Mad Max: Fury Road

ok I decided. I'm going to go see this on June 6

And if you watch, Max doesn't treat her any differently because he knows she is every bit as capable as he is- and even moreso, as we see when she uses him as a fucking sniper rifle bipod. He has complete and utter respect for her as a PERSON and a fellow survivor. It isn't really a big deal that she's a woman. It's not novelty. It's just NATURAL. But her female-ness informs her motivations, her reactions and her trajectory- without apology or concession to male expectations of what an "equal" woman should be like. A man transporting a rig full of breast milk across the desert and smuggling sex-slaves out of a male-dominated settlement dominated by a warlord is a very different message than a woman doing the same thing.

Dave is spot-on with everything he said there.

On the Interceptor question...I didn't even really think about all that. But what does it matter? Maybe he just found another one.

God, another incredible moment I just thought about- the competition of spitting the nitro into the blowers...HOW THE FUCK does one even come up with such an incredibly BAD ASS idea?

And another- "I had a brother and he was perfect in every way!" What a sad, strangely affecting moment for a sideline character that sets up everything that follows when we see him on screen.

One of my favorite shots in the entire film is that moment where the brides are looking out of the window with the spyglasses...that image to me really captured a lot of the feeling I had watching RW and Thunderdome.

I thought that I was going to be not OK with Furiosa's arm being articulated and the sense of there being a higher technology level overall (I mean, Immortan Joe's people actually have a lot of wherewithal to do giant stone carvings, build more complex vehicles, test blood types and so forth) but it totally worked.

It is a shame that Bruce Spence (Gyro Captain) wasn't in there somewhere...but you know, that Cars That Ate Paris reference (the spiky VW) kind of put him there in spirit- he was in that film.

Sorry, all I want to do is talk about this movie!

Black Barney wrote: ok I decided. I'm going to go see this on June 6

Why not May 28th or June 4th?

Sounds like Hardy has signed on for two move films. I'm sure fans want to see more Furiosa, but would Miller have a non-Max character appear in two films? Hasn't happened yet, and I'm not sure it needs to now.

Furiosa in her own film? As great a character as she was, do we need one? Would the studio put another director in charge of that film?

Now, at at this point in the thread, in the wake of Fury Road's greatness, I'm going to dump on the other big action franchises of 2015. I wish we were treated to so much more than just eye candy...

I was really hoping Age of Ultron would have explored the whole 'Humans Need Not Apply' that has been trending over the past year or so. Unfortunately, there was just a small sniff of it, but the film had to be sure Thor waded in some pool (to set up more Thor movies), Steve Rogers and Tony Stark start feuding (to set up more Cap movies), heroes had to fight the Hulk (again), heroes had to argue with each other (again), heroes had to defeat millions of inefficient mooks (again), Hulk v big bad with a humor line (again), and the team had to talk about infinity gems some more (so we can be sure to stick around for the Infinity War). *yawn*

Star Wars...meh. The plan here seems to be all callback stuff. Han! Chewie! The Falcon! Rogue Squadron! Boba Fett! *yawn*

Like I said in my article a few weeks ago, the Marvel films are really just very expensive and infrequent episodes of what is essentially a giant TV series. I love them, but it's a very different kind of love than what I have for things like Fury Road.

I almost wish that they wouldn't make another one after this, that Miller would just drop the mic and walk away. But when a self-taught filmmaker nearly 50 years into his career steps up and just so completely SCHOOLS everybody on how to make an action film...you kind of want an encore.

There was probably as much nostalgic call-back in Fury Road as we'll see in The Force Awakens...it's just not as overt or emotionally charged for most folks.

I remember reading about how in the first Mad Max, he put in those almost subliminal cuts where you'd see a character's eyes bugging out unnaturally before a crash to increase the shock of it...and by golly, he had the same shots in this one.

Michael Barnes wrote: I almost wish that they wouldn't make another one after this, that Miller would just drop the mic and walk away. But when a self-taught filmmaker nearly 50 years into his career steps up and just so completely SCHOOLS everybody on how to make an action film...you kind of want an encore.

This is my fear. Furiosa is great. Hardy did a bang up job as Max. Fury Road is the real deal. I fear any step made after this could only be down. I mean, the bar is just too high now. You're right...drop the mic and walk. Let the imitators rise and fall now.

Michael Barnes wrote: I remember reading about how in the first Mad Max, he put in those almost subliminal cuts where you'd see a character's eyes bugging out unnaturally before a crash to increase the shock of it...and by golly, he had the same shots in this one.

Were they the _exact_ same shots though? I feel like they were, but maybe I'm just remembering those eyes in the theater from stuff the Alamo ran prior to the film.

He did drop in a ton of references to the previous films, from the Buzzards' cars being the same model as the cop Cars from Mad Max to Immortan Joe using the same speech patterns and inflection that Lord Humungus used to Toast the Knowing playing with the same kind of busted music box that so thrilled the Feral Boy in The Road Warrior. It was loaded with stuff like that and it makes sense because he's continuing to build on a world that doesn't have further development since Max left the city and entered the wastes. All that stuff is going to remain the same except for the culture ("Going chrome", "blackthumb", etc.) that informs the societies that survive out there.

Haven't seen this mentioned... He also paid homage to the Thunderdome itself.

One hell of a film. I'm certain there was studio input, but overall - the film felt uncompromisingly Miller. No short cuts.

I didn't see anyone else mention it, so just an awesome FYI - Immortal Joe is played by Hugh Keays-Byrne. The same actor who played Toe Cutter in Mad Max.

The Variety article about the film said that Tom Hardy had no dialogue whatsoever until they dubbed it in in a later edit.

I think there's more to be had in the current setting. You have Gas Town and the Bullet Farm right next door, and I imagine they're not too happy with the changing of the guard. It would also give a chance to see if there's a genuine change at the Citadel or if it's just a new boss.

There may be references in Fury Road to other films, and maybe I'm giving Miller the benefit of the doubt here, but Fury Road references seemed to be used more like easter eggs for fans or something. None of this was part of the marketing.

With Disney and Star Wars, it seems to drive their whole approach to what they're developing. 'Look, nerds, a bunch of OT stuff is what we have lined up!'. I've already seen the Falcon chased by tie fighters (through ruins, no less!). I don't want Boba Fett back story...why not create a new, cool character?

Hell, rumor is that Miller plans on doing two prequel films. I think this is a mistake. I don't want Joe's backstory. He was fine as is...don't need to tell me more about him, Fury Road showed me plenty. But there again, I didn't need Vader's origin told, or Wolverine's, or Boba Fett's...

Personally, If there are to be more Mad Max flicks, I'd like to continue the trend of self contained stories as we have with the first four. I like that they aren't connected. It's like reading a Conan anthology or something. Tales of this character from all up and down his timeline.

I'm interested in these rumors of Shia LaBeouf as Max's son.

Mr. White wrote: Personally, If there are to be more Mad Max flicks, I'd like to continue the trend of self contained stories as we have with the first four. I like that they aren't connected. It's like reading a Conan anthology or something. Tales of this character from all up and down his timeline.

Exactly. Like James Bond or Tarzan. There's no need to make an over-arching chronology. Just more stories about this great character and setting.