Make it cool or I’ll kill you
May 13, 2015 2:05 PM   Subscribe

The Apocalyptic Cars of Mad Max: Fury Road
“Make it cool or I’ll kill you.” That’s what director George Miller told Colin Gibson, the production designer responsible for all the cars in Mad Max: Fury Road. Gibson did one better: he made every single one of them functional, because the desert doesn’t suffer mechanical fools lightly and CGI is bullshit."
Jalopnik covers How The Man Behind The Machines Of Mad Max Put A Hellscape On Wheels

"You’ve probably already seen a few trailers and assumed that Mad Max is yet another in a long string of CGI-addled action flicks. That’s where you – and I – were wrong. Nearly all the stunts in the movie were “practical,” meaning everything you see was done in real life with real humans and real cars."
posted by mcstayinskool (229 comments total) 47 users marked this as a favorite
 
cgiisbullshit is my new favorite tag.
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:17 PM on May 13, 2015 [28 favorites]


The more I hear about this movie the more I'm convinced that it's an instance of that rare breed of sequel made by people who actually understand and love what was good about the original. Only wrong note struck so far is the casual use of bullets in the trailer - weren't bullets an extremely precious resource in the previous movies?

But the cars, man. Perfect.
posted by Mars Saxman at 2:18 PM on May 13, 2015 [5 favorites]


99% fresh on 77 reviews. Jesus.

Doesn't seem to be a lot of IMAX theaters opening it (7 worldwide?), though.
posted by Ryvar at 2:22 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


weren't bullets an extremely precious resource in the previous movies?

You also kind of have to ignore how precious high-octane gasoline would be as well.
posted by Nevin at 2:22 PM on May 13, 2015 [5 favorites]


"I'm just here for the gasoline."
posted by Fizz at 2:23 PM on May 13, 2015 [2 favorites]


The more I hear about this movie the more I'm convinced that it's an instance of that rare breed of sequel made by people who actually understand and love what was good about the original.

It's made by the person who made the original. (But I guess that doesn't guarantee anything, does it, George Lucas?).

I was all ready to make fun of this movie, but by all accounts it's tremendous. It got The Dissolve's second five-star review ever (for a new release) today.
posted by mr_roboto at 2:23 PM on May 13, 2015 [6 favorites]


Agh, I read an awesome mini-review somewhere about how this remake was basically putting wild animals armed with machine guns inside cars driving through fire... it was an awesome quote and now I can't find it.
posted by Nevin at 2:24 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


It got The Dissolve's second five-star review ever

That is one awesomely-written review. Wow.

(To this day the original Mad Max is the only movie that has ever given me nightmares.)
posted by Nevin at 2:28 PM on May 13, 2015 [2 favorites]


With each passing day I am more and more stoked about this movie.
posted by zardoz at 2:29 PM on May 13, 2015 [2 favorites]


(To this day the original Mad Max is the only movie that has ever given me nightmares.)

Do not get me wrong, I do love pretty much everything about the Road Warrior, no doubt.

But.

The Toecutter and his band of unpredictable lunatics were way more unsettling than Lord Humungus and his over-the-top psycho-acid-50s-movie-Indians. No question.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 2:31 PM on May 13, 2015 [10 favorites]


Maybe it's like Waterworld and the bad guys' base is built on a derelict supertanker full of ammunition.
posted by ckape at 2:31 PM on May 13, 2015 [3 favorites]


Seeing him over the past year in The Drop, Peaky Blinders and the improbably sublime Locke I became a big fan of Tom Hardy and was already pretty psyched to see this film... now it's like night before Christmas levels of gleeful anticipation. Squeeee!
posted by Flashman at 2:33 PM on May 13, 2015


The Toecutter and his band of unpredictable lunatics...

Hugh Keays-Byrne, who played the Toecutter, is playing the primary antagonist in the new movie.
posted by mr_roboto at 2:35 PM on May 13, 2015 [5 favorites]




Well, there's already one group of people not happy with the film: MRAs are calling for a boycott of the movie on the grounds that it is "too feminist".

(Yes, I know what I wrote. No, I am neither on hallucinogens nor having a stroke.)
posted by NoxAeternum at 2:40 PM on May 13, 2015 [7 favorites]


Hugh Keays-Byrne, who played the Toecutter, is playing the primary antagonist in the new movie.

Oh, my, that's amazing. From everything I have seen, however, the movie takes its cues from the bombast of RW, not the low-key creepiness of MM, but that's still pretty cool.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 2:42 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


It seems to combine the bombast with the creepiness if you ask me.
posted by Nevin at 2:44 PM on May 13, 2015


Incredibly Peeved Men’s Rights Activists Call for Boycott of Mad Max, Are Unintentionally Hilarious

My reaction to said incredibly peeved Men's Rights Activists
posted by louche mustachio at 2:44 PM on May 13, 2015 [15 favorites]


Finally, we will be able to just get beyond Thunderdome.

I had immediately decided to see this when I heard that it made MRAs cry. I'm glad to know that it should be a great ride.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:44 PM on May 13, 2015 [5 favorites]


also, Tom Hardy shouting in the trailer punches buttons I really shouldn't have
posted by Countess Elena at 2:47 PM on May 13, 2015 [3 favorites]


This movie looks cool, but the teal and orange thing really has to stop like three years ago.
posted by theodolite at 2:47 PM on May 13, 2015 [3 favorites]


I hope the new villain has a Bubba Zanetti. I've always thought old BZ was the real unsung villain of the first film.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 2:48 PM on May 13, 2015 [4 favorites]


Too feminist and apparently, "a piece of American culture ruined and rewritten."
posted by Flashman at 2:52 PM on May 13, 2015


Maybe it's like Waterworld and the bad guys' base is built on a derelict supertanker full of ammunition terrible acting.

Fixed.
posted by Fizz at 2:54 PM on May 13, 2015 [3 favorites]


Too feminist and apparently, "a piece of American culture ruined and rewritten."

...which is even more absurd, because it's an Australian film series.

...brain not found. Please try again later.
posted by NoxAeternum at 2:54 PM on May 13, 2015 [23 favorites]


From the article Windingo linked to:

"Fire Tornadoes! Explosions! Mis-sandry! "

If anyone needs a tongue-in-cheek metafilter user name. Enjoy.
posted by Fizz at 2:55 PM on May 13, 2015 [2 favorites]


So the movie has awesome vehicle effects and stunts, relies heavily on practical FX, pisses off MRAs, and has a 99% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes? My god, what can't this film excel at?
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:57 PM on May 13, 2015 [44 favorites]


Vice weighs in. (Rapturously.)
posted by fifthrider at 2:58 PM on May 13, 2015 [2 favorites]


I was impressed by the trailer for this, but knowing little else about the movie, assumed that it was just a good trailer for what would be a hot mess of a movie. I mean, I like the older Mad Max movies but Beyond Thunderdome is not something I watch because I think it's "good."

Seeing incredibly positive advance reviews roll in from places that I normally associate with not understanding (or even wanting to understand) genre movies was... Surprising, to say the least. Everything after that's only made me more excited to see this.
posted by sparkletone at 3:00 PM on May 13, 2015


I'm so excitedddddd
posted by easter queen at 3:00 PM on May 13, 2015




Also, today I learned that the director of Mad Max and sequels .... Also directed the Babe sequel and the freaking Happy Feet movies.
posted by sparkletone at 3:01 PM on May 13, 2015 [6 favorites]


Also, apparently there's an American accents dub of Mad Max?!?

