Mad Max: Fury Road
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 "Oh, what a day. what a lovely day!"
— Nux | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mad Max: Fury Road is a 2015 Australian-American post-apocalyptic action film co-written, produced, and directed by George Miller. The fourth instalment and a "revisiting" of the Mad Max franchise, the film is a joint Australian-American venture produced by Kennedy Miller Mitchell, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, and Village Roadshow Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Miller worked with Brendan McCarthy and Nico Lathouris on the screenplay. The world premiere was on 7 May 2015 at the TCL Chinese Theatre. It began an Australian theatrical release on 14 May 2015 and a United States theatrical release on 15 May 2015, including an out-of-competition screening at the 68th Cannes Film Festival in 2D, 3D, IMAX 3D, and 4DX. After a pay dispute between Warner Bros. and Miller delayed early efforts to produce follow-up projects, a prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, was announced as being in "advanced development" in 2020 and was released on 24 May 2024, with Miller returning as writer and director.
In 1987, Miller conceived the concept for Fury Road, but had an infamous case of spending many years in development hell before pre-production started in 1998; attempts to film in the 2000s were delayed due to the 9/11 attacks, the Iraq war, and controversies surrounding star Mel Gibson, leading Miller to recast Gibson's role as Max. After releasing his 2006 animated comedy Happy Feet, Miller decided to revisit the film in 2007. In 2009, Miller announced that filming would commence in early 2011. Hardy was chosen for the role of Max in June 2010, with production scheduled to begin that November. Principal photography, initially planned for July 2012, faced several delays. Filming finally concluded in December 2012, despite additional footage being shot in November 2013.
Summary
In a desolate desert landscape inhabited by a fractured human society focused on survival and the relentless hunt for gasoline, a solitary man named Max (played by Tom Hardy), haunted by memories of people he couldn't save, becomes unwillingly entangled in pursuit while aiding a soldier Furiosa (played by Charlize Theron) and her female allies. They struggle to help her return to her homeland and escape from the clutches of a ruthless desert gang leader, Immortan Joe (played by Hugh Keays-Byrne), and his army in a post-apocalyptic desert. With the unforgiving desert terrain ahead and attackers behind, only the most daring will triumph against the onslaught.
Plot
Max Rockatansky gets captured and brought to Immortan Joe's Citadel. He becomes a prisoner and is used as a "blood bag" for Nux (portrayed by Nicholas Hoult), a sick War Boy. At the same time, Imperator Furiosa, one of Joe's lieutenants, is tasked with driving the armored "War Rig" to exchange petrol and ammunition with two of Joe's allies, the Bullet Farmer and the People Eater. When Joe discovers that his five wives are escaping in the Rig, he mobilizes his army to chase after Furiosa, enlisting the help of Gas Town and the Bullet Farm.
Nux becomes part of the chase, carrying Max in his car to keep providing blood. Furiosa steers into the dust storm and shakes off all her followers, except for Nux (who tries to sacrifice himself to explode the Rig). Max releases himself and holds back Nux, while Furiosa wrecks their vehicle.
Max discovers Furiosa repairing the rig after the sandstorm chase, and she is with Joe's wives: Toast, Capable, the Dag, Cheedo, and Angharad, the second latter of whom is heavily pregnant with Joe's child. Max engages in a fight and overpowers Furiosa. Although he attempts to steal the rig, he doesn't know the code to bypass the kill switches, so he reluctantly teams up with Furiosa and the wives. Nux climbs onto the rig as it departs and tries to attack Furiosa but is overpowered and thrown out. Subsequently, Joe's army rescues him as they pass by.
Furiosa navigates a canyon controlled by a biker gang to reach an agreement to trade fuel for safe passage. However, the gang betrays her upon spotting Joe's forces approaching, leading to a frantic escape as the bikers blow up the canyon walls to impede Joe. Meanwhile, Max and Furiosa fend off the pursuing bikers as Joe's car, now with Nux on board, plows through the blockade in a monstrous truck. Joe catches up with the Rig, allowing Nux to board and attempt to attack Furiosa again, but he stumbles before reaching the cab. While assisting Max, Angharad falls off the Rig and tragically gets run over by Joe, causing mortal injuries. This briefly halts Joe's pursuit.
Capable (played by Courtney Eaton) discovers Nux hiding in the Rig, comforting him about his failure, and offering him support. After a night, the truck becomes trapped in the mud. Furiosa and Max delay Joe's forces with mines, while Joe's associate, the Bullet Farmer (played by Richard Carter), continues the chase. Nux comes out of hiding to assist Max and Furiosa in freeing the rig and joining the crew. Furiosa incapacitates the approaching Bullet Farmer, and Max returns with firearms and ammunition.
