Talk about one seriously mental car chase!!
It must have the highest body count of all the Mad Max car chase scenes put together.
Girl at work was begging me not to tell her about the films on Friday night as a customer had been telling her about the series and she;s never seen them so she wants me to lend her the DVD set of the original and NOT tell her about Fury Road. But what I can tell her is that there's an insane car chase that puts the car racing scenes in the Death Race remake in the shade.
Hey George Miller. How about a couple of prequels about what happens during the war and what caused the breakdown in society as I suggested?
Huge fan of the first two (and also Beyond Thunderdome, although that's more to do with my love of bad 80s movies than my love of quality cinema) and I thought Fury Road was AWESOME.
I hated it from the start, silliness on a biblical scale, corny dialogue, laughable 'emotional' scenes, soulless heartless ridiculous verging on parody, it looked great and enjoyed a bit of the action but ultimately there was no resonance for me at all, couldn't wait for it to end.
Loved the Road warrior and the original Mad Max though.
Never seen a Mad Max film before until this one. What a cracker of an action film; one of the rare ones that actually kept me on the edge of my seat. Best action film since last year's Winter Soldier. I'd argue the film is more Charlize Theron's than Tom Hardy's, but still a scorcher and insane to boot.
Never seen a Mad Max film before until this one. What a cracker of an action film; one of the rare ones that actually kept me on the edge of my seat. Best action film since last year's Winter Soldier. I'd argue the film is more Charlize Theron's than Tom Hardy's, but still a scorcher and insane to boot.
Yeah Charlize Theron's character is undoubtedly the star of the show.
Never seen a Mad Max film before until this one. What a cracker of an action film; one of the rare ones that actually kept me on the edge of my seat. Best action film since last year's Winter Soldier. I'd argue the film is more Charlize Theron's than Tom Hardy's, but still a scorcher and insane to boot.
Yeah Charlize Theron's character is undoubtedly the star of the show.
I think thematically, what the character of Max is, and will likely continue to be, is a kind of drifting, periphery figure who features simply as a kind of background common denominator in different stories from that universe which actually focus on other people.
Sort of if you had a load of group photos of different people in different places, but if you looked closely at each, you would spot the same person appearing in each just off to the left and at the back.
It's interesting seeing people's thoughts on this film. 2 thoughts have fascinated me:
1) Tom Hardy's performance and the varying accents he uses.
2) Furiosa being the 'main' character of the film.
1). Max is a solitary figure whose existence is based purely on surviving and evading scavengers. His experience of interacting with other humans is probably minimal so his social and conversational skills are pretty bad (see:the 1st time he encounters the Wives). As the film progresses his communicational skills get better as it progress from body language and physical intimidation to coherent sentences and even offering advice. That's not to say that by the end of the film it is perfect, but there is a clear progression there. Max also has varying degrees of accents, I believe this to be on purpose by Hardy, as Max regains his voice and speech cohesion.
2) Furiosa is a typical action movie heroine, this does not make her the main character of the film, more that people aren't used to Max's 'anti-hero' character. Max is a character that is caught up in an event that is bigger than himself which he chooses to be apart of in order to survive. He is a part of the event and at the end gives a nod of appreciation to Furiosa for helping him survive and then he continues on his way. This is a very nihilistic concept of personal insignificance.
Furiosa on the other hand is as I say, a typical action movie heroine. She fights against the authority, she topples the authority (hell she is the one to kill Immortan Joe), and she receives the adulation of the people she has freed on her return and achieves hero status. This is your common action hero trope, but that doesn't mean that Furiosa is the main character, only a more familiar role than Max.
I think Fury Road is a film that has incredible depth in it's themes, but it's also an outstanding action film, and that's why I think it's an all time classic.
Got back from watching this earlier and enjoyed it immensely. It's strange to see the title character almost relegated to a supporting role, with regards to Hardy, but i think it worked just fine.
His wandering accent was rather entertaining
Action wise, it was just nuts and very, very enjoyable. Some of the stuntwork was just insane.
