Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller)

[Henry Gale]

IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392190/) / Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Max:_Fury_Road)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CErE6mBUgAAosXf.jpg:large

[Henry Gale]

Simply put: Holy sweet goddamn.

Just..... I guess with that difficulty with actual words I'll have to go with "astonishing", but it generally is just the most gloriously visceral, surreal, bizarre, perfectly unrelenting and simply incredibly satisfying big studio movie (and with it being one I can't believe actually exists the way it does) I can think of since, I dunno, Speed Racer?

I could say so much more, but I mainly just want you guys to see it already so you can hopefully feel as giddy about it as I do and reconvene here to spill such excitement.

Fuck is it good.

[All the stars, 11/10]

[BuffaloWilder]

Gonna be honest - expect a more prolonged review later on, hopefully for some kind of venue or outlet because I haven't done that in a while and this is kind of the movie I've been waiting for - but, I think this might be one of the best films I've seen in a very long time. It's very possible that it could be Miller's masterpiece.

[Dukefrukem]

I wasn't planning on seeing this in theaters, but the 89/1 RT ratio and the MC praise is changing all that.

[Peng]

Seeing it in 3 hours. Can't wait!

[Morris Schæffer]

3 hours to go!!

[Morris Schæffer]

I wasn't planning on seeing this in theaters, but the 89/1 RT ratio and the MC praise is changing all that.

Don't forget the 9.1 average rating old bud. ;)

[Morris Schæffer]

Yeah, it's great. I'm just trying to wrap my head around the shortcomings, if there were any to begin with. Perhaps Tom Hardy didn't make too big of an impression. He was just there, mumbling stuff, seemed like a more physical version of his The Drop character. I'm thinking if I found it tense, but I'm leaning more towards insanely visceral and thrilling, but not that tense, just exciting as fuck and spectacularly filmed. Not as tense as The Road Warrior which had a sense of normalcy in its story. Here, it's sheer pandemonium, everyone's screaming, crazy looking and absolutely non-stop in its pursuit of the most bone-crunching, in your face action imaginable. The voice-over in the beginning was wearing out its welcome as I thought Hardy had, well, hardly any lines. Perhaps there was an even more powerful story in there had it paused just a bit more or if it had been a bit longer as it could have been longer given that it flew by in a heartbeat. The quiet moments are really beautiful and engaging also. It's just insanely relentless, possibly too although you can't claim it doesn't make good on its title. All nitpicks though, this was amazing.

[Peng]

Just got back from it too. I had tried to refrain from being possibly too hyperbolic by going on the rest of evening before thinking about it properly. But: someone says that this is going to be some kids' Aliens. Well, that and Speed are two of my most favorite actions films, and I'm pretty sure I loved this more than both of them. I had tempered my expectation down a while back when I heard that the plot is going to be minimum to allow for the film to be like one continuous chase. Sure, it sounds awesome, but also potentially too exhausting (That, and I don't share the extreme love for The Road Warrior). However, I hadn't expected what "minimum plot" there is to turn out to be really affecting, so much that I almost choked up real good during some action scenes. There's even time for a character arc or two. Excellent performances all around too, and one can't be too hyperbolic when it comes to Charlize Theron.

[Sven]

Ooo, ooo, just got tickets for tonight.

Lay it out for me: how many of you saw it in/are seeing it in 3D?

[Sven]

... and one can't be too hyperbolic when it comes to Charlize Theron.

...or can one? http://www.returnofkings.com/63036/why-you-should-not-go-see-mad-max-feminist-road#!

[Peng]

Ha, I have heard about that, but didn't click it, because it sounds monumentally dumb, even before seeing the film.

[Henry Gale]

However, I hadn't expected what "minimum plot" there is to turn out to be really affecting, so much that I almost choked up real good during some action scenes.

Yeah, you're not alone here, and not even from moments that went for any shred of sentimentality. It's remarkable how much Miller's pure craft of orchestrating his abrasive lunacy instead of anything emotionally thoughtful illicited such strong reactions out of me. I remember the revving up of at least one major action setpiece, the building tension of all the players arriving at the scene, ready to attack (with at least one fire-guitar onsite), just managed to feel like the best sort of punch in the gut the way Miller presented it. And then it let loose.

Earlier than that though, the extraordinary culmination of the dust storm sequence was about when I knew the movie would have to suddenly do impossibly terrible things to push itself off the pedestal it had already managed to build for itself in my mind. Luckily, it often found ways to match it.

Even just the ending, it leaning into cutting to black, knowing it was finishing, allowing it all to complete and resolve for me, finally giving me a chance to feel off of its hook (as glorious as it may be) and breathe, I was just left stunned, and then in that daze I realized I had a couple of tears on my face. -- If I read someone else say that before seeing it I'd think they were joking, but it's absolutely true.

[Watashi]

I want a spin-off film of the dude whose sole purpose is just to play a flamethrower guitar on top of a speeding percussion death car. Does he have family? As a child, did he dream of being flamethrowing guitarist? What does he do in his off time?

These are questions that need answers.

[Sven]

Aw, Nux.

[Sven]

These male rights proponents are gonna go nuclear if they ever bother to watch the movie. The conversation should veer away from those jokers now that the film's actually released, and talk instead of how the movie is entirely about gender, its symbology and its impact on societies, etc. It's about power dynamics in relationships, explicitly, just as much as it is about debris, and nobody seems to be focusing on this.

[Russ]

These male rights proponents are gonna go nuclear if they ever bother to watch the movie. The conversation should veer away from those jokers now that the film's actually released, and talk instead of how the movie is entirely about gender, its symbology and its impact on societies, etc. It's about power dynamics in relationships, explicitly, just as much as it is about debris, and nobody seems to be focusing on this.

So...


stuff blowed up real good?

[Morris Schæffer]

I've been reading some very minor complaints about hardy's performance and they certainly echo mine. And today I had a big moment, which came out of nowhere, where I really really wish it was Gibson back behind the wheel. Might it have been too physical for him? Perhaps, but he sure looks fit enough and he might still have been a bigger draw than Hardy. I care about continuity and again, I wonder why it couldn't have been Gibson.

[dreamdead]

Saw this yesterday in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was absolutely wonderful, full of awe and dread at such a scale that it becomes tragic without overshooting its agenda.

There's only two brief flaws: when Furousa learns of what has happened to the Green Place, the music swells a little too heavily, even if that same bombast works within the action sequences. And the Hoult character is accepted a little too quickly by the women, even as the redhead basically vouches for his valor since she wasn't killed by his hand.

That's it in the way of complaints on my end. At 45 minutes in, I realized that we'd traversed basically everything in the trailers and was so psyched that we had no idea where the film would go from here. Anyone who loves intelligent action films should expect to walk out of this film absolutely thrilled.

[Morris Schæffer]

Saw this yesterday in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was absolutely wonderful, full of awe and dread at such a scale that it becomes tragic without overshooting its agenda.

There's only two brief flaws: when Furousa learns of what has happened to the Green Place, the music swells a little too heavily, even if that same bombast works within the action sequences. And the Hoult character is accepted a little too quickly by the women, even as the redhead basically vouches for his valor since she wasn't killed by his hand.

That's it in the way of complaints on my end. At 45 minutes in, I realized that we'd traversed basically everything in the trailers and was so psyched that we had no idea where the film would go from here. Anyone who loves intelligent action films should expect to walk out of this film absolutely thrilled.

One official trailer showed a lot more from after 45 minutes, but edited so well that it wasn't a problem.

[Pop Trash]

I don't even know what to say. I can't believe George Miller -in all of his 70-year-old glory- pulled this off.

[Ezee E]

Hmm.... I guess I wasn't as thrilled as you all were. There's certainly some good things going on, but I never really got a sense of awe that was bigger than what I saw in the trailers. The trailers took it all from me.

Hardy and the girls are all pretty simplistic, with Theron probably being the standout of the bunch. Everything else around them is so crazy and over the top that you just know that there's no chance they'll have any significant impact. Motivations are changed at the flip of a coin, and everyone becomes trusting almost instantly in a setting where you shouldn't trust a single person.

Love the world they're in, but never got the knockout punch I was expecting.

[Watashi]

Jesus Christ, E.

[Melville]

This was the greatest action spectacle I've ever seen. Insanely ambitious, relentless, gonzo, epic, grotesque, and ferocious. And in its incredibly streamlined narrative it still manages to carry off its themes of heroism, gender, revolution, and community.

[Melville]

These male rights proponents are gonna go nuclear if they ever bother to watch the movie.
It's interesting that despite everything that men's right's guy preemptively hated about the movie, Max's arc does essentially incorporate what that guy had "desperately been waiting for": "one man with principles, standing against many with none." But rather than following the countless other movies that do exactly that, this movie builds that trope into its other themes. Just as the women are reduced to chattel and machinery and must reclaim their humanity, Max starts out feral, dehumanized, and has to reclaim his humanity in his role as the wandering outsider helping the community. And rather than standing against the "many men with no principles", he's standing against the power structure of the few that systematically subjugate and dehumanize the many.

[amberlita]

Jesus Christ, E.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgDx5g9ql1g

[Pop Trash]

Bullshit contrarianism is equally obnoxious, and that's definitely real esp. if you hang out in quasi hipster crowds.

EDIT: I should note this statement (likely) has nothing to do with E or Wats opinion of the new Mad Max.

[Skitch]

Jesus Christ, E.

Hes in this too?!

[amberlita]

Bullshit contrarianism is equally obnoxious, and that's definitely real esp. if you hang out in quasi hipster crowds.

EDIT: I should note this statement (likely) has nothing to do with E or Wats opinion of the new Mad Max.

Oh sure. I agree they can both be obnoxious. But the only thing more obnoxious than either phenomenon is lampooning someone for having an opinion that opposes the populist one. MC has a tendency to do just that while being ignorant of the social science effect of getting jazzed up by multiple positive reviews in a thread and 110% on the tomatometer for a movie they have yet to see. The urge to conform is a powerful and subconscious one. You've all already been primed to love this.

[Watashi]

I think it's unfair to take my snide remark at E and turning it around by labeling me a conformist to the great big hype machine. I just didn't think E's criticisms were justifiable. I don't understand being let down by a movie because the trailer spoiled him. Who's fault is that? Not the film or the filmmaker.

