, but even those who fall are given an awareness of their own power and personhood, their self-ownership, and this knowledge frees them and gives them courage.

They begin as "things:"

• The Brides are constantly referred to as "treasures" and "property."
• Max's name is "Bloodbag"
• Nux is a tool, a cog in an engine (a literally expendable War Boy who worships the "V-8")

Only the Vuvalini are truly free.

What I find beautiful is that this shared awareness of enslavement and objectification is what bonds Furiosa and the Brides... and Max. (I personally headcanon that Furiosa was used by Immortan Joe at some point, possibly proved infertile, and then rose as the Imperator—but never forgot. But was still expected to go and kidnap young girls for further use... hence the redemption).

The very first moment Furiosa sees Max, he is chained in a crucifixion pose in the back of Nux's car, serving as a literal bloodbag (a thing). The glance between the two is searing and says everything -- it's a mutual recognition of enslavement and a refusal to submit.

This is why I love the different beats between the two -- the incredibly fierce battle that starts their struggle, in which Max is simply a brute that's everything Furiosa and the women hate and fear about men. But it's also really visceral and intimate and brutal (and it's not an accident that this is when Max wounds Angharad (even if he doesn't actually mean to). But then he realizes the women are exactly like him, and I think it's no accident that Furiosa talks to him in these very quiet, tender tones, as if he is a feral and abused animal.

Then Furiosa shouts "Fool," and from that moment on they are all one alliance of free people. It just kills me every time. The fact that it's wordless, never talked about, never discussed. They never say a word about it. He just hands her the gun, she gets back into the seat next to him, and they are permanently allied. To me, it's deeply romantic but also not necessarily romantic at all. But there is deep love there, and recognition, and that moment is where they both acknowledge it. 

And then it ends with Max choosing to be a "thing" -- serving as a bloodbag for Furiosa (coming full circle so that his last line of the movie is also his first) to save the real hero.

But then not staying... because he doesn't deserve to. He let people down again. And Angharad died (the fabulous @stillshimpy got me to realize this, and I'm now convinced she was right).

On 4/3/2016 at 8:40 AM, ElDosEquis said:

Give me an idea of what the characters are about and a little story line. Stop with the quick cuts -nothing more annoying that seeing something for a split second and then thinking, "what did I just see?" (gonna need a new dvd player soon).

What was the purpose of the tats, the IVs, the I live, I die? Why did they hijack the War Rig? Why didn't they just call Uber for a ride?

The irony is that this movie appears to be all action but it is in fact all story. Every word, battle, and moment really do mean something (and often, something pretty profound).

It may be action, it may be loud, but you have to pay close attention to see how it all falls together. 

Take, for example, the little mourning motion the Vuvalini use to honor the dead. As Nux looks to Capable and whispers, "Witness me," as death approaches, Capable responds with that little motion, mourning him to his face even as he goes to his death. 

To answer your other questions:

• Furiosa hijacked the War Rig to save the Brides, rejoin her people, and achieve redemption for her work in capturing people for Immortan Joe.
• The tats and brands are (in the world of the film) ways to turn humans into things (like Max's vital statistics tattooed on his back so he can serve as a better living 'bloodbag'). It's no coincidence Max has the same brand of ownership on his neck that Furiosa and Angharad and the other women do. They are the same.
• The IVs are because this is a post-apocalyptic nuclear apocalypse, and the war boys are all dying of radioactive sickness (as is Immortan Joe), hence the emphasis on new "healthy babies" no matter if they are the product of rape. So healthy revenants like Max are used as 'bloodbags.'
• "I live, I die, I live again" is the way Immortan Joe has conditioned an entire generation -- the War Boys -- to serve as literal battle fodder (as Angharad notes), willing to die for him without hesitation because he has convinced them of the fiction of an immortal reward for serving him.
• Obviously they didn't call Uber, meanwhile, because in the world of MMFR, only Lyft remains. Which is why nobody called Lyft. ;) 

 

On 6/15/2016 at 6:10 PM, Morrigan2575 said:

Ok now, the major issue, I didn't like that they used The Many Mothers as little more than Red Shirts.

I didn't see them that way at all. They were free, but trapped, and the clock was ticking. Furiosa gave them hope. They were all dying and they knew it (most were old). If they could help Furiosa and the women retake the Citadel, it was worth dying for. And some did live. (Although I always mourn beautiful Valkyrie and the Keeper of the Seeds the most...) The seeds were a perfect metaphor. They would have to find soil eventually or there was no hope.

On 7/9/2017 at 8:45 AM, Shriekingeel said:

I thought that telescopic device that Furiosa uses to see the Valkyrie on the tower was new. I also don't remember Dag talking about being pregnant in the original print. 

Both of those moments are definitely in the theatrical release, and on the DVD. Dag has an extended conversation with The Keeper about her "Warlord Junior."

