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Not exactly thrilled about the feminist aspect of the film which is being bandied about (if Miller is trying to push something political here), but I am fine with powerful females in a PA setting - if it makes sense. It may seems sexist, but the earlier movies were always pretty brutal, and you needed to be a strong individual or you were a victim. So far, after reading some of the spoilers and reveals I am a little disappointed (tickets already bought).
I will watch it tomorrow with 9 of my Gamma World troupe. Seems like Max is getting second billing in the film and is almost an after though (based on trailers and some spoilers).
I hope it doesn't suck too hard. I'm a big fan of the original three, so I have alot of good memories and nostalgia riding on this one plus I have been waiting for this thing for almost 15 years since it was first hinted at. Longer really, since MM Beyond Thunderdome. I'm excited, but not enough to break out my Gayboy Berserker costume, but cautiously optimistic.
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Small factoid - the actor who played Grease Rat (Nick Lathouris), the scumbag mechanic who worked on the Toecutter's gang bikes has a writing credit in MM Fury Road.
Kirth, I believe Fury Road is a tie in to one of the main characters - Furiosa. Which will also be the title of the second installment of this series (already written).
I really hope this isn't a pile of crap.
Oh and Tinkergoth this one was almost filmed in Australia as well, but when they went to film the rain came and all they could film was flowers and bird life - strangely Millar decided that wasn't the direction he wanted.Yeah, I know. I was really disappointed by that but hey, unfortunately timing had them scheduled to start filming during a rare occurrence of heavy rain in that region
Penrith Lakes feature in the movie... That's both Australian and post apocalyptic.
Which reminds me of a Tin Tin T-shirt
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My thoughts on the MRA issue....It's a film that explores women fighting to determine their own reproductive rights, it's not just feminist it's humanist and realist with bonus explosions.
It's also original and exciting because George hasn't taken anything away from the Maxverse he just shifted the lens slightly so we get to see what is ignored or peripheral in your typical action movie and it's fresh and can only make story telling like this better.
George said he didn't start out making a feminist move but the story as he crafted it went in that direction. He wanted to get away from the typical action movie made and cut by the same typical action movie makers.
So the MRAs can go "sooky la la" in a corner because nobody is interested in their butt hurt tears, and the rest of us humans can watch a fresh take on an action movie and hope that other directors get the hint.
Plus, like he said, had it just been Max saving a bunch of women, it would have had a very different message.
Here's my entertaining understanding of the situation.
Wow what a bloody idiot this guy is. (Not kobold cleaver, the mamby pamby complainer from the post) I may or may not see the movie in the theatre, part of it is due to work, and other life stuff. I just don't have the time to do many movies.
I will have a hard time watching it because of charlize theron, I am not a fan of hers as an actress, and not because she plays a strong female character. That's never been an issue for me.
If I find the time, I will try to make it, or at least buy it on dvd to watch it when I have the time.
It might just be me (of course it isn't), but I've noticed some pretty biting social commentary in Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome as well, so to find it here is no surprise.
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I don't actully believe the third movie exists, just like there are no prequels to Star Wars. But the first two movies were big on social comentary as well.
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Here's my entertaining understanding of the situation.Wow what a bloody idiot this guy is.
I know, right?
(Not kobold cleaver, the mamby pamby complainer from the post)
Oh. Well, still true.
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I don't actully believe the third movie exists, just like there are no prequels to Star Wars. But the first two movies were big on social comentary as well.
I meanwhile don't acknowledge the first film. To each their own.
I'm just glad the series got beyond Thunderdome. :P
Oh and Tinkergoth this one was almost filmed in Australia as well, but when they went to film the rain came and all they could film was flowers and bird life - strangely Millar decided that wasn't the direction he wanted.Yeah, I know. I was really disappointed by that but hey, unfortunately timing had them scheduled to start filming during a rare occurrence of heavy rain in that regionPenrith Lakes feature in the movie... That's both Australian and post apocalyptic.
Which reminds me of a Tin Tin T-shirt
... I need that t-shirt like I have never needed anything before in my life.
I had heard bits and pieces of it were done here, but the vast majority was filmed in Namibia. Better that they did that than tried to make do or CGI something together.
My thoughts on the MRA issue....It's a film that explores women fighting to determine their own reproductive rights, it's not just feminist it's humanist and realist with bonus explosions.
It's also original and exciting because George hasn't taken anything away from the Maxverse he just shifted the lens slightly so we get to see what is ignored or peripheral in your typical action movie and it's fresh and can only make story telling like this better.
