Mad Max - Fury Road: Holy Hell...

Just caught this in the cinema last night, and I have to say if there is anyone on the fence about seeing it, you really should.

I won't go into it too much except to say that the sound and visuals are stunning. Tom Hardy doesn't bring a whole lot to it, but he doesn't need to when everything else is operating at such a high level.

It is my favourite summer "blockbuster" from the last couple of years and will definitely see it in the cinema again, once I convince my wife she needs to see it.

Also, I'd echo everything that Alex was saying in his tweets last night. It feels like a vital piece of action cinema.

One of the most unrelenting action films I've ever seen in my life, it almost felt like a two hour action scene with a few moments to let the characters catch their breath.

It was everything I had ever hoped for from a Mad Max movie. I gave the movie a "Fucking Awesome"/10

@seanfoster: Yeah, it's just non-stop. And anything with a flame spewing guitar is worth the price of admission!

Saw this last Tuesday, didn't think of enough stuff to write a full review for our site so just typed up this briefly:

This is not a good movie. I kept repeating that to myself a lot when watching Mad Max: Fury Road. I guess there's a certain fallacy within me for saying that while also giving it four stars and saying I enjoyed it immensely. It made me happy. New movies don't do that much any more. What made me happy was that this is an action-ass action movie. The storytelling takes up less than a quarter of the film's length, and the rest is all glorious stunt-filled action with minimal CGI. It's such a treat to follow and stare at the great looking vehicles blow up in spectacular flames. The choreography that inhabits every frame of action is untouchable. The editing is pitch-perfect. This is a thing that moves every single second. No breathers. It is in a sense everything a film like The Raid 2 should have been had it not decided to be a dumb soap opera.

So yeah, occasionally you'll get those jagged edges of the experience where people decide they need to talk. It goes straight downhill at that point. The melodramatic details of the story should be of interest to no one because they're full of the most tepid cliches in the book. It does a good job of setting up new characters really fast but it never does anything of interest with them. The storytelling is marred by constant, resilient fades to black that chop it up. Chop. Chop. The feminist core of the story is great and isn't rubbed in your face, but that's about it for the positives on the storytelling. The acting is weird, mostly in a good way, though I don't think Tom Hardy is even trying. I also don't think he needs to since he's such a charismatic figure as is.

But I, for one, am totally willing to give an experience of these proportions some leeway in the story-department when it is clear that it shines this bright in everything else it does. If you're willing to do that too, then you're in for a hell of a treat.

It was incredible, easily blows away any action film I've seen in the last few years. George Miller didn't lose a step in the last 30 years, he's the best he's ever been.

I just got back from seeing it. This movie is real dumb in some real beautiful ways.

Wasn't expecting to see the tanker truck chase scene from Mad Max 2 for 2 hours - but boy did I sure did love it.

Just got back from seeing it and all the reviews were spot on. This movie is amazing. Please go see it, I don't want it to be another Dredd.

11/10.

When I left the cinema all I could think was that I wanted to know more about that world. While the movie does what it does excellently I sorta missed the build up from the older movies. I wish the first prison chase (which is sorta pointless in itself) was a more traditional calm "this is what's going on" sequence. But at the same time just going for it straight away sets the tone pretty well for the rest of the movie. I wouldn't necessarily say it makes the movie worse, but it took me a good while to get into the notion of "fuck story, let's go action!".

Other than that I have to really compliment the movie for being the first movie I've ever seen in 3D where I actually completely forgot I was watching 3D. Not that they don't do anything with it, but it's subtle enough to the point that it doesn't feel like you're watching 3 different cuts layered on top of each other. Also, I really love how everyone is speaking faux-Australian. It's such a pointless, silly thing to retain.

Ultimately I would say it's a pretty poor "Mad Max" movie, considering how sidelined Max actually is, but it's a really great "Ultimate Post-Apocalypse Action" movie.

It's amazing. Everything is good. The performances and characters are delightfully strange. The action is nonstop and yet consistently engaging. And the music drives the action so well. Highly recommended. Easily of my favorite films in the past few years. It's more than a worthy successor to Mad Max 2 & 3.

So this isn't one of those action movies where the action becomes mind numbing and you feel disconnected from it? I have that problem a lot with the marvel movies though they're still entertaining; it even happened for me in the last battle of guardians which was a sad blemish on an otherwise great movie.

This is easily one of the best movies I've ever seen. It blew me the fuck away. So visually stunning. The action is incredible and somehow the pacing is excellent despite that the action is virtually never ending.

I love Road Warrior. This is like Road Warrior on acid, and it really does blow that movie out of the water. It's getting a ton of praise and it deserves every bit. Can't stop thinking about it.

Not at all, which is so amazing about this movie. I was worried when I heard its virtually nothing but action but somehow it's pulled off perfectly. There's so damn much to look at and my favorite part is constant small details that will be on screen in a more quiet moment and then later those come back into the action and end up resulting in someone getting brutally murdered or taken out or whatever. Don't want to ruin anything but I'll just say that.

