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The band-wagon with guitar guy was absolutely awesome. Movies always have mysterious guitar solos following the car chases. This just gave an in movie reason for it.

Just got back. Better than Road Warrior. Better than anything I have seen in a theater on release since Jurassic Park. Easily 10/10.

Yeah, it's amazing.

To the constant refrain of "Furiosa is the main character" ... I kind of wonder if people have seen/correctly remember Road Warrior. In that movie, Max's plot line is ... he's looking for gasoline. That's it. Along the way, he encounters a group of people with a more complex story already under way and he gets roped into that, during which time we catch a glimpse into his character before he melds back into the wasteland. And that's exactly what happens in Fury Road.

I guess it's just handled better in Fury Road because no one (even including Max) gets much direct characterization in Road Warrior. Now, I'm not saying that is a coincidence (or mistake). My impression is, Miller used indirect characterization to communicate the brutal indifference of the movie's setting. As Pappagallo says to Max in reference to the latter's past, and indeed to every possible past, you think that makes you special?

Fury Road is a lot more personal. While we have to guess at where Papagallo and the Lord Humungous come from in Road Warrior, we have a better sense of Furiosa's background and that in turn gives us more insight into her motivations, which naturally makes her more sympathetic. Furiosa becomes the vehicle character for the audience and it is ultimately through her that we catch this latest glimpse at the elusive Road Warrior.

Contrast this to the movie of that name, where Max himself serves as the audience's vehicle. It doesn't work as well because the movie is explicitly framed as the recollections of the Feral Child. But we don't follow the Feral Child's POV at all during the course of the action. The ending of Road Warrior is therefore less satisfying than that of Fury Road, although the same thing happens story-wise in both movies. This is because we have been seeing so much more through Furiosa's eyes; thus that final look she shares with Max makes a stronger emotional impact.

I've just seen it and thought it was amazing, utterly relentless and yet packed in enough characterisation to make people interesting and defined. Other people's comments are spot on, this is a film in which Max, and through him the audience, are just along for the ride, the opening of the film has Max saying life is only about survival. Really, everyone else is more interesting as Max is just passing through.

The only thing I wasn't clear on is why the three groups were keen to work together when only the one had any stake in the return of the women. Perhaps there was something I missed.

I don't recall the Mad Max films well, I assume this is a reboot rather than continuation of any sort. A huge amount of fun that my girlfriend really enjoyed despite reservations. She thought the female characters were all very strong and positive.

the three groups ...

1 provided liquids (water, milk and maybe grown foods)
1 provided gas
1 provided bullets and guns

they traded with one another, and one of those trades was interrupted.

 Howard A Treesong wrote:

The only thing I wasn't clear on is why the three groups were keen to work together when only the one had any stake in the return of the women. Perhaps there was something I missed.

I got the impression at some point in the movie that the three groups were led by three brothers.

But I'm not 100% sure that's correct.

Silenzz explanation makes sense enough either way.

 Manchu wrote:
To the constant refrain of "Furiosa is the main character" ... I kind of wonder if people have seen/correctly remember Road Warrior. In that movie, Max's plot line is ... he's looking for gasoline. That's it. Along the way, he encounters a group of people with a more complex story already under way and he gets roped into that, during which time we catch a glimpse into his character before he melds back into the wasteland. And that's exactly what happens in Fury Road.

I guess it's just handled better in Fury Road because no one (even including Max) gets much direct characterization in Road Warrior. Now, I'm not saying that is a coincidence (or mistake). My impression is, Miller used indirect characterization to communicate the brutal indifference of the movie's setting. As Pappagallo says to Max in reference to the latter's past, and indeed to every possible past, you think that makes you special?

Fury Road is a lot more personal. While we have to guess at where Papagallo and the Lord Humungous come from in Road Warrior, we have a better sense of Furiosa's background and that in turn gives us more insight into her motivations, which naturally makes her more sympathetic. Furiosa becomes the vehicle character for the audience and it is ultimately through her that we catch this latest glimpse at the elusive Road Warrior.

Contrast this to the movie of that name, where Max himself serves as the audience's vehicle. It doesn't work as well because the movie is explicitly framed as the recollections of the Feral Child. But we don't follow the Feral Child's POV at all during the course of the action. The ending of Road Warrior is therefore less satisfying than that of Fury Road, although the same thing happens story-wise in both movies. This is because we have been seeing so much more through Furiosa's eyes; thus that final look she shares with Max makes a stronger emotional impact.