Saying we've already been primed to love this takes away some of the thoughtful insights that critics and people here have expressed in regards to its take on gender, revolution, community, etc and reduces us to Pavlovian salivating dogs.

[amberlita]

I think it's unfair to take my snide remark at E and turning it around by labeling me a conformist to the great big hype machine. I just didn't think E's criticisms were justifiable. I don't understand being let down by a movie because the trailer spoiled him. Who's fault is that? Not the film or the filmmaker.

Saying we've already been primed to love this takes away some of the thoughtful insights that critics and people here have expressed in regards to its take on gender, revolution, community, etc and reduces us to Pavlovian salivating dogs.

Two things:

1. You're making a false analogy. This isn't classical conditioning and I don't think you are attempting to seek a reward for behavior. This is about the subtle social pressure everyone experiences to fit the norm.

Note this doesn't preclude people still loving the movie on its merits and coming to their own conclusions. I'm just wondering how you can be totally sure your opinion is 100% your own when you've been fed a baseline reality of the film's quality before you had the chance to make your own judgement.

2. You're having an overly emotional response to my YouTube video. I noted the potential influence of so many positives opinions on your own opinion. I didn't label you anything. That said, I'm unsurprised that you took such high offense. No place other than the Internet have I found the word "Conformist" thrown around like a dirty word. Film geeks are so defensive when anyone suggests there might be something influencing their opinion besides their very special totally unique great taste in movies.

[Ezee E]

I spoke to a few other things beyond the trailer. Although on that point, I will say it is the movie's fault, because they put together the trailer, but I don't want to get hung up on that.

What I am getting annoyed by is the performance of the Five Wives and their characters. As I think on the movie more, the level of acting between the Five Wives and Theron is so huge that Theron should be offended. The Five Wives are downright horrible. One has ten seconds of Stockholm syndrome that goes away with a solid slap in the face, and another quickly falls in love with Hoult for really no reason at all. Of course contractions come and go for the pregnant one. And after more than one of the wives is caught, does anybody care at all? Which one was it? Red hair, the dark skinned one, or Khaleesi?

Great sci-fi world. Wonderful sense of geography, costumes, and creatively designed vehicles. I've always given some criticism to the idea of driving various vehicles when gasoline is in such high demand, but I'll forgive it for the sake of some fun.

[Morris Schæffer]

I think it's unfair to take my snide remark at E and turning it around by labeling me a conformist to the great big hype machine. I just didn't think E's criticisms were justifiable. I don't understand being let down by a movie because the trailer spoiled him. Who's fault is that? Not the film or the filmmaker.

Saying we've already been primed to love this takes away some of the thoughtful insights that critics and people here have expressed in regards to its take on gender, revolution, community, etc and reduces us to Pavlovian salivating dogs.

I agree, but to be fair, E's true criticisms don't begin until his 2nd paragraph. I don't think he's the sort of person who would resort to inappropriate use of a trailer to defend his position about a movie.

I think Mad Max: Fury Road goes for broke and it goes for broke in a way that I've never really seen before and that I found exhilarating. It's really sheer pandemonium, but to say that I cared immeasurably about the protagonists would be incorrect, but Miller's craft is just so insanely exciting and front and center that some of it got a little lost, like Hardy's merely decent performance as Max.

[Ezee E]

I agree, but to be fair, E's true criticisms don't begin until his 2nd paragraph. I don't think he's the sort of person who would resort to inappropriate use of a trailer to defend his position about a movie.

I think Mad Max: Fury Road goes for broke and it goes for broke in a way that I've never really seen before and that I found exhilarating. It's really sheer pandemonium, but to say that I cared immeasurably about the protagonists would be incorrect, but Miller's craft is just so insanely exciting and front and center that some of it got a little lost, like Hardy's merely decent performance as Max.

I actually liked Hardy's performance as Max. He was able to show motivations and personality all through emotions and gestures rather then force-feeding dialog. He had nothing else to say.

If there's a future to this series, I do hope that Furiosa is part of it.

[Morris Schæffer]

I actually liked Hardy's performance as Max. He was able to show motivations and personality all through emotions and gestures rather then force-feeding dialog. He had nothing else to say.

If there's a future to this series, I do hope that Furiosa is part of it.

The supposedly already penned 2nd part is called Mad Max: Furiosa. :cool:

[Ezee E]

The supposedly already penned 2nd part is called Mad Max: Furiosa. :cool:

Would love to see another go in that world though.

[Watashi]

Two things:

1. You're making a false analogy. This isn't classical conditioning and I don't think you are attempting to seek a reward for behavior. This is about the subtle social pressure everyone experiences to fit the norm.

Note this doesn't preclude people still loving the movie on its merits and coming to their own conclusions. I'm just wondering how you can be totally sure your opinion is 100% your own when you've been fed a baseline reality of the film's quality before you had the chance to make your own judgement.

2. You're having an overly emotional response to my YouTube video. I noted the potential influence of so many positives opinions on your own opinion. I didn't label you anything. That said, I'm unsurprised that you took such high offense. No place other than the Internet have I found the word "Conformist" thrown around like a dirty word. Film geeks are so defensive when anyone suggests there might be something influencing their opinion besides their very special totally unique great taste in movies.

1. I don't think anyone's opinion is 100% their own. I have a friend who refuses to see any promotional marketing for any film from trailers/images/reviews, etc. He closes his ears and eyes and starts humming when trailers are being shown in theaters. He likes going in blind but even that is an influence in itself and will eventually cloud his judgement. Again, whose fault is this? Are we all suppose to act like my friend and just enter every moment in our lives as a blank slate?

My remark to E, as deprecating as it was, was mostly in jest. I'm not offended. I'm not one of those people who leaves insulting comments on rare negative reviews. I've been on contrarian side many times before.

2. I actually didn't watch the video.

[transmogrifier]

I've been primed not to like this because I hated the original. We'll see....hopefully this week sometime.

[Sven]

I've been primed to love this film for over a decade. It's useless to separate Internet hype and genuine response at this early juncture. Right now, the film's release and response have taken on the properties of a pop culture event.

I can't get over Nux, for whom I cared a surprising deal. The Warboys are probably the key to getting this film's position on humanity. Hoult was so good at communicating that frenzied, suicidal, paint-huffing zeal while still keeping the character pinned to reason and resource. Comparing his climactic moment with where he was during the dust storm clarifies the movie's compassionate charge, as does the transfusion aspect.

Speaking to E's criticism of the Wives' believability, I feel the film posits the wives as experienced and socially adept, who have undoubtedly had interactions with the Warboys and their ilk and are not the type to readily see them as immovable enemies. Nux is just an impressionable boy, not an arch threat. There was no "love" there, really - just mutual comfort in dire straits. Stockholm Syndrome lady was a shorthand gesture, for sure, and probably mostly used in order to fake out the audience during the climax when she pleads to Rictus to save her. High psychology wasn't the MO with that one.

[Peng]

Going from Man of Steel's trailers to the actual film will forever prime me with some level of skepticism regarding heavily hyped films, Fury Road included. It thankfully obliterated all that by the first car chase though.

[Winston*]

Well, I enjoyed it.

[Winston*]

These male rights proponents are gonna go nuclear if they ever bother to watch the movie. The conversation should veer away from those jokers now that the film's actually released, and talk instead of how the movie is entirely about gender, its symbology and its impact on societies, etc. It's about power dynamics in relationships, explicitly, just as much as it is about debris, and nobody seems to be focusing on this.

Yeah, it took me by surprise how heavy Miller went in, in this respect. I mean the film has literally has Max purify himself in breast milk.

[Thirdmango]

Goodness golly did I love this movie. Also I didn't read any reviews or see any previews before this. Went in blind besides seeing the other mad max movies.

[Skitch]

I've been primed not to like this because I hated the original. We'll see....hopefully this week sometime.

You are an enigma to me lol

[Sven]

I've been on the warpath about CG sandstorms for a while now, but this one was excellently executed. Keeping it mostly to the lighting effects and car rigs was a good idea, and the external rendering of the fire and clouds and disintegrating cars was all nicely done, photoreal but still expressionistic. Grand.

[Weems]

Yowsers. Though this had frequently amazing technical staging and consistently distinguished visuals (Miller's technical brio is undeniable and worthy of study), they were in the service of far too unimaginative a script and scenario. I found this massively overrated, as the storytelling is so constricted to being a simplistic back-and-forth chase sequence that courts repetitiveness and isn't even enlivened by good dialogue; my attention was never really dragged into this movie by Miller's construction. I think of Aliens or Terminator 2, and find this woefully inadequate in comparison conceptually. Even The Raid, which has a simple enough premise, felt moment-to-moment more stunningly stitched together and absorbing than this. This felt roughly equal to something like Prometheus.

[Morris Schæffer]

Yowsers. Though this had frequently amazing technical staging and consistently distinguished visuals (Miller's technical brio is undeniable and worthy of study), they were in the service of far too unimaginative a script and scenario. I found this massively overrated, as the storytelling is so constricted to being a simplistic back-and-forth chase sequence that courts repetitiveness and isn't even enlivened by good dialogue; my attention was never really dragged into this movie by Miller's construction. I think of Aliens or Terminator 2, and find this woefully inadequate in comparison conceptually. Even The Raid, which has a simple enough premise, felt moment-to-moment more stunningly stitched together and absorbing than this. This felt roughly equal to something like Prometheus.

The Raid was shorter by 30 minutes, but possibly more repetitive than Mad Max Fury Road for me because it's fight and shoot. Fury Road had more going in that regard thanks to its premise, but also the relative depth of its story. But yeah, Fury Road is still quite a few notches below Aliens and T2 for me as well.

[Dukefrukem]

This was the most amazing thing to grace my spectacles.

Simply a masterpiece.

[Dukefrukem]

The attention to detail was what really topped off most of the scenes for me. Bullet casings around the costumes, the steering wheels, the masks, the makeup, the prosthetics, the vehicles themselves and the set designs were all necessary to create this universe/state of this planet we are meant to feel. The CGI stuff was blended perfectly with the practical stuff.