(Between the MRA stuff and the great reviews, I'm super excited about this movie now...)
posted by kmz at 3:07 PM on May 13, 2015


Incredibly Peeved Men’s Rights Activists Call for Boycott of Mad Max

I was already planning to see this, but now it's more like a religious duty.
posted by bonehead at 3:07 PM on May 13, 2015 [22 favorites]


why isn't tom hardy my vampire bride yet, this important question has not been answered by this fpp and i would like to speak with the manager.
posted by poffin boffin at 3:09 PM on May 13, 2015 [11 favorites]


Women have never had it easy in the wasteland. The threat of violence and sexual violation hangs over them constantly

Contrary to the usually reliable MRAs, this may not be the most feminist movie ever.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 3:10 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


Also, apparently there's an American accents dub of Mad Max?!?

Of the top of my head I think that was how it was originally released on video in the UK and the proper Oz version didn't appear until it was shown as part of the Moviedrome season
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:10 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


Contrary to the usually reliable MRAs, this may not be the most feminist movie ever.

On the other hand, if you're going to talk about a problem, you kinda have to emphasize the problem. Or is The Handmaid's Tale off the feminist reading list?
posted by fifthrider at 3:14 PM on May 13, 2015 [13 favorites]


Contrary to the usually reliable MRAs, this may not be the most feminist movie ever.


Did you keep reading?
posted by kenko at 3:16 PM on May 13, 2015


99% fresh on 77 reviews. Jesus.

I assume the one negative review is actually written by Lord Humungous holding a grudge.
posted by Aznable at 3:17 PM on May 13, 2015 [16 favorites]


Also directed the Babe sequel

yep. George Miller also made the first Babe movie. He was vegan at the time. Don't know if he still is.
posted by sineater at 3:18 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


The Toecutter and his band of unpredictable lunatics were way more unsettling than Lord Humungus and his over-the-top psycho-acid-50s-movie-Indians. No question.

You mean the Toecutter and his band of evil hippies? MM is leather fetish homo cops vs. evil hippies... which is an unsettling match-up and a really weird take on the 60s.
posted by ennui.bz at 3:19 PM on May 13, 2015 [6 favorites]


The MRA Movie Weekly reviewer gave it a Rotten Tomato.
posted by Nevin at 3:19 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


yep. George Miller also made the first Babe movie.

Wrote and produced it, apparently (I checked). Strangely, the person who directed it hasn't really directed much before or since.
posted by sparkletone at 3:20 PM on May 13, 2015


One of Miller’s boldest choices is to put Max in the passenger seat of the narrative, letting him ride shotgun with a metal-armed Charlize Theron, in what may be the best action heroine performance since Sigourney Weaver duked it out with a queen alien.

From the AV Review. Dammit, I said I would never get excited about a movie again.
posted by angrycat at 3:22 PM on May 13, 2015 [6 favorites]


I'm not one for conspiracy theories but I find it highly suspicious just how well 'Ace of Spades' works with all the Fury Road trailers
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:22 PM on May 13, 2015 [2 favorites]


I'm very angry at my younger co-worker. I just mentioned my excitement for this film and she responded: "That's the one with Vin Diesel, right?"

*rage*
posted by Fizz at 3:27 PM on May 13, 2015 [4 favorites]


I’m pretty sure I spotted quite a bit of CGI, in the trailer, which sort of put me off, at first. But after having a closer look at the props, I’m getting excited…I might go to the movies for the first time, in several years...

It’s even playing at a drive-in near me...
posted by littlejohnnyjewel at 3:29 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


Wow, those reviews. I'm pretty burnt on action movies but now I'm excited for this.
posted by octothorpe at 3:29 PM on May 13, 2015


Seriously, MRA's. How can you not love this?
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 3:31 PM on May 13, 2015 [3 favorites]




I wasn't planning on seeing this movie. Then I had the following chat conversation with my spouse earlier today:

SPOUSE: apparently the new mad max movie is quite good

KYRADEMON: not surprising
they weren't bad movies, in general

SPOUSE: and mra types are upset about it
http://www.themarysue.com/mra-to-the-max/

KYRADEMON: ?

SPOUSE: I... don't know

KYRADEMON: what the hell

SPOUSE: I think they are upset that women weren't damsels in distress?
http://wehuntedthemammoth.com/2015/05/12/furious-about-furiosa-misogynists-are-losing-it-over-charlize-therons-starring-role-in-mad-max-fury-road/#more-16491

KYRADEMON: ... this is insane

SPOUSE: well, yes

KYRADEMON: I sort of want to see the movie now
A movie I literally had zero interest in before this

SPOUSE: well, it's also getting excellent reviews on rotten tomatoes

KYRADEMON: The Dissolve gives it five stars!
The Dissolve hardly gives ANYTHING five stars!

SPOUSE: this is the review site you like?

KYRADEMON: yes
well, I'm up for seeing it
posted by kyrademon at 3:36 PM on May 13, 2015 [14 favorites]


Max still has his V8 Interceptor? So that means the story takes place before Road Warrior?
posted by cazoo at 3:39 PM on May 13, 2015


It's actually a sequel to Interstellar.
posted by Nevin at 3:42 PM on May 13, 2015 [18 favorites]


I assume the one negative review is actually written by Lord Humungous holding a grudge.

"Do not go into the theater. Just walk away. Just...walk...away."
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 3:42 PM on May 13, 2015 [8 favorites]


The only other first run movie The Dissolve has ever given five stars was Her. I've already got my tickets for a preview tomorrow night. I hope I don't stroke out from excitement first.
posted by vibrotronica at 3:50 PM on May 13, 2015


The MRA calling for a boycott thing is all over my Facebook and twitter right now and it's rightly being mocked and laughed at.

Good job MRA bros! According to my brief count of my personal comments there are at least 9 people who hadn't considered seeing the movie who are now planning on seeing itfor various reasons relating to the freak out.

I would have gone to see it regardless but the freakout is like getting extra whip cream and hot fudge on an already delicious sundae without having to ask or pay for it.
posted by Jalliah at 3:58 PM on May 13, 2015 [4 favorites]


Max still has his V8 Interceptor? So that means the story takes place before Road Warrior?

It's a reboot. There's an explicit thermonuclear war part of the end of civilization now.

From Tom Hardy:

"It’s a relaunch and revisit to the world. An entire restructuring. That’s not to say that it’s not picking up or leaving off from the Mad Max you know already, but it’s a nice re-take on the entire world using the same character, depositing him in the same world but bringing him up to date by 30 years."
posted by lumpenprole at 4:01 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]




>>Too feminist and apparently, "a piece of American culture ruined and rewritten."

>...which is even more absurd, because it's an Australian film series

[sigh]
posted by Flashman at 4:04 PM on May 13, 2015


Whoa check out the behind-the-scenes footage of the Peacemaker ... It can take a lot to get me into a cinema these days, but I'm going to see this.
posted by carter at 4:07 PM on May 13, 2015 [5 favorites]




>>Seeing him over the past year in The Drop, Peaky Blinders and the improbably sublime Locke I became a big fan of Tom Hardy and was already pretty psyched to see this film...

For a masterful piece of Tom Hardy (and to see all his pieces), have a gander at Bronson. Warnings for: prison violence, mental issues presented in pop fashion, nudity. And make sure to watch a younger Hardy talk about getting to know Bronson.
posted by cult_url_bias at 4:50 PM on May 13, 2015 [3 favorites]


It's a shame the Clarkson/May/Hamster Top Gear has gone. I'd pay good, hard cash to see those three dropped into the middle of the MM:FR timeline.
posted by Devonian at 4:56 PM on May 13, 2015 [3 favorites]


The world's most popular Australian automotive DIY comedy/reality YouTube TV show (Mighty Car Mods) has been doing a series on the construction of a Mad-Max-like vehicle, which is pretty entertaining if you like that sort of thing.
posted by Western Infidels at 5:10 PM on May 13, 2015


Charlize Theron is the shit. Easily one of my top five favorite actors. I've already made plans to see this with friends, with a date, and with my dad.