Will almost certainly be in my top 5 films of the year at this rate.
Max represents the nameless drifter trope. His more a foil of the action, a witness or an outside influence that changes the course of other characters. He's both the main character and the plot devise. You need look at other films like High Plains Drifter, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Hero, Yojimbo and the like. The Bride in Kill Bill was a female of this type in a way.
That's what I find great about the Max films. Even though we know little of the character and he barely speaks and only seems to get involved with others only when circumstances prevent him otherwise we still get a sense of him being an actual person. Rather then a Gary Stu.
That is the one downfall to the nameless trope as it can veer into Gary Stu/Mary Stu territory.
Got back from watching this earlier and enjoyed it immensely. It's strange to see the title character almost relegated to a supporting role, with regards to Hardy, but i think it worked just fine.
His wandering accent was rather entertaining
Action wise, it was just nuts and very, very enjoyable. Some of the stuntwork was just insane.
Will almost certainly be in my top 5 films of the year at this rate.
I thought he was just doing his Bane voice throughout
Saw it yesterday at the local flea pit, went in quite nervously as I'm an uber-fan of the originals and was expecting the worst. I sat in awe for 2 hours, it's completely batshit, high octane genius. 10/10. Astonishing stuff. Roll on The Wastelands
Gorgeous to look at and the action scenes were great fun, but think people are going slightly OTT with the praise here.
It was two hours of driving down a road and then stopping and driving back.
So by that criteria Goodfellas is a movie about gangsters swearing for 2 hours, Duel was all about a man being chased by a truck and nothing else, Jaws was about men chasing a shark etc. A friend of mine once described Close Encounters as the worst film he had ever seen, and was just a bunch of flashing fairy lights.
You know, when I saw the earlier trailers/teasers that seemed to show only the action/chase scenes, I was very skeptical...I started to get worried that it would be an interminable 2 hour car chase movie.
That's NOT what the originals were about at all, and I actually expected the worst.
If you honestly believe it was just a film about people driving down a road and back, I have to wonder if you were conscious when you watched it. It does have a plot, it does have dialogue, it does have moments where the film is allowed to breathe. In fact there are about 4 major chase scenes in the whole movie.
I actually thought that the film did what the second movie (which it most closely resembles) did so well, and create a whole new world and set of characters that you felt had a history, you got a sense of the hardship they had endured, and wondered how they had got to where they were.
A very good example of this in the new movie was an almost blink-and-you-will-miss-it moment when they drive through the muddy desert at night, and you see strange characters on stilts, foraging in the mud...a whole section of society that had obviously evolved and found a way to adapt to their environment...and I wanted to see more of that world.
For that reason, and also because of the sheer awesomeness of the designs and concepts of the movie (those insane vehicular creations, the Citadel and the whole concept of the microcosm of society within, the semi-religious aspects of some of the factions, the 'mothers' in the desert and their story, Furioisa's background which is only touched on ), I think its a film that will benefit from repeated viewings.
That said, I would agree that it is not a classic though.
Good opening scenes, sets etc... I liked the two main characters Max and Furiosa and the journey through the desert was ok. Would have liked to have seen more grit - some scenes were too tame and over repetitive.
Loved the scene with the dust cloud in the horizon.
What ruined it for me were the model wives. They couldn't act and their addition to the story was weak. imo. I couldn't help thinking of Natalie Bennett of the Green Party towards the end. lol.
On the whole it was very enjoyable.
Edit- on the plus side, I forgot I was watching in 3D until some moments made me jump.
Given the generally fantastic reviews and critical acclaim its received, what do you think of Mad Max's chances come awards season next year? Ignored, because it's a 'genre' film?
No chance of awards what-so-ever (bar special effects) but it looks like the new film has inspired a new generation to love the films, and that is perhaps reward enough.
Just got back from it today; I thought it was excellent and Miller's finally been able to make the Mad Max movie he's always wanted to.