Throughout the night, they travel through swamps and deserts in the truck, and when morning arrives, Furiosa tells Max about her background and the "Green Place," which is a beautiful land she remembers from her childhood. Upon recognizing a familiar landmark, Furiosa approaches a woman, but Max is suspicious, thinking it might be a trap. Nevertheless, Furiosa shares her history and clan affiliation with the woman. The woman then calls upon her clan, the Vuvalini, who identify Furiosa as one of their own who was taken as a child. Upon discovering that the swampland they passed through the night before was the Green Place, which is now uninhabitable, and that only seven Vuvalini are remaining, Furiosa becomes distraught and screams. The group then crosses vast salt flats in the hope of finding a new home.
Max decides to remain, but when he has a vision of a child he couldn't rescue, he changes his mind and recommends that the rest of the group go back to the unguarded Citadel, where Joe hoards plenty of water and crops.
They start making their pathway back to the Citadel but come under attack from Joe's forces and a battle ensues. Five Vuvalini lose their lives, Toast is taken captive, and Furiosa sustains serious injuries. As they approach the canyon, Joe positions his vehicle in front of the truck to impede its progress. Meanwhile, Max takes on Joe's formidable son, Rictus Erectus, and Furiosa boards Joe's truck to rescue Toast, forming an alliance that enables Furiosa to bring about Joe's demise by removing his breathing apparatus. Nux sacrifices himself by causing the truck to crash, killing Rictus, and obstructing the canyon, which allows Max, Furiosa, the wives, and the Vuvalini to successfully flee in Joe's vehicle. Finally, Max gives his blood to Furiosa to save her life.
Max shows Joe's dead body at the Citadel, and the citizens are thrilled to see that Joe is no longer alive. The people cheer for Furiosa, the wives, and the Vuvalini as they are welcomed by the War Boys. Max walks away, glancing at Furiosa one final time before disappearing into the crowd.
Why It's a Lovely Day
- The film proves you can make an amazing film with only a simple plot. One tiny plot sounds cheesy and boring from the start, but even a plot so small can have more than you think it could.
- Having just a simple plot makes the movie much easier to follow and understand, even if it can be predictable sometimes.
- The plot is well-executed since the story plot of being an unwanted, solitary (a road warrior in this case) person who gets caught, and later on, aiding a heroine soldier out is also powerful and shows how both characters easily get along with each other later on.
- When it comes to making dark-tone films, this is a notable example of a well-written dark-tone film. The dark tone helps with the film's narrative since the Mad Max franchise is notably dark in general, and the character's makeup (Furiosa in particular) helps to show why it is an excellent dark-tone film.
- It also proves that you can make a great fourth instalment, and a triumphant franchise revival after three great films.
- You don't even need to watch the other Mad Max films before this because it has a different plot than the rest of them by using the aforementioned plot.
- Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron perform extremely well as the two main characters; their portrayals of the former as a road warrior (Max Rockatansky) and the latter as the heroine soldier (Imperator Furiosa) easily carry the film throughout.
- Speaking of the former, he did an awesome job replacing Mel Gibson, who portrayed the original Mad Max in the previous three films.
- Even if Max isn't given much to say, he is still likable and completely badass at the same time.
- Imperator Furiosa is also a likable and great character who's given good character development and likability. She and her band are also complete badasses, alongside Max.
- Immortan Joe is an amazing villain compared to most villains of the first three Mad Max films. He has also been considered one of the best action film villains of the 2010s.
- Instead of CGI, the film greatly uses practical effects, particularly the famous flamethrower electric guitar in the opening scene and the famous sandstorm chase. Both scenes are intense and make it powerful.
- It lacks any clichés found in typical action films. There are no shaky cams and no jump cuts.
- It's fast-paced and allows a good descent into insanity, even for a two-hour-long film.
- It is full of intense action scenes and stories that make it extremely powerful, like the pursuit chase scene and the insane stunts. The behind-the-scenes also goes into depth about how insanely well-shot those action scenes are. It also makes it so that the audiences don't feel at rest and only gets them to want even more of it.
- The action and the stunts make the film even crazier, more intense to watch; they are also enough to keep one entertained; not only that, but they are also enough to keep you from being tired and make you feel more entertained.
- Brilliant cinematography, flawless editing, jaw-dropping techniques, and sound mixing combine to make the film even better.
- The cinematography makes the camera shots so good, to the point where it makes the driving scenes so fun to watch; it is awesome enough to make its images realistic; the cameras are placed on the driving scenes accurately and work well inside the desert-themed film.
- The sound mixing makes the audio sound amazing, especially during the dialogue, and quotes throughout.
- The sound editing is spectacular since it makes motorcycle starting-up sounds (like in the film's opening logos) and gives the driving sounds feel intense.
- The film editing makes it unique and helps to make it fast-paced (for the aforementioned reason), and how it makes the plot dark-toned.
- Its trailer is probably one of the greatest trailers of all time due to its intensity.
- The intro and logo openings of Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures are outstanding. They manage to be dark and cool, and the orange color for both logos is also creative.
