Mad Max: Trailer looks awesome!

I don't think we were denying Road Warrior had an arc, only that the first film had a different arc to the subsequent films, which pretty much have the same one, a reluctant hero out for him self makes the moral choice to help others instead of his selfish needs. I don't think we saw much of Max's thought process in the other films, we only saw his actions. But it's true Gibson is a more transparent actor than Hardy, which is why he worked so well in the original movies. He was able to communicate a lot with just his eyes. If this film didn't have such a strong protagonist and performance in Charlize's Furiosa, this flaw would be much more critical. The biggest story issue I had with the film is that Nux's conversion felt underdeveloped. It needed a bigger betrayal from Joe to really make it work. As is, it kind of just barely flies.
 
Every Mad Max, especially the 2nd & 3rd film, show Max essentially drifting into scenarios and helping out for (mostly) his own self-interest. This film is no different. The 2nd & 3rd film give ample screen time to the people Max encounters and their story. This film is no different.

The difference here is that Max is thrust into the middle of a scenario already in motion (quite literally), and the people he encounters are far more compelling than anyone he's encountered before. That is why the film focuses more on their story than it does on Max himself. Also, the Max of this film is not the Max of previous films. This Max is much more weathered, worn down, almost feral himself. He is more animal than human. It makes complete sense that he would be communicating mostly in ticks, grunts, motions, etc. As the film goes on and he fights for some semblance of humanity alongside Furiosa, he finds his own again and becomes more similar to the Max we're familiar with. I would agree though that Hardy could've been playing anyone and the film would remain unchanged.

This film is much, MUCH more than just a 2-hour chase of an action movie. There are many themes being explored here, and the film is a visual storytelling masterclass. We learn so much about the characters, the world they live in, their struggles, etc. through their interactions and onscreen actions rather than them sitting around talking about it. There's more information being conveyed here than some are giving it credit. Calling it nothing but an action flick is not only a disservice, but it's completely inaccurate. But, purely as an action movie, it is a masterpiece. Even in the midst of the always-moving and insane vehicular carnage, we always know the who, why, what, when, where, and how. And there are almost no master shots!

Seriously, this film is a revelation. A line in the sand moment for action filmmaking, and hopefully a fundamental paradigm shift for Hollywood. The thought of paying money to sit through another formulaic CG-fest full of exposition and bland characters in a colorless world was already obnoxious and is now downright repulsive. Give me bold, intelligent, practical spectacle or give me Netflix.
 
refocusedmedia said:
Every Mad Max, especially the 2nd & 3rd film, show Max essentially drifting into scenarios and helping out for (mostly) his own self-interest.
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Actually the first film is the complete opposite, which makes sense given it's his origin story. Where he ends up there is where he starts the rest of the series, a broken man trying to get some of his humanity back in an inhumane world.

refocusedmedia said:
The difference here is that Max is thrust into the middle of a scenario already in motion (quite literally), and the people he encounters are far more compelling than anyone he's encountered before.
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Was thinking a similar thing. He spends the first half of the movie either on the run or in chains. The other films he begins from a place of much more control, and chooses the scenarios he puts himself in.

refocusedmedia said:
This film is much, MUCH more than just a 2-hour chase of an action movie. There are many themes being explored here, and the film is a visual storytelling masterclass. We learn so much about the characters, the world they live in, their struggles, etc. through their interactions and onscreen actions rather than them sitting around talking about it. There's more information being conveyed here than some are giving it credit. Calling it nothing but an action flick is not only a disservice, but it's completely inaccurate. But, purely as an action movie, it is a masterpiece. Even in the midst of the always-moving and insane vehicular carnage, we always know the who, why, what, when, where, and how. And there are almost no master shots!

Seriously, this film is a revelation. A line in the sand moment for action filmmaking, and hopefully a fundamental paradigm shift for Hollywood. The thought of paying money to sit through another formulaic CG-fest full of exposition and bland characters in a colorless world was already obnoxious and is now downright repulsive. Give me bold, intelligent, practical spectacle or give me Netflix.
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Word.
 
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By the way, anyone else catch one of George Miller's trademark shots in Fury Road, the bulging eyes from Mad Max--

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He used them again in his Twilight Zone: The Movie segment (easily the best segment in that uneven anthology)

 
I'm not disagreeing with you at all. Don't take my comments to mean that I didn't think the film was exemplary cinema.