Here's a very unpopular opinion - but I thought it was better than the first two. MM1's pacing was all over the place and it was a real struggle to sit through at some points. What was the point in all of the 'character development' when it's essentially an exploitation flick? I understand that it was due to budget constraints, and I can also appreciate it's influence on today's action films but today it doesn't quite stand up on it's own; it's an interesting piece of film history though. I like to think of it as a jigsaw puzzle with some pieces in the wrong order, and later, more satisfying actioners (e.g. Terminator) solved it.
Road Warrior had the same problem.
I'm glad that movie studios are finally coming to their senses and are releasing true action movies for adults (and older teens). I know that violence does not make a good film on it's own, but the film feels un-natural and has something missing if the previous films have been like that; take Die Hard for example.
If I was George Miller I'd slap a copyright order and put it in my will that the Mad Max francihse should never be remade and any future films in the series rely purely on stunt work
I've actually seen Mad Max style motor bike action while I've been walking home from wprk (people doing wheelies on motorbikes and having motorbike races on thr pavement (some people don't beg, plead or ask to demand to be involved in serious or fatal accidents- thet DEMAND it and it serves them right if they go flying head first over the front of a police car or stopped nd asked why they tthink they're rJesse Mach.
If I was George Miller I'd slap a copyright order and put it in my will that the Mad Max francihse should never be remade and any future films in the series rely purely on stunt work
I've actually seen Mad Max style motor bike action while I've been walking home from wprk (people doing wheelies on motorbikes and having motorbike races on thr pavement (some people don't beg, plead or ask to demand to be involved in serious or fatal accidents- thet DEMAND it and it serves them right if they go flying head first over the front of a police car or stopped nd asked why they tthink they're rJesse Mach.
Well, firstly this is not a remake but a new movie that takes place in the Mad Max universe, and its also directed by Gorge Miller who made the originals.
And what the second part of your post has to do with the movie, I have no idea...
Comments
It must have the highest body count of all the Mad Max car chase scenes put together.
Girl at work was begging me not to tell her about the films on Friday night as a customer had been telling her about the series and she;s never seen them so she wants me to lend her the DVD set of the original and NOT tell her about Fury Road. But what I can tell her is that there's an insane car chase that puts the car racing scenes in the Death Race remake in the shade.
Hey George Miller. How about a couple of prequels about what happens during the war and what caused the breakdown in society as I suggested?
Loved the Road warrior and the original Mad Max though.
I could bask in the nIhilism until the end of time, i'll definitely be going to see it again.
Yeah Charlize Theron's character is undoubtedly the star of the show.
I think thematically, what the character of Max is, and will likely continue to be, is a kind of drifting, periphery figure who features simply as a kind of background common denominator in different stories from that universe which actually focus on other people.
Sort of if you had a load of group photos of different people in different places, but if you looked closely at each, you would spot the same person appearing in each just off to the left and at the back.
1) Tom Hardy's performance and the varying accents he uses.
2) Furiosa being the 'main' character of the film.
2) Furiosa is a typical action movie heroine, this does not make her the main character of the film, more that people aren't used to Max's 'anti-hero' character. Max is a character that is caught up in an event that is bigger than himself which he chooses to be apart of in order to survive. He is a part of the event and at the end gives a nod of appreciation to Furiosa for helping him survive and then he continues on his way. This is a very nihilistic concept of personal insignificance.
Furiosa on the other hand is as I say, a typical action movie heroine. She fights against the authority, she topples the authority (hell she is the one to kill Immortan Joe), and she receives the adulation of the people she has freed on her return and achieves hero status. This is your common action hero trope, but that doesn't mean that Furiosa is the main character, only a more familiar role than Max.
I think Fury Road is a film that has incredible depth in it's themes, but it's also an outstanding action film, and that's why I think it's an all time classic.
His wandering accent was rather entertaining
Action wise, it was just nuts and very, very enjoyable. Some of the stuntwork was just insane.
Will almost certainly be in my top 5 films of the year at this rate.
That's what I find great about the Max films. Even though we know little of the character and he barely speaks and only seems to get involved with others only when circumstances prevent him otherwise we still get a sense of him being an actual person. Rather then a Gary Stu.