Or to paraphrase Maddox, for every MRA pencildick who boycotts this movie, I will watch it THREE times.
posted by echocollate at 5:25 PM on May 13, 2015 [2 favorites]


In 2008 Michael Bay directed "Mad Max: Furry Road" starring a bunch of koala bears with flame throwers driving dune buggies in the Australian outback. I'm fairly certain this new movie will out-gross it at the box office.
posted by autopilot at 5:32 PM on May 13, 2015 [2 favorites]


And also some general behind-the-scenes snippets. It's really cool to see everyone working with these crazy vehicles, instead of flapping their hands in front of a green screen.
posted by carter at 5:42 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


I was a little young to see the originals at the cinema, but I used to hoon around with a couple of slightly older friends, and they had memorised the first two films. As in they could recite every line of dialogue, every orchestral cue, every sound effect. I'd sit in the back of the car and we'd drive around the city and the outer suburbs of Sydney, and they'd do both movies. So I experiences the films as some kind of oral tradition before I actually viewed them.

I saw Mad Max 2 first, in the school hall one afternoon at the end of term. The teacher covered the projector with his hand during the (fleeting) nude scenes. It was insane. Several hundred schoolboys going nuts for the carnage.

We saw Beyond Thunderdome during a school trip to Canberra. It was just so disappointing. So... Disney-fied, so de-fanged. So very, very, lame.

So, I've been waiting 30 years to see this movie. I am practically levitating with excitement.
posted by misterbee at 5:44 PM on May 13, 2015 [9 favorites]


Don't you talk about Beyond Thunderdome like that, young man, or you'll be asphyxiating in pig shit before you know it. It has the good taste to rip off Riddley Walker!
posted by kenko at 5:45 PM on May 13, 2015 [6 favorites]


Yeah, Thunderdome Is a strange fit in the series, and is way different tonally, but I genuinely like it. Charmingly flawed.

I am really excited for this.
posted by dirtdirt at 5:49 PM on May 13, 2015


I get the impression Gen-Ys have taken to Thunderdome. Is it the 80s kitsch factor (ie Tina Turner)? I dunno. To the 15-year old me it seemed like a genuine betrayal. (I was that kind of teenager)
posted by misterbee at 5:53 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


I haven't seen Mad Max yet, but I went to the vehicle showcase at the Sydney Opera House and saw those beasts in person, complete with a guy playing a flamethrower guitar. They gave us a little handout with descriptions of all the cars in this cool poetic style language, which reminded me so much of Apocalypse World, and extras in wasteland costumes milled around.
Apparently one of the cars, Elvis, was bought from a car mod guy.

It did apparently block traffic for a few hours.

The first Mad Max is so different from what came after - I don't think it's really post-apoc at all, just Australian bogan chic. The other movies capture this weird sun-drenched Aussie STRANGENESS, and it's fun to watch it filter through other media. Like... 'Imperator Furiosa' could be a member of Caesar's Legion.

The most faithful Mad Max game is the iD flop RAGE though, just for the razor boomerang.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 5:56 PM on May 13, 2015 [4 favorites]


You mean the Toecutter and his band of evil hippies? MM is leather fetish homo cops vs. evil hippies... which is an unsettling match-up and a really weird take on the 60s.

Check out Stone, an Ozsploitation classic where a straight-laced cop goes undercover with hippie motorcyclists.
The thread of road violence is still present in Australia - our biggest organized crime gangs are Sons of Anarchy style 'bikies'.
I do hope Mel Gibson shows up in this as an unhinged wasteland prophet/nutcase.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 6:01 PM on May 13, 2015


I do hope Mel Gibson shows up in this as an unhinged wasteland prophet/nutcase.

He does not, though the idea has some appeal. George Miller thought a Gibson cameo would take viewers out of the moment, according to an interview I read the other day.
posted by misterbee at 6:04 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


Shh, you had me at 'MRA boycott'.
posted by um at 6:10 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


I wouldn't mind if Bruce Spence had a cameo.
posted by cazoo at 6:18 PM on May 13, 2015 [5 favorites]


Mad Max was featured on the sidepods of the Lotus F1 Car last race. As part of the promotion they also created a Lotus F1 Mad Max Hybrid, sadly not as cool as the cars in the main post but still fun.
posted by Harpocrates at 6:30 PM on May 13, 2015


According to my brief count of my personal comments there are at least 9 people who hadn't considered seeing the movie who are now planning on seeing itfor various reasons relating to the freak out.

Same here. My attitude towards the movie changed over the course of reading my Twitter feed; "ugh, christ, yet another fast cars action movie that shamelessly mines the past and ... holy shit WHAT. Oh ho ho my god I have to see this movie."
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 6:32 PM on May 13, 2015 [6 favorites]


Not sure what all this hype about an "MRA boycott" is about. Just seems like manufactured outrage meant to gain adviews to me. Every single link about it only mentions one person - Aaron Clarey. One person not liking a film is not news. And all the talk about a so-called "MRA boycott" just seems like clickbait tactics to me, especially with everyone linking back to one single source.
posted by enamon at 6:48 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


I know someone who knows the Toecutter and I made a highly undignified high-pitched noise when I found that out.

This movie looks like it could make my Apoc-and-Roll dreams come true.
posted by nfalkner at 6:59 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


I know someone who knows the Toecutter and I made a highly undignified high-pitched noise when I found that out.

I may have met the Toecutter. The real one, not the weird musician, who I did meet. Or the Feral Kid. Or Bruce Spence? Probably the Feral Kid.
I definitely met Brian Trenchard-Smith though.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 7:22 PM on May 13, 2015


You mean the Toecutter and his band of evil hippies? MM is leather fetish homo cops vs. evil hippies... which is an unsettling match-up and a really weird take on the 60s.

There is at least one full-tongue biker-on-biker kissing scene (borrowed, I think, from a set of photos of Hells Angels), just to keep the fetish elements interesting.

The more I see how they didn't overuse CGI, the more interested I am in this movie.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:49 PM on May 13, 2015 [2 favorites]


This movie looks cool, but the teal and orange thing really has to stop like three years ago.


I don't know- in this case, I think the Western Desert is pretty much orange and teal most of the time.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:55 PM on May 13, 2015 [8 favorites]


Also, apparently there's an American accents dub of Mad Max?!?

I do so affirm.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:01 PM on May 13, 2015


I'm dedicated to seeing this Friday. Very, very excited for it.
posted by codacorolla at 8:08 PM on May 13, 2015


Aznable: " I assume the one negative review is actually written by Lord Humungous holding a grudge."

It's the Daily Mirror, so Rothermere, not Humungous, which is slightly worse.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 8:11 PM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


I hope the movie is good, but i'm currently laughing my ass off at the fact that one of the MRA loons from "Return of Kings" is suddenly having his ideas dragged into the spotlight. I discovered that site a few months ago, and have read it with an equal mixture of disdain/pity/laughter. Obviously, 80% of the writing there is your typical "how to improve your game to score with hot chicks" fodder. But the rest of it, oh, the rest of it is some of the strangest whining you've ever heard. It's not just Charlize Theron that's got their jimmies rustled, they have a longstanding grudge against ANY modern movie that features women who fight, are "badass," have short hair, etc. It's stuff that you or I would never even notice -- Gina Carrano and Michelle Rodriguez fighting alongside the Rock and Vin Diesel, Eowyn and Tauriel in LOTR, Black Widow in the Marvel Universe -- the very sight of a woman handling the action duties in a movie simply offends them. Many on the site claim they can no longer stand new movies in general, and instead fetishize the male stars of yesteryear, the John Waynes and Clark Gables, and remark how they "move slowly, take up space, act dominant" and generally put women in their place.

