Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

[Joe]

First, I've been wondering that myself. Some people have suggested that it wasn't his family in the visions, it was another girl who died in an offscreen adventure. Either that or a retcon. She was run down by cars, right? Instead of motorbikes in the first one.

 

Second, I thought it was the painted white, but the illness is an interesting idea. I'm open to that interpretation.

[JBC344]

I heard that the War Boys have an illness, radiation poisoning has been mentioned.  Not sure.

[Rick Kitchen]

There was a scene where somebody was blowing white powder on one of the War Boys before they took off after Furiosa.

[isalicat]

Just saw this yesterday afternoon (yes, I saw all the previous Mad Max movies as they came out  back in the day - still think Road Warrior is the best of the original three) and thought it was very, very good. Excellent casting and outstanding acting. And as many here have said previously, incredible art direction and camera work. Definitely will be seeing this again and I now hope for more Mad Max movies as long as George Miller will stay at the helm.

[TVSpectator]

First, I've been wondering that myself. Some people have suggested that it wasn't his family in the visions, it was another girl who died in an offscreen adventure. Either that or a retcon. She was run down by cars, right? Instead of motorbikes in the first one.

 

Second, I thought it was the painted white, but the illness is an interesting idea. I'm open to that interpretation.

 

The girl never called him "dad". 

[Rick Kitchen]

The girl never called him "dad". 

 

I thought she was calling him "pa" sometimes and "Max" sometimes.

[TVSpectator]

I thought she was calling him "pa" sometimes and "Max" sometimes.

 

I never heard the word, "pa" but I did hear the word, "Max" (although, I believe there was another apparition of a child in the distance that did call him "Pa" but it was never really clear who it was, but IMO it sounded more like a little boy than girl). 

[benteen]

I just watched the first Mad Max today.  Max definitely had a son.  The world of Mad Max definitely looked a lot different in the first movie.  Although to tell you the truth, after seeing the first film I don't know why it became a classic.

[TVSpectator]

I just watched the first Mad Max today.  Max definitely had a son.  The world of Mad Max definitely looked a lot different in the first movie.  Although to tell you the truth, after seeing the first film I don't know why it became a classic.

 

The first film was alright, but it was really the Road Warrior (although, Thunderdome is considered to be the lesser of the three films by many) that made the franchise really popular, IMO. 

[benteen]

I definitely want to check out The Road Warrior.

[Joe]

I just watched the first Mad Max today.  Max definitely had a son.  The world of Mad Max definitely looked a lot different in the first movie.  Although to tell you the truth, after seeing the first film I don't know why it became a classic.

Having watched all three old ones in the last week, I really enjoyed Mad Max. It's set at a time when society is clearly struggling, but hasn't yet collapsed. The Road Warrior was good, but IMO loses to plot on the first one and spectacle on Fury Road. Thunderdome just doesn't have the same spark.

[Sharpie66]

I loved the whole world of Bartertown in Thunderdome, so that's what puts it at the top of the initial trilogy for me, just barely nudging out Road Warrior, which had better action sequences, but less interesting characters overall. I especially like the political struggle between Auntie Entity and Master, as well as just the sheer awesomeness that is Tina Turner!

[Joe]

I loved the whole world of Bartertown in Thunderdome, so that's what puts it at the top of the initial trilogy for me, just barely nudging out Road Warrior, which had better action sequences, but less interesting characters overall. I especially like the political struggle between Auntie Entity and Master, as well as just the sheer awesomeness that is Tina Turner!

That's a good point. I do like the first half of the movie, it's just the stuff with the kids doesn't really fit well with that first half. I'd prefer more Bartertown.

[CatMack]

I absolutely adored this movie.  It's hard to even qualify why.  There were so many things that just worked.  I've never seen any of the previous Mad Max movies (and probably won't, I just really can't stand Mel Gibson), but I still felt like I understood the world.  The characters managed to feel like unique individuals even if I missed some of their names.  The cinematography was absolutely breathtaking.  The music gives me chills (I've actually cried listening to the soundtrack several times in the last few days - Let Them Up really does me in).  