And my god the action was relentless. There was barely any time to breathe a sigh of relief. Just frantically paced which may be the movie's only issue.

EDIT: Nicholas Hoult steals the show in some scenes. I barely recognized him.

[D_Davis]

I have a friend who refuses to see any promotional marketing for any film from trailers/images/reviews, etc. He closes his ears and eyes and starts humming when trailers are being shown in theaters. He likes going in blind but even that is an influence in itself and will eventually cloud his judgement.

These are among the top 5 most annoying people on the planet.

It's like they're constantly trying to prove to other people, while also making a silly, overly dramatic gesture and show of their fandom, that they are the most super of fans, that even a subtitle might spoil their precious fandom.

[Ezee E]

These are among the top 5 most annoying people on the planet.

It's like their constantly trying to prove to other people, while also making a silly, overly dramatic gesture and show of their fandom, that they are the most super of fans, that even a subtitle might spoil their precious fandom.

Just leave the theater and come back. It's easier to tune off some chatter rather than some random humming.

[Thirdmango]

These are among the top 5 most annoying people on the planet.

It's like their constantly trying to prove to other people, while also making a silly, overly dramatic gesture and show of their fandom, that they are the most super of fans, that even a subtitle might spoil their precious fandom.

I don't plug my ears and hum in theaters, but I'm often able to see movies without seeing previews. I didn't see any avengers previews nor this one. But I have seen them for like Jurassic World and Ant Man. I'm just often good at keeping myself off the types of places on the internet that would spoil me to geeky things. I would disagree whole heartedly that this is me trying to prove to other people that I love my fandom as most of my friends are quite surprised when they find out I was blind after the fact, and I would imagine most people who do go in blind aren't trying to show off to other people how cool they are but in fact just wanting to enjoy something without knowing basic characteristics of the movie before hand.

[Dukefrukem]

Ever since Lazlo said the other day he doesn't watch trailers, I started to try it. It's difficult. But I close my eyes in theaters. Did that this weekend.

Fuck anyone who hates me for doing it.

[Ezee E]

Ever since Lazlo said the other day he doesn't watch trailers, I started to try it. It's difficult. But I close my eyes in theaters. Did that this weekend.

Fuck anyone who hates me for doing it.

But you're not humming.

[Ivan Drago]

I felt like it was so fast-paced in the beginning, that there were a couple things I missed (why was Nux spraying his lips with chrome, and what was his tribe sick with?), but those are minor gripes I had with what's otherwise the most exciting, visceral, and layered action movie of the last decade. I was awestruck and on the edge of my seat throughout every action scene, and while I was shocked at what Miller and co. got away with, I applaud them for it, as well as for the narrative subtext and Max's subtle progression along with it. I'm loving this universe more and more with every Mad Max movie; here's hoping word-of-mouth helps it at the box office so Miller can make the next one. I'm just rambling at this point, and that's not doing this movie any justice. Whoever hasn't seen it yet should just go watch it, because it's a unique blockbuster that must be seen to be believed. Without question, my favorite movie of the year so far.


And with a memorable movie, comes a memorable theater experience; ten minutes before the previews started, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban sat three seats down from me. I didn't try to talk to them afterwards out of respect, but her perfume made the entire theater smell fantastic.

[Dukefrukem]

I felt like it was so fast-paced in the beginning, that there were a couple things I missed (why was Nux spraying his lips with chrome,

I took it as a quick way for them to get high to pull off whatever act they were going for; plus they kept mentioning the "shiny" gates of babylon or something on those lines. Figured it was meant to be an act of honor. Esp when Immortan Joe sprays it in his mouth.

[Pop Trash]

"You shall ride eternal. Shiny, and chrome" - Immortan Joe

[Pop Trash]

And with a memorable movie, comes a memorable theater experience; ten minutes before the previews started, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban sat three seats down from me. I didn't try to talk to them afterwards out of respect, but her perfume made the entire theater smell fantastic.

Are you in Nashville?

[Mal]

This movie gave me tingles up and down my body.

[Pop Trash]

It's depressing this made about $25M less than Pitch Perfect 2 this weekend and only about $5M more than Avengers 2 in its 3rd week!

[Ivan Drago]

Are you in Nashville?

I certainly am. :cool: Are you?

[transmogrifier]

1. I don't think anyone's opinion is 100% their own. I have a friend who refuses to see any promotional marketing for any film from trailers/images/reviews, etc. He closes his ears and eyes and starts humming when trailers are being shown in theaters. He likes going in blind but even that is an influence in itself and will eventually cloud his judgement. ? .

Some people take watching movies far, far too seriously.

[Pop Trash]

I certainly am. :cool: Are you?

Nope. I remembered you weren't on the coasts, and that seemed like the only other logical place for Kidman/Urban to be (in America at least).

[Dukefrukem]

Some people take watching movies far, far too seriously.

Who might those people be?

[Gittes]

These are among the top 5 most annoying people on the planet.

It's like their constantly trying to prove to other people, while also making a silly, overly dramatic gesture and show of their fandom, that they are the most super of fans, that even a subtitle might spoil their precious fandom.

I agree that this particular method isn't the best, but if people prefer to limit their involvement in a culture of anticipation, that's OK. I also wouldn't look down on those who derive enjoyment from the promotional content that accompanies movie releases. I've been there, and it was fun, but my opinion changed. I wouldn't close my ears and eyes and hum, but I recently exited a theatre during a trailer that I didn't want to see. Paul Thomas Anderson made the following comments during the press tour for TWBB, and this stuck with me:


ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: With all this talk about the radical distribution model for the new Radiohead album, Paul, I wondered if what they did might have inspired you to think that maybe you should just put your new movie up on the web and let people pay whatever they want for it... I'm joking. I think.

ANDERSON: God, I mean, it's every person's dream, I suppose, to have ownership. Unfortunately, to make a film this size, it would be impossible to finance myself. I'd have to come up with something that I could do on a smaller scale so that I could do that. Because you don't get pride of ownership when you make a film. You get pride of authorship. And you get paid for it — that's the switch-off. But movies aren't far behind [music] in falling apart — I mean, the business itself. One of the films that I have the fondest memory of seeing is Gallipoli, because I knew absolutely nothing about it. My brother said, ''Let's go see this movie.'' And I said, ''What's it about?'' He said, ''I'm not going to tell you.'' And I hadn't seen the poster, I hadn't seen a trailer or anything, and it was such an amazing experience. [Talking about the Radiohead release] just made me think of it. To be able to just kind of get something as close to the bone as possible, without too much intrusion...

[Dukefrukem]

Gotta ask-- who are the other four?

Easy.

1. Conservatives
2. Liberals
3. pro-capitalists
4. anti-Souls-Gamers

[Dead & Messed Up]

Okay...

This was amazing on a creative level, upping the ante quite a bit for the series. At a certain point, the film stops feeling like a film and like a dream - or a coked-up parallel universe to the other films, containing the same punk western aggression but skipping their more relaxed world-building. Every shot with the Doof Warrior is a highlight, and even quiet scenes like a slow crawl through a marsh offer nomads on quadrupedal stilts. The one thing this series will always have over other action pictures is an inerrant imagination. It'd be worth watching the film on mute just to study the culture suggested by costume and set design.

As far as pace goes, the film veered mostly between relentless and exhausting. By the end, I was primed more for a nap than applause or jubilation. It might've crossed over into too much. Too many shots, frames too full of action, sound mix nearly unbearable at times - I must've missed 60% of the dialogue during the first big chase, and it took me a while to realize exactly what happened to Immortan in his final moments.

Even so, there's no denying the film is successful at keeping the stakes clear and the overall geography of the chases clean. I think I was continually hoisted one inch above my seat for the last half hour - and if I was breathing, it sure didn't feel like it.

Hardy was fine, but I wanted more of him being active and fewer of those chintzy flashback moments - I like the subversion of him being helpless for so long more in theory than in execution. Furiosa was superb, Nux was superb. Immortan was fearsome.

As for the gender stuff, that's easily worth a rewatch in itself. The scene where Splendid puts herself between Immortan and Furiosa is perfect, the harvesting of milk, the Vuvalini, how the film ends with the women being literally raised (and bearing the most vital seed of all). Also interesting is how Immortan commands a death cult that could symbolize any sort of religious fanaticism but suggests the Islamic in its desert-bound setting and aggressive subjugation of women.

There are times where Miller's interest in the cancerous and deformed feels too shorthandy and exploitative - that stumpy little person in the chair didnt look like a makeup effect, he looked like a stumpy person in a chair. One of the cool things about Thunderdome is how Master Blaster gained nuance over the course of the film, so the idea of a little person riding a developmentally disabled person was allowed to be about more than its own oddness. A great scene here has Nux revealing that he named his tumors.

These complaints are pretty small, though, in the face of how intense and imaginative the film is. Hard to believe that such a film got a big budget and a wide release and is currently enjoying a great weekend (given its series' R-rated violence and former cult status and 30-year series hiatus).

[Winston*]

It's depressing this made about $25M less than Pitch Perfect 2 this weekend and only about $5M more than Avengers 2 in its 3rd week!

Looks like it's doing really well outside of the US though.

[Sven]

Nice write-up, DaMU. I actually loved how much of the first act's audio was drowned in the roaring mix. Gave it a bit of Altman flair, really blending the individuals with their environments.

[Ivan Drago]

I want the next Fast and the Furious movie to crossover into this universe.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Nice write-up, DaMU. I actually loved how much of the first act's audio was drowned in the roaring mix. Gave it a bit of Altman flair, really blending the individuals with their environments.

I respected where Miller was going with that decision, for sure, but I was so interested to hear what these people were saying that it was frustrating. "Witness?" They said "witness," right? I want to understand post-apocalyptic suicide rites, damn it. :)

[Pop Trash]

Has there been an explanation as to why Max's flashbacks were of a female child? Is that something from Thunderdome or is there supposed to be some bit of narrative (like Mad Max 3.5) between the world of Thunderdome and Fury Road?

[Skitch]

DAMU wrote a lot of words. Wowzers. Braving the theater this coming weekend.