That is the one downfall to the nameless trope as it can veer into Gary Stu/Mary Stu territory.
Miller has taken action movies and spit petrol into the v8 vents and created an awesome spectacle that always has a human,emotional motivation.
24 hours after seeing it, and my heart rate has only just normalized.
I thought he was just doing his Bane voice throughout
That's exactly what it is. The studio basically gave him a blank cheque and said "go make your movie". 3 years and 150 million dollars later....
It was two hours of driving down a road and then stopping and driving back.
So by that criteria Goodfellas is a movie about gangsters swearing for 2 hours, Duel was all about a man being chased by a truck and nothing else, Jaws was about men chasing a shark etc. A friend of mine once described Close Encounters as the worst film he had ever seen, and was just a bunch of flashing fairy lights.
You know, when I saw the earlier trailers/teasers that seemed to show only the action/chase scenes, I was very skeptical...I started to get worried that it would be an interminable 2 hour car chase movie.
That's NOT what the originals were about at all, and I actually expected the worst.
If you honestly believe it was just a film about people driving down a road and back, I have to wonder if you were conscious when you watched it. It does have a plot, it does have dialogue, it does have moments where the film is allowed to breathe. In fact there are about 4 major chase scenes in the whole movie.
I actually thought that the film did what the second movie (which it most closely resembles) did so well, and create a whole new world and set of characters that you felt had a history, you got a sense of the hardship they had endured, and wondered how they had got to where they were.
A very good example of this in the new movie was an almost blink-and-you-will-miss-it moment when they drive through the muddy desert at night, and you see strange characters on stilts, foraging in the mud...a whole section of society that had obviously evolved and found a way to adapt to their environment...and I wanted to see more of that world.
For that reason, and also because of the sheer awesomeness of the designs and concepts of the movie (those insane vehicular creations, the Citadel and the whole concept of the microcosm of society within, the semi-religious aspects of some of the factions, the 'mothers' in the desert and their story, Furioisa's background which is only touched on ), I think its a film that will benefit from repeated viewings.
That said, I would agree that it is not a classic though.
Good opening scenes, sets etc... I liked the two main characters Max and Furiosa and the journey through the desert was ok. Would have liked to have seen more grit - some scenes were too tame and over repetitive.
Loved the scene with the dust cloud in the horizon.
What ruined it for me were the model wives. They couldn't act and their addition to the story was weak. imo. I couldn't help thinking of Natalie Bennett of the Green Party towards the end. lol.
On the whole it was very enjoyable.
Edit- on the plus side, I forgot I was watching in 3D until some moments made me jump.
Here's a very unpopular opinion - but I thought it was better than the first two. MM1's pacing was all over the place and it was a real struggle to sit through at some points. What was the point in all of the 'character development' when it's essentially an exploitation flick? I understand that it was due to budget constraints, and I can also appreciate it's influence on today's action films but today it doesn't quite stand up on it's own; it's an interesting piece of film history though. I like to think of it as a jigsaw puzzle with some pieces in the wrong order, and later, more satisfying actioners (e.g. Terminator) solved it.
Road Warrior had the same problem.
I'm glad that movie studios are finally coming to their senses and are releasing true action movies for adults (and older teens). I know that violence does not make a good film on it's own, but the film feels un-natural and has something missing if the previous films have been like that; take Die Hard for example.
If I was George Miller I'd slap a copyright order and put it in my will that the Mad Max francihse should never be remade and any future films in the series rely purely on stunt work
I've actually seen Mad Max style motor bike action while I've been walking home from wprk (people doing wheelies on motorbikes and having motorbike races on thr pavement (some people don't beg, plead or ask to demand to be involved in serious or fatal accidents- thet DEMAND it and it serves them right if they go flying head first over the front of a police car or stopped nd asked why they tthink they're rJesse Mach.
Well, firstly this is not a remake but a new movie that takes place in the Mad Max universe, and its also directed by Gorge Miller who made the originals.
And what the second part of your post has to do with the movie, I have no idea...