On 7/9/2017 at 1:16 PM, Cobalt Stargazer said:

I agree with @Joe, Furiosa is a bigger part of the movie than Max. She's the one who decides to go rogue and take the other women with her, and she only reluctantly takes Max along because he's as much of a prisoner as they are. I would not mind at all seeing what happens after the Citadel has been freed either.

I totally agree. Furiosa is the real hero of the movie. Not even a question. Max is a sidekick. And I love it SO SO much.

On 7/10/2017 at 4:25 AM, bijoux said:

This movie was not at all what I expected. I put it on one Sunday afternoon thinking, action flick? Sure, why not. And I found it a heartbreaking depiction of slavery from the very start and an uplifting tale of fighting for freedom, both your own and others', by the end.

I thought the same thing. It looked like a great big stupid action candybar movie and then managed to thrill me, inspire me, and break my heart.

Edited February 23, 2018 by paramitch
stupid typos

[BetterButter]

'Mad Max:Fury Road':The Oral History of a Modern Action Classic

[Anduin]

1 hour ago, BetterButter said:

'Mad Max:Fury Road':The Oral History of a Modern Action Classic

It's a good article. The movie, though, is more than good. It's the best movie I've ever seen! I'm not fond of people being traumatised for art, but at least it paid off.

[VCRTracking]

 

 

 

[Anduin]

Oh, what a day! What a lovely day!

It's finally officially official! We're getting a Furiosa prequel!

Quote

When we discussed the production of “Fury Road” for a new oral history, Miller confirmed rumors that he is moving ahead with a stand-alone movie about the action film’s heroine, who became a fan favorite thanks to Theron’s determined portrayal.

There's still plenty of time for things to crash and burn, but talk of either this or Max 5 started the day after Fury Road was released. It's been heavily rumoured at least three times in the last two years.

If I had a dollar for every time talk of making a new movie surfaced, I'd have... $5 to $10. Okay, I realise it isn't that much, really. But when you're a superfan like myself, it seems like a lot. My hopes are up, just a rumour. My hopes are back down. You get the idea.

[Danny Franks]

I finally, finally got around to watching this, after putting it off for so long because I just don't get the fuss about Tom Hardy.

Well... I still don't get the fuss about Tom Hardy, but Charlize Theron is even more amazing than I already thought she was. This is her movie, through and through. Hardy is just there to sell tickets to dudes who wouldn't watch an action movie with a female star.

Furiosa is a fantastic character, and really takes a lot of the role that Max did in the first trilogy. She's laconic and stoic and driven by nobler intentions despite it not being in her best interests, just like Max. She kills Joe, she's the one everyone is trying to save at the end, she's the fucking hero.

All Max keeps for himself is that he wanders off alone at the end, because Max can never be happy.

There's always been something really disturbing about the post-apocalyptic imagery of the Mad Max movies. The nihilist death cults with a fetish for oil (as well as general fetishes) but this movie upped all of that. The War Boys were genuinely creepy and manic, Immortan Joe is gross, so was his fat, old deputy, and that blind, mad guitarist is still possibly the most disturbing thing in the movie. It's the glee they take in violence and death that does it.

I was actually impressed with Rosie Huntington-Whitely, for the first time. She had a real spark of vitality, and her determination to not go back to Joe really shone through. It's a shame the character died.

I've heard so much about the practical effects and how much of the movie was shot with real stunts and real vehicles, and that definitely comes across. There's a gritty, visceral feel to all the set pieces that CGI simply cannot recreate.

One thing that bugged me when I watched the earlier movies, and continues to, is how much petrol seems to be around. Okay, I get that warlords hoard it for themselves, but we're generations past the end of civilisation now, and these guys must have burned through a million gallons of gas, using a whole fleet of souped up vehicles to chase another, at absurdly high speeds through uneven, soft terrain. Same goes for ammunition.

Anyway, when the Furiosa movie comes out, I'll be sure to see it at the cinema.

[Anduin]

2 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

One thing that bugged me when I watched the earlier movies, and continues to, is how much petrol seems to be around. Okay, I get that warlords hoard it for themselves, but we're generations past the end of civilisation now, and these guys must have burned through a million gallons of gas, using a whole fleet of souped up vehicles to chase another, at absurdly high speeds through uneven, soft terrain. Same goes for ammunition.

Miller thought of that. Immortan Joe controls three patches of territory. The Citadel, which has water and vegetables, the Bullet Farm, which is a lead mine, and Gas Town, which is an oil refinery. Doesn't explain where the hordes of warboys come from, the metal to make the cars, or where the other groups get their resources from. But it's a good start. I like that attention to detail.

[xaxat]

It might not be rigorously applied  (and doesn't really apply to the cars) but I think scarcity has been a consistent theme through the series.

In the first one civilization is still hanging on but the end seems to be in sight and the MFP tempts Max into staying by offering him "The last of the V8s." In Road Warrior, ammunition is clearly a precious resource for everyone and Humongous is attacking the settlement because they have the ability to pump crude oil and refine it into gasoline. In Thunderdome Aunty has to tolerate Master because his pig shit generated methane is vital to her control of Bartertown. And the oasis seems like a relative paradise not just because it apparently capable of feeding the kids, but also because it's geography provides them with on of the rarest commodities, safety.

