I'm copy/pasting what I posted on FB last night after seeing it:
So Mad Max Fury Road may as well have an additional subtitle of "George Miller Schools Hollywood." I've been entertained over the years by various super heroes duking it out against villains, bank vaults getting dragged around behind cars, giant robots trading blows with giant monsters from another dimension, foreign films with magnificent fight choreography, and numerous other great action films. Mad Max Fury Road is, without a doubt in my mind, the best action movie I have seen in theaters or any other movie delivery method since seeing The Matrix (thanks edited out friend of mine for dragging me to it) shortly after it released. It's like Miller, at 70 years old, looked upon what we've gotten in recent years and said, "yeah, I can do better." It never says more than it needs to, and simultaneously says so much without words. Absolutely astounding filmmaking.
So a friend, who is a big MM fan and who saw this last year at a test screening where the film was incomplete and a different cut that he liked enough but thought it had its fair share of issues, just saw the film last night. Pretty much did a big turnaround on his opinion saying he adored and loved the film! Mentioned the issues he had all got fixed and even though he didn't care for Hardy as Max last year he now like him in the role. lol
.
i still prefer mel gibson but yeah tom hardy really approached this film as sort of a silent film actor.
the end stare between him and furiosa, so much mutual respect communicated there without words. and i saw the clip on youtube of the fight between him and charlize again. when she puts the shotgun to his face and he thinks he's about to die he literally looks at the camera wide-eyed like a cartoon character haha. he was quite expressive and enigmatic with little words.
also guys check out this cannes' clip where tom hardy apologizes to and praises george miller for his work on the film. some damn good kudos right there and he acknowledges that he wasn't sure what he was doing with his performance in the movie. still the end result was good from him imo. very cartoon-character esque combined with the silent heroes we've had in cinema.
I'd have to think about that one. The Matrix was so groundbreaking it's given the Wachowski's nearly two decades of all the goddamn budget in the world movies
- Its not one of the best films ever made.
- If youve seen the trailers then youve already seen pretty much all the best epic moments.
- Parts of it might be too weird/offbeat for your taste.
Not for the plot but there's a little throwback at the start that'll make you say 'oh its from old Mad Max'. And there's some more stuff down the line like that. Not important but its cool to see that.
- Its not one of the best films ever made.
- If youve seen the trailers then youve already seen pretty much all the best epic moments.
- Parts of it might be too weird/offbeat for your taste.
The too weird/offbeat thing might be a serious thing. Person I saw it with hated it and said it lacked story and was just too out there. And this person had seen the old Mad Max movies too so like I didn't get it.
this is the best action sci-fi since the matrix. i wouldn't say it's better but my opinion can change in a few years (or remain the same). but the fact that I think it belongs in the list with matrix, terminator 1/2, aliens, predator in 2015 (!!!) speaks a lot on it's quality imo. the choreography, editing, world design etc. really stepped this up.
Just got out of the theater. Man this movie was awesome. I saw it in 3D just because of the showing time but it looked excellent.
Beats the pants off of everything else I've seen in 2015.
I can't believe my wife is excited to see this film lol. After the first sneak peak, she basically thought it looked stupid. She's now caught up in the hype too. Sadly I have to wait until Monday or Tuesday to see it. :/
Just got out of the theater. Man this movie was awesome. I saw it in 3D just because of the showing time but it looked excellent.
Beats the pants off of everything else I've seen in 2015.
I can't believe my wife is excited to see this film lol. After the first sneak peak, she basically thought it looked stupid. She's now caught up in the hype too. Sadly I have to wait until Monday or Tuesday to see it. :/
Really awesome it has the main poster of Max and the girl and when you scroll up it says Mad Max in huge text with Max and the girl with guns looking badass. Definitely worth downloading. Sorry I don't know the girl's name as I'm watching no trailers and going in blind.
The too weird/offbeat thing might be a serious thing. Person I saw it with hated it and said it lacked story and was just too out there. And this person had seen the old Mad Max movies too so like I didn't get it.
I'm so happy that everyone loves this movie and at the same time so sad that it didn't click with me, even though I recognize its greatness. I want so much to rewatch this to appreciate it completely. At least now I know that the I wasn't supposed to understand the lore of Mad Max, I was constantly searching for clues during the movie, thinking that I was losing something and that kept me out from the action.
Thing is, I'm not used to this kind of cinematogaphy that has zero exposition.
I like the Matrix a little less every time I watch it. I prefer Fury Road's style of world building, through production design and action, instead of non-stop exposition. I genuinely love the
hand-to-hand fight between all the major characters
in this film more than the not-Hong King film wire fu stuff in the Matrix, which doesn't have the intensity and inventiveness of the one in Fury Road nor does it have the speed and power of the Hong Kong action movies it apes so hard. And as avatars for the audience into the world, Hardy's Max was a much more interesting and capable character than Keanu's blank Neo.