I saw it this morning and, holy balls is it good! It's the 80's action film the 80's forgot to make.

I just came from from it. The most fun I've had while watching a movie in a long time! It takes the odd world that we know from the trilogy and turns everything up to 11! I had so much fun with it.

Mad Max - Fury Road: Holy Hell is the sequel I'm pretty sure.

@ripelivejam:

I think the key way Mad Max overcomes that is not only by being gorgeous and inventive in it's action, but by eschewing cgi for mostly practical stunts. There's a rawness and danger when real humans, cars and explosions collide that a cartoon could never match.

@refactored: my gf is pretty against seeing it I'm lobbying pretty hard to get her to go

@sagesebas: I'm pretty sure she'd like it Charlize Theron's character is just as (if not more) bad-ass than Max. It's kind of a story about her and Max just happens to be there doing bad-ass stuff.

I need to watch it more times and let it sink in, but this may take Starship Troopers place as my favorite film of all time. No seriously this is a god damn amazing film, one of the reasons for that is the gorgeous action, but there's a lot more to unpack to it than just that I think. I adored the characters, the surprising feminist approach, the dark fucking shit that happens in the film, the surprising turn a lot of the characters take (Nux is a fantastic character) the themes that are explored yet never explained or even presented orally to the viewer. I love the small things in it: How every vehicle is an extension of the characters they each represent, how the characters seem like actual people who inhabit this actual, believable place and do weird little thing like Immortan Joe playing on a flute-like instrument or his brother playing with his nipple-piercings for no apparent reason. There's a ton to unpack in the film and I can't wait to watch it again.

God damn I hope they get to make a Furiosa prequel and this doesn't go the Dredd 3D route and bomb spectacularly at the Box Office.

Saw it with the ladyfriend last night and we want to go see it again. That movie is fucking crazy. The visual aesthetic is top notch along with the character costume designs. Everyone has their own brand crazy in that movie. If there was an issue with the movie it would be that Max was kinda understated throughout the whole movie and Tom Hardy was mostly emoting this blend of his previous characters, Bane and Bronson

This man is 70 years old this year.

His last three movies, all of which he wrote and directed, were Babe: Pig in the City, Happy Feet, and Happy Feet Two.

@sagesebas: My wife can sometimes struggle with intense violence (She will never watch The Raid 2, having almost broken my hand watching the first) but she has come around on this. It is action packed and super intense, but not blood soaked or OTT in that manner.

It is a truly beautiful insane movie, that I think I can safely say without the Mad Max name, would never get made. Which is sad :-(

Babe: Pig in the City is fucking dark. And also great.

The hype for this movie isn't justifiable. I saw it a couple hours ago. To me, the best parts were the jam sessions of drumming and shredding. Everything else was moot.

Watched it yesterday - exceeded all expectations. Holy cow was that good.

10/10, and I can't think of a recent movie I would give that score to.

@a_e_martin: God I need to watch that film, forgot he made that. Another quitly dark, fucked up film: The first Babe.

I don't think this can be highlighted enough !

I really enjoyed it. It was super silly and super fun. Just a giant car chase action movie in the desert.

It was just a big hat tip to old Mad Max films. I did think it was a bit strange that Charlize Theron seemed to be more of the protagonist rather than Max. Tom Hardy said hardly anything the whole film. It didn't annoy me, it was just a little odd considering the film is called Mad Max.

One of the other things I felt when watching it was that most people that haven't seen the original Mad Max films, probably would have difficulty understanding what's going on. As much as it's nice when a film doesn't explain every little thing, it struck me as a little too trusting in it's audience to fill in the blanks. On the flip side, my girlfriend went to see it with me and really enjoyed it but did mention that she had no idea who or what half the people were and why they were doing certain things (e.g. spraying chrome, talking about Valhalla). However it didn't bother her enough to not enjoy the film.

If I was to give it a rating, I would say 4 out of 5. Definitely go see it if you are a fan of the old films. Or if you are just an action film lover.

I don't think I've ever seen a film that perfectly captures what it's trying to be more than Fury Road. It's magnificent.

I've also never wanted to see a Making Of feature more.

I can't think if the last time I've actually wanted to go to the theater to see a movie, and this has me extremely excited.

@polygon-al said:

I think the name 'Mad Max' more referes to the universe in question than it does to the actual character. Besides it did follow Max's perspective, so while this wasn't his story, it did still follow him. It's no different than Dredd 3D, which despite the films' name clearly focused on rookie Anderson. Miller has already told Max's story three times, unless this was a reboot, there's no reason to tell the same story again, so focusing on a completely new character makes sense.

Also, Furiosa is a way more interesting character than Max ever was.

All of the above. George Miller is one of those great Australians that makes me get all warm and fuzzy about my nation. He defined road war and the post-apocalypse, and has now redefined it.