 

Furiosa is just such an amazing character.  I know the pattern for this series is Max is the only character who sticks around for more than one movie, but I would have zero problem with them updating the series for a new generation by having them be at least a little interconnected and having a few other characters recur, because I need more Furiosa.  It probably won't happen.  And hopefully that just means we'll get even more awesome characters to adore.  And Tom Hardy is really talented and I could stare at him reading a phone book for hours so I'm definitely in for more no matter what.  But still.  Officially putting in a vote for more Furiosa.  

 

I really appreciated the fact that there was no shoehorned in love story (even Nux and Capable weren't really a romance - it was more about her being the first person to treat him like an individual with intrinsic value, not a thing or a tool).  That being said, holy god do Charlize and Tom have chemistry.  The growth of their relationship was so great, and I have a thing for partners who can communicate silently with one look.  It's Mako and Raleigh all over again.  

 

Finally, a lot has been written already about the feminist themes of this movie.  One of my dear friends wrote an article specifically focusing on how Fury Road is a movie about rape survivors that's actually friendly for rape survivors to view.  He's thinking about writing additional articles focusing on various aspects of the movie.  https://newmediamayhem.wordpress.com/2015/05/25/we-dont-need-another-hero-the-new-mad-max-and-my-ride-historic-on-the-fury-road/

[NoWillToResist]

Finally, a lot has been written already about the feminist themes of this movie. 

 

I've seen clips of a press conference for the film and I really hope they're legit. A reporter apparently asked Tom Hardy if he wondered, while reading the script, why there were all these women in a "man's movie". Tom Hardy was all "uh...no. Not for a second" and gave a delightful WTF face, bless him. :)

[TVSpectator]

It's amazing that this movie was even made, let alone became an awesome piece of work:

 

 

The Oscar-winning actress is the cover girl for the May 2015 issue of Esquire magazine. Incidentally, Hardy came clean about the rising tensions on set to the same mag, just some weeks before.

 

In the interview, Charlize talks about being a celebrity, the new man in her life, boyfriend Sean Penn, and how the romance took them both by surprise, and her latest film, for which she was holed up in the desert for almost 7 months.

 

“Fury Road” was shot in Swakopmund in Namibia, on the edge of the Namib Desert. There was little script to go by, and most action scenes were shot without a green screen, because director George Miller wanted them to be as convincing as possible.

 

This translated into the cast and crew driving for hours on end in the maddening heat, without an actual destination, reshooting the same scene over and over again. Everybody on set fought, Charlize says, but particularly she and Hardy, and Hardy and Miller.

 

“We [expletive]ing went at it, yeah. And on other days, he and George went at it,” she explains. “It’s material that’s really frightening - we didn’t have a script. Tom and I are actors who take our jobs seriously. Both of us want to please the directors we work with, and when you don’t know if you can deliver on that, it’s a frightening place to be - and for Tom more than me, because he was stepping into big shoes.”

 

Those would be the shoes of a leading man who carries his own big budget movie, which will hopefully turn into a franchise. Hardy has been acting for a very long time and already counts on a loyal fanbase (and has won over the critics, which is equally important), but he’s yet to headline a production as huge as this one.

 

Tensions arose and sparks flew on set, his co-star says. She liked it this way, because at least they both knew where they stood at all times and they could improve on whatever needed improving.

 

There’s nothing in this world that Charlize hates more than two-faced co-stars who smile in your face and stab you in the back, or make work impossible for you

 

 

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Charlize-Theron-Talks-Tom-Hardy-Feud-on-Mad-Max-We-Drove-Each-Other-Crazy-478367.shtml

[AimingforYoko]

Hilarious.

[Samsnee]

I enjoyed the movie for what it was. Well directed. Great action. But yet I have no real desire to see this again. Hardy didn't leave much of an impression. For some reason I kept thinking it was Gerard Butler, at least when he was in the mask. Charlize was great and it was nice to see a strong female for once. But the story really was paper thin. I was actually more interested in seeing how this society came to be In the first place.

[Bruinsfan]

For some reason I kept thinking it was Gerard Butler, at least when he was in the mask.

So it wasn't just me! I thought that was very weird how much he looked like Butler, since I don't normally think of them resembling one another.

