Mad Max

[EVA]

It's a great movie, but it's not THAT.

It's probably being overhyped a bit just because it feels like such a breath of fresh air compared to most blockbuster action fare these days. In a world where cities are destroyed on a weekly basis during the summer, the sight of men flying is ho-hum, and CGI cartoon characters interacting with humans have grown sadly commonplace, there's real value in an action scene that leaves you wondering "How did they DO that?" And this movie has that in spades. It's the rare summer movie that's legitimately capable of surprising you.

Everything from the action to the set and costume designs feels completely different from anything else you can buy a ticket to see right now. At times, the movie feels like it just beamed in from another planet. It is THAT fucking weird.

Even if you're a Mad Max fan who knows the old movies by heart, there's still plenty of WTF to go around.

[Reed]

IMO, intimate stories are better.

 

That was partly why Dredd was so great. It wasn't like THE WORLD~! was at stake, it was just about him saving his and his partner's life and getting rid of this evil drug queen lady. And even at the end he had this whole demeanor that, yeah, this was essentially another crazy, mayhem-filled night in a career full of crazy, mayhem-filled nights. Daredevil has a similar idea.

[HumanChessgame]

Just got back and thought it was awesome, probably the best action movie of the modern era.  The character, vehicle and set designs were on another level and I wish they'd shown more of The Citadel, as the scale of that was insane. 

 

The only complaints I have is that there wasn't all that much depth to Max's character.  You had these brief flashbacks and suggestions of what he went through before the movie and they could have spent 10-15 minutes with a flashback or a story he told to the others to flesh out him and his motivations a bit more, but they didn't do anything with it.  I realize he's supposed to be a man of mystery and all that, but the Gibson version (even if you just looked at The Road Warrior on its own) had a bit more going on character-wise. 

[caley]

I LOVE that a "Men's Rights" guy is telling men to boycott this movie because it's female propaganda masquerading as man's action movie.

 

Seriously, this movie was completely awesome.  Just little bits of narrative followed by lengthy insane chase sequences, repeat, repeat.  It's also one of the straight-up WEIRDEST movies I've seen

Women hooked up to milking machines? Check.  Weird little halfling guy with a telescope? Check.  Main villain with a weird breathing apparatus (Who's also the FREAKIN' Toecutter!!!!!)? Check.  A vehicle used solely for drumming and guitars? Check.

 

And I LOVE the feminist bent to the movie.  Theron's Furiosa is a straight-up BAD-ASS character.  Hardy's Max is good, too, mumbly and haunted.  But Furiosa steals the show.  And even the other girls have a bit of backstory and personality.

[TheVileOne]

The movie is very good, but it's definitely getting overhyped.  

 

Honestly, I thought Tom Hardy's performance was the weakest part of the movie.  His accent was ridiculous and all over the place.  I understand what he was going for, but it doesn't work.  Theron owns as Furiosa though.  At the risk of sounding blasphemous, I think the movie might've been even better if it was not a Mad Max movie at all, and it was just about Furiosa.

[EVA]

It's also one of the straight-up WEIRDEST movies I've seen

Women hooked up to milking machines? Check. Weird little halfling guy with a telescope? Check. Main villain with a weird breathing apparatus (Who's also the FREAKIN' Toecutter!!!!!)? Check. A vehicle used solely for drumming and guitars? Check.

You neglected to mention that it's a FLAME-THROWING guitar.

In any other movie, I would've rolled my eyes every time that guy showed up on screen. But in THIS movie, in a world THIS bizarre...sure. I'll buy that some psycho megalomaniac thought that was a worthwhile allocation of precious resources.

It was kinda awesome that you could hear him playing in the distant background sometimes.

[TheVileOne]

One of the bigger laughs at my screening is when you see guitar war boy just sleeping in his little sling thing.

[Spritenaut 32]

 

It's also one of the straight-up WEIRDEST movies I've seen

Women hooked up to milking machines? Check. Weird little halfling guy with a telescope? Check. Main villain with a weird breathing apparatus (Who's also the FREAKIN' Toecutter!!!!!)? Check. A vehicle used solely for drumming and guitars? Check.

 

You neglected to mention that it's a FLAME-THROWING guitar.

In any other movie, I would've rolled my eyes every time that guy showed up on screen. But in THIS movie, in a world THIS bizarre...sure. I'll buy that some psycho megalomaniac thought that was a worthwhile allocation of precious resources.

It was kinda awesome that you could hear him playing in the distant background sometimes.