I adore how practical all the pyro and stunts are in this film. However, I have to live with the fact that while it will make a profit (I cant believe it wouldn't with this level of critical groundswell), we may never see this kind of movie again because Hollywood will feel it didn't make enough profit (based on the 9 figure cost).

If you are older than 15, go and see this movie.

Saw and it immediately got me excited for that new game. Then I saw their portrayal of Max and realized he wasn't enough like Tom Hardy...

Same, I tend to reserve the theater for movies that look big and great and I'm super excited to see.
That isn't a hell of a lot of movies to me lately, I'm mostly content with getting a movie that looks fine or good on blu-ray and that's that.

But the trailer for this thing with the hype around it, maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan I am excited. Theater worthy it sounds like.

Any thoughts on Seeing it in 3D or not?

I haven't seen it, but from what I understand it's the antithesis to the modern action/adventure blockbuster. I haven't taken a big movie like this seriously in a really long fucking time; it excites me. And I'm scared to see how it does at the box office. If pitch perfect2/avengers 2 beat it this weekend... I just don't know, man..

@nbesnerson: Already commented on it, but ye I would recommend 3D.

Furiosa was probably my favorite part of this movie. What a badass.

@zolroyce: its doing ok but it only has a B+ cinemascore. That sounds good but its actually low. Pitch Perfect got an A- an from what I've heard from friends, it's shit. I don't trust film audiences anymore, especially when amazing action movies like John Wick make less money LTD than superhero movies do in a weekend.

@ares42:Sorry, missed that, thanks for the input. I think I'll give the 3D version a try.

I think it totally fits the state the character is in. At the start of the film he's almost feral. He says it himself, he only cares about survival. The experiences he makes throughout the film help him gain back some of his humanity. Like a second origin story for the character. If they really make a sequel they might focus more on Max.

Furiosa's up there with Ripley, Sarah Connor et all for me now. Max is good, I didnt realize going in this movie was a sequel not a reboot so the flashback stuff took me a bit by surprise. But Im glad they're keeping it all together so they cant retread old ground. Everything in this universe is so gross and wack I love it. Guitar guy almost stole the show.

Only bummer was Max's car.

I think this was a big success and my only worry with that is them making sequels that dont involve the guy who started it. George Miller is the glue keeping this shit from sinking from its own absurdity. A less steady hand would turn this thing into a cartoon or some self serious nonsense that's no longer entertaining. All the media inspired by Mad Max tends to fall on one end of the spectrum or the other on the whole. Couple things almost got it right, Book of Eli came close, parts of Fallout come close. But yeah. I hope it does well and gets a sequel, even a spinoff with Furiousa, as long as they keep Miller in the loop and dont hire Zack Snider or McG or any number of hack directors who would probably love to involve themselves in this thing.

So many megatextures.

Honestly, looks like I'll have to finish the second half of Rage.

Yeah the performance and stuff totally fitted with his state of mind. Like I said, I had no problem with Furiosa, she was great and her story was great. I just thought it was a bit odd that some of the focus was on her, even though it was being billed as a Mad Max movie. I get that she was the driving force (HA!) to pull Max out of his insanity (a little) but I still thought it was a little strange. It's like saying here is a Captain America movie and having the focus keep shifting to Iron Man. The more I think about it, it flipped around a lot to several different perspectives. Max's, Furiosa's, Immorton Joe's and even Nuxx, which was totally intended but it meant you learned less of everyone and a lot of no one.

Don't get me wrong though, I still loved the film. It was clearly meant to be an epic car chase action flick with some heart and it delivered on all fronts. I was merely pondering over what other audience members might have thought who hadn't seen the previous films.

Really glad it seems to be doing well in the box office.

My gf dragged me to see it! I'd never seen a Mad Max film before so I wasnt really interested before hand, Glad she did though as it was amazing.

Going to check out the old ones now, though I fear I'll be somewhat disappointed.

@creepingdeath0: I was in the same boat, as far as seeing the old ones.

I planned the see the trilogy earlier in the week but it didn't pan out. So now I have to go back to '79, which I'm sure is great but it'll take a bit to adjust after Fury Road.

Loved it. It's incredibly stark against the CGI fest that recent blockbusters have become. I think the feminist angle is a bit overblown in the media, as the plot is paper thin and having a strong female shouldn't be that big a statement. Nuxx's insanity was great, some of the quiet moment was were great, the action while never changing or letting up was gripping the entire movie. Theron's Furiosa is just a ball of rage which plays well against Max's nihilist survivalist. The spectacle and sense of reality to the action is amazing. The action is adult in a way. I don't mean to say gory but when people die it isn't presented as a cartoon or as a horror, it's just there. It's also very visually clear of what's going on and who is where. Sound design was awesome and the soundtrack is much like the film. Simple, ever pressing and constant. So much good things to say about it.

God fucking damnit, this is why I hate sub-titles. Apparently the Norwegian translators didn't do their research, so even while I tried ignoring it as much as possible reading their translation tricked me into hearing "Immortal" through the entire movie =(