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General discussionMad Max: Fury Road(176 posts)(176 posts)
(176 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted May 25, 2015
I saw it earlier this week in Paris (and for the record, the French put pretty much every other nation to shame when it comes to the quality of their cinemas) and I was absolutely blown away by the movie. The action was pretty much the perfect blend of practical and CGI, and Hardy was awesome as Max (unlike a lot of re-cast roles of late, I never felt he was trying to channel Gibson, although I must say that Gibson himself never really seemed to play the character the same way twice in any of the films). Theron was awesome, although she rarely disappoints anyway.

And dat flamethrower guitarist...

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Fenixp: Actually, I thought about that a little bit, and it might make a bit more sense than it appears to initially. Just think on it for a second, music accompanying a war party is an extremely old and quite proven concept, especially for a fanatical society believing their leader to be a god. It would be a big sign of power and supremacy constantly boosting morale, while at the same time intimidating enemies. And... You know, it woul have to be bloody loud. I think the reason we find it so weird is because modern armies are no longer accompanied by marching bands, nor do they sing "Ye Who Are Warriors of God" while marching at their enemy.
There was an interview with Miller somewhere on the web where he compared the "Doof Warrior" (which is what he and the credits called it - slightly hilarious to a German reader as "doof" means "stupid") to a "little drummer boy". So you're not far off the mark.
Posted May 25, 2015
nice :)
Posted May 25, 2015
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naess91: nice :)
Post edited May 25, 2015 by kjellin
Posted May 26, 2015
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jamyskis: [...] slightly hilarious to a German reader as "doof" means "stupid"[...]
...from which we get the (American?) English word doofus, "a person with poor judgment and taste"; or "an inept or stupid person".
Posted May 26, 2015
There is one more thing that I'm having truble figuring out. Again, pretty much a nitpick, but the timeline confuses me. The first Mad Max is set before the Apocalypse, with Max being a father and a cop. The Apocalypse happens sometime between that and Road Warrior. But in Fury Road from what little Furiosa says about her childhood it sounds like she was born after the Apocalypse, or at least shortly before, as society has already fallen apart into all those strange groups and clans. Now, Charlize Theron is 39. Let's say Furiosa might be some 5-8 years younger than that. Still, that would make Max over 50. Am I figuring ths wrong, or is he just in a really good shape?
Posted May 26, 2015
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Breja: ...
Oh yeah, that's actually been bugging me as well. And IIRC he did not have a daughter either. To me it seems that Miller kept the world and sacked Max altogether to replace him with somewhat different Max.
Posted May 26, 2015
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Breja: There is one more thing that I'm having truble figuring out. Again, pretty much a nitpick, but the timeline confuses me. The first Mad Max is set before the Apocalypse, with Max being a father and a cop. The Apocalypse happens sometime between that and Road Warrior. But in Fury Road from what little Furiosa says about her childhood it sounds like she was born after the Apocalypse, or at least shortly before, as society has already fallen apart into all those strange groups and clans. Now, Charlize Theron is 39. Let's say Furiosa might be some 5-8 years younger than that. Still, that would make Max over 50. Am I figuring ths wrong, or is he just in a really good shape?
The movies really dont follow a linear timeline. Since we never see Max alone, we have to conclude the story is being told as a legend, as it might be done around a campfire at the end of the world. The legend changes with each telling and re-telling, so it's never truly the same. New stories are created, which may not follow what happened previously.

An excellent example of this is the V8 interceptor suddenly appearing in Fury Road, even though it was destroyed in the earlier films. I wouldn't be surprised to see it return in later films in the series, just to hammer this point home. I also love that they didn't pay it any fan-service, as it was only on screen for a few seconds before being destroyed again :)
Posted May 26, 2015
What an incredible movie. Everyone should go and see it!
Posted May 26, 2015
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chibberwocky: The movies really dont follow a linear timeline. Since we never see Max alone, we have to conclude the story is being told as a legend, as it might be done around a campfire at the end of the world. The legend changes with each telling and re-telling, so it's never truly the same. New stories are created, which may not follow what happened previously.
Honestly I never got that "it's a legend told years later" vibe from Mad Max. and the original trilogy works fine without it as an explenation. Fury Road is just... it's own thing. A spin-off-quel of sorts, and I'm fine with that. I'd like it to maybe fit things a little better, but that's just me, I tend to nitpick at such things, and even I admit it does not matter in the end. Maybe it would have been better if it was not Mad Max at all, just a new thing (possibly set in the same reality) with a new hero for Hardy to create from the ground up (and a chance of Gibson appearing as Max in a sequel), but I guess they needed the brand recognition of Mad Max to get this made.
Posted May 26, 2015
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Breja: So, I've finally seen it. I have to say, I didn't think it can really live up to the hype. And as it started, for a while I stll though that it's visually well done, but not that good overall. It's only once Max meets Furiosa that I really got into the movie, and I have to say, I'm really impressed with how well the movie develops the realtionship between the characters, with minimal dialogue and never letting it kill the action adn the tension, while still providing a good emotianl centre for the film, so that we can get invested enought o actually care about what happens, not just watch the action for the pretty pictures.

And holy shit, are they pretty. It really is a visually stunning film. A great movie in every way. relentless, impressive action, it really stands apart from all the squicky clean Marvel movies that have become the model for todays blockbusters. Who would have thought that a franchise returning after 30 years would feel so fresh?