Just a note about the villain in The Road Warrior. Lord Humongous wasn't meant to be quite as ambiguous as he was in the final cut. The biker gang Max is fighting were actually former cops that he used to work alongside (note all the leather police uniforms and gear). Lord Humongous has a deleted scene that explained why he was so badly burned, talked about loss all the time and used the standard issue police pistol. Aye he was one of Max's old cop buddies from the first film, the guy who's burnt alive by the gang, but we never see him actually die.

The same goes for other characters like Master Blaster, though canonically people will bitch about this to no end. That character's played by the same actor and acts similarly to a character from the first film. Though by the same token the mechanic from the first and second films is the same actor, even though he died in the first film, and the pilot is supposed to be different people too (...the director must have really wanted to keep on that guy). Heh, or even in the latest film where the villain is played by the same guy who played Toecutter in the original.

Here's my initial analysis:

The titular Fury Road describes a line between a masculine society struggling to sire genetically viable heirs and a feminine society struggling to coax literal fruit from the sour earth. The journey of the characters is about reconciliation between man and woman. The future of the planet is at stake, both in terms of humanity's survival and the restoration of the ecosystem. The future requires both a father and a mother.

Like any great protagonist, Furiosa personifies the story's larger conflict. In the Citadel, Furiosa is not considered a woman because she is barren. Even her title is masculine. The redemption she seeks is tied to this alienation from her own gender; therefore she liberates Joe's harem. She cannot have literal children, and in that sense be a 'real' woman (per the misogynistic vision of Joe), but she can become the figurative mother of a better future. For Furiosa, redemption is about reclaiming her womanhood implying that the sinfulness that needs redeeming is masculine.

Immortan Joe personifies sinful masculinity. He has created a brutal society organized entirely around his own tainted virility, which is in turn symbolized by the water he controls. From his figurative seed has sprung an empire of death: the fuel and armament monopolies are Joe's feudal vassals. Joe's is the anti-seed the Dag mentions: "plant one and watch it destroy." The Brides beg Furiosa to liberate them because they refuse to be the mothers of this future. They leave under the banner "our children will not be warlords." When the Dag later complains that she is pregnant with an ugly warlord, the Keeper of the Seeds wistfully reminds her that her child could be a girl. This is another expression of the worldview that masculinity is evil (the Mothers even hold men destroyed the world).

But Max arrives to upend that worldview. As Furiosa struggles to reclaim her womanhood, Max struggles to reclaim his manhood. By 'manhood' here we mean in the moral rather than biological sense. In the opening voiceover, Max tells us he has been reduced to one animalistic instinct: survival. We then see him captured and dehumanized/objectified into a blood bank for Nux. We also see that he is tortured by visions of those he failed to save, especially a little girl who calls him Pa (who symbolizes the world's past). As Max and Furiosa learn to trust each other, Max recovers his humanity and more especially his manhood: he is shown to be a provider, a protector, and a wise counselor.

The partnership between Max and Furiosa ultimately shows us that good men and good women are not very different when it comes to what makes them good. This insight is itself the reconciliation of man and woman. Furiosa survives to triumph, symbolized by the pouring of the 'virile' water into the earth, because she is herself infused with Max's own vitality, his blood. Max is the good man -- the universal donor who roams the wastes for all mankind, as per the epitaph, in search of our better selves.

... but, but....

car chases, crashes, explosions

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
... but, but....

car chases, crashes, explosions

Lol, to be fair to Manchu, the film does convey a surprising amount with the bare minimum of dialogue. Other films would bludgeon you with exposition and back story speeches.

Every Mad Max movie has a ton of indirect characterization.

I thought it was pure, unbridled awesomeness. One does have to wonder a bit how they have the resources to modify all those vehicles so extensively, but who cares? Max Max is all about how the vehicles are as twisted and insane as the people driving them!

I loved it, and especially with all the incredible practical special effects involved, both my buddy and I think the actions scenes in Fury Road topped those in Age of Ultron, hands down.

 jasper76 wrote:

 Howard A Treesong wrote:

The only thing I wasn't clear on is why the three groups were keen to work together when only the one had any stake in the return of the women. Perhaps there was something I missed.