Return of Kings. Check it out sometime, if you want to know what it's like to laugh and vomit simultaneously.
posted by ELF Radio at 8:17 PM on May 13, 2015 [3 favorites]


if you want to know what it's like to laugh and vomit simultaneously.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmnope, no thanks.
posted by kenko at 9:07 PM on May 13, 2015 [6 favorites]


The first Mad Max is so different from what came after - I don't think it's really post-apoc at all

It's clearly a world in decline. The end is coming, but probably in that "not with a bang, but with a whimper" way.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 9:12 PM on May 13, 2015


Nope, that's literally just Australia. Even an hour outside of the city in the modern day small towns are deserted after 8 on Saturday night. There's long stretches of highway with NOTHING, and people out in the bush still use landlines because there's no cell reception. And that's now, staying close to major cities. Can you imagine it in the bush 40 years ago? Watch Wake In Fright and tell me that Mad Max was sci-fi.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 9:20 PM on May 13, 2015 [9 favorites]


In some ways, it makes Mad Max scarier than MM2/Thunderdome...

I mean, nobody in Mad Max ever mentions a global apocalypse or even gas running out. There are still cops and lawyers and restaurants and highly technological hospitals and little ice cream stands by the seaside. But at the same time, everything is falling apart, like people can't be bothered to not let it fall apart in a fit of nihilist why-not.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:21 PM on May 13, 2015 [8 favorites]


For some reason Charlemagne in Sweatpants' comment is making me think of Gerald Murnane, a person who is otherwise probably not very closely associated with Mad Max.
posted by kenko at 9:34 PM on May 13, 2015 [2 favorites]


Yeah but that's probably what it would be like. Even in the middle of societal collapse you'll be expected to come up with rent money. And with what's left over you'll buy a hamburger with egg and beetroot.
posted by um at 9:38 PM on May 13, 2015 [7 favorites]


Kenko, I checked out his wiki and it sounds very Mad Max: The novel depicts an abstracted Australia, akin to something out of mythology or fable.

The last Mad Max FPP was about Ballard, and a slow collapse is very Ballardian. But this is a country where a common decoration in the bush is a Ned Kelly mailbox, a bit of metal folk-art that commemorates an outlaw who built his own armor. I can't find the source, but I really think Mad Max was meant to be set in the present day. But outside Australia, that present day existence looks strange and terrifying.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 9:44 PM on May 13, 2015


Watch Wake In Fright and tell me that Mad Max was sci-fi.

I made a post about that under a different username... Unfortunately the movie is long gone from YouTube now.

Anyway, I thought Mad Max was really just a superb riff on the Grindhouse genre?
posted by Nevin at 9:47 PM on May 13, 2015


Ok, I just saw it. Because it's tomorrow here in Australia, and because I could.














It was everything you hope it will be.
posted by nonspecialist at 10:34 PM on May 13, 2015 [21 favorites]


Putting stuntpersons at risk of spinal injury to film a car gag is bullshit.

CG is the shit.
posted by 0rison at 12:04 AM on May 14, 2015


Miller's apparently very careful about that, as the initial inspiration for Mad Max was working in Accident & Emergency and treating the victims of car accidents. I'm impressed by an action movie which mostly uses CGI for the lead character's left arm. (Although obviously they're using an awful lot in compositing, aren't they?) These days physical effects are a bit like recording your album on tape and issuing it on vinyl,

I kind of wish Bruce Spence was in it, though. For some reasons it makes me happy to see him turn up in things.
posted by Grangousier at 12:46 AM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


This movie was amazing and everyone should see it immediately.
posted by supercrayon at 4:31 AM on May 14, 2015 [3 favorites]


Holy fuck. This movie was amazing. It's usually faint praise to say a movie is better than its rip-offs, but Fury Road beats Fallout (barely, but still) and Borderlands in mythopoetic mayhem.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 4:42 AM on May 14, 2015 [3 favorites]


And iOTA, who I saw do a great Hedwig & the Angry a Inch, plays a flamethrower guitar.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 4:55 AM on May 14, 2015


Mad Max was featured on the sidepods of the Lotus F1 Car last race.

Too bad Pastor Maldonado doesn't drive in the movie, too.
posted by ambient2 at 4:56 AM on May 14, 2015 [2 favorites]


Nope, that's literally just Australia.

Australia has marauding biker gangs that terrorize small towns with impunity, has trouble keeping cops on the force, and is in danger of being able to field powerful vehicles for them? Huh.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 5:09 AM on May 14, 2015 [2 favorites]


Fury Road beats Fallout

Wait wait wait...the originals, Fallout 3, or New Vegas? This is important for Reasons.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 5:10 AM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


I'm super stoked!

People into this aesthetic might want to try playing Tales From The Borderlands, which is the best episodic Telltale game since the first season of Walking Dead.
posted by painquale at 5:30 AM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]




(Here's a trailer for Tales From The Borderlands, btw.)
posted by painquale at 6:31 AM on May 14, 2015


Australia has marauding biker gangs that terrorize small towns with impunity, has trouble keeping cops on the force, and is in danger of being able to field powerful vehicles for them? Huh.

Yes, we still do. If there's organized violence that makes the news, it's usually caused by bikie gangs.

There's stuff in the new movie too - a little detail that I don't want to spoil - that seems outlandish but is actually a problem in isolated communities.

On the walk home from the theatre I passed a group making hideous noise with 10 guitars, avoided a modified car speeding through an intersection at twice the speed limit, and passed a giant spiky Cars That Ate Paris style sculpture.

As for Fallout, it's almost better than New Vegas but not quite. Isn't Imperator a Roman title? It's very Caeser's Legion.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 6:33 AM on May 14, 2015


Fourteen-year-old me from 1982 is grabbing me by the throat right now and dragging me to the nearest cinema to watch this on the big, big screen. The Wired review is yet another reason:

Are you looking for the Citizen Kane of cars-that-go-boom movies? Fury Road is for you. But would you rather see a shrewd meditation on the psychology of despotism and how the disenfranchised can ignore other subjugated people when they’re just trying to survive? Fury Road is still for you.
posted by rory at 7:12 AM on May 14, 2015 [4 favorites]




Yes, we still do.

Ok, fine, you're right, Australia is clearly a lawless wasteland where a man's life is worth less than a gallon of gasoline, and the police are powerless to stop the never-ending violence.

*eyeroll*
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 7:41 AM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


Imagine if Mad Max had been set in Australia, but in Canada or New Zealand instead?
posted by Nevin at 7:56 AM on May 14, 2015


No need to imagine the New Zealand version.
posted by rory at 8:04 AM on May 14, 2015 [2 favorites]


Imagine if Mad Max had been set in Australia, but in Canada

Well, there is Bon Cop, Bad Cop. But that isn't about leather fetish cops and biker gangs as society falls apart, just about cops and an out of control National Hockey League. So maybe kinda similar?

Then there's Last Night, but it's a bit more of a comedy.

So, yeah, I think Mad Max in Canada would probably be known more as Annoyed Max and might have a spot on Canada's Worst Driver and get in trouble for his overly aggressive driving techniques and failure to apologize.

The big thing is, though, when Lord Humongous shows up, we're good on the hockey mask front.
posted by nubs at 10:33 AM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


Actually a Hell's Angels affiliate has just set up shop in a suburb nearby. Nasty stuff.
posted by Nevin at 10:51 AM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


Isn't Imperator a Roman title? It's very Caeser's Legion.

Strictly speaking, it should be Imperatrix Furiosa, that being the feminine form. But this is one of many, many reasons why screenwriters ignore classicists.
posted by Countess Elena at 11:05 AM on May 14, 2015 [8 favorites]


Her name is pretty dumb. I mean, yes, you had Lord Humungus, but he was obviously a self-aggrandizing bad guy. That is the kind of name you would expect from a Warrior of the Wasteland (not to mention an Ayatollah of Rock-and-Rolla). I guess if she turns out to be a bad "guy" I will swallow this criticism with thanks, but that is really not the impression I have been getting from the (admittedly tiny) amount of advertising I have been exposed to.