With each Mad Max film there has been a fascinating growth in the depiction of post-"apocaplix" attempts at societies. The original Mad Mad showed a world attempting to hang onto the old civilization; Road Warrior saw the complete breakdown of that and had Papagallo's followers holding off against the anarchy of The Humongus' uber-gang; Beyond Thunderdome had the dichotomy of Aunty Entity's Bartertown (kinda like the ultimate Hong Kong or WW2 Algiers) alongside the New Eden of the children's paradise. And now Fury Road has the most incredible anthropological/socialogical fever dream in the world created under Immortan Joe as his own twisted version of Kim Jong-il. I would have loved to see what the Bullet Farm and Gas Town were like along with the Citadel.

I do believe there is an arc not only within each of the first three films, but also as played out across them as three acts within a story. Mad Max #1 is his descent into his own personal darkness and hell; #2 has him finally let go and give selflessly - even if it is because he just doesn't care; and then #3 has him discover the humanity within himself again, finally rising out of his own darkness. It's actually somewhat profound.

I guess my biggest criticism of Fury Road is that I'm just not sure where it fits in with all of that. Somewhere between 2 & 3 perhaps? I'm just not sure.

Connected to that, I don't understand Max's motivations. Why he decides to do some of the things he does at several key points in Fury Road. I didn't really see the growth and the transitions in his character, they just sorta happened. And then at the end he chooses to walk away, which did not make sense to me at all. In Road Warrior he just didn't give a crap and let them leave without him. In Beyond Thunderdome the kids escaped and Aunty Entity let him live both out of respect and because he didn't pose any threat. But both of those endings were fairly passive on Max's part -- just a statement that Max had no place in any of the societies that were formed around him. (I kinda imagined him trying to find his way back to the New Eden with the kids, as he was perfectly happy to stay there before until some of them ran off.) But the ending of Fury Road had Max ACTIVELY choosing not to go with Furiosa up into the Citadel. He blends into the crowd and disappears. I would have rather seen him hold off the war parties at the pass and somehow survive but be again alone. It just felt rather forced to me.

Anyway, I think it's a sign of the respect I have for the filmmaking and the quality of the movie that I spend this much effort discussing it. There aren't many films or film series with this clear and interesting a vision. I would love them even without the incredible action, and yet that action is what really brings them all together and is why they exist at all. I too could watch a Furiosa movie or any other story set in this universe. I would love to see what incredible civilizations they can come up with. There could be dozens of them.
 
Mad Max is a steaming pile of crap.
I am totally surprised how many good reviews it got.
Can anyone explain to me me how a goggle of 18 year old models (as opposed to actresses) ends up in the middle of the desert in a post-apocalyptic world and how that is justified in any way shape or form?
Just ludicrous.
Like so many other aspects of the film.
Really the hype machine has done it's job well.
 
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yoclay said:
Can anyone explain to me me how a goggle of 18 year old models (as opposed to actresses) ends up in the middle of the desert in a post-apocalyptic world and how that is justified in any way shape or form?
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I thought it was pretty clear they were Immortan Joe's prime breeders, the key word being PRIME. I imagine the most powerful man in that part of the world would want to find the most attractive women he could get his hands on and keep his sex slaves looking good. It was also pretty clear the population was having problems developing genetically healthy people. The fanatics were described as having short life spans, needing healthy blood and depicted with boils. The whole purpose of the sex slaves was to generate a healthier populace, so again, they'd want the most attractive females they could find. If every woman in the movie was that beautiful, it would be more suspect to me, but the whole point of them and why they were prized was because of their physical perfection.
 
Mitch Gross said:
In Road Warrior he just didn't give a crap and let them leave without him.
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Having just watched it recently, I have to interject here. He volunteers to drive the rig to retaliate against Humongus and his gang for destroying his car. When the rig flips at the end and he sees the dirt pouring out, he discovers along with the audience that he was used as a decoy. By that point the gang is dead, the rest of the people are all long gone, and he is on his own through no real "choice" of his own.