I got the impression at some point in the movie that the three groups were led by three brothers.
But I'm not 100% sure that's correct.
Silenzz explanation makes sense enough either way.

From what I saw, the three leaders were still brothers. One of them calls Immortan Joe "Danny" at one point I tihnk.
So there's a familiar obligation.
But then they also have the mutual symbiosis of what each is providing for the others, as mentioned, which they want to keep up.

I thought he called him "Daddy" in response to going after the wives. Also the criticism about so much spending of resources on a "family dispute".

All I know is that Immortan Joe is the next best thing to a tech-priest and that I'm pretty sure the movie was not set in Australia, but on Mars during the days before the Emperor showed up- or maybe just on Earth during the same time. Also, when Max fought Rictus, I commented to my buddy that, "Hey, it's Bane vs. Bane!" and he almost sneezed his soda.

I saw the movie and it was everything I wanted it to be. People clapped at the end. Why do people clap in movie theaters?

 Dreadwinter wrote:
I saw the movie and it was everything I wanted it to be. People clapped at the end. Why do people clap in movie theaters?

I think it's an American thing.

I've only seen people clap a film once and it was 2001: A Space Odyssey, at the BFI.

 Dreadwinter wrote:
I saw the movie and it was everything I wanted it to be. People clapped at the end. Why do people clap in movie theaters?

Why do people yell at the screen and tell the actors not to go in there?

Also, when Max fought Rictus, I commented to my buddy that, "Hey, it's Bane vs. Bane!" and he almost sneezed his soda.

Thats good.

EDIT: The problem is, with an action movie this good, almost everything else is going to suck in comparison this year. None of the comic book movies are doing it for me this year, so how am I gong to get my action movie fix before the thinking movies start later this year? Yargh!

 Frazzled wrote:

Also, when Max fought Rictus, I commented to my buddy that, "Hey, it's Bane vs. Bane!" and he almost sneezed his soda.

Thats good.

EDIT: The problem is, with an action movie this good, almost everything else is going to suck in comparison this year. None of the comic book movies are doing it for me this year, so how am I gong to get my action movie fix before the thinking movies start later this year? Yargh!

I thought the same thing in regards to the new Star Wars. It may end up being a fun film, but its hard to imagine any CGI exhibition matching this movie, so it will likely seem underwhelming by comparison. Of course, 7 months is a long way away.

For me, this is the new standard in action films, and I hope it triggers a trend whereby more directors tone down the CGI for more models and more actual stunts.

I hope so too. Its hard to top a good car chase on the action front though, and MM films always combined car chases and close combat. Hard to top that.



The one real CGI moment: the storm was also excellently done. Being in tornado country, it was especially vibrant.

 Frazzled wrote:
The problem is, with an action movie this good, almost everything else is going to suck in comparison this year.

I had pretty much the same thoughts on leaving the cinema. Can't see Bond or Star Wars topping this.

Funny, I wasn't even going to bother with this film a couple of weeks ago.

Ditto.

Definitely the best film I have seen so far this year. It was funny in some ways the amount of explosions and action going on made me think of one of the Avengers or Transformers films, but in this it seemed so much more.. genuine(?) I don't know the right way to explain it. Of course, it might have just been the amount of real props and stunts being used, rather than CGI, but at no point did I feel like I was being driven along with the Hollywood corporate hype train of neatly commercialised action movie.

The film felt like an artist's labour, rather than a box-ticking exercise.

 Kanluwen wrote:
When do I get a freaking sequel?

Believe that two sequels were announced the moment the figures for the opening weekend came in.

Saw it and enjoyed it quite a bit. A lot has already been said so no need to go into all that other than to say if you like the last two (first is interesting but kind of odd considering) you will certainly enjoy this and if you haven't seen a Mad Max film before go and see it anyway.

When Donald rumsfeld said "you don't go to war with the army you want, you go to war with the army you have" he was clearly talking about a vehicle whose sole purpose was to carry drums and a huge guitar amp setup.

The guitarist was one of the best aspects of the movie. What a badass.

I completely agree. Made perfect sense in terms of the Citadel culture, too.

Saw it, loved it.

Thought the mobile gig was utterly bad ass, if you are going to hunt down a renegade in an armoured big rig who has stolen your wives, you have to do it in style.