[benteen]

I just watched the first Mad Max today.  Max definitely had a son.  The world of Mad Max definitely looked a lot different in the first movie.  Although to tell you the truth, after seeing the first film I don't know why it became a classic.

 

I just finished watching The Road Warrior.  NOW I understand how that film became a classic.  I really enjoyed it.

[blixie]

Finally saw it for a second time and it was just as shiny and chrome! I was able to really appreciate the down time moments since I wasn't just using them as a reason to catch my sensory breath. And the feminist themes this time seemed even more powerful, consistent, and wonderful. I really enjoyed the distinctiveness of all the wives especially the snarky commentary of The Dag, and I loved the final iconic shot of

Max and Furiosa, brought to mind the monument to Iwo Jima for me

. 

 

I also realized that the cult around Immortan Joe, and Joe himself recalled Thulsa Doom and the Cult of the Snake in Conan, which again may have visually/narratively  borrowed from Miller's Mad Max films in the first place. 

Edited May 31, 2015 by blixie

[CatMack]

I already posted my friend's article about Mad Max being a story about rape survivors that's friendly to rape survivors, but I really want to reiterate that point because I don't think it can be stated enough.  In the past week and a half or so since I saw this movie I have watched several TV shows that portrayed rape in a way that triggered me or someone I care about.  I didn't realize just how sick I'd become of trend of graphically showing violence, both sexual and otherwise.  Sometimes less is more.  Sometimes showing everything in excruciating detail is a distraction to the actual story.  Fury Road manages to be about escaping from sexual slavery without showing a single rape scene, or even a single scene of sexualized nudity.  And it's not just the sexualized violence.  The world of Mad Max is a very violent one and Fury Road doesn't shy away from that.  It's brutal and exhausting and bleak, and Miller managed to show this with very few "graphic" moments.  The only really graphic moment I can recall is Joe's face being ripped off, and even that was quick.  There was a lot of blood, sure, and if you really hate blood that might seem excessive.  But for me bloody wounds or bloody clothes aren't what I'd call graphic.  We didn't need to see Splendid's impromptu c-section, so we didn't.  We didn't need to see the Wives being brutalized to understand their anger and pain, so we didn't.  We didn't need to see exactly what Max did to the bullet farmers that left him so bloody, so we didn't.  Miller understands using violence economically so it doesn't lose its impact.  My new favorite analogy - too many movies and TV shows use a sledgehammer instead of a scalpel when it comes to violence, and they get praised for their surgical technique because gritty is in.  Miller is a true master surgeon.    

[Joe]

I like your whole post, and agree with you. However, the first moment with the wives, they're all in wet strips of cloth. Not quite nudity, but pretty close.

 

Miller is a true master surgeon.

I don't know if you knew this already, but he used to be an ER doctor. So he really is a surgeon!

[CatMack]

Ha, I actually did know that but wasn't thinking of it when I came up with that metaphor.  

 

I've read some criticisms of that first scene with the Wives, and I understand it, but for me personally I think you have to take into account the whole scene.  The 'sexy scantily clad women' moment lasts just a few seconds before the writing and directing makes it clear this is not a good thing.  These outfits are not their choice, it is a way of showing their status as things to Joe, to dress up like little sex dolls.  We see the removal of the chastity belt and the spitting at it.  We see their anger.  We see their resolve.  It's a very, very short moment which, in my mind, was a deliberate juxtaposition to everything that immediately followed it.  They are meant to feel out of place in the harshness of the Fury Road landscape, and then the "fantasy" of a bunch of wet scantily clad women is immediately deconstructed and criticized.  And I wasn't trying to say that you can't show anything, it's about balance.  There were a bunch of women standing around in thin white garments near a bunch of water.  It could have been a lot more explicitly 'sexy', but they kept it to a bare minimum, just enough to create that juxtaposition between "fantasy women" and reality. 

[blixie]

 

just enough to create that juxtaposition between "fantasy women" and reality.

 

Right the movement of the camera makes it clear they are not being sized up by Max in that manner and that they in TURN are sizing him up just as much (Splendid defiantly shuts off the water, like yeah? What the hell are YOU about to do to us?) And Max is similarly "chained up"

literally both to Nux and with the gardening tool muzzle (and he has a gun we know isn't loaded/just backfired.)