 

 

Wait.... are you suggesting that there's a world where a flame-throwing guitar is not a good use of scarce resources?

 

I'll have to get a ruling from the judges, but that can't possibly be correct, can it?

[caley]

 

It's also one of the straight-up WEIRDEST movies I've seen

Women hooked up to milking machines? Check. Weird little halfling guy with a telescope? Check. Main villain with a weird breathing apparatus (Who's also the FREAKIN' Toecutter!!!!!)? Check. A vehicle used solely for drumming and guitars? Check.

 

You neglected to mention that it's a FLAME-THROWING guitar.

In any other movie, I would've rolled my eyes every time that guy showed up on screen. But in THIS movie, in a world THIS bizarre...sure. I'll buy that some psycho megalomaniac thought that was a worthwhile allocation of precious resources.

It was kinda awesome that you could hear him playing in the distant background sometimes.

 

 

Well, I didn't want to give EVERYTHING away.

 

I mean, I also neglected to mention

that the bad guys huff paint before attacking so they have ridiculous silver paint all over their mouths all the time

 

Part of the joy of this movie is discovering just what weird, odd, totally sensless shit is going to come up next on your own!

 

 

It's also one of the straight-up WEIRDEST movies I've seen

Women hooked up to milking machines? Check. Weird little halfling guy with a telescope? Check. Main villain with a weird breathing apparatus (Who's also the FREAKIN' Toecutter!!!!!)? Check. A vehicle used solely for drumming and guitars? Check.

 

You neglected to mention that it's a FLAME-THROWING guitar.

In any other movie, I would've rolled my eyes every time that guy showed up on screen. But in THIS movie, in a world THIS bizarre...sure. I'll buy that some psycho megalomaniac thought that was a worthwhile allocation of precious resources.

It was kinda awesome that you could hear him playing in the distant background sometimes.

 

 

Wait.... are you suggesting that there's a world where a flame-throwing guitar is not a good use of scarce resources?

 

I'll have to get a ruling from the judges, but that can't possibly be correct, can it?

 

[S.K.o.S.]

Had to go check a couple other boards to make sure I wasn't alone on this... Nicholas Hoult was my favorite part of the movie.  Nux is like a middle school student who very badly wants to sit at the cool kids' table.

[EVA]

Yes, Hoult/Nux was great. I wasn't expecting that character to have the depth that he did.

[HumanChessgame]

I hated him at first and kept wondering why they didn't just kill him, but he'd won me over by the end.  And yeah, he had more depth than Max did.

 

Apparently Hardy has signed on to do 3 movies total and Miller says he's already got two more scripts planed out.

 

Good read from the most recent Wired about the filmmaking process - http://www.wired.com/2015/05/mad-max-fury-road/

[TheVileOne]

Not sure how well this movie will do.  Analysts were predicting Pitch Perfect to make more, but the great reviews might give it a nice boost.  

 

If there was another film, I'd really be interested to know more about the mythology of the world of Mad Max, learning what's happened to other cities, continents, etc. Probably not something that will happen, but I kind of want to know if any major cities managed to make it out of the wars intact at all.  If all the films are in Australia, well Australia is essentially a big island and fairly isolated.  

Did other areas fare better, worse, etc.?

[Chaos]

 

It's also one of the straight-up WEIRDEST movies I've seen

Women hooked up to milking machines? Check. Weird little halfling guy with a telescope? Check. Main villain with a weird breathing apparatus (Who's also the FREAKIN' Toecutter!!!!!)? Check. A vehicle used solely for drumming and guitars? Check.

 

You neglected to mention that it's a FLAME-THROWING guitar.

In any other movie, I would've rolled my eyes every time that guy showed up on screen. But in THIS movie, in a world THIS bizarre...sure. I'll buy that some psycho megalomaniac thought that was a worthwhile allocation of precious resources.

It was kinda awesome that you could hear him playing in the distant background sometimes.

 

 

I almost made my Letterboxd review of this: "everything you need to know about this film is showcased with a guy standing atop of one of the vehicles while shredding death metal with a flame throwing guitar."

It is both insane and poetic. After the first 30 minute action sequence, I was wondering if Miller was going to let me catch my breath. It's safe to say that I left the theater last night both elated and exhausted.

[odessasteps]

I was very happy this was as unsympathetic as the originals could be.

I mean, they

killed the pregnant girl and threw away the fetus.

I didnt know ahead of time that Nathan Jones was in this.

Alao, i kept thinking if this had been made after the road warrior, the main bride prob would have been elle mcpherson.

