Mad Max: Fury Road

[Neon Ignition]

Nail down the hatches, I'm going to bed and setting the alarm for the a.m showing. Fury Road is about ot become only my 4th cinema trip this year

[QualityChimp]

I liked the original Mission: Impossible movie, but was gutted when they took out the team near the start and it became a one man Cruise show. It didn't feel like the original show where the team worked together to beat the odds.

Fury Road could work without Max in it, but then if he wasn't, people would say Miller was ripping off his own films!
It had to be a Mad Max film, really.

[Dogg Thang]

The thing is, if we had old Mel we'd still comment/complain that this still was Furiosas movie not Max's . . . . . fair enough. What kinda gripes me in a stupid nerdy way is that Hardys younger Max doesnt make sense because he is too young to have lived or remembered the world in normality before it all went to sh1t. His flashbacks are pointless as they go into no depth for new viewers nor do they hark back to the original Max's trauma.

I agree with you on the flashbacks. They served no purpose (

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although because some very clearly don't match the early movies, it did have me wondering if there was some reveal we didn't get meant to happen - such as this not being Max

).

As for it still being Furiosa's movie if Gibson was Max, yep, but I still wouldn't see that as a bad thing. She was excellent and it was her story. While having the movie called Mad Max when he wasn't the protagonist was odd but, having watched Road Warrior a few days before, it kind of has precedence in that movie. While he is basically the protagonist there, (spoiler for MM2)

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it's not his fight and he effectively becomes duped to be little more than a decoy without his knowledge, which is fundamentally against what you're meant to do with a protagonist. The core story of that movie really ends the second the bus splits from the group because that's the driving force of the movie, we just don't know it yet. Crucially Max also doesn't know it - he isn't even allowed the choice. He's pretty much along for the ride in Thunderdome too actually. Everything happens to Max, Max rarely happens to other people. If you know what I mean.

[QualityChimp]

Agreed, Dogg. "Max happens" isn't the case in his films, it normally happens to him, then he steps up.
He's probably the least mad character out of all of them. He's just trying to survive for himself and his inevitable sense of right and wrong ends up getting him into his various scrapes.

I think the old saying fits well here:
"Am I insane, or am I sane in an insane world?"

Definitely the latter in Max's case.

[Neon Ignition]

So, I saw this today. The verdict... good! Very good even. It delivers pretty much exactly what I'd hoped it would be, all the style and trappings of the setting and characters the franchise uses without the downtime or going too silly. I was ready for some grin and bear it attitude in the first 10 minutes

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(like with Half-Life)

but that arc didn't pan out at all like I expected. The sandstorm sequence, the run up before the canyon and the home stretch were just flawelessly executed. Nothing felt like padding in the film either, it's all constant moving cogs. The use of a lot of practical aspects really makes this too.

I definitely enjoyed it more than say Avengers 2. That said, I'm not sure how bothered I am about a sequel, it would have to be very carefully made as so much about what works well with this film is connected to the scenario and how it's handled and they couldn't really repeat that, but being on the move definitely helps.

On it's own merits, really good stuff.

[Dogg Thang]

Glad you enjoyed it! For me, the movie stands alone and doesn't need a sequel. None of them ever did. If this next one does pan out, I hope the same mindset is taken and Miller delivers something with a similar soul but a different movie. Kind of like he has done up to now with them.

I have found myself thinking about the movie a LOT today and remembering awesome parts. Like the bikes jumping and dropping the bombs. Amazing. I might need to see it in the cinema again.

[Dogg Thang]

[Neon Ignition]

Love that MK trailer

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/37097/-fury-road-getting-a-black-white-version

Miller has said that he prefers the film with subdued colours but as it was too tiring on the eyes he saturated them instead giving the film its current look. The blu ray release will include an option to watch the film entirely in black and white with just the soundtrack audible

[Yakumo]

I finally got to see this movie last night and have to say it was excellent. So many WTF moments which I didn't get. Had no idea who was who in the movie. Was left wondering why there were so many skins and Who the hell was the main person at one point. But it all came together and made sense in the end. Still not sure what the Silver spray paint was all about though

[randombs]

I'd never seen a Mad Max film before this so I don't know but my thoughts were:

The paint was used whenever someone would do a suicide mission, right? Maybe they have a belief that it'll raise their status in Valhalla or maybe it's so people who find their bodies know and treat them as martyrs. The silver seems to fit with their love of chrome and vehicles so maybe they want to look like... cars?

Crazy film. It didn't let up and it felt longer because it was pretty much all action. We hadn't been that exhausted watching a film since World War Z. It was nice seeing real stuff getting blown up for a change. I wasn't too keen on Max's accent. Is it meant to be like that? It sounded a bit Australian to me early on then near the end when he had longer lines it sounded a bit like Bane.

Side note: I found out afterwards that my gf was expecting it to be an action comedy(because he's called Mad Max) and didn't realise it wasn't until about 10 minutes in! Somehow even the trailers for the film didn't convince her otherwise. Strange girl, that one.

[Darwock]

His accent was bobbins. He really failed to present the character in a way consistent with the old movies, so maybe that wasn't his intention. I wasnt sure how I felt about the movie at first, but with hindsight it was a great ride but.. NOT Mad Max.

I like the idea that some fans put forth that he is the feral kid as a grown up (he had the music box which Max gave away, he seems to settle on the name Max after consideration, the people we see haunting him don't look like his family). Also chronolgically it doesnt add up... Furiosa was taken from some tribe when she was a child, but that implies generations had lived in the post-apocalyptic world, so Max couldn't have been there for the fall of society. I know thats little more than fan fiction though.

I read backstory on the chrome spray, that it is a hallucinogen that causes the warboys to go all fanatical in service of Immortan Joe. Wasnt stated in the movie though.

[randombs]

Ahhh, thanks. I guess it's to ensure they don't get cold feet!

[Yakumo]

Ah, the mystery of the chrome spray paint has been solved. Still, a great ride even if it wasn't as good as the original Mad Max movies. Not that I'd know. As randombs said, it was an exhausting movie but a good one. I'll be picking it up on BluRay once it's released.

[dataDave]

There's already a near-perfect 1080p out there if you don't mind pirating something after watching it in the cinema three times, like me.

Interesting about the colours. I might desaturate it a fair bit and see how it turns out.

[Yakumo]

I'd download it since I'Ve already paid to see it but the sound on downloads is always in piss poor stereo. This needs at least 5.1 sound.