George said he didn't start out making a feminist move but the story as he crafted it went in that direction. He wanted to get away from the typical action movie made and cut by the same typical action movie makers.
So the MRAs can go "sooky la la" in a corner because nobody is interested in their butt hurt tears, and the rest of us humans can watch a fresh take on an action movie and hope that other directors get the hint.
I also can't favourite this enough. I demand the ability to favourite things multiple times!
Here's my entertaining understanding of the situation.Wow what a bloody idiot this guy is.I know, right?
(Not kobold cleaver, the mamby pamby complainer from the post)Oh. Well, still true.
Ouch I suppose I should have said the person in the link that kobald cleaver had referenced. My bad.
Oh and Tinkergoth this one was almost filmed in Australia as well, but when they went to film the rain came and all they could film was flowers and bird life - strangely Millar decided that wasn't the direction he wanted.Yeah, I know. I was really disappointed by that but hey, unfortunately timing had them scheduled to start filming during a rare occurrence of heavy rain in that regionPenrith Lakes feature in the movie... That's both Australian and post apocalyptic.
Which reminds me of a Tin Tin T-shirt
... I need that t-shirt like I have never needed anything before in my life.
I had heard bits and pieces of it were done here, but the vast majority was filmed in Namibia. Better that they did that than tried to make do or CGI something together.
There is also Tin Tin in the Shire (Sydney suburb not Tolkiens invention) and Bankstown
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I picked up on the mini-backstories-for-everything in Fury Road. Max's character doesn't need a lot of expansion because that's been done. Even the Doon Wagon makes sense in a setting where radios and CBs are in short supply, let alone the know-how and supplies to keep them working. When your war machines are 90+ dB monsters, you need suitably loud signaling to coordinate them.
Everything in there makes sense. It's certainly a more plausible setting than the one in the Hunger Games films.
Most importantly, it's a refreshing change from green screen/CGI every-danged-thing. The plot is about as straightforward as it gets. The beauty are all the million details and secondary characters that drive the Plot Wagon.
YMMV.
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Everything in there makes sense.
One could argue that given the insanely low fuel supply those people would prefer to duke their differences out *without* cars and driving involved, so the movie never quite makes perfect sense. However, it is as you said much better than some other post apocalyptic settings.
One could argue that given the insanely low fuel supply those people would prefer to duke their differences out *without* cars and driving involved, so the movie never quite makes perfect sense. However, it is as you said much better than some other post apocalyptic settings.
Everything in there makes sense.
"Gas Town." ;) Also, there are a great many fuel sources one can run an internal combustion engine on when they're not fuel injected if memory serves.
Nothing about the world of the Mad Max series after the first movie makes any sense. At all. That's part of the charm.
There is that. ;)
@8th - Ehrmagherd, those shirts are hilarious. And spot on. Eshay-lads indeed.
Other random thoughts:
* I'm with Scythia, I watched Mad Max a few years back and almost couldn't make it through to the end. Looks like a student film. I appreciate where it was headed, but some of the sets were...laughable. And the social commentary incredibly hamfisted.
It doesn't exist. ;)
Mad Max starts with Mad Max 2.
Thunderdome was a logical progression (for the "movie starz" approach of the eighties) that was...unfortunate in many ways, but at least we got the costumes.
I never did understand why the gyrocaptain in Thunderdome is "not-the-same-character-or-is-he?"
* I am intrigued that there will be a sequel to Fury Road.
* That you never get to see the faces/culture of the dirt biker/pass gang, or the foreign-tongued bristlemarauders is, to my mind more annoying than intriguing. And the dirt bikers costumes seemed uninspired.
There is also Tin Tin in the Shire (Sydney suburb not Tolkiens invention) and BankstownOh and Tinkergoth this one was almost filmed in Australia as well, but when they went to film the rain came and all they could film was flowers and bird life - strangely Millar decided that wasn't the direction he wanted.Yeah, I know. I was really disappointed by that but hey, unfortunately timing had them scheduled to start filming during a rare occurrence of heavy rain in that regionPenrith Lakes feature in the movie... That's both Australian and post apocalyptic.
Which reminds me of a Tin Tin T-shirt
... I need that t-shirt like I have never needed anything before in my life.
I had heard bits and pieces of it were done here, but the vast majority was filmed in Namibia. Better that they did that than tried to make do or CGI something together.
Tin Tin and the Shire works just as well for my hometown as well (Bega Valley Shire). Looks about the same once you hit the coast there :P
@8th - Ehrmagherd, those shirts are hilarious. And spot on. Eshay-lads indeed.