- The soundtrack by Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) is appropriate as well and added to the whole thrill ride (who also later had compelling scores in films such as Deadpool, Alita: Battle Angel, the Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy, Zack Snyder's Justice League, Godzilla vs. Kong, and many more).
- The memorable quote "OH WHAT A DAY, WHAT A LOVELY DAY!"... end of story.
- Besides the aforementioned quote, there are other amazing quotes as well:
- "I LIVE, I DIE, I LIVE AGAIN!!"
- "If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die historic on the Fury Road!"
- "You know, hope is a mistake. If you can't fix what's broken, you'll, uh...you'll go insane."
- "…Here they come again. Worming their way into the black matter of my brain. I tell myself they cannot touch me: they are long dead."
- "I am the one that runs from both the living, and the dead. Hunted by scavengers, haunted by those I could not protect. So I exist in this wasteland, reduced to one extinct: survive."
- "My name is Max. My world is fire and blood. Once, I was a cop. A road warrior searching for a righteous cause. As the world fell, each of us in our way was broken. It was hard to know who was more crazy... me... or everyone else."
- It gives ideas about what film adaptations of video games like Borderlands would look like, with its storm, desert, and wastelands that give a good imitation of being one.
- Unlike most R-rated films (which usually contain swearing, such as The Wolf of Wall Street), the film has almost no profanity; it tends to avoid swearing while being rated R (notably due to the intense violence) at the same time.
- The vehicle and costume designs are exceptionally great. The latter even won an Academy Award for costume design at the 88th Academy Awards.
- George Miller returns to direct this live-action film, after Happy Feet Two ruined any potential for George Miller's Dr. D Studios, including an animated Mad Max film.
- Genuine feminist themes that are not spoon-fed, nor preachy to the audience. The first film had them too, but this film expanded upon them. This is the film that many late 2010s feminist action films, say like the infamous Ghostbusters reboot, tried to imitate and failed miserably because they didn't learn why it worked here:
- Max and the women get their fair share of badass moments to shine.
- It doesn't ruin Max's character to make room for Furiosa. In fact, the film keeps Max's likability and doesn't characterize him as dreadful; it also makes Furiosa likable (which she is in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga).
- Nux can redeem himself.
- The poster is epic; it shows Max and Furiosa holding weapons and getting ready to shoot (the former, in particular, holding a double-barrel shotgun and the latter, holding a rifle) in the desert storm. It also has motorcycles, showing how badass Max and Furiosa can be.
- It takes all the good qualities of the first three films and cranks them all up to eleven, to the point where it makes it a must-watch film, which is saying something for a highly acclaimed film. It also means that it expanded upon (and took) everything that made the three films that were already great and made them even better by a mile, such as introducing new characters (like Immortan Joe, and Furiosa), being an amazing fourth instalment to a great franchise, bringing the R-rating back after the third film, and great costume designs. This makes Fury Road an extremely creative, delightful film, one of the best action films released in 2015, and one of the best film releases of the 2010s. It's also a great example of a film that does lots of things correctly at being (and manages to be) dark and cool.
Bad Qualities
- While Max is still likable, he doesn't get as much focus time as he should.
- Development Hell: Production was set to begin in 2001 until 9/11 and the Iraq War canceled it due to shipping and budget concerns. Director George Miller revisited the idea after Happy Feet, considering making it an animated film until deciding to settle on live-action. Production was supposed to begin in November 2010 but several incidents, including rainfall in the series' usual location of Broken Hill unexpectedly turning the desert into a meadow of flowers, delayed the film further until filming began in June 2012 in Namibia. Aside from a few extra shots in late 2013, the film wrapped filming on 17 December 2012 and was finally released in 2015 after nearly two decades in development hell.
Reception
Mad Max: Fury Road was universally acclaimed by critics, audiences, and fans alike for its screenplay, Miller's directing, action sequences, score, cinematography, editing, costume design, visuals, sound mixing, and the performances of the cast (most notably Hardy and Theron's), and is highly considered as one of the best films of 2015, as well as one of the best films of the 2010s, and of all time; it is also considered as one of the greatest action films of all time. On Metacritic, the film earned a 90/100 based on 51 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Chris Stuckmann rated it an "A+" and featured it on his list of the Best Movies of 2015.
Trivia
- The project was given the green light to begin filming in the Australian desert in May 2003 with a budget of US$100 million, but the location was ruined by rainfall. The film entered then a hiatus in light of security concerns related to its Namibian shoot because of tightened travel and shipping restrictions at the onset of the Iraq War.
- Despite being the highest-grossing film in the Mad Max franchise, it was a box office disappointment, grossing $375.4 million worldwide against its $154.6–185.1 million production budget and incurring overall losses of up to $20–40 million.
Videos
Trailers
Reviews
External links
Mad Max: Fury Road on Metacritic
Mad Max: Fury Road at the Internet Movie Database
Mad Max: Fury Road on Rotten Tomatoes
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