Let's not even start on "Immorten" (although I guess he could just be a black metal fan).
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 1:28 PM on May 14, 2015


Strictly speaking, it should be Imperatrix Furiosa, that being the feminine form. But this is one of many, many reasons why screenwriters ignore classicists.

The thing is, Miller got an MD in the late 60s, so his Latin is probably not half-bad. I'm thinking its an intentional misgendering...
posted by mr_roboto at 2:52 PM on May 14, 2015 [5 favorites]


I'm reminded of Fallout: New Vegas, where Caeser's Legion pronounced Caeser with a hard K, but the rest of the wasteland factions didn't. Because Caeser's Legion was ruled by a facist classist.
The names are part of the great mythic feel of the movie! Everything has some strange resonance.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 3:23 PM on May 14, 2015


So resident nearly 11 year old saw the cinema preview for this and wants to see it.

The level of violence and cruelty depicted in the trailer is pretty representative of what's in the movie. There's some blood, but it's mostly used in a suggestive manner. Roughly on par with the original Mad Max in my opinion.
posted by um at 4:47 PM on May 14, 2015


Also 'Furiosa' was her childhood name. 'Imperator' was the title she was given by the head bad guy, so if it's a stupid title it's because the bad guys are stupid.
posted by um at 4:54 PM on May 14, 2015


But would it be suitable for a kid who could handle stuff like Matrix and Star Wars and the like, or are the themes and violence way beyond that?

Where I am, they wouldn't let him in.

(Current ratings: Australia:MA15+ / Canada:14A / Germany:16 / Hong Kong:IIB / Ireland:15A / Japan:R15+ / Netherlands:16 / New Zealand:R16 / Norway:15 / Philippines:R-16 / Portugal:M/16 / Singapore:NC16 / South Korea:15 / Sweden:15 / Switzerland:16 / UK:15 / USA:R)

I'd watch it myself before letting my 11 year old see it (chances are you will want to see it again yourself, so that shouldn't be a problem :-)
posted by effbot at 5:02 PM on May 14, 2015


Also 'Furiosa' was her childhood name.

Johnny Humungus.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 5:54 PM on May 14, 2015 [4 favorites]


Little known fact: Lord Humungus was originally Steve Widdle. However when he was elevated to the peerage he was granted title to County Humungus and, well, the rest is history.
posted by um at 6:06 PM on May 14, 2015 [13 favorites]


(To be honest, I find the notion that any character in this movie would care the slightest about proper Latin grammar pretty entertaining. What's next, complaining that the war boys didn't quite understand Norse mythology?)
posted by effbot at 6:25 PM on May 14, 2015 [4 favorites]


Well it's all of a piece isn't it? Any society that neglects Latin is obviously circling the drain.
posted by um at 6:28 PM on May 14, 2015 [3 favorites]




I agree with what's been said: it was amazing. There's so much to love about it, but one thing that really stood out WRT the FPP was not only the cars, but all of the production design. Each grimy bit of scrounged gear felt like it had a place, and was precious to a society that's long since picked over even the most measly of trash.
posted by codacorolla at 7:58 PM on May 14, 2015 [6 favorites]


It's amazeballs.
posted by vibrotronica at 8:59 PM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


I just watched The Road Warrior again and you know what, holds up pretty well.
posted by kenko at 9:28 PM on May 14, 2015 [6 favorites]


I'm not sure how this movie could possibly have been better than the hype that's been hovering around it the last few weeks, but oh good god was it ever.

It is everything you wanted it to be and a damn sight more at that.
posted by hototogisu at 2:24 AM on May 15, 2015 [3 favorites]


I'm really surprised at the reviews. A.O. Scott, Turan, lots of the real top drawer guys give it maxed out scores. Very rare. Very intriguing.
posted by Trochanter at 7:38 AM on May 15, 2015


The SF Chronicle guy gave it a baffling pan.
posted by kenko at 9:13 AM on May 15, 2015


Someone's always got to be the one to keep a film from getting a 100% score on RT.
posted by octothorpe at 10:19 AM on May 15, 2015


I'm going to wait a few weeks and see how it plays out over the first few weeks. Initial plot descriptions sounded like big caution signs until I read that Eve Eisner was a consultant for the writing and performance of those elements. I also will throw in a plug for Ex Machina, in which, the AI fembot becomes a vehicle for criticizing Red Pill and Nice Guytm conceits.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 11:14 AM on May 15, 2015


i would like to thank the MRAs for throwing a snit, without which i would not have bothered to see this so soon and thus denying myself the pleasure of having this revelation injected straight into my eyeballs.

this movie was everything, and more.
posted by cendawanita at 11:20 AM on May 15, 2015 [1 favorite]




The SF Chronicle guy gave it a baffling pan.

Somebody gave us one of those as a wedding gift. We still haven't baffled anything with it.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:55 PM on May 15, 2015 [21 favorites]


I took the afternoon off and went to a matinee. It was absolutely incredible.
posted by thivaia at 1:01 PM on May 15, 2015


Breaking down the chaos of a Mad Max car chase by Russell Brandom for The Verge. Was a deleted post by joseph conrad is fully awesome

(full disclosure - I know Russell, and he is a cool guy!)
posted by rosswald at 1:07 PM on May 15, 2015 [2 favorites]


this film was really something. i want to watch it again right now and i just saw it.
posted by kbanas at 7:56 PM on May 15, 2015 [2 favorites]


Saw it tonight and am completely out-of-my-mind in love with it. I started to calm down a little, but then I read that the old ladies did their own stunts and started yelling again.
posted by sparkletone at 2:53 AM on May 16, 2015 [3 favorites]


I haven't gone to a movie on opening weekend for years. Haven't been to a movie in the theatre for over a year.

My tickets are bought and I leave in 15mins for the hour and a half drive to get me there.

I thought I could wait til next weekend and last night thought I could wait to tomorrow but no.

I had a glorious convo about it at my nerdy game night. Someone brought it up and I thought that it was my duty to warn the guys that it might destroy there masculine identity with it's sneaky feminist agenda. They were all wha? I told them about the MRA stuff and they laughed there asses off. One even said "Let me guess Furiosa is a wholly written, rounded character who isn't just there for boners? Cry me a river." I love my friends everyone wants to see it even more now because it's not only Mad Max action craziness but has some substance.

So yep...leaving now! Woo
posted by Jalliah at 7:21 AM on May 16, 2015


I went to see this last night.

1. It is pretty darn good as an apocalyptic desert car chase movie. There is a lot of car chase, so if you're not into that sort of thing, this may not be the movie for you.

2. It has a badass female lead. Who is badass. Even her name is badass. Importantly, her badassness is not in service of the Dude's quest or to impress the Dude or really, anything to do with the Dude. Her badassery would exist fully-formed and functional without the Dude even being in the movie. (I feel like the Dude is in the movie because that way people will go to see it. "Post Apocalyptic Car Chase Movie Kinda Like Mad Max But Without Him" will not put as many asses in seats as "Mad Max Fury Road.")

3. It has Motorcycle Grandmas and they are also badass, with guns, unapologetically wrinkled like old ladies in desert climates might reasonably be expected to be.

4. Multiple times, this movie impressed me with things I did not think were going to happen vis a vis the breeders. Also, while there is not a huge amount of dialogue in this movie, there is character development shown in the actions of the characters. So yay.

5. This movie is very, very orange and blue, the colors of blockbuster. Partly this is due to the sand and sky. I do not hold this against it.

6. There are a number of highly effective visuals. Thumbs up for visuals filmed by people who glorify in the aesthetic of violence. Also, I am awarding an A+ for climactic vehicle wreckage. Also, explosions were largely beautiful.

7. I loved the metronome pole boys. Loved them. So pendulum-y, so inevitable, what a great way to board opposing vehicles. Seriously, this was a fantastic thing. Whoever thought of it should get an award of some kind.