Other random thoughts:
* I'm with Scythia, I watched Mad Max a few years back and almost couldn't make it through to the end. Looks like a student film. I appreciate where it was headed, but some of the sets were...laughable. And the social commentary incredibly hamfisted.
It doesn't exist. ;)
Mad Max starts with Mad Max 2.
Thunderdome was a logical progression (for the "movie starz" approach of the eighties) that was...unfortunate in many ways, but at least we got the costumes.
I never did understand why the gyrocaptain in Thunderdome is "not-the-same-character-or-is-he?"
* I am intrigued that there will be a sequel to Fury Road.
* That you never get to see the faces/culture of the dirt biker/pass gang, or the foreign-tongued bristlemarauders is, to my mind more annoying than intriguing. And the dirt bikers costumes seemed uninspired.
Two sequels if Miller gets his way. Mad Max: Furiosa is the first of them. Tom Hardy is apparently signed on for 4 or 5 if they decide to make that many.
As for the first film... to be fair to it, it wasn't meant to be set in the true post apocalyptic wasteland that they went to for the following films. It was a society where things had gone to crap, but cities still functioned to an extent and the really dangerous parts were inbetween the cities and settlements. Very different beast to where it ended up, which explains the dissonance in tone to an extent.
We just returned from the theater and, though I'm not a huge fan of explosion/violence flicks, this was an amazing film. You should definitely set aside any preconceptions and go see it.
I expected to be wowed by Max or Furiousa's stories, but what really affected me was the entire story/life of Nux, the War Boy. Kinda got me... right... there...
Of course, there aren't many happy stories in the Mad Max universe, but we all know that.
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Watched it yesterday. Overall 8.5/10.
Visually a masterpiece. If it doesn't win the academy for visual effects and art direction, then we're yet to see the most beautiful film of the year. But hands down, the visual chaos and practical effects insanity are nothing short of amazing.
Plot was ok, but for a visual art piece like this, the plot is backseat. None of the internet feminist complaints show through beyond having a carfull of developed female characters that aren't Mary Sues. Max wasn't the hero, Furiosa was only the catalyst for change, and the bad guy becomes the martyr. As I told my wife, it's not a bad story, but not a great one either.
The visual experience though pulls the movie up from mediocre into excellence.
Yeah, I thought it was odd that, of all the characters, Nux is the one who truly achieves the Hero's Journey.
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I SAW THIS MOVIE AND I'M HERE TO SAY IT IS MOST APPROPRIATE TO DISCUSS THIS MOVIE EXCLUSIVELY IN CAPS LOCK.
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It was a great action movie.
A great action movie needs a serviceable plot and dialogue that doesn't make you cringe (often). I cringed at a couple lines, but overall the plot was fine and the dialogue didn't make it worse.
My biggest criticism of the movie is the score. Crazy guitar guy was awesome. The drums were simple, unimaginative, but they worked. It was the movie score that sounded like it was ripped from a bad daytime soap and cranked up to 11 that annoyed me (okay, it wasn't THAT bad, but it was bad). They tried way too hard to punch through the emotion with a few soaring notes.
VALHALLA!
Visually definitely the greatest movie I have seen in years. The plot is nothing to talk about, but it was solid enough to provide the framework for all the very impressive action.
The ideal of self-determination was well-served by this movie. Furiosa, played very well by Charlize Theron, pretty much was the star of the movie, not Max.
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VALHALLA!
Visually definitely the greatest movie I have seen in years. The plot is nothing to talk about, but it was solid enough to provide the framework for all the very impressive action.
The ideal of self-determination was well-served by this movie. Furiosa, played very well by Charlize Theron, pretty much was the star of the movie, not Max.
THAT'S THE NATURE OF THE COMPLAINT OF THE "MEN'S RIGHTS" GROUPS. FURIOSA IS THE ACTION STAR RATHER THAN MAX.
THEY MISS THE POINT ENTIRELY. AS BADASS AS THERON IS AS FURIOSA, THE REAL STAR OF THIS MOVIE IS THE PRODUCER. I DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE THIS MOVIE DOESN'T GET AN OSCAR.
So, I just saw it. It's kinda hard to take everything in and process it, not to mention articulating my feelings for it. I absolutely loved it. It's going to make other actions seem lesser by comparison.
Also, anything that puts MRAs in a tizzy is awesome.
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Seriously, those guys should take a chill pill or a dozen of them. The gender of a good action protagonist does not matter.
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After possibly over-thinking the movie, I came up with an idea about why Nux gets the most character development.
I think each of the three protagonists represents different times.
Max is trapped in the past, both because of what terrible things have happened in his, and because he has old world knowing. He's driven by his past, but can't escape it.