[EVA]

I was very happy this was as unsympathetic as the originals could be.

I mean, they

killed the pregnant girl and threw away the fetus.

And somebody gave him $150 million to make this movie!

Whichever studio executive signed the checks for this one probably sprayed chrome paint all over his mouth beforehand.

SHINY.

[odessasteps]

They will walk into Valhalla

[Niners Fan in CT]

Ridiculous in the best way imaginable. It's a beautiful movie. It's been a long time since I was that captivated by the scenery.

[odessasteps]

Discussion (2 hours) with cinematographer about shooting the movie

http://vimeo.com/127381179

[S.K.o.S.]

I was very happy this was as unsympathetic as the originals could be.

I mean, they

killed the pregnant girl and threw away the fetus.

 

The way they did it too...

 

Teased it, then held off like "Okay, you didn't really think we'd do that, did you?  Come on," then like a minute later they went ahead and did it.

[Eivion]

Really enjoyed the film. Never seen all of any of the original three film so I didn't have much to compare it to.

One of the bigger laughs at my screening is when you see guitar war boy just sleeping in his little sling thing.

This got a good chuckle in my theater as well.

[TheVileOne]

 

I was very happy this was as unsympathetic as the originals could be.

I mean, they

killed the pregnant girl and threw away the fetus.

And somebody gave him $150 million to make this movie!

Whichever studio executive signed the checks for this one probably sprayed chrome paint all over his mouth beforehand.

SHINY.

 

 

It was probably Jeff Robinov, who greenlit the Wachowskis' Jupiter Ascending for like $175 million before he got fired.

[bink_winkleman]

As someone who hates just about everything blockbuster - the Marvel movies, Fast and Furious stuff, that fucking piece of shit where Idris Elba uses giant robots to fight lame CGI monsters, all things remake, JJ Abrams, anything that glorifies the US military- this was FINALLY the movie of the modern era that did it for me. I loved everything about this and don't think it can possibly be overhyped. Hardy is a great Max. Theron was great. It was visually beautiful. The action was perfect. Everyone looked cool as fuck. That one amazing line, something like, "YOU WILL RIDE IN CHROME INTO ETERNITY!" or something, got a big laugh out of me. Just perfect in every way. I'll be seeing this a few more times in the theater.

I love the originals, too, and Road Warrior is def one of my favorite movies of all time. Also, I know we're in Australia here, but is Tina Turner the last black person on earth?

[Jingus]

The early word on this movie has been SO overwhelmingly strong that it's actually making me hesitant to see it. I mean, my favorite film blogger came right out and said it's the single best action movie since Hard-Boiled; and, JESUS, hype doesn't come any bigger than that.

 

And I LOVE the feminist bent to the movie.  Theron's Furiosa is a straight-up BAD-ASS character.  Hardy's Max is good, too, mumbly and haunted.  But Furiosa steals the show.  And even the other girls have a bit of backstory and personality.

Supposedly, Miller (or the writers) actually got ahold of Eve Ensler of all damn people in order to punch up some of the female characterizations. That is, the woman who wrote the original Vagina Monologues. I'm really curious to see what THAT birthed, because feminism has certainly never been the strongest point of this particular franchise.

Also, just in general: if you ever run into one of those Men's Rights dudes, call them right out for being the miserable castrated paranoid cunts that they are. Is there anything in the world more pathetic than a member of a powerful entitled majority who bitch and whine as if they're the most oppressed victims in all the land?

 

Never seen all of any of the original three film so I didn't have much to compare it to.

Truthfully, two-thirds of the original trilogy is rather overhyped and hasn't aged very well. Mad Max has a really low budget, a contrived plot which lurches from act to act with little rhyme or reason, and some of the worst-recorded dialogue in history (it's seriously damn near impossible to tell what they're saying half the time). Beyond Thunderdome is thirty minutes of awesome, unfortunately surrounded by ninety minutes of filler and bullshit. However, The Road Warrior is a legit masterpiece of cinema, full stop, even above and beyond its totally-deserved reputation as a classic action flick. Definitely watch that one, but you can honestly skip the other two.

[peterien]

I had no interest in seeing Mad Max.

I knew nothing about it and had never seen the original(s).

I fucking LOVED Mad Max.

EDIT; just to add some thoughts now that i can breathe.

I dont know what the allure is with Tom Hardy but there definitely IS something. He has a great presence in every film ive seen him in and this is no different.

It really is non stop action, i was sunk back in my seat for the whole 2 hours trying to take it all in.

I cant single out one action sequence but the ending was great.

Theron was great.