I like the Matrix a little less every time I watch it. I prefer Fury Road's style of world building, through production design and action, instead of non-stop exposition. I genuinely love the
hand-to-hand fight between all the major characters
in this film more than the not-Hong King film wire fu stuff in the Matrix, which doesn't have the intensity and inventiveness of the one in Fury Road nor does it have the speed and power of the Hong Kong action movies it apes so hard. And as avatars for the audience into the world, Hardy's Max was a much more interesting and capable character than Keanu's blank Neo.
I like the Matrix a little less every time I watch it. I prefer Fury Road's style of world building, through production design and action, instead of non-stop exposition. I genuinely love the
hand-to-hand fight between all the major characters
in this film more than the not-Hong King film wire fu stuff in the Matrix, which doesn't have the intensity and inventiveness of the one in Fury Road nor does it have the speed and power of the Hong Kong action movies it apes so hard. And as avatars for the audience into the world, Hardy's Max was a much more interesting and capable character than Keanu's blank Neo.
i think wachowskis last few basura movies clouding your judgement brah. matrix has some fantastic hand-to-hand scenes. the best being the final subway one.
mad max vs. furiosa vs nux was a damn thrill though for sure. i daresay i liked that one about as much. it got pretty interesting due to the tether between him and nux, and the gunshots to end it was a powerful finish
I wouldn't really say that the Road Warrior was light on story. It was a movie that tried to capture just living in the moment and it didn't beat the audience over the head with needless exposition or character dialogue that tries to explain everything. Mel Gibson only had about 12 or 15 lines of dialogue in the entire movie and his character Max only spoke when he felt it was necessary. It was a movie that was more about showing than telling and that was George Miller's general intention for it.
Though, it is also noted that the script was written while filming. George Miller wanted the movie to not feel scripted , so he tried to keep things as fresh as possible by creating the story while they were filming it. But apparently there was also a lot of world building through the planning stages to help create a convincing environment that the characters live in.
While all the previous Mad Max films were post-apocalyptic, there was the notion that humans could still survive. Obviously it would be hard living but it was possible that rebuilding to some degree could occur. However in Fury Road's world that is almost completely impossible. The planet is just fucked. There's no real salvation to be found here. It's very bleak in a manner that MM 2 and 3 weren't, not only in the smaller details but the tone as well. There's a ton of detail put into making the post-apocalyptic world feel 'real' and I think it's somewhat emotionally draining because of that. The previous films were a bit campier and this slices off all of that, leaving you with a more raw experience.
There is so much visually depicting the world Max lives in, that it really helps with characterization. Because of how bad off the world is, the audience gains an appreciation for the mental state of the characters. Seeing Max's dead wife and child constantly flash in front of him builds up his trauma in a much more effective manner than anything in the previous films even with Gibson's portrayal. Max here is much more tortured and I think the visual direction did wonders in making that apparent. The characters are just constantly surrounded by loss and death that it becomes second-nature.
I could rave about how excellent the sound direction was, the wide-shots, the effective use of music with the percussion, or how great Theron's stuff was but it's really the world building that's left an impact on me.
I was responding to your other post initially, but this clears up a lot of it.
I can see where you're coming from. Re: your prior post, I actually think there is a lot of humor in Fury Road--I don't remember there being this much in Road Warrior. A lot of Max's interactions with Furiosa (
her bartering with him to get his mask off, him being a bad sniper shot and needing her help, etc.). The older women bring a nice flavor of optimism and a little comedy,
as well, and the War Boys have a lot of little moments.
As far as the bleak nature of the world, I can see it, but I think the ONLY reason Road Warrior could be seen as optimistic is because it has a narrator, so you know that the settlers made it to the north and survived. If there was none, you could just as well assume that they didn't make it.
Whereas in Fury Road,
there doesn't seem to be any hope of a far-off land--they just have to make do with what they have...which isn't entirely bad, if they have that water supply and actually put it to use (there is a super wide shot of the citadel and you can see a lot of greenery growing at the top of it).
So, I guess it can depend on your perspective and your evaluation of the world, as-is. I like that Fury Road places an emphasis on the
toxic nature of the bosses, or at least Immortan Joe. It doesn't go so far as to absolve the War Boys of any responsibility, but most of them are dead anyway--only the War Pups are left and they seemingly haven't been programmed to the extent that the Boys have. It makes me think their civilization CAN succeed with the help of some rehabilitation.
Whoa guys, please take that discussion to the spoiler thread. Not saying there's anything particularly spoilery, but if you're delving into themes and such, it's best to keep that all in that thread.