Furiosa represents the future. She's motivated by her past, but is focused on reaching a better tomorrow. She's willing to do what it takes to reach that future, but she can overlook the problems of the now as a result of her focus.
Nux is the present. As a Warboy, his past had no meaning, and he has no future beyond a glorious death in service. His entire existence is about being in the here and now. As the present is the moment where past actions can translate into future change, he is in the best position to serve as a narrative device for growth.
Also, unlike Max and Furiosa, who are both in media res as far as their narrative arcs, Nux is a relatively clean slate, able to be shaped as the story requires.
That's my take, anyway.
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I don't think any of Nux, Furiosa or Max actually seize the lead role. I came out thinking all of them faired equally well. I would have liked to have seen more dialogue for Max since that's the movie title but I thought Millar had it balanced very well, personally I was astounded at the feminine rights take, it just didn't occur to me. Furiosa saved 5 women from a tyrannical lunatic in a dystopian future - seems like the human thing to do, not feminist. Max came along and offered the ultimate solution to their predicament once his own conscious got the better of him, humanity again. Let's face the real star is millers vision and the stuntmen.
I picked up on the mini-backstories-for-everything in Fury Road. Max's character doesn't need a lot of expansion because that's been done. Even the Doon Wagon makes sense in a setting where radios and CBs are in short supply, let alone the know-how and supplies to keep them working. When your war machines are 90+ dB monsters, you need suitably loud signaling to coordinate them.
Everything in there makes sense. It's certainly a more plausible setting than the one in the Hunger Games films.
Hey, leave THG alone! Suzanne Collins gets a perma-pass on plausibility on account of Diversion existing in the same decade.
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Never saw the original movies, might have to check this out.
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Never saw the original movies, might have to check this out.
1 and 3 polarise people. If you do watch the first movie do not watch one dubbed with US voice actors, you need the 2003 release not the 1980's release.
The first movie is the set up - it's the reason Max is the way he is.
Thunderdome is just a steeming bucket of dung.
I watched Mad Max in the US when I was there visiting realtives in 1992 with the American dubbing and was entirely shocked. The words "Butchered and left for dead in a cultural abbatoir" doesn't do it justice. It was a defining moment in realising perhaps just why my parents left. That and Fox. Which wasn't around in the late 50's early 60's but still.
I understand 8th. I still like the aesthetics of Thunderdome.
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Loved thunderdome. And the second movie. Never saw the first.
Loved thunderdome. And the second movie. Never saw the first.
Me too. I consider the second movie and The Thunderdome to be two slightly separate entities, a different takes on the same theme.
Article on Coma the Doof Warrior
They talk about how they built the rig the guitarist rode on. None of it was CGI and it was fully functional during filming.
Just got back from seeing it, it's awesome. It's definitely Mad Max. Tom hardy did a great job as Max. And Charlize Theron was fantastic as well.
It was hard to process at times though, in the beginning I felt I needed subtitles to figure out what was going on.
Most memorable part of the movie though was this guy
You gotta love the fact that the Warboys bring their own soundtrack.
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The movie was insanely good. Yeah, the 'plot' wasn't something that's going to win awards, but honestly, did anyone expect it to be? I was actually surprised by how well it worked and how many of the little details dovetailed together to make sense.
A post-apocalyptic world where they show where the food and water comes from?! Impossible! And yet, here we are.
All I really cared about was awesome vehicles, visuals, action, and stunts--this movie DELIVERED, and I'm contemplating a second viewing at the theaters.
After possibly over-thinking the movie, I came up with an idea about why Nux gets the most character development. *SPOILER STUFF*
This is actually pretty fantastic. I totally agree with this view. And the thing is, it takes all three of them, working together, to make it work.
Also, Nux is a true bro. I'm O Neg, I'd totally siphon off a pint of my blood every week or so and put it into a bag for him to inject to stay alive.---
"FEMINIST STUFF"
I don't get this, from the pro- or anti- side.
Furiosa pretty much had to fulfill a man's role in society, and do it even more extreme so as to achieve her position, all with a set goal in mind. She didn't win by being feminine, she won by killing any stupid MF'er that got in her way and being the meanest SOB on the block. Unlike most of the other males there (the Warboys), she was driven, and wasn't an inbred genetic freak. If this is hard to believe, realize that every bell curve has its far end, and Furiosa is it.