8. I loved the monochromatic war boys as a species.

9. Let me reiterate that Furiosa is not there to be the piece of the plot. At all. Nobody's piece, there. This is not that kind of movie and I'm damn glad it wasn't because that totally would have upset me a lot.

10. I really liked the soundtrack because it was Damn Good Apocalyptic Car Chase Music. (I would not have guessed that this was a music genre, but having seen the movie, I feel like it is and the movie contains primo examples thereof.)
posted by which_chick at 8:42 AM on May 16, 2015 [7 favorites]


My butt is now in the theatre seat. Waiting. I'm taken back to my childhood. Time is going so slow..
posted by Jalliah at 9:27 AM on May 16, 2015 [1 favorite]


Charlize Theron on Mad Max: ‘We live in a very toxic world’ - The Guardian, Catherine Shoard (short piece).
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 11:44 AM on May 16, 2015


Just stumbled upon a nice long article about the production from Variety (it doesn't really have any story spoilers, but is best read after watching the film, I think).
posted by effbot at 11:53 AM on May 16, 2015


It's getting killed at the box office by Pitch Perfect 2.
posted by octothorpe at 12:06 PM on May 16, 2015


The only question i have when i'm going to see, because it was great. Everyone just kills it.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:29 PM on May 16, 2015


It's getting killed at the box office by Pitch Perfect 2.

Well, except for chaperones, there's probably close to zero audience overlap; as Variety puts it in the original article: "a nearly-perfect counter-programming play."

(Also, I thought people had stopped staring at US numbers for action movies years ago?)
posted by effbot at 12:36 PM on May 16, 2015


It's getting killed at the box office by Pitch Perfect 2.

Based on all we're seeing, it should have legs, though. Think about that for a minute. A movie that actually carries itself. That doesn't just ride the marketing for three weeks.

Again, shaping up to be a rare bird.
posted by Trochanter at 12:45 PM on May 16, 2015


Caught the 11:00am matinee at my local multiplex. Theater was 3/4ths empty, so I snagged a perfectly centered seat with no-one in front of me. Easily the best thing I've seen at a commercial theater in years. Also the loudest - bring earplugs!
posted by fifthrider at 1:06 PM on May 16, 2015 [1 favorite]


I'll go if this is in it.
posted by George_Spiggott at 1:50 PM on May 16, 2015


I just want to go hug and thank everyone who helped make this movie. I stayed during the credits and read as many names as possible. As many have said it is really good. It can work on so many levels and visually it's just stunning.

I can't express how refreshing the whole thing felt. Never thought I'd say that about a souped up action movie.
posted by Jalliah at 2:11 PM on May 16, 2015 [2 favorites]


I'm just back from watching the movie. I think I still have to process it, but holy shit.
posted by sukeban at 2:15 PM on May 16, 2015 [1 favorite]


41 million dollars on opening weekend is pretty decent regardless. Doing so against a Marvel Franchise film and Pitch Perfect 2 is even better. I would also predict a favorable foreign gross, and better than average returns over its next weekend.
posted by codacorolla at 4:19 PM on May 16, 2015


Sitting in the theater waiting for the 30 minutes of trailers to start.
posted by octothorpe at 5:29 PM on May 16, 2015


My own thoughts on the film:
*There's something enormously satisfying about watching a machine being destroyed. Like, really annihilated.
*The look of the war boys was great. In Immortan Joe's society they are disposable kill-bots, made to be broken. But you end up feeling sorry for them - they're all so young. The chroming was a beautiful touch. It's a small gesture that reminds you that the war boys have an interior life and spirituality.
*It's Furiosa's plot: Max is literally dragged into it. There's a refreshing lack of romantic subplot. The warmest thing Furiosa ever says about Max is that he's 'reliable'.
* Max barely talks. He's muzzled for part of the movie, but even when the gag comes off, he seems unused to communication with other humans. You end up being a little surprised every time he says something. It's like "oh right I forgot you were a person and not just a really clever and agile dog".
posted by um at 5:40 PM on May 16, 2015 [8 favorites]


Loved it! Tried to see it last night, but all showings were sold out.
posted by ocherdraco at 5:44 PM on May 16, 2015


It's getting killed at the box office by Pitch Perfect 2.

Also: how cool is it that the box office behemoth Fury Road is up against is a movie that stars an ensemble of women, is directed by a woman, and written by a woman? Pretty darn cool, if you ask me.
posted by ocherdraco at 5:53 PM on May 16, 2015 [1 favorite]


I can't be the only one wondering about, like, chronology. Joe's kids seem pretty old, right? But it can't have been that long ago that Max was an actual cop. Likewise for the society Furiosa remembers; when was that established?

(I know this is not important.)

Nice to see that music box!
posted by kenko at 7:19 PM on May 16, 2015


It's a reboot. There's an explicit thermonuclear war part of the end of civilization now.

Wasn't that pretty clear in Road Warrior too?
posted by kenko at 7:22 PM on May 16, 2015


Saw it with my fiancee, we both loved it. To quote her "that was so perfectly balanced." Which is probably the highest compliment I've ever heard from her about gender depiction in media.

Most important to me was the scene where Max missed the first two shots with the rifle, and, with a look of frustration and resignation, hands it over to Furiosa to try the last bullet because she's proven highly skilled with it in the previous round of combat. Their mutual respect and the naturally meritocratic partnership they form based upon demonstrated skills and their shared obsession with survival was a highly welcome note in a culture that so rarely offers positive examples of modern masculinity.

It's easy to criticize - it's orders of magnitude more difficult to point a legitimate path forward.
posted by Ryvar at 7:30 PM on May 16, 2015 [4 favorites]


I've been careful not to read any reviews, and even avoided reading comments in this thread if they seemed like they'd give something away. So I saw the feminist themes on my own without having them pointed out to me, and they're superbly done, both subtle and overt.

If the symbolism of repeatedly putting a pair of boltcutters into the hands of women to cut chains with is too subtle for some viewers, then the "we are not things" graffiti might not be.

And I dearly want to believe that George Miller deliberately put Furiosa barking an order at Max in the trailer -- not especially representative of what happens in the film -- to piss off precisely the people he did.
posted by George_Spiggott at 7:41 PM on May 16, 2015


Also, this isn't a reboot. Miller himself says this takes place after Beyond Thunderdome
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:46 PM on May 16, 2015 [1 favorite]


Just got back. It was a fun two hours and it's an impressive bit construction but it still felt too much like a 21 century action film for my taste. Too much color grading and way too many quick edits and that annoying thing where they mess with the stutter speed. I'd rank it #2, behind Road Warrior but in front of Mad Max and Thunderdome.
posted by octothorpe at 8:31 PM on May 16, 2015


I saw this on Friday in the AM. I was blissed out all weekend afterwards. I LOVED it! One of the first bad ass women I ever saw in a movie, was the cool warrior chick in Mad Max 2. As a teenager that meant EVERY THING to me. It was NOT something that was common back then. For people who grew up later watching female superheros and ninjas kicking ass (granted usually in a hyper-sexualized way/outfit) you might not be able to imagine the ENORMOUS RELIEF of finaly seeing a female character who got to fight and didn't have to wind up getting raped in order to drive the plot. I love you George Miller, I always have.

This movie just f***ing ROCKED!
posted by WalkerWestridge at 9:01 PM on May 16, 2015 [1 favorite]


I kept trying to figure out why the mra dudes were unhappy. Not enough naked? No sex? Furiosa drives a bad ass rig with a knife gear shift?

Well, their aspiration/ fantasy is to be a patriarch like the bad guys in the film, as showcased by Mr "My daughter would be turned out with nothing but a shirt on her back if she so much as looked at a college website" in the WHTM post, but in their blackened hearts they recognise themselves in Nux's storyline of Patriarchy Hurts Men Too where they know they'll end used up and discarded by the system they wasted their lives to defend.