My reservations about Theron/Furiosa and her overshadowing Max were fortunately proven wrong. They make for a great pair of main characters, one overshadowing the other. Still, if I have a complaint, it's that I didn't really buy Tom Hardy as Max. It's not that he did something wrong, but I just never saw Max in him. He didn't look or sound like Max. There were maybe a few glimpses, but overall he might have been any Man With No Name. Recastin an iconic character is tricky, and Hardy didn't exactly do for Max what Karl Urban did for Dr. McCoy (honestly Urban is so close to DeForest Kelly in that role it's almost scary) I do wonder how Heath Ledger would have pulled it off.

Also, I know it was the intention to go for batshit crazy, but the guitarist and his mobile tower of sound was a little much. Everything else was crazy, but also kind of made sense in this bizzare world. This was just silly. But that's a very minor point.

I loved the movie and I hope we get the sequel.
I watched the movie too and I really liked it. Now as a disclaimer: I saw the other movies, but years ago when I was small, so I don't remember them well.

This movie was non-stop action though. And I also can't understand the folks who were saying Furiosa overshadowed Max. I thought everything was pretty balanced, Max did have his relevance.

My only gripe was the length of the movie. At one point during their race back to the Citadel I was thinking "hmm, I'm a bit bored". But otherwise everything was really nice, though I must admit I don't know how much the average person would understand of the story/background from all that chaos.

I liked Hardy as Mad Max, but as I said, I don'treally remember the original movies. Or the comics they're based on?! (there were comics first, right? Or a book?)

Oh and the fucking guitarist was my favorite in the whole fucking movie :D
Post edited May 26, 2015 by Reever
Posted May 26, 2015
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Reever: though I must admit I don't know how much the average person would understand of the story/background from all that chaos.
I wondered that too, but I think they'd be fine. I think part of the beauty of that film is there is no complex backstory, all you really have to know is the opening narration "lack of resources, nuclear war, world went to shit", and from then on we're all on pretty equal ground. Knowing Max's backstory helps to be invested in the character, but also creates some problems, with Fury Road not fitting exactly into the original series.

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Reever: I liked Hardy as Mad Max, but as I said, I don'treally remember the original movies. Or the comics they're based on?! (there were comics first, right? Or a book?)
Nope, Max is all George Miller's creation. Obviously it drew inspiration from post-apocalyptic films that came before, like A Boy and his Dog or Damnation Alley, but it's not based on anything.

I missed Gibsons crazy eyes, his haunted look. I know he got a lot of bad press in recent years for his, but he really is a phenomenal actor, and no one does crazy quite as well. Hardy is Max. Gibson is Mad Max.
Post edited May 26, 2015 by Breja
Posted May 26, 2015
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Breja: honestly Urban is so close to DeForest Kelly in that role it's almost scary
My wife and I say that Urban is playing Kelly as McCoy! I think Urban is the best recast ever.
Posted May 26, 2015
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Reever: though I must admit I don't know how much the average person would understand of the story/background from all that chaos.
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Breja: I wondered that too, but I think they'd be fine. I think part of the beauty of that film is there is no complex backstory, all you really have to know is the opening narration "lack of resources, nuclear war, world went to shit", and from then on we're all on pretty equal ground. Knowing Max's backstory helps to be invested in the character, but also creates some problems, with Fury Road not fitting exactly into the original series.

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Reever: I liked Hardy as Mad Max, but as I said, I don'treally remember the original movies. Or the comics they're based on?! (there were comics first, right? Or a book?)
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Breja: Nope, Max is all George Miller's creation. Obviously it drew inspiration from post-apocalyptic films that came before, like A Boy and his Dog or Damnation Alley, but it's not based on anything.

I missed Gibsons crazy eyes, his haunted look. I know he got a lot of bad press in recent years for his, but he really is a phenomenal actor, and no one does crazy quite as well. Hardy is Max. Gibson is Mad Max.
Yeah, I actually wanted to say that the opening narration was probably what most needed anyway. With so much action you wouldn't really remember anything else anyway :D

Ah okay, I was confused there for a moment. Let's see what the sequel brings. I really can't see how the hell they could top this movie...
Post edited May 26, 2015 by Reever
Posted May 26, 2015
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Breja: I missed Gibsons crazy eyes, his haunted look. I know he got a lot of bad press in recent years for his, but he really is a phenomenal actor, and no one does crazy quite as well. Hardy is Max. Gibson is Mad Max.
Hardy is an amazing talent and much better actor as a whole compared to Gibson, but I agree that certain roles could not be played better than Mel. The kinda-unstable-but-likeable guy was his specialty. I especially liked him in Conspiracy Theory, a very weak movie but his performance was great. If you'd remove him I very much doubt that movie would work.

About the new Mad Max, I haven't seen it yet, but from what I'm hearing the screentime is a concern for many fans. Compared to the old ones Max was not the most important person in the story. He was usually a pawn, bossed around and manipulated by the powers that be. But it was his story we were following. He was the protagonist plain and clear. Could the reduced screentime (and the not perfect choice of actor?) complain have merit in the end?
Posted May 26, 2015
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Reever: Ah okay, I was confused there for a moment. Let's see what the sequel brings. I really can't see how the hell they could top this movie...
I think they should not try to. It would be hard to do, maybe impossible without going to overboard, but most of all a big part of Fury Road's success is how fresh and different from other action movie blockbusters. If a sequel is just an attempt to do the same but even bigger, it will loose that edge. They need to figure a different kind of approach. Still a lot of action of course, but Max's world hold potential for many different stories.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionMad Max: Fury Road(176 posts)(176 posts)
(176 posts)