[Sven]

I respected where Miller was going with that decision, for sure, but I was so interested to hear what these people were saying that it was frustrating. "Witness?" They said "witness," right? I want to understand post-apocalyptic suicide rites, damn it. :)

A rewatch will no doubt be rewarding, with all that context in place now. Twist my arm, why don't'cha. I think I will see it in 3D next time too..

[Sven]

One of the cool things about Thunderdome is how Master Blaster gained nuance over the course of the film, so the idea of a midget riding a retarded person was allowed to be about more than its own oddness. I do love how Master dons a three-piece suit in the last act of Thunderdome.

[Ezee E]

Has there been an explanation as to why Max's flashbacks were of a female child? Is that something from Thunderdome or is there supposed to be some bit of narrative (like Mad Max 3.5) between the world of Thunderdome and Fury Road?

I had the same questions.

[Gittes]

EDIT: I removed the content, but I'm leaving the post, as it was likely already seen by some folks, who may then be wondering what happened. Just moving my concerns to PM, out of respect.

[transmogrifier]

Who might those people be?

Possibly the example that I quoted. I think that's why I quoted it, anyway.

And other people too.

[Dead & Messed Up]

One of the uncool things about that otherwise thoughtful take was the slur.

Which one, midget or retarded? I didn't mean either to be offensive. I can amend the two to "little person" and "developmentally disabled."

[Gittes]

Both words warrant revision. I was in the middle of writing a PM because I figured this might attract unnecessary negative attention for both of us, as I know political correctness can rub people the wrong way or come across as excessive. Unlike other examples in the past, I also figured you'd be receptive to someone pointing this out rather than taking it the wrong way, doubling down, etc. Plus, it was silly of me to publicly chastise you for what I think are one-off examples from one of the forum's more thoughtful contributors. Sorry. As I said in my deleted post, this was clearly just careless word choice on your behalf, and not deliberately offensive writing. I've seen enough of your posts that I was just kind of taken aback by that, but then again, that sort of thing always just sticks out like a sore thumb to me.

I realize that there's a certain futility in addressing every offensive thing you encounter on the Internet, but the specific issue in question seems pretty uncommon on this forum, and I felt compelled to note my distaste. I'm sure other people won't care about this, but I personally really dislike this sort of thing and I think we should keep it out of match-cut. That's my view on the matter, but I'm not assuming any authority over the forum. This is my opinion, not a decree. Anyway, I've been down this road before, and I'm wary of making a spectacle out of what many will perceive as sanctimony or something else that it's not. Sorry for going about this the wrong way (i.e., a post instead of a private message).

[Dead & Messed Up]

It's all good. I experienced what David Gilmour might call a momentary lapse of reason, and I'm glad you said something. No spectacle required. :)

[Gittes]

the specific issue in question seems pretty uncommon on this forum

OK, so I was wrong. I did a search for one of those words, and it yielded 8 pages of threads. It's an inevitability in a lot of online discussions, but I thought it was rare on here. I assumed I was protecting the forum's strong record, in this respect, by making my point, but maybe not. I can't recall recent examples but, at any rate, I've stated my view. Not sure what else I can say or do; it's just one of those things I'll have to ignore while posting here, I guess.


It's all good. I experienced what David Gilmour might call a momentary lapse of reason, and I'm glad you said something. No spectacle required. :)

Thanks for understanding and not minding my awkward, ill-advised way of bringing it up. I have enjoyed and/or admired a number of your posts, so I didn't want it to come across the wrong way.

[Dead & Messed Up]

By the way, this track is so epic. Very Zimmery in structure, but so triumphal.


https://youtu.be/MgYnKu8RYAU

[Morris Schæffer]

Has there been an explanation as to why Max's flashbacks were of a female child? Is that something from Thunderdome or is there supposed to be some bit of narrative (like Mad Max 3.5) between the world of Thunderdome and Fury Road?

Speaking of flashbacks, did anyone else find it odd that this one quick shot was also featured?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7FAsUT6FePU/S6w6rC_P_qI/AAAAAAAABJQ/w6xGDbgB8BY/s1600/mad+max2.JPG

This is the one from Mad Max 1979 when a character meets a sudden demise. Not sure why this should be included and from the perspective of Hardy's Max. Perhaps bulging eyes are the new rage?

Unrelated, I'm not entirely clear how Immortan Joe meets his demise. Does Furiosa simply pull off his breathing mask? It just happened so bloody fast. Did she tether his mask to one of the vehicles?

[Morris Schæffer]

By the way, this track is so epic. Very Zimmery in structure, but so triumphal.


https://youtu.be/MgYnKu8RYAU

That's another way in which this movie keeps on giving. A tremendous new film composer with the name Junkie XL. Another sign they didn't just opt for the obvious, but really thought things through.

[Dukefrukem]

Plenty of references to "Midget" here.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP-6ewtJcdk

[Pop Trash]

To be fair, 'retarded' was the politically correct term in 1985. There was a charity called Retarded Citizens that would have literal retarded citizens call our house asking for money.

[Pop Trash]

Unrelated, I'm not entirely clear how Immortan Joe meets his demise. Does Furiosa simply pull off his breathing mask? It just happened so bloody fast. Did she tether his mask to one of the vehicles?

I thought she grabbed one of those flying guillotines and chopped his head off? Or did I just imagine that?

[Dead & Messed Up]

I thought what happened was she

wrapped a chain to his gas mask, tossed it into the wheels, and the gas mask was pulled off violently enough to yank off his jaw in the process.

[Dukefrukem]

I thought what happened was she

wrapped a chain to his gas mask, tossed it into the wheels, and the gas mask was pulled off violently enough to yank off his jaw in the process.

Yup it was this.

You clearly see it at the end when he's on the hood of the car.

[Ezee E]

Have you guys seen the character names in this:

Rictus Erectus
The People Eater
The Doof Warrior
:D

[Dead & Messed Up]

My favorite: Zoe Kravitz as Toast the Knowing.

[Grouchy]

Thank you, George Miller. I love you.


Has there been an explanation as to why Max's flashbacks were of a female child? Is that something from Thunderdome or is there supposed to be some bit of narrative (like Mad Max 3.5) between the world of Thunderdome and Fury Road?
This was also a question that popped up between my group of friends.

Most bizarre moment - the unexplained people walking with four sticks.

Most over-the-top kill - the old woman who grabbed a handful of bullets and instead of bursting them somehow, simply shoved them into a person's eyes. Priceless.

Sickest thought that occured to me but didn't actually happen - I expected the white children to throw the "vertically deprived" person into the raging crowd below.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Yeah, the more I think about this movie, the more my already-minor complaints seem to recede from view. This movie is a goddamn miracle.

It reminds me of the first time I saw Speed and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. It somehow matches those for sheer action exhilaration while retaining the generous creativity of this series that matches Star Wars for creating a fully-breathing and lived-in world.

You guys, this movie is an actual thing. It exists.

[D_Davis]

Sickest thought that occured to me but didn't actually happen - I expected the white children to throw the "vertically deprived" person into the raging crowd below.

LOL!

The altitude restricted.

[Gittes]

Ugh.

[D_Davis]

Oh lighten up.

[D_Davis]

A lot of us have been talking to each other for 10+ years, so we know each others' personalities and senses of humor.

It's all in jest.

Until it isn't.

;)

Give it a few to ten years, maybe you'll see what I mean.

[transmogrifier]

Oh lighten up.

Seriously. I like newcomers, wish we had more of them, but being lectured on posting decorum is not one of the reasons why.

Anyway, hoping to see this this Friday..... I'm unreasonably expectant, thanks to you people......

[number8]

Fuck me, to be able to tell a story so thematically dense with this minimal a dialogue and mostly through action. I don't think it's an overstatement to call this a masterpiece.

It's hilarious that people (me included) assumed the MRA boycott was a childish overreaction, but I mean... Yeah, what Sven and DaMU said. This is some deliberate all-in on Miller's part. I'm not surprised to learn that Eve Ensler was a consultant in the movie.

[number8]

That shot tightening in on Splendid's pregnant belly as Max's bullet casings bounce off of it might end up being my favorite image of the year.

[Barty]

Yowsers. Though this had frequently amazing technical staging and consistently distinguished visuals (Miller's technical brio is undeniable and worthy of study), they were in the service of far too unimaginative a script and scenario. I found this massively overrated, as the storytelling is so constricted to being a simplistic back-and-forth chase sequence that courts repetitiveness and isn't even enlivened by good dialogue; my attention was never really dragged into this movie by Miller's construction. I think of Aliens or Terminator 2, and find this woefully inadequate in comparison conceptually. Even The Raid, which has a simple enough premise, felt moment-to-moment more stunningly stitched together and absorbing than this. This felt roughly equal to something like Prometheus.

Pretty much agree 100%.

Have been pumped all week to see it, and the experience didn't blow me away as expected, especially after a lot of the high praise here.

The visuals and design are just so spectacular, it's a shame I don't think the story and structure is on the same level.

My favorite moment was probably when Furiosa finally makes it "home" and the whole sequence with the old survivors examining the wives and her.

Oh, and I can't help but wish Mel Gibson was still Max in this. I really like Hardy generally, but by gosh his muted mumbling is distracting, and Gibson had such better presence as Max.

[Morris Schæffer]

Oh, and I can't help but wish Mel Gibson was still Max in this. I really like Hardy generally, but by gosh his muted mumbling is distracting, and Gibson had such better presence as Max.

Not a memorable performance. I agree completely. I'm especially dissapointed because I feel it could still have been Gibson who, despite his crazy behaviour lately, is still a bigger star than Hardy.

[Dukefrukem]

I was trying to find the post in the original thread in the UPCOMING SECTION, But I think I remember 8 posting how many lines of dialog Hardy actually has. And it was under 50.

[number8]

Yes. YES.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSuat6MSwT4

[Winston*]

Not a memorable performance. I agree completely. I'm especially dissapointed because I feel it could still have been Gibson who, despite his crazy behaviour lately, is still a bigger star than Hardy.

Having a known misogynist in the film's lead role might've undercut its message a little bit. Could've made a good Immortan Joe.

[Morris Schæffer]

Having a known misogynist in the film's lead role might've undercut its message a little bit. Could've made a good Immortan Joe.