Edited May 31, 2015 by blixie

[Joe]

Yes, and for that matter he also sees the water and the working truck. And after getting free of the chain, all he does is take the truck. Not the women. The vehicle is the only thing that matters to him. But it's still worth noting.

 

A look at the VFX. Real cars, real stunts, some of the backgrounds and sets were done in CG. And the sandstorm, of course. Interesting read.

[VCRTracking]

I finally got around to seeing Fury Road yesterday. In 2D. It was a matinee and I was surprised there was still a sizable audience a month after it premiered.

 

My thoughts halfway through the movie. "Okay so far. The vehicles and costumes are insane. Furiosa's cool.  Action pretty good but still doesn't surpass the end of Road Warrior. Don't know why people are making such a big deal over it."

 

My thoughts during third act: "HOLY SHIT! OLD LADIES WITH SHOT GUNS! GUYS STANDING ON TALL POLES SWINGING FROM SIDE TO SIDE! THIS IS WAY BETTER THAN THE ROAD WARRIOR!! IT'S INCREDIBLE!!"

 

So I'm definitely seeing it again. This time in 3D.

Edited June 10, 2015 by VCRTracking

[Joe]

It was shot in 2d and converted after the fact, so you don't need to go for 3d unless you like it.

[benteen]

I saw it again and I liked it even more the second time.  What a great movie.

 

I actually saw all the Mad Max movies in the space of a week.

[TVSpectator]

I did see this movie twice, once in 3D and once in 2D. I would have to say that 3D is much better.

Edited June 11, 2015 by TVSpectator

[Joe]

I did see this movie twice, once in 3D and once in 2D. I would have to say that 3D is much better.

Huh. I wasn't expecting that. Does it depend on if you're into 3d in the first place? Of course, it doesn't matter any more. It's gone out of the cinema here, or else I'd be tempted to watch it a fourth time.

 

Yeah, this movie is one that I just can't get out of my head. There's something about it that I can't define, but I can't remember the last time something made me obsess this much. Maybe Star Wars, but I take that as a whole. There's a lot less Max material out there for me to absorb.

[TVSpectator]

Huh. I wasn't expecting that. Does it depend on if you're into 3d in the first place? Of course, it doesn't matter any more. It's gone out of the cinema here, or else I'd be tempted to watch it a fourth time.

 

Yeah, this movie is one that I just can't get out of my head. There's something about it that I can't define, but I can't remember the last time something made me obsess this much. Maybe Star Wars, but I take that as a whole. There's a lot less Max material out there for me to absorb.

 

Maybe (btw, I did saw this movie in 3D first and 2D later).

 

I also can't really get this movie (and also the older ones) out of my head. Maybe I just got really excited to see it and now I realized that there's so much world-building in it. You start to realized that pretty much anything could happen in this world (and I have fanwork in my head of course, that this could also take place during Star Trek's WWIII Earth time period ).

 

On a side note, are the ocean/seas all dried up in this universe?

[nobodyyoucare]

No the seas, oceans still exist. Drinkable water free of radioactivity and  gasoline on the other hand are rare. The Road Warrior hinted at a great war and the third film confirmed nukes were used. Odds are it was the US/Nato, against Russia, Warsaw Pact. 

[benteen]

Yeah, this movie definitely sticks with you.

 

I mentioned this before but at around two hours, Fury Road never feels like it overstays its welcome.  I want some of my movies to be over two hours if it warrents it.  But too many movies absolutely drag and this film never does.  That's one of the most impressive things about it.

[Schweedie]

I went to see this movie yesterday, and I wanted to see it again as soon as it ended. Absolutely loved it. And I'm not usually big on pure action movies (I went to see it because people whose taste I tend to trust were all raving about it), so I'm a little surprised at how bowled over I was.

 

I mentioned this before but at around two hours, Fury Road never feels like it overstays its welcome.  I want some of my movies to be over two hours if it warrents it.  But too many movies absolutely drag and this film never does.  That's one of the most impressive things about it.