Oh, and the women are Not Things, unlike your standard summer action blockbuster a la Transformers.

Of course they won't like the film :D

/my eyeballs are still recovering
/granny bikers are the best bikers
posted by sukeban at 1:14 AM on May 17, 2015 [3 favorites]


Honestly, I could give one single shit about MRA dudes in general and in particular whatever crazy and idiotic shit they're saying about this incredible movie.

And i felt like I could actually identify with the women in the movie.

That's one of the things I loved about the movie, I (a guy) could identify with Furiosa, Max, the Breeder women, The Vuvalini biker ladies and Nux. While their world saw them through the eyes of gender, we the audience get to see how they're people, trying to get a better life. That's some damn fine storytelling right there.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:01 AM on May 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


It's still with me this a morning. Was with me during the night. It really must have hit me pretty hard in my psyche because wow were my dreams intense and stressful.

It wasn't Mad Max world but my world in hyper drive and me having to deal with frustrating shyte and people. Frenzy and mayhem in my own world weirdness. I woke up feeling like my brain had thrown out a whole bunch of mental garbage.
posted by Jalliah at 7:10 AM on May 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


I, an almost 45 year old woman, would pay good cash for a Charlize Theron action figure.
posted by angrycat at 7:56 AM on May 17, 2015 [10 favorites]


furry road
posted by idiopath at 8:09 AM on May 17, 2015 [4 favorites]


Do I need to see it in 3d if I'm not usually a big 3d fan?
posted by neroli at 8:43 AM on May 17, 2015


The usual rule is if it wasn't shot in 3D -- and this wasn't -- then don't bother to see the 3D version, as the conversion does the viewing experience more harm than good. That said, the sort of people who rate such things seem to be indicating that this is an unusually well done conversion that goes all the way back to the planning and storyboarding stages and they pulled it off. So you probably aren't making a mistake either way.
posted by George_Spiggott at 9:02 AM on May 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


Saw it in 3D and it was an excellent conversion. Don't know that I'd be missing much if I saw it in 2D, except for the moment when the guitarist's flamethrower stretches waaaaay out to the camera and actually seems to jump out of the screen at you.

I will say it was nice to have the sense of depth on some of the horizon shots and it added a little something when Joe's staring down at the crowds below...that extra bit of "the people look like ants from up here."

If 3D's not your thing, though, this isn't the film that's going to make you a believer or anything.
posted by Ryvar at 9:13 AM on May 17, 2015




furry road

Source (ftw)
posted by sukeban at 1:38 PM on May 17, 2015 [1 favorite]



I can't be the only one wondering about, like, chronology. Joe's kids seem pretty old, right? But it can't have been that long ago that Max was an actual cop. Likewise for the society Furiosa remembers; when was that established?


At this point, it seems like Max is a legend told of by people who never actually saw him, but heard about how he helped a group of folks once before moving on. Once Upon A Time in the Wasteland. I don't really care what George Miller says; this movie taking place after BT doesn't make a lot of sense. I mean, who were the ghosts Max was haunted by?

It was a fun two hours and it's an impressive bit construction but it still felt too much like a 21 century action film for my taste. Too much color grading and way too many quick edits and that annoying thing where they mess with the stutter speed. I'd rank it #2, behind Road Warrior but in front of Mad Max and Thunderdome.

I agree. It was good, but the non-stop raving is a bit much. I hated the music-video-y frameskip technique, oh my god. Hated so much. Thankfully, after the opening sequence it only made brief reappearances.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 2:55 PM on May 17, 2015


I can't be the only one wondering about, like, chronology. Joe's kids seem pretty old, right? But it can't have been that long ago that Max was an actual cop.

The way I explain this to myself is that even then, when he was a cop, was post-Apocalypse. It's just that there was still a remnant of civilization. In each film, the world has gotten worse. But yes, the difference between the state of humanity in the first and second films is far greater than between any or all of the later ones.

And yeah, he's too young in this film for the timeline to make complete sense. Also, his Interceptor was destroyed in Road Warrior.
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:13 PM on May 17, 2015


The way I explain this to myself is that even then, when he was a cop, was post-Apocalypse. It's just that there was still a remnant of civilization.

Yeah, that had occurred to me, too—though we didn't know it, there were already places where things had really gone to shit. Doesn't really jibe with the news broadcast stuff, but eh.

I mean, who were the ghosts Max was haunted by?

People he met after the end of BT, but before the start of this movie? Who were unusually well dressed? I saw someone report that in some other interview (don't know where) Miller had said that that the plot of Fury Road is supposed to come from (a) witness accounts and (b) historical texts but the idea that Max is basically a legend to whom stories accrue is already in place in Road Warrior.
posted by kenko at 3:25 PM on May 17, 2015


The Mullah Nasruddin of Rocknrollasruddin
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 4:19 PM on May 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


Yeah, it's a tale spun by others; there was apparently something in the script about the story being "based on the Word Burgers of the History Men and eyewitness accounts of those who survived."
posted by ocherdraco at 5:45 PM on May 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


I loved it. I knew where everyone and every thing was during every single second of every sequence, I was interested in the characters, they developed, they did things that were in character and when they did something out of character, it was characterful and a natural progression.

I loved the visuals, I loved the music, I loved the noise.

I loved the ridiculous cheesecakeiness of one scene.

I loved the ideas.

Michael Bay thinks he makes movies as good as this.
posted by Swandive at 2:29 AM on May 18, 2015 [3 favorites]


Brendan McCarthy (production designer) showreel. Turns out he worked on Coneheads, Reboot, the original Ninja Turtles movie...
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 2:43 AM on May 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


I pretty much agree with this whole Forbes review, I think.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 12:46 PM on May 18, 2015


I pretty much agree with this whole Forbes review, I think.

Yes. Even if it's technically wrong about the CGI, in that most it really is Namibia and they really built those cars and they really did those stunts.

The trouble is that that none of that quite matters if it feels like CGI, and too much of it does. How can anything that dirty and gritty feel so oddly clean and sterile? I can only assume that it was polished in post. And yes, Mel's Max was better. Much of this is down to the writing, as surely Tom's easily as good an actor. (If you haven't seen Locke yet, holy cow. See it. I literally did not know an actor could do what he does in that film.) But we feel Road Warrior's Max from the inside. I think we're a little estranged from Fury Road's Max because he doesn't seem to experience things the way a normal human would. He doesn't visibly hurt much; he recovers from incredible brutality and a moment later he just glows in the sunset like a battered, burnished god. No trauma shows on his face.

Fury Road is a great film but Road Warrior is the better Mad Max film.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:57 PM on May 18, 2015


Scenes from a Multiverse pokes at MRAs.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 1:07 PM on May 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


Even though they used a lot of practical effects and stunts, there's still plenty of CGI and other digital manipulation going on. They used CGI is remove wires and harnesses and you can see blue-screens in some of the making-of videos. And there's a ton of post-production color manipulation, it's not like all that orange and teal showed up by itself.
posted by octothorpe at 1:16 PM on May 18, 2015


The Opening Weekend Box Office is a mixed bag. Beaten decisively in pure numbers by a semi-conventional 'chick flick', "Pitch Perfect 2", with no better numbers than were forecast before all the "I loved it" reviews came in (so much for the power of good reviews) while the Foreign BO was more "Wow". (so this MRA boycott was only semi-effective in the US?)

With a $150M+ budget to pay off, we should hope that MM:FR doesn't suffer the standard 50% drop-off in the second weekend (and maybe the 'chicks' who went to see PP2 last weekend go to see it next weekend). Anyway, it's not enough yet to kill the Hollywood Bias against female action heroes (heck, neither Alien nor Gravity ever did much to break through that wall; as long as they have the failure of "Sucker Punch" to point at, they'll keep that wall intact).
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:40 PM on May 18, 2015


I can't imagine the the MRA idiots had much of an impact on box office. R-rated films are always going to have tougher sledding at the box office than PG-13s.
posted by octothorpe at 1:48 PM on May 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


But MRA Idiots are a larger segment of the potential R-rated film audience than People Who Are Swayed By Good Reviews. (Or at least the Hollywood Establishment believes so, and this is anecdotal proof!)
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:58 PM on May 18, 2015


I would be surprised if there was any real overlap between the audiences of PP2 and FR (aside from long-suffering parents, maybe).