But since a message of redemption seems to be coursing through the movie, this might have become a wonderful bit of meta-ness had Mel played Max.

[Qrazy]

Good stuff.

[Sven]

Good stuff.

I love that there's something that can bring us all together and it's this movie.

[Neclord]

Very shiny movie, so chrome.

[TGM]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CFe-vklW0AENGkk.jpg

[slqrick]

It's incredible. I don't think it's flawless - Hardy was a nonentity (although his grunts were full of character, I guess), and the movie lags a tad bit in the middle as its getting ready for the third act. Otherwise, rapturous. My wife is torn because she was so terrified by the characters that she couldn't sleep last night, but couldn't stop talking about how much she enjoyed the film. It really is a breath of fresh air in the CGI heavy era.

[Scar]

Glorious. Simply glorious. It shall be welcomed into the Blu Ray collection with open arms, and the speakers will weep from its awesomeness.

[Sycophant]

I don't know if it was the theater I was in or what, but I barely understood any of the dialogue at the beginning of the movie, and intermittently throughout the action scenes.

But I also don't think that really matters.

[Skitch]

I was all excited for date night and Max, but the theaters all have 3D showings every hour, and only couple 2D showings at odd times. No, I say, no. Will watch this week Sometime. Bastards.

[Sven]

I don't know if it was the theater I was in or what, but I barely understood any of the dialogue at the beginning of the movie, and intermittently throughout the action scenes.

But I also don't think that really matters.

This is a common reaction and I believe intentional. I think it's great -- characters inseparable from their roaring environs, that kind of thing. What's important is your conclusion, which is that the meaning of the words being hurled is less important then their punch.

Did you like the film otherwise?

[Sycophant]

This is a common reaction and I believe intentional. I think it's great -- characters inseparable from their roaring environs, that kind of thing. What's important is your conclusion, which is that the meaning of the words being hurled is less important then their punch.

Oh, absolutely. The voices and words of the characters are completely subsumed into the sounds of engines and guns. It's a wonderful effect, really. Whenever important exposition or exchanges happened, it was against an ambience that was much more suited to comprehensibility or mixed in a way that made it clearer. At least so it seemed to me.


Did you like the film otherwise?

So fucking much. One of the most exhilarating action films I've ever seen. Some of the most vivid and memorable imagery, iconography and tableaux I've seen in recent years, and the best time I've had in a theater in years.

I'm seriously in awe of the intense spatial and temporal continuity in the action set pieces (which made up the majority of the movie). There was basically no moment when I didn't know who or what I was looking at or why it mattered. That's not the only metric for successful action filmmaking of course, but it's impressive and thrilling.

This movie. I pumped my fist a lot during it. For reals. I'm a fucking dork. But for reals.

And this is barely even hinting at what's going on with the film narratively and thematically. But I don't think I have anything particularly insightful or interesting to say about that. So I'll just

[Sven]

So fucking much. One of the most exhilarating action films I've ever seen. Some of the most vivid and memorable imagery, iconography and tableaux I've seen in recent years, and the best time I've had in a theater in years.

thumb-up

[D_Davis]

After the pre-title sequence I leaned over to my friend and told him that this movie has had more ideas in the last ten minutes than all other movies combined.

Absolutely floored me. I sat with a huge smile on my face the entire time. There were at least a hundred things I saw that I wanted to see an entire movie about.

Why Do other movies even exist?

[D_Davis]

After watching the film, I started to come to the conclusion that the Max in the film isn't the same Max. I think this fits in with my idea of the truth/legend/myth motif found in the original trilogy. He's taken on the personification of the mythical character.

[D_Davis]

Those fucking stilt-men! MY GOD!

I want to know about the men on stilts.

[D_Davis]

It's so great that the best trilogy ever made is now the best quadrilogy ever made.

[Pop Trash]

It's so great that the best trilogy ever made is now the best quadrilogy ever made.

I'm not a huge fan of the first one, so I might just pretend this is a trilogy.

[number8]

Which is an interesting support of what Davis said about him being a mythical figure. The only entry where the plot is about him is the worst one.

[D_Davis]

Has Miller ever given any indication of a timeline in these films?

[Skitch]

Wowzers. Not a lot I can say that wouldn't be echoing what's already been said. Couple thoughts...

- Through the whole film I kept thinking how completely bungled this wouldve been in any other directors hands.
- I heard Max only has seven lines. Sure he doesnt talk much, but he talked way more than that it seemed.
- I heard its a 2 hour car chase. Not true. Sure, theres a lot of car chase, but there are beautiful scenes of quiet and levity that balanced the film wonderfully. I was concerned about this notion because you have to have the calm to make the storm impactful or it can become just noise after a while...you need a breather for your adrenaline to reload. In that regard this was executed perfectly.

[number8]

Has Miller ever given any indication of a timeline in these films?

"It’s sort of a revisit. The [previous] three films exist in no real clear chronology, because they were always conceived as different films."

As far as Miller is concerned, Mad Max is the origin story, but the other three are totally separate movies that happen to share the Max character, but there's no before or after between them.

[D_Davis]

Yeah - that's kind of how I see it, too.

[Skitch]

Also, if there was one single use of profanity/swearing, I didnt hear it. I kind of like that.

[number8]

Also, if there was one single use of profanity/swearing, I didnt hear it. I kind of like that.

There wasn't.

"Rated R for intense sequences of violence throughout, and for disturbing images"

[Dead & Messed Up]

The whole myth/legend idea, and how the back three films are people narrating stories, makes me wonder about the implications of Max being the narrator this time around, and if that's why he seems a supporting character to Furiosa.

[Skitch]

Speaking of flashbacks, did anyone else find it odd that this one quick shot was also featured?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7FAsUT6FePU/S6w6rC_P_qI/AAAAAAAABJQ/w6xGDbgB8BY/s1600/mad+max2.JPG

This is the one from Mad Max 1979 when a character meets a sudden demise. Not sure why this should be included and from the perspective of Hardy's Max.


I don't think anyone responded to you so I will. :)

Yes, I noticed it immediately. I believe that was The Toecutter's final moment, and unless I'm mistaken they repeated that effect for the Lord Humongous in part two. It has been a while since I've watched one and two though.

[Sven]

Max drops an F bomb. When he's tethered to the front of the car, he says something like "first they took my blood, now they have my fucking car!" It's during one of the aforementioned moments when dialogue clarity was not a focus.

[Winston*]

What other action blockbusters are there that feel as singularly the work of their creator as this one? Pacific Rim, maybe?

[Dukefrukem]

Terminator 2

[Winston*]

Kill Bill, I guess.

[Neclord]

The Matrix trilogy.

Inception?

[Sven]

What other action blockbusters are there that feel as singularly the work of their creator as this one? Pacific Rim, maybe?

Some less pleasant examples being:
Michael Bay.
War of the Worlds.
Mission Impossible 2.

[Neclord]

As evident the director's styles are in those, if Winston is thinking like me, the idea was more about blockbusters that feel almost as if they sprang fully formed from the mind of the director, from story to themes to aesthetics.

[Winston*]

Starship Troopers.

[Winston*]

Batman Returns, maybe. Been too long.

[Pop Trash]

Star Wars

[Dead & Messed Up]

Maybe Minority Report is one. Although it was darker than his usual, it had some of the most intense paternal baggage of any of the 'berg's films, and that's saying something.

[Pop Trash]

Some good reads...

http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2015/05/24/the-waning-thrills-of-cgi/

http://io9.com/do-you-realize-mad-max-fury-road-is-a-miracle-1707000166

[number8]

This tumblr is pretty great. (http://feministmadmax.tumblr.com/)

http://41.media.tumblr.com/fe78c293a28325177879fd527533bb c0/tumblr_non9rcPxjN1uw1s6ho1_128 0.jpg

[TGM]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CGBTl8gWgAAIpBh.png:large

[number8]

The whole Cannes conference was pretty cool, actually. Has anyone posted the link yet?

At one point Miller explained that he asked his film editor wife, who had only edited Babe 2 and Happy Feet, to cut the film to give is a distinct feel from the usual action film editing.

[D_Davis]

Let's see...

1. Add a bunch of women for all kinds of things
2. Make the best movie ever made

OK!

[Skitch]

TGM is that real?? If so thats the most baffling question Ive ever heard.

[Sycophant]

A lot of "Oh yeah, people actually think this way" moments surrounding the release of this movie.

[Winston*]

Here's the conference.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI6k_8tomRE

[Dukefrukem]

10:03 for those that want to see that question.

[Skitch]

What a moron. Thats equivalent to "Let me preface this by saying I have lots of gay friends, but when you read the script, do you think less of gay people?"

Maybe not. I don't know. I am baffled by this.

[number8]

He wrote a statement to Buzzfeed defending himself that is hilariously bad.


“My question to Tom Hardy was intended as the opposite of sexism. I was congratulating him for his willingness to share the screen with so many strong women in a franchise and genre more inclined to celebrate the male over the female. He was also willing to be in a co-lead role with Charlize Theron, in a movie called MAD MAX, no less. I think a lot of male stars might have objected to this, but Hardy is of a special breed.

But I don’t think I worded my question very well. Hardy just shrugged it off, although I don’t think he was offended by it. I think this article I wrote (http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2015/05/08/charlize-theron-in-mad-max-fury-road-embodies-the-new-alpha-female.html) gives you a better idea of what I was getting at, which was to celebrate the idea of women being cast in traditionally male roles, not to scorn it.”

Emphasis mine. What the hell is he even talking about. Why are we congratulating men for starring in movies with women. What a loon.

[Skitch]

"I think a lot male stars might have objected to this"...what planet is this guy living on?

I wish so bad Hardy had answered "Of course! It was the same reaction when I watch porn! Im a mans man, so what are all these vaginas doing here? Amirite?!"

[Grouchy]

Max drops an F bomb. When he's tethered to the front of the car, he says something like "first they took my blood, now they have my fucking car!" It's during one of the aforementioned moments when dialogue clarity was not a focus.
I watched the movie again (on theaters) yesterday and this is not true. There isn't any swearing at all, actually.