 

Completely agree. It was a little funny - I never once looked at my watch so had no idea whatsoever how much time had passed, but there were a couple of times where I just felt as if they might end on a bit of a cliffhanger to set up the sequel and was like "Oh, please don't end yet! Don't end yet!" One of those times was when Max caught up with the others on the bikes and suggested going back to the Citadel instead, heh - it was like the movie answered, "'End'? Now? Oh, sweetie, you haven't seen anything yet!"

 

I'm cracking up to myself over some of the random little lines today, like the use of "Mediocre!" and Nux and Slit's brief argument about whether or not Joe had looked at Nux. "He looked at your blood bag!" "He looked me straight in the eye!" "He was scanning the horizon!"

 

And speaking of, I knew nothing outside of Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron casting-wise, and as soon as Nux showed up I felt like I recognised him, or that I should, at least. I think it was halfway through the movie when I finally had a "Holy shit, it's Nicholas Hoult!" moment. I'm a sucker for a good redemption arc when they make me feel like the character deserves one, and I loved Nux.

 

I think I really do have to go see it again.

[VCRTracking]

Yeah there's so much to take in but I'm glad they didn't have long info dumps of expositional dialogue. They just throw you in. It's like watching a foreign movie and you tend to get lost. Reading reviews and listening to podcast is where I learned some of what was going on. Like learning the Warboys have cancer because of radiation from nuclear fallout and that's why they need "bloodbags"  to get blood from, because they' d be sick. I got some of it when Nux showed "Capable" the redheaded "breeder" his tumors on his shoulder that he named.

Edited June 11, 2015 by VCRTracking

[blixie]

 

I think I really do have to go see it again.

 

You do it's even better the second time, because you can luxuriate in all the awesome, instead of kind of catching your breath and missing stuff (Like Max's cracks while he is strapped to the car). I love Hardy's thumbs up to Angharad when she was hanging off the truck. "You do you Splendid!"

[Sharpie66]

I love the Now Watching podcasters Fury Road episode, because they all geek out totally. When they get to the final chase sequence, with the Pole guys, one of them just says that the entire $150 million dollars spent on the film was worth it for that one visual.

[Schweedie]

You do it's even better the second time, because you can luxuriate in all the awesome, instead of kind of catching your breath and missing stuff (Like Max's cracks while he is strapped to the car). I love Hardy's thumbs up to Angharad when she was hanging off the truck. "You do you Splendid!"

 

We actually have subtitles here, so I think I got most of the cracks I might've missed otherwise! I'm glad, because I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on them, heh. "That's my head!"

 

That thumbs up and her proud little grin in return was one of my favourite moments. Then they had to go and ruin it all by having her fall off, dammit.

[Joe]

(and I have fanwork in my head of course, that this could also take place during Star Trek's WWIII Earth time period ).

 

If we're tying this to other franchises, I propose that in another two hundred years or so, they're going to be playing Jugger. That's another PA movie with Hugh Keyes-Byrne as a villain. Post-apocalyptic bad guy. Not quite typecasting, but it's still an interesting career choice.

[Bruinsfan]

On a side note, are the ocean/seas all dried up in this universe?

The great salt flats that you could ride a motorcycle across for 160 days and not reach the end certainly seemed to imply that. But I can't think of any way to dry up the oceans without scouring the whole planet free of life aside from microbes buried deep underground, so maybe it's just some huge salt flat in the outback?

[nobodyyoucare]

160 days sounds like hyperbole. No way one could get that much gas and carry it for such a journey nor find it. 

 

It took nine months for a woman and four camels to cross 1700 miles of West Australian desert. 

 

There are salt lakes in Australia. Without a compass one could easily get lost in traveling the outback and wind up dead 20 miles from a town. . https://travel.virginaustralia.com/au/voyeur/seven-salt-lake-wonders-australia

[VCRTracking]

SNL alum(and South Park writer) Bill Hader loved it and told Collider how his wife who said when the movie started told him "This isn't my kind of movie." at the end wanted to see it again and they immediately went back in line! Matt Stone from South Park had the best answer when Hader asked him what he thought about the movie:

 

 

HADER: I think the person who said it the best was Matt Stone from South Park. I go, “Did you see Mad Max?” and he goes, “Yeah.”

    

    “Well what’d you think of it?”

    

    He said, “Going to see it for the third time, I’m wearing a suit.”