Anyway, I think it's a sign of the respect I have for the filmmaking and the quality of the movie that I spend this much effort discussing it. There aren't many films or film series with this clear and interesting a vision. I would love them even without the incredible action, and yet that action is what really brings them all together and is why they exist at all. I too could watch a Furiosa movie or any other story set in this universe. I would love to see what incredible civilizations they can come up with. There could be dozens of them.
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Agreed, I look forward to three additional films Hardy & Miller have signed up for.
 
I'm just so glad there is as much BTS stuff as there is on this film.

It was truly amazing.

It's nice to have some help in trying to figure out how they pulled off half of it.

I absolutely loved it.
 
refocusedmedia said:
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Having just watched it recently, I have to interject here. He volunteers to drive the rig to retaliate against Humongus and his gang for destroying his car. When the rig flips at the end and he sees the dirt pouring out, he discovers along with the audience that he was used as a decoy. By that point the gang is dead, the rest of the people are all long gone, and he is on his own through no real "choice" of his own.
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It's been awhile, but doesn't the Feral Kid wave to him in the end and Max just stand there, not joining them? Damn it, now I'll have to watch again! Yes, I do agree that he was totally duped and used. If anything, this supports my feelings even more. Max is just left there with nothing. It's only in the third film that he makes the choice to allow the others to escape in the plane, knowing full well that he won't be joining them.
 
Mitch Gross said:
It's been awhile, but doesn't the Feral Kid wave to him in the end and Max just stand there, not joining them?
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No, the Feral Kid watches from the rear window of the bus as they drive off into the distance, leaving him on the road.
 
Those two scenes are not taking place at the same time or in the same location. The kid is watching as the convoy drives away from the compound, while Max is standing alone in a mythical hero shot reversed from the beginning (notice he's next to his car, which was destroyed earlier).
 
yoclay said:
Can anyone explain to me me how a goggle of 18 year old models (as opposed to actresses) ends up in the middle of the desert in a post-apocalyptic world and how that is justified in any way shape or form?
Just ludicrous.
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Funny, I felt the opposite. It's ludicrous with 5 super models in the desert, but it makes perfect sense. Just genius the way he pulled that off.
 
refocusedmedia said:
Those two scenes are not taking place at the same time or in the same location. The kid is watching as the convoy drives away from the compound, while Max is standing alone in a mythical hero shot reversed from the beginning (notice he's next to his car, which was destroyed earlier).
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Duuuuude, you're off base. That's not the Interceptor. It's the rocket car driven by Papagallo. I stand by Mitch's question/statement: Feral Kid & convoy leaving....Max standing alone on the roadside. Your "hero shot from the beginning" is actually foreshadowing what's to come.

Whether or not he's waving to Max (which I think he is) the convoy would have had to come pick him up from the truck wreckage. AND, regarding "driving away from the compound", didn't the feral kid sneak onto the truck from the get-go? (That even I can't remember.)
 
Interesting comments ref Hardy's Mad Max .....I didn't mind his portrayl (but others have) . I put this down to 2 things

1) Max doesn't take out the villan , she does, which for some maybe doesn't cemment his role as the Hereo/ protagonist.

2) The Mad Max character is so iconic and loaded with our own bias and memories it would be hard for any actor to fill the role, even an aged Gibson. Would anyone accept new actors for the roles of Luke Skywalker or a Ripley ? It would be interesting to see how a younger audience responds to Hardy ( as opposed to an audience who remembers the Max of old ) .

Eitherway, love or hate it, this film is iconic and cements the genre of " Post apocalyptic " making all those VFX based super heroes look somewhat shallow . Congrats to George Miller & aussie creativity .
 
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Scott F said:
Duuuuude, you're off base. That's not the Interceptor. It's the rocket car driven by Papagallo. I stand by Mitch's question/statement: Feral Kid & convoy leaving....Max standing alone on the roadside. Your "hero shot from the beginning" is actually foreshadowing what's to come.

Whether or not he's waving to Max (which I think he is) the convoy would have had to come pick him up from the truck wreckage. AND, regarding "driving away from the compound", didn't the feral kid sneak onto the truck from the get-go? (That even I can't remember.)
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You're right about that not being the Interceptor and being the rocket car, my mistake. And the kid does sneak onto the rig, you're right.

Wow, then that scene makes no sense to me. Why would Max and the convoy ever meet again after that? Maybe Max drives out to find them and return the kid? Geeze, I just watched the film two weeks ago and now I want to watch it again haha.
 
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