My rewatch, besides confirming that it's a masterpiece, also brought a lot of relevance to the theory that Hardy's Max is in fact the Feral Kid who got hold of the Interceptor somehow. He's even referred to as "a feral" early on the movie.

[Sven]

I watched the movie again (on theaters) yesterday and this is not true. There isn't any swearing at all, actually.

All the rating guides online mention that there is one use of the "f word" and I'm preeeeetty sure that's where it is. I believe you didn't hear it, but I'm certain it's there. I'll see it again and get back.

[Dukefrukem]

I'm seeing this again on Sunday. I love being able to reserve your seat in the theater now. I go so much more often.

Technology!

[Grouchy]

All the rating guides online mention that there is one use of the "f word" and I'm preeeeetty sure that's where it is. I believe you didn't hear it, but I'm certain it's there. I'll see it again and get back.
Care to make it... interesting?

[Spun Lepton]

Proof that people have too much time on their hands?

http://www.avclub.com/article/mad-max-fury-roads-war-boys-have-infiltrated-amazo-219994#2

[Scar]

Proof that people have too much time on their hands?

http://www.avclub.com/article/mad-max-fury-roads-war-boys-have-infiltrated-amazo-219994#2

That is awesome.

[BuffaloWilder]

So, I went back and saw it again (this make three). I think my favorite scene might be Furiosa's reunion with the Vuvalini - the visual contrast between where she came from and who she's grown into, the way the anger and ferocity just leaves her completely, the powerful emotions being conveyed all in the eyes between her and Valkyrie, and and how she "tries out" the memorial gesture for her mother for either the first time or the first in a very long time. . .and then, when the revelation happens and she marches off alone into the sand, and we pull out to see Max watching and making a realization, that's primal and powerful stuff.

[[ETM]]

Awesome detailed breakdown of the special effects. (http://www.fxguide.com/featured/a-graphic-tale-the-visual-effects-of-mad-max-fury-road/)

I love how the one shot that I thought was "obviously CGI" was in fact almost completely practical (the rig explosion with the guitar and wheel coming towards the camera).

[Morris Schæffer]

;540833']Awesome detailed breakdown of the special effects. (http://www.fxguide.com/featured/a-graphic-tale-the-visual-effects-of-mad-max-fury-road/)

I love how the one shot that I thought was "obviously CGI" was in fact almost completely practical (the rig explosion with the guitar and wheel coming towards the camera).

Thanks dude! I also thought that final explosion was CGI as it looked a bit too controlled starting from the back of the vehicles and then building up to the front, but seems it was a real detonation.

[Spinal]

This was extremely impressive as a stunts/visual effects/design showcase. However, it was not so impressive as a narrative/thematic exploration. There's copious creativity in the action sequences. You've got to love villains that not only beat the drums of war, but supplement those drums with full-on electric guitar. And Miller does a great job of piling on the chase sequence surprises. However, the film held absolutely zero emotional resonance for me. I knew next to nothing about the protagonists, had little context for the chase sequence and overall, felt like the whole thing was a bit shallow. Rango was a deeper, richer film using this same basic premise of the overlord controlling the water supply and was every bit as thrilling.

[DavidSeven]

In terms of inspiring wonderment as an actioner and cinematic showcase, this definitely brings to mind initial viewings of Speed, T2, and (for me) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. These are the type of movies where you can almost feel the entire audience collectively sit up in their seat as a new setpiece kicks off. Even beyond the eye-widening setpieces, the thing is abound with striking images. Some of the memorable shots occur in the film's few quiet moments. Formally, this has to be one of the most impressive movies ever made, and I'll champion anything that successfully demonstrates that creativity trumps overused CGI in telling an action story.

My minor complaints echo those of others. Tom Hardy is too much of a non-character, which I sort of understand the point of if the point was subversion. (I guess? I mean, they still gave the dude an arc, so that already puts him ahead of a lot shallowly written female archetypes.). However, it makes it hard on the audience as he serves as our entry point into this universe. If they had tweaked just a few of his reactions to show us something more recognizably human, then I think we'd have a much deeper emotional connection to this story from an earlier point. Nux certainly helps with that aspect later in the story, and Theron is a wonderful anchor throughout, but there just seems to be a disconnect whenever we flip to Max's perspective. It also might have been useful to commit a little more time to world-building early on to give us a better context for the story (though, in theory, I do appreciate the approach of dropping the audience into the action almost immediately).

Regardless of these somewhat minor issues, I'm ecstatic that this thing exists. It is the antithesis to the modern blockbuster -- proof that passion for filmmaking can exist with giant sets and huge budgets. It's immensely satisfying to see a film eschew gratuitous CGI and nudity and still manage to create thrill via pure creativity. I hope it makes all the money.

[Spinal]

I wish this film had more of a sense of humor. That's one of the things I love about Thunderdome, its weird sense of humor.

[Morris Schæffer]

A Serbian Film (Spasojevic, 2010) ***1/2

Don't know why it's caught my eye, but did you ever share thoughts on this somewhere on this board? Perhaps the high score triggered my curiosity.

[Spinal]

Don't know why it's caught my eye, but did you ever share thoughts on this somewhere on this board? Perhaps the high score triggered my curiosity.

FDT

[transmogrifier]

Yeah, this movie is good. Overrated as all hell at the moment, but fun while it lasts. Story is predictable - was there ever going to be any other outcome when they reached their original destination - and it gets a bit tatty around the mid section (the secondary layer of bad guys are kind of boring), but the action scenes fly, and that's good enough.

[Spun Lepton]

A look at the framing in Fury Road.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/pressplay/watch-mad-max-fury-road-its-all-in-the-framing-20150601?fb_action_ids=1590844 861166708&fb_action_types=og.shares

[Spun Lepton]

It really holds up on a second viewing. I may have liked it even more this time around. Hypnotic.

[Sven]

It really holds up on a second viewing. I may have liked it even more this time around. Hypnotic.

Yeah, just got back from time number 2. Amazing film, though I think this screening assured me that Beyond Thunderdome is my favorite. The dividends on that one are just too plentiful. Still, this is a beautifully conceived movie.

Oh, and Grouchy, I was wrong. He does not drop the eff-word in the aforementioned exchange about his car, but he does a few shots later in that same scene, as Nux is speeding away in a fervor after Immortan looks at him. It's mixed waaaaay down, but he says something-something-"fucking"-something.

[Sven]

I wish this film had more of a sense of humor. That's one of the things I love about Thunderdome, its weird sense of humor.

This one shows it in a few bits. Like the Bullet Farmer, and the bungeed guitarist. But I agree with you, actually. The way he's wearing the big mascot head when sent to Gulag would not have worked in this film.

[Spun Lepton]

Oh, and Grouchy, I was wrong. He does not drop the eff-word in the aforementioned exchange about his car, but he does a few shots later in that same scene, as Nux is speeding away in a fervor after Immortan looks at him. It's mixed waaaaay down, but he says something-something-"fucking"-something.

Can confirm. Exactly this. You can't hear much of the line, but "fucking" is definitely there. I thought I might've heard it once more later, but I can't be sure. I will likely watch it again, so, I'll keep my ears open next time.

[Grouchy]

Oh, and Grouchy, I was wrong. He does not drop the eff-word in the aforementioned exchange about his car, but he does a few shots later in that same scene, as Nux is speeding away in a fervor after Immortan looks at him. It's mixed waaaaay down, but he says something-something-"fucking"-something.
Aaaah that sounds like a good moment to curse.

[Dead & Messed Up]

This was better the second time, excepting the theme speak about hope and redemption, which plays a little worse. Apart from that, it's such a cascade of generous demented imagination. Furiosa looking directly at the viewers (in-film checking a mirror) right before inciting the story with her swerve is brilliant.

[Mara]

This speaks well of word-of-mouth, because this is a film I would have never, ever seen on its own merits. I sought it out after hearing great things, and I enjoyed it immensely.

Except, for some reason, with all the ridiculousness, the bridge too far for me was the guitar guy.

ME, EVERY SCENE WITHOUT GUITAR GUY: WHEEEEE! AAAAAGGH! WHEEEEEE!

ME, EVERY SCENE WITH GUITAR GUY: Oh, come on. This is just silly.

Also, I don't know if it was all the action, or that I don't see things on the big screen as much anymore, but this film made me super nauseated. I didn't want to miss any of it, and the bathrooms were really far away, but I honestly might have been better off just going out and throwing up a few times. I didn't even see it in 3D! That would have been vomit-a-rama. As is, it's been several hours now and I still feel queasy.

[number8]

Word of mouth has definitely done the lion's share of marketing this movie. I imagine a lot of people's experience mirrored that of Kate Leth's that she described in her comic strip:

http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/comicsalliance.com/files/2015/05/CAStripMadMax.png

[[ETM]]

ME, EVERY SCENE WITH GUITAR GUY: Oh, come on. This is just silly.

:D

I totally get the "Doof Wagon" as the horde's "hype machine". A huge part of Immortan Joe's rule is keeping these people he commands in a constant frenzy. Having a soundtrack ALL THE TIME while they battle is as sensible as anything in the film.

I mean, a guy had bullets for teeth, and pulled one out to load his gun. Come on. :D

[Mara]

Of course it's called a Doof Wagon. OF COURSE IT IS.

I was totally behind the drums on the warpath. Also bullets for teeth and crow people on stilts. And yet, somehow... guitar.

[[ETM]]

And yet, somehow... guitar.

Guitar... FLAMETHROWER.

[[ETM]]

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/roadwarrior/images/f/f7/Fury_Road_Doof_Wagon_001.jpg
I mean, LOOK AT IT.

All the speakers are functional, of course.
And Miller fought to have those brass instruments on it.

[Dead & Messed Up]

It's the goofiest aspect of the film, sure, but I figured anybody would've been converted by the end, when Max jumps onto the Doof Wagon behind the Doof Warrior, grabs the guitar, starts smacking and torching enemies with it, Froggers his way to the next car, and the Doof Warrior just continues rocking.

[Neclord]

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/roadwarrior/images/e/ea/MMFR_Gigahorse-876x534.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width/640?cb=20150427175606

More Fury Road fun facts: Immortan Joe's ride - The Gigahorse - was initially intended to have a facade of a twin engine and under the veil be powered by a single engine, but the decision was eventually made to link up two real working engines with a single gearbox for a combined 1200 horsepower. Real flesh and blood and oil moviemaking.