The slave brides didn't fulfill the 'warrior woman' trope. In fact, they represented a realistic "spread" of personality types and natures. The pregnant one just cared about keeping her baby safe (and hopefully free). One was concerned with finding a better place, but didn't believe it existed, and had to learn to hope. Another rebelled early but, having seen the violence of the world, chose to go back to her abusive 'lover' rather than deal with the monstrosities of reality. One seemed sweet and rather innocent and lost in the outer world, even if driven to escape, but soon grew to see those around her as her 'family' and even feel affection for a man who liked her but didn't expect anything out of it himself or try to force her into doing anything. That's a pretty good slice of society, right there, and it was good they didn't just have them all with the same, generic, boring personalities. They fought because they had to.
None of the women that fought, aside from Furiosa, did anything unrealistic--and I save the 'unrealistic' part of Furiosa for her automail arm, not what she herself ever did. It's true they killed tons of dudes, but it was almost always with ranged weaponry. Any time one of the older ones or the 'brides' got into a melee fight with a muscular male, they lost unless they had backup or the element of surprise. If this wasn't an Australian movie, I'd say it was one of the best fantasy-setting exploration of 2nd Amendment rights I've ever seen on screen.
As for Furiosa being the main character, Scythia addressed that one well. There were three. By dint of his insanity, Max couldn't lead but in short stretches of lucidity or when pushed to extremes by his madness. Nux was still young and inexperienced on anything other than fighting and machine repair, so leading wasn't his thing, except when his skills held the key to their survival. Neither of them had a greater goal than surviving the 'now' or dying in a blaze of glory until later in the show. Only Furiosa started the thing with a set goal and the will to see it through. But she didn't have all the necessary skills, and as the former two became more stable, they began to get more time and impact.
It was done so well, however, than I'm happily optimistic that Mad Max: Furiosa will get my butt in the theater on the first day, because now that she's established, I'd like to see what they do with her character.
I think it's funny that both the pro- and anti- side got in a tizzy over this movie, when it's fairly middle-of-the-road in a realistic way while also being satisfying.
There's actually a lot of not-so-subtle symbolism that's pretty pro-feminist.
Max literally washes blood off his face and hands with mother's milk.
The women don't just save themselves by destroying the patriarchy, they save the unwashed masses.
There are probably a few more examples I'm forgetting.
That's... some pretty weak symbolism, actually. Or, to put it differently, it could go either way.
If "peace" is defined as "actively trying to keep the other person from killing you", then sure, you could say that about the 'chain of patriarchy'. However, in the movie -I- watched, there was no peace until Max and Furiosa came to the conclusion that they needed each other to survive against a much greater common enemy. The moment where Max said "No, I'll handle it" to go back and fix the Fuel Pod himself--instead of sending one of the wives--is the exact moment that "peace" was achieved between himself and Furiosa's faction. Feminine? Masculine? I say 'neither', merely practical.
Also, I seem to remember him forcing a woman to cut the chain off at gunpoint. Maybe that's just a symbol of the individual needing to sever ties with both sides to achieve freedom.
Max does wash his hands off with mother's milk. But... what does this symbol represent? Is it some purification by the representation of feminine power and/or acceptance? Or an utter disdain for it, finding it useful only for washing off other people's blood he had to spill to unknowingly protect it in the first place? He seemed not to care, either way, merely being ruthlessly pragmatic. That seems to fall into the 'neither' faction, too.
Sure, the 'women'--along with the man--save the unwashed masses. Except, their previous plan was just to ride off into the desert in the vain hope of finding a peaceful place, leaving everyone else to live and die under tyranny. It took a man to inspire them to do something crazy and go all out, everything or nothing, gambling with their lives and everyone else's too, so that they could all be free. That form of extreme gamble is not a feminine ideal.
In any event, using such 'symbols' as these where the reality is depicted as strikingly different seems to undermine their intent. Either that, or just hint at those looking for such symbols are trying too hard. Personally, I don't see much of that symbolism there... I just see a really awesome movie!
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Those examples of "not-so-subtle symbolism" are things I am totally ok with. First off, they're actually pretty subtle within the context of the film. Secondly, they are actually used to help create the narrative. The story would be different without them. Lastly, they are all true statements to be making.
Frankly, I'm glad those moments are there. They are excellent examples of how to use symbolism in film.
If people were fighting over bullets, would they use swords?
I don't know the answer. I doubt the answer really matters for a movie like this. But if the answer is "no", I think using cars is probably okay.
If people were fighting over bullets, would they use swords?
Depends on the number and caliber of the bullets, and whether or not people had the ability to create more of them.
Odds are, they'd use both, since you generally should use your most effective weapon to win a fight, as the opponent is likely to do the same. And it never hurts to have a backup weapon that doesn't run out of ammo.