Re: CGI, surely the sandstorm was CGI. I think a lot of the practical effects suffered from trickery like cranking the contrast and the occasional speed-stutter (which, once again, I totally fucking hated).
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 2:00 PM on May 18, 2015


Yes, the stuttering was super annoying.
posted by kenko at 2:21 PM on May 18, 2015




There's no point in trying to fit things into chronology. Max is a legend, the Road Warrior. Aside from the first movie he was never the narrator and has more or less been a sort of catalyst for someone else's story, so I see nothing different in Fury Road being the story of Furiosa's rebellion.

I think each movie should stand alone, have some sort of loose connection to one another but not fit into a strict chronology or even truth. That works for characters that fit Max's mold of the wandering hero, lone samurai/ronin, the gunslinger who walks into town, the drifter who by simply being present is the agent of violent change.

I mean, heck, who tries to make the chronology work for Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name trilogy? Or the Zaotichi movies?

And Fury Road? Fury Road was spectacular.
posted by linux at 3:47 PM on May 18, 2015 [4 favorites]


I agree for the most part. Each movie beyond the first has shown a society more complex than the previous, though. Thus is the only context in which it makes sense to think of FR as being after BT, in my opinion, even though more complex doesn't necessarily equal chronologically later, especially in a post-apocalyptic milieu.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 8:58 PM on May 18, 2015


Oh, and the interior monologue of Max, re: his incipient insanity at the beginning isn't really the kind of opener that points one toward folkloric wanderer sorts of interpretations, either. It was a movie weirdly divided against itself in that way.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 9:00 PM on May 18, 2015


Watched it on Monday. Film of the year. At least the past 3 years, may be more to be honest.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 10:17 AM on May 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


FanFare talk: Mad Max/George Miller movie club, anyone?
posted by ocherdraco at 5:16 AM on May 20, 2015


But MRA Idiots are a larger segment of the potential R-rated film audience

You might be surprised at just how small a cohort the MRA types are in terms of absolute numbers. To call them a vocal minority would be overstating their numbers (although they are pretty damn vocal).
posted by Nevin at 5:20 PM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]




For me there were two moments that sent my spirit soaring from what was already a very elevated place: the 'one bullet' scene, obviously; but also a brief glimpse you're given of flaps re-opening over the air intakes, after Furiosa had dug in the shovel to put out the fire on the hood. Not only that she'd instantly devised a brilliant solution to the problem at hand and in the same split-second had the foresight to avoid choking the engine in the process, but that the film-makers just threw in this little detail without making a big thing of it, just like they didn't make a big deal of these heroic women completely ruling the film.
A brilliant film and amazing experience to be immersed in. I was reminded while watching it of the time I saw Fugazi. That's kind of what it felt like, just exhilarating.
posted by Flashman at 9:54 AM on May 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


Loved it ,Have seen it with my wife twice now. Really liked the vehicles with the construction cranes on the back armed with saws were a nice touch. The Bullet Farmers wig was the best!
Having seen all the films when they came out and expecting something like Thunderdome it was much better than I hoped it would be. I was seriously impressed.
Some friends and I did a sort small scale homage version of this back in the 90's called CAR HUNT. That is a younger me with the canon I built and the worst injury was a case of scope eye (not me).
posted by boilermonster at 9:56 AM on May 22, 2015


The symbology of Max's interactions with the women is great.

* Start with him appearing indistinguishable (and being literally inseperable) from a foot soldier of the patriarchy
* Progress to him having punched patriarchy in the gut, yet still delivering blunt orders from under an animal muzzle
* Show him sawing away at his muzzle with a tool the women gave him
* Eventually he progresses to interacting with the women like just another decent (if paranoid self-centric) human being

#notallwarboys
posted by anthill at 12:13 PM on May 22, 2015 [1 favorite]






The MRA idiots got a lot of women to watch Fury Road who otherwise wouldn't have PLUS got a lot of people disgusted with "anti-feminists" (a nice change) because they were such whiners.

If this is their work- heck, keep on keepin' on!
posted by small_ruminant at 10:17 AM on May 23, 2015


One thing the film went out of its way to do was to avoid the myth of the lone action hero. Everyone was interdependent to different degrees. The conflict was between woman-focused cooperation and cult-like militarism.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 11:53 AM on May 24, 2015 [4 favorites]


Mad Max: Fury Road - George Miller Q&A - spoiler heavy podcast interview.
posted by Artw at 12:44 PM on May 24, 2015 [2 favorites]




Now that I think about it, a central conflict behind the Mad Max movies has always been what kind of community do you want to have, a predatory one or a communal one? Fury Road manages to best express that theme with the fewest words. A part of that comes from the realization that you just don't walk out of a community without some ideological and emotional baggage. All of the protagonists struggle with that to different degrees, except perhaps for Max, who has already been broken by community collapse.

The conclusion reminds me a bit of Butler's Parable of the Sower to an extent. Not everyone buys into Earthseed to the same degree, but everyone's willing to go along with the idea because the alternatives are so much worse.

However, I don't think Mad Max is great science fiction so much as informed by great science fiction that has thought about these issues. Ultimately it's a 2-hour chase movie. But it feels like more thought went into those themes than went into Age of Ultron for example.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 11:34 AM on May 25, 2015 [1 favorite]


Wow, talk about damning with faint praise.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 7:49 PM on May 25, 2015




7 Comic Artists Who Can’t Stop Drawing “Mad Max: Fury Road”

Mad Max: Fury Road – Inspired Artists Deluxe Edition
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 8:56 AM on May 26, 2015




I can't stop listening to "Brothers In Arms," the music that plays as the guys on motorcycles attack.

I loved this tweet about how the film will cause comic book delays.
BREAKING: Release of every single damn comic book in June and July delayed due to artists not drawing nothing but Furiosa for, like, weeks.
I need to work on my drawing so I can start doodling war rigs and muscle cars with tank treads. (The audience I was with laughed at that vehicle, hopefully because of how perfect it is.)
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 5:01 PM on May 26, 2015 [2 favorites]


I've yet to encounter anyone in comics who doesn't love this movie - it's near pure visual storytelling with an incredible sense of design, so duh.
posted by Artw at 6:25 PM on May 26, 2015


At least the gender balance is restored in the game; I count one woman and she's making out with Max before the trailer is over :facepalm:
posted by effbot at 4:23 AM on May 27, 2015


I think I read somewhere that Miller spent years developing the story as storyboards and thumbnails with no dialogue before a scriptwriter was brought onto the project.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 5:47 AM on May 27, 2015 [1 favorite]


Oops, sorry I see morganw posted that already. That's what I get for doing control-F instead of reading the whole thread.
posted by exogenous at 6:49 AM on May 27, 2015








The Editing of MAD MAX: Fury Road
posted by Artw at 12:37 AM on June 1, 2015




I've lost track of all Mad Max threads, so dropping this here: Interview with costume designer Jenny Beavan by Hello, Tailor.
posted by effbot at 12:53 PM on June 4, 2015 [4 favorites]


Mad Max: Fury Road - George Miller Q&A - spoiler heavy podcast interview.

Just got around to listening to that and was interested to here that the reason that the original Mad Max was kinda post-apocalypse was they did not have enough cash when they were making it to film it in a city or have a lot of extras / other cars... hence the deserted semi post-apoc roads and towns / communities.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:10 PM on June 6, 2015




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