[Sven]

I could go into excruciating detail as to why and toss out a half dozen examples, but I'll spare us all that.

You probably should, because as it stands, you bear the burden of proof. Plus, I'd like to know what you're thinking. You correlate the film's separateness from the original films as reason for its incomprehensibility, which is, well... pretty incomprehensible. Back that up, Irish.

[Sven]

Also, "totally and completely inconsequential" does not describe Max. He is crucial to their survival. He saves the day plenty of times, and directs them back to the Citadel.

[Dead & Messed Up]

"Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong."

Phew. Thought I'd have to engage your comments for a while there.

[Sven]

"Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong."

Phew. Thought I'd have to engage your comments for a while there.

You're doing it wrong. Thems're deliberate fightin' words! Throw down, I say.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Well, I'll say two things on the subject of false feminism.

Sarkeesian's commentary that the camera caresses the Brides throughout is factually incorrect. The camera lingers on them exactly once, after the sandstorm, and the point of that moment is to subvert that kind of excess by making it obvious (racking focus, perfectly composed wide shot), by introducing a disruptive element (the reveal of Splendid's pregnancy, reminding viewers of their prior context as rape slaves), and by demonstrating the hero's ultimate indifference (he becomes fixated on the water). After that, the film never uses stylized filmcraft around the Brides again. They are shown in mediums and wides, with occasional closeups meant to emphasize their faces during dialogue. They are not fetishized. The "male gaze" you find in other films is absent.

But the film still fetishizes them by making them model-hot instead of child-bearing and dressing them in skimpy clothes, right? Well, no, that's Joe. Immortan Joe selected them, dressed them. And it needs to be pointed out that Joe is a relic of the old world, our world, and so his ideal woman is our current Western culture's ideal woman: thin, post-adolescent, near-naked. Tellingly, he's also subdivided healthy women into two castes, hotties and fatties, so it follows that he'd do everything he can to push women into those roles. To make them even more emblematic of the thing he wants them to be. Taken in this context, the Brides looking as they do is completely appropriate.

I think the best possible negative to throw at the movie's feminism is that the Brides still dress the way they do after meeting the Vuvalini. After that, them inheriting some clothes would've both shown their evolution past their prior status and de-emphasized their bodies.

[Grouchy]

Sarkeesian's commentary that the camera caresses the Brides throughout is factually incorrect.
This is my least favorite thing about feminism - the notion that there's something inherently bad about fetishizing female bodies.

I guess I'll continue to be "a relic of the old world" like Inmortan Joe in that sense, and proud of it.

[Pop Trash]

Suffice to say: If you've written a movie where your title character is totally and completely inconsequential to your film, I think you've written a bad movie.

:confused: :rolleyes:

[Watashi]

I see Irish has brought his total wrongness to this thread as well.

[amberlita]

Hm. As visual spectacle, this is hands down the most inventive movie in the last decade. It repeatedly stuns the eye. Several times I laughed (or rightly: cackled) at the things I saw. Likewise, the production design. Miller et al let loose their imaginations and put everything on the screen the absolutely could. It's goddamn gorgeous in all its excess.[1]

As a story, a movie, I think it's a failure. I agree with some of the strains that Ezee, Spinal, and Weems mentioned. The world the film presents makes no sense, the characters are nonexistent, and the plot beats are asinine. It plays like Mad Max fan fiction and is so far removed from the original movies as to render everything incomprehensible. I could go into excruciating detail as to why and toss out a half dozen examples, but I'll spare us all that. Suffice to say: If you've written a movie where your title character is totally and completely inconsequential to your film, I think you've written a bad movie.[2][3]

That sorta segues into the politics, which are cartoonish and silly and not nearly, I think, as progressive as everyone on the internet seems to believe. I lean toward Anita's point of view (https://storify.com/wire2k/anita-sarkeesian-on-mad-max-fury-road) here. Given all the crazy stuff I watch, from all over the world, I'm staggered that anyone takes this movie as feminist. But then I smack my forehead and remember, oh yeah, US media is horribly regressive, a place where putting a weapon in a chick's hand automatically means you've written a "strong female character."

Fury Road benefits from an incredibly low bar. I mean, if your competition in the summer movie actioner olympics is stuff like San Andreas and Transformers, then you'll look good just by showing up. The movie appears fresh by comparison. But that doesn't make it "good."


[1] I sorta expected that though, given Thunderdome and, especially, Fury Road's trailers.
[2] Yeah. Before you mention Raiders of the Lost Ark, don't. Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong. But that's a whole other argument for a whole other thread.
[3] The more clever among you will want to mention Big Trouble in Little China. Don't do that either. ;)

I'd be curious to know what constitutes "female violence". The way Sarkeesian mentions it, "male violence" seems redundant, almost as if all violence must inherently be male-centric and thus the film is not celebrating female strength but rather just pulling male characteristics into feminine characters. Women are capable of being just as thirsty to watch and partake in violence as a man.

That said, I agree with just about everything else you said, especially that the film isn't nearly as socially progressive as everyone seems to think it is. I enjoyed watching the movie, but the story is razor thin, assumed too early that I care about certain characters who haven't been given enough depth in the writing by the time I'm supposed to cheer for them, and surrounded by occasionally cartoonish visuals bordering almost on parody (seriously - the flaming guitar? it's not fun it's just laughably stupid). Also, the sandstorm looked atrocious.

[DavidSeven]

There is nothing wrong with applying feminist theory to film; however, I do feel the trendy form of feminism as applied against commercial films often lacks any kind of nuance and is usually fairly reductive and mind-numbing. These days, it seems that any time a big movie attempts to put a female character on equal footing with men, it opens itself up to criticism. The "you're not doing feminism right" articles fill up the internet almost immediately. This is a perverse result. It's as if these films would've been better served relegating its female characters to standard love-interest/damsel-in-distress/MPDG archtypes.

I would agree that Mad Max hasn't necessarily set any new benchmarks for social progression, but why is that on the film? Is that its obligation? Is it offensive on its face? I say, "no." It's a very well made action movie that refreshingly has some female characters at the forefront. Putting a gun in a woman's hand doesn't automatically make her a "strong female character," but does it automatically make her a weak one? Movies with guns and violence will stand the test of time -- they are well-suited to be elements of the "conflict" required in compelling drama. Can we write female characters into some of these stories without an immediate negative reaction?

On the concept of "male gaze," I find that it has the potential to be an interesting discussion topic, but it is so broadly and poorly applied as criticism that the concept almost always loses its potential value when it's actually brought up. I think it's a useful tool in theorizing why things are shot the way they are and contemplating what that says about the filmmakers. Tarantino fetishizes women's feet in his films. Does that make him a male chauvinist? If not, why not? Only because his predilections are non-typical? If he lingers on bare butts over bare feet, does that somehow change the nature of his intent? Art reflects the perspective of its creator -- whether it's male, female, gay, or bi. To erase all forms of perspective related to sexuality would be a terrible result, and I say this as someone who is personally pretty sensitive to exploitive gender portrayals. My only wish is that there were more female and minority voices in Hollywood so that the perspectives would become more varied.

[Sven]

#sevenwasright

[transmogrifier]

I'm torn - on the one hand, like Irish, I think the film is all surface and not nearly as deep as those in love with it are trying to claim. Unlike Irish, however, I don't think that's the film's fault - all these people trying to layer gender politics all over it, and then all these other people dismissing the gender politics as reductive or shallow or whatever, and to my mind, the poor film itself is just off to the side, sheepishly mumbling "I just wanted to blow some shit up real good, is all."

Plus, I don't agree with Irish's fundamental belief regarding how title characters are expected to act, just because they are title characters. That shit makes no sense.

So, in conclusion: Watch Tetsuya Nakashima's Confessions. It doesn't have anything to do with Mad Max or this argument, but it's a nice idea, nonetheless.

[Sven]

To shorthand the hell out of it: The first two films were quasi-Westerns with a side of sci-fi. They were very definitely rooted in 70s film culture and operated as analogues for real world concerns. The last two films aren't based on any kind of reality. They lean much more toward sci-fantasy and their only context is themselves.

I get that you think the movie is different, but your argument was that because they're different, everything is rendered incomprehensible. Which I don't understand. Also, monopolies of natural resources and powerful men making decisions about women's bodies would seem like fair extensions of real life concerns.

[Sven]

In my view, the film's political bend is a consequence of interest in trajectory and world-building, and not so much the text of the film. The fact that it has been so impacting on so many people is a result of this, I think. Because it's not what the movie is about, but is a very interesting byproduct of the movie's narrative and themes of humanity's desolation. No grand speeches or didactically-charged images.

[Sven]

I'm torn - on the one hand, like Irish, I think the film is all surface and not nearly as deep as those in love with it are trying to claim. Unlike Irish, however, I don't think that's the film's fault - all these people trying to layer gender politics all over it, and then all these other people dismissing the gender politics as reductive or shallow or whatever, and to my mind, the poor film itself is just off to the side, sheepishly mumbling "I just wanted to blow some shit up real good, is all."

This makes the most sense to me. The movie never soapboxes (nor is it a film that sheepishly mumbles anything). But again, that's why I think it's so effective as a "feminist" film. Because it's not mounting complicated arguments or straining for meaning in any metaphorical sense. It is what you see, which is an incredible showcase of what people are capable of doing (good AND bad).

[D_Davis]

Wait a minute. People are complaining about a Mad Max movie having a thin story? Really? Have y'all seen the Mad Movies?

[D_Davis]

To shorthand the hell out of it: The first two films were quasi-Westerns with a side of sci-fi. They were very definitely rooted in 70s film culture and operated as analogues for real world concerns. The last two films aren't based on any kind of reality. They lean much more toward sci-fantasy and their only context is themselves.


Right - fits with the whole truth, legend, myth motif.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Wait a minute. People are complaining about a Mad Max movie having a thin story? Really? Have y'all seen the Mad Movies?

I wouldn't call it thin, I'd call it economical and mercifully clear.

[Morris Schæffer]

I wouldn't call it thin, I'd call it economical and mercifully clear.