The mention of the warboys reminded me of that time when a silver, spray on, food coloring was spammed by "warboy" reviews. (There was much consternation amongst the bakers who had no idea what was happening.)

[Danny Franks]

17 hours ago, xaxat said:

It might not be rigorously applied  (and doesn't really apply to the cars) but I think scarcity has been a consistent theme through the series.

In the first one civilization is still hanging on but the end seems to be in sight and the MFP tempts Max into staying by offering him "The last of the V8s." In Road Warrior, ammunition is clearly a precious resource for everyone and Humongous is attacking the settlement because they have the ability to pump crude oil and refine it into gasoline. In Thunderdome Aunty has to tolerate Master because his pig shit generated methane is vital to her control of Bartertown. And the oasis seems like a relative paradise not just because it apparently capable of feeding the kids, but also because it's geography provides them with on of the rarest commodities, safety.

In this one, the scarcity that they focused on, albeit briefly, was water, and Immortan Joe's power base was built largely on his control of that essential commodity. Furiosa and the girls wanting to get to this fabled place with grass and trees speaks of the hold Joe's control of the water has over people - no water, no life. So unless you can find an alternative source, you're stuck.

For what it's worth, I think the concerns over our future on the planet will revolve more around access to water than access to anything else. We're already seeing what the increasing scarcity can do to communities and livelihoods. We can do without petrol, we can certainly do without guns, but we cannot do without water.

[tv echo]

Reportedly scheduled for a May 2024 release date...

Rejoice, filming has started on Fury Road prequel Furiosa
By William Hughes  June 1, 2022
https://www.avclub.com/fury-road-furiosa-mad-max-anya-taylor-joy-george-miller-1849005965

Quote

Witness, rejoice, chrome, do not become addicted to water, etc.: George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa has apparently finally started filming.

This is per an Instagram post from one of the film’s stars, Chris Hemsworth, who wrote that “A new journey in the Mad Max saga begins,” while also showing off the new movie’s undeniably metal-looking logo.

Miller—who recently premiered his latest film, Three Thousand Years Of Longing, at Cannes—has been talking up the Furiosa movie pretty much since Fury Road became a massive hit for the now-77-year-old director. The film takes place well before that movie, though, i.e., however long it takes for new star Anya Taylor-Joy to age into Charlize Theron, who stole the show as the title character in the original.

Plot details about the prequel are nil, although we’ll presumably see Furiosa in service to a younger version of Fury Road villain Immortan Joe, played memorably by the late Hugh Keays-Byrne. Among other things, we have no clue yet who Hemsworth (gearing up for the promotional push for his latest Marvel film, Thor: Love And Thunder) will be playing, or actor Tom Burke, who reportedly replaced Matrix: Resurrections’ Yahya Abdul-Mateen II after the latter was forced to depart the project due to scheduling conflicts.
*  *  *
Furiosa is currently scheduled for a May 2024 release date.

Edited June 2, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Leaked pics from Furiosa set showing Chris Hemsworth and Anna Taylor-Joy in costume...

Spoiler

[tv echo]

Thor like you have never seen him before: Chris Hemsworth is hardly recognisable with a prosthetic nose on set of Mad Max prequel Furiosa
By JIMMY BRIGGS   23 August 202
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11136799/Chris-Hemsworth-unrecognisable-set-Mad-Max-Furiosa-Sydney.html 

Spoiler

 

Edited August 24, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

CCXP 2023 Warner Bros. Lineup: Aquaman 2, Dune 2, Furiosa, Godzilla X Kong
By CAMERON BONOMOLO - November 27, 2023
https://comicbook.com/movies/news/ccxp-2023-schedule-warner-bros-aquaman-2-dune-2-furiosa-godzilla-x-kong/ 

Quote

Monsters, mermen, Mad Max — Warner Bros. is bringing them all to CCXP 2023. The annual convention in São Paolo, Brazil, is where studios and streamers showcase their upcoming film slates with panels and presentations, and this year's star-studded lineup includes DC's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Legendary's Dune: Part Two and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa. Stars and talent set to appear on the Thunder Stage include Chris Hemsworth, Anya Taylor-Joy, George Miller, Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Denis Villeneuve, Adam Wingard, Patrick Wilson, Jason Momoa, and James Wan.
*  *  *
Furiosa
...
When: Thursday, November 30
Time: 20H00 (8:00 PM) (5:00 PM EST)
Stage: Thunder Stage
Guests: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, George Miller

Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, and renowned filmmaker George Miller take over the Thunder Stage for the first world official panel of highly anticipated movie Furiosa, a feature that will premiere in Brazil in 2024 (May 24 in the US and Australia). The film tells the story of a young Furiosa (Joy), who falls into the clutches of a large horde of bikers, led by Warlord Dementus (Hemsworth), and must survive great challenges to find and make their way back home.

Edited November 28, 2023 by tv echo