[elizacat]

I just watched the first Mad Max today.  Max definitely had a son.  The world of Mad Max definitely looked a lot different in the first movie.  Although to tell you the truth, after seeing the first film I don't know why it became a classic.

If you look at when it was made and the fact it was George Miller's first feature and the budget was tiny apparently $400 000 AUD all raised by Miller and Kennedy.  I can see how it became a classic. At the time it was very different to anything out there and it became a major hit world wide. It did a lot for Australian film at the time and for better or worse launched the career of Mel Gibson.

I had to brush up on my Mad Max history lol and forgot that when it originally was shown in the US it was dubbed!

[Rick Kitchen]

Wasn't it also flipped backwards to make it look like they were driving on the right hand side of the road?

[Rick Kitchen]

Vertigo Comics is doing a series of prequel comics to Fury Road.  First off is Immortan Joe and Nux, but a Furiosa back story comic is coming June 17.

 

http://www.vertigocomics.com/comics/mad-max-fury-road-nux-immortan-joe-2015/mad-max-fury-road-nux-immortan-joe-1

 

http://www.vertigocomics.com/comics/mad-max-fury-road-2015/mad-max-fury-road-furiosa-1

[Joe]

Yeah, I read the first one. Highlights: Joe was a colonel in the Australian army. The bullet farm is a lead mine, Gas Town is an oil refinery. Roop and Charlie from the first Max joined Joe's forces. Looking forward to the second one.

[nobodyyoucare]

There is a preview out for the Furiosa volume.

 

http://www.comicvine.com/articles/preview-mad-max-fury-road-furiosa-1/1100-152610/

 

Looks interesting. 

 

To make bullets one does need lead or some other metal on a consistent basis along with gun powder and primer. The brass you can recycle. The explosive and lead or other material like tungsten for the bullet are the hard things to get. So obviously a lead mine would be a prime source of bullet making materials in a post apocsociety. Brass and copper are the real precious metals in a post apoc world not worthless gold 

Edited June 16, 2015 by nobodyyoucare

[caracas1914]

More than anything, I LOOOVED the old biker ladies.

it's so rare to see kick ass senior women like that on screen.

[Joe]

To make bullets one does need lead or some other metal on a consistent basis along with gun powder and primer. The brass you can recycle. The explosive and lead or other material like tungsten for the bullet are the hard things to get. So obviously a lead mine would be a prime source of bullet making materials in a post apocsociety. Brass and copper are the real precious metals in a post apoc world not worthless gold 

Yeah, I have a PA story in the back of my mind, it revolves around an iron mine. Also sugar cane for ethanol fuel and booze. Resources are the key, I feel.

 

On another note, I read the Furiosa comic. However, it focussed more on the wives. Furiosa was brought in as a minder because Joe trusted her not to get them knocked up. :) But it made me actually hate Joe. What he did to them was full-on rape. They're his captives, dependent on him for everything. There's no need for him to actually rape them. Okay, I can see how having them when he wants them would lead to him not even trying to play nice, but still. Also, I admit this is petty, I don't like a bad guy having the same name as me. :(

 

Saw it a fourth time today. Still playing, but viewing five is unlikely. Also, I have further theories. The wives mention polecats and the People Eater. They seem familiar with Joe's forces. It's possible at one point Joe showed/and or told them about his forces. The People Eater himself hasn't been given a pre-apocalypse career, I'm thinking he was an accountant or something else dealing with numbers and/or resources. Coming to count the cost and his later evaluation in the bog. Miss Giddy, the tattooed woman, was the wives' handler, but she wasn't entirely on board with Joe's schemes. I see her as the type of person who thinks she can do more good/less harm by working within the establishment rather than working from the outside.

 

The mother's milk on the war rig. While Gas Town is a subsidiary of the Citadel, you don't get something for nothing. The milk was trade for fuel.

 

Further theory, based on absolutely no onscreen evidence. The warboys are gay, at least by default. Look at them. All in their twenties or thrities, all fit outside the tumours, no women unless they go to the ones outside the Citadel. So of course they'd turn to each other to get their rocks off. Same with the wives. They'd turn to each other for comfort. And the first two Maxes absolutely had suggestions of homosexuality.

Edited June 23, 2015 by Joe