That universe felt more lived-in, less abstract. Seemed like it could become our own in the distant future when it all goes to hell which made it a bit more relatable and terrifying to me. Fury Road feels quite different, over-the-top, comicbooky, entirely unhinged with nary a thought given to build-up. Although for all the complaints about a Mad Max title having a Mad Max hero who's, according to Irish, inconsequential to the story, there's no denying the movie makes good on the second part of the title. So yes Amberlita, that guitar needed to be one with flames coming out of its front. ;)

[transmogrifier]

I didn't really feel that the universe felt lived in at all - I thought it was kind of sheeny and plasticky, and I didn't really get into the self-conscious video game-esque support bad guys - the bullet teeth dude and whoever the other one was - who just sort of pop up for a bit random "check this guy out!" variation without being all that interesting.

The movie lives and dies on its pacing, action staging, and kinetic energy - and thus it lives.

[Grouchy]

This last page of the thread is so full of wrong. I guess the backlash had to arrive eventually.

The guitar guy is brilliant - I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't find him gleefully funny. Irish, Max is essential to the development of the plot - what movie were you watching? Miller also clearly wants to say something about gender roles, that's not an accidental motif absolutely every audience everywhere has managed to pick up like someone suggested.

I have zero problems with "exploitative" portrayals of women on film. I actually enjoy them.

[BuffaloWilder]

This last page of the thread is so full of wrong. I guess the backlash had to arrive eventually.

The guitar guy is brilliant - I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't find him gleefully funny. Irish, Max is essential to the development of the plot - what movie were you watching? Miller also clearly wants to say something about gender roles, that's not an accidental motif absolutely every audience everywhere has managed to pick up like someone suggested.

Seriously. I find myself saying this more and more often recently, but - it's not even subtext. It's right there in the dialogue and top-most narrative layer of the film, and is the driving source of the majority of the conflict in the movie. Not to disparage this side of the film or anything, because I think it merits a lot of discussion in terms of both the film's narrative and it's commentary on the cultural zeitgeist, but there are a lot of other elements worth talking about, as well.

For example: one of the things I've noticed through repeat viewings of the film is just how clearly Sergio Leone's visual influence is felt - in particular, Miller plays around with Leone's trademark trick of with-holding information just out of frame until its revelation becomes most emotionally relevant; much like Blondie and Tuco don't see the Civil War encampment until they just stumble onto it, Max doesn't see the approaching Toxic Storm or the War Wig in the aftermath until he simply turns (or is turned) around. What the camera cannot see, the characters (or at least Max) cannot see. Part of me wants to say this probably extends back to the very first shot of the film as well. This is a more formal shout-out than the one to Kurosawa in the Bog sequence that everyone mentions, but it's pretty ingenious.

Also, the way that the environment of the Wasteland is much more of a driving influence on the narrative, plot and structure of the film than in the previous trilogy - which is a whole other thing, deserving of a lot more words, elsewhere.

Also also, what implications does having Max be our narrator have on the accepted "mythic" structure of the series?

And other things, but these are the ones I felt were most important to post about at three in the morning. I'm a little bummed out that The Art of Mad Max is so far out of print that it's going for hundreds of dollars, now. Here's hoping it gets repeat printings, because some of the concept art excerpts I've seen from it are bananas, and I hope they get reused in some fashion for The Wasteland?

[Sven]

I'm a little bummed out that The Art of Mad Max is so far out of print that it's going for hundreds of dollars, now.

I see it readily available many places.

[Winston*]

Fun:

http://teamcoco.com/video/conan-comic-con-mad-max?playlist=x;eyJ0eXBlIjoiZXR hZyIsImlkIjo4OTAzMX0

[Dead & Messed Up]

Finally topped $150 million in the USA.

[Dukefrukem]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M5KE44xluo

[Ezee E]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M5KE44xluo

That was pretty good.

Was certainly bummed that he didn't ask Liam Cunningham a single question on his Game of Thrones panel, but the "apology" was great.

[Dukefrukem]

That was pretty good.

Was certainly bummed that he didn't ask Liam Cunningham a single question on his Game of Thrones panel, but the "apology" was great.

Yeh I noticed that too. Time was a factor I'm guessing.

[Ezee E]

Yeh I noticed that too. Time was a factor I'm guessing.

Yeah. Simply too many people. I think Natalie Dormer only had one question also, and figured she'd be a focus for questions.

[Spun Lepton]

Excuse me my good chaps and ladies, but I was wondering if any of you would do me the honor of WITNESS MEEEEE!!!!!

[megladon8]

Absolute fucking insanity.

Any nitpicks (characters' accents coming and going or outright changing, the length of the journey seemed inconsistent when heading back, etc) are nullified by the pure energy and batshit insane orchestration of the whole thing.

Gotta be one of the greatest action films of all time, and I'm not a fan of Mad Max or vehicular action in general.

[Scar]

Excuse me my good chaps and ladies, but I was wondering if any of you would do me the honor of WITNESS MEEEEE!!!!!

WITNESS!!!!

[Spun Lepton]

WITNESS!!!!

*throws self under War Machine*

[Dead & Messed Up]

*throws self under War Machine*

BAH! MEDIOCAAAH!

[Skitch]

BAH! MEDIOCAAAH!


BWHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

[Morris Schæffer]

Match Cut: Fury Forum!!

[Philip J. Fry]

Hollywood, It's Time to Retire the "Loveable Misogynist" Movie Hero. (http://www.ifc.com/fix/2015/07/hollywood-its-time-to-retire-the-loveable-misogynist-movie-hero)

by Lindsay Ellis (formerly known as the Nostalgia Chick)

[megladon8]

I loved the several times that there was crunching guitar and drums adding to the tension of the chasing, and we pull back to find that it's actually the music being played by the clan in the film.

There's some great, dramatic music all over this film. Perhaps my favorite action sequence in the whole thing (the dudes on dirtbikes hopping back and forth dropping explosives on the war machine) had some incredible music.

[D_Davis]

Every time I see something from this film, or read something about it, I love it more.

I stand by my original statement right after I saw it: Mad Max: Fury Road is the greatest thing humanity has ever created.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I loved the several times that there was crunching guitar and drums adding to the tension of the chasing, and we pull back to find that it's actually the music being played by the clan in the film.

There's some great, dramatic music all over this film. Perhaps my favorite action sequence in the whole thing (the dudes on dirtbikes hopping back and forth dropping explosives on the war machine) had some incredible music.

"Brothers in Arms."

I bought the soundtrack and play it in my car. Possibly the most unsafe decision I'll ever make. So many needless lane changes.

[Scar]

I listen to the soundtrack a lot while driving, especially when tired.

Cruise control is your friend.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Hey, I'm working on a tribute video for fun, and I was wondering if any of you guys or gals would be down to watch it and give feedback - it's about 3 minutes long right now.

If you do this for me, I myself will carry you through the gates of Valhalla.

[Skitch]

Of course!

[Dukefrukem]

Likewise my response is of course! I think I gave some feedback on one you did in the past. Loved it.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Cool! I'll send you guys the link once I re-upload.

Any other takers?

If not, all good. I'll leave you with this Howard-Hawks-gender-swapped image of awesome.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2015/05/04/movies/video-mad-max-fury-road-how-do-we-take-the-citadel/video-mad-max-fury-road-how-do-we-take-the-citadel-videoSixteenByNine1050.jpg

[TGM]

Would you be able to post a link to the video here? If not, I'd be interested in checking it out as well.

[Neclord]

Me me

[Sven]

Hey, just post it here!

[Dead & Messed Up]

Hey, just post it here!

I will when it's done! No quite ready for prime time.

[Dead & Messed Up]

NEVERMIND, ONE MORE FIX...

[Spun Lepton]

I'll watch the video, DaMU.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I'll watch the video, DaMU.

NO.

[Spun Lepton]

Now, DaMU. NOW.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Okay, for realsies:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvbqZM7McXA

Thanks to Nec, TGM, Daniel, and Skitch!

Duke, your PM box was twitchy, I'll ask for your help on the next project...

[Spun Lepton]

That was excellent, and it made me want to see the movie again.

[Spun Lepton]

Watched it again. Definitely want to see the movie again. Now.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Watched it again. Definitely want to see the movie again. Now.

Make it so.

[Morris Schæffer]

Watched it again. Definitely want to see the movie again. Now.

Engage!

[DavidSeven]

Awesome video. I hit the replay as soon as it was over.

Love the cut from the shotgun whip to Furiosa falling on her knees.

[Scar]

NICE.

[Dukefrukem]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Dead & Messed Up again.

WTF. Can we fix this?

[Skitch]

That was excellent, and it made me want to see the movie again.

Thats what I said.


Watched it again. Definitely want to see the movie again. Now.

THAT'S WHAT I SAID!!

[Spun Lepton]

DaMU, what editing software did you use? Do you recommend it?

[Dead & Messed Up]

DaMU, what editing software did you use? Do you recommend it?

Adobe Premiere Elements 7 for editing, After Effects 7 for some of the text manipulation. They work well for where I'm at, basic cutting and graphic manipulation on an old PC.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Went to see this flick for a third time since it was at my local second-run. They only had a 3D showing (boo), but the 3D didn't give me a headache (yay).

This time, I realized how great Hardy is at silent acting in the film. It's subtle work a lot of time, but he communicates a lot with double-takes, eyebrow-raises, pauses like the one before he says, "Well, you keep on going." Or when he softly points and smiles at the old woman saying, "Kaboom." I don't think he's quite an equal to Gibson, but he also sidesteps Gibson's performance by playing the role more as a sort of Buster Keaton mime thing.

My favorite thing in the film is probably right before the final chase, when he croaks, "Look, it's going to be a hard day." It's a hilarious understatement, but it's also weirdly motivating.

Other thing: I didn't notice in previous showings that the first time the little girl puts her hand to his face, Max briefly sees the man who will shoot at him later. Precognition? Cinematic trick? I suspect an embellishment in his telling of the story - I also suspect the sandstorm wasn't really that big, but that tall-tale biblical size is what makes it so glorious. That's the kind of sandstorm you'd find in the Tanakh or the Odyssey.