Mad Max 4 - Fury Road

[somebody]

I saw this movie yesterday and WOW! Okay, it's probably not the greatest action movie in the world, as some media outlets have been saying, but it is definitely one of the best.

A return to mainly practical effects and decent length shots during the action scenes make the movie more watchable than many others from the past 15-20 years. The story is solid, maybe just falling on the wrong side of cliché, but the craziness of what's going on make up for any failings in that area.

My only real gripe with the movie was Tom Hardy's accent. It's not that he was trying to put on some silly accent or anything, but he went from Max to Bane to a spot on impersonation of Christopher Lambert in about 5 minutes. Truly this was the only negative I felt during the movie.

Also, sound track goodness! I think Junkie XL has nailed it with the scoring. Doof Wagon must feature in more movies.

 

[GTboyz]

Yeah, i had that issue the first time but come to think of it, it is kinda implied that he doesn't speak for a long time since he is a loner. Maybe that kinda affected his speaking abilities.

 

[DK]

I have to admit I thought the Bullet Farmer looked like a cross between a Monty Python character and the ECW wrestler Sabu.

 

[andrea]

 

[NoobMan DS]

Watched the film on Monday. Perhaps a tad overrated, I don't think it deserves a rating as high as 98%, but I enjoyed it very much. But again, I don't remember another film in which the vehicular carnage was more well-executed than the one in this film. This feels just about right. There wasn't really any moment where my sense of awe was suddenly struck down by a thought of, "Wow, that makes no sense at all!" Well, maybe except the tornado scene. The action with cars wasn't completely mindless with a bunch of random explosions thrown in; I can see there's a lot of thought put into them. I'd like to describe the film as somewhat resembling a post-apocalyptic Dakar rally, as some scenes were strongly reminiscent of these shots:

...but there was more to the film than that. Also, the chase scene with the poles was like a circus act in continuous motion revolving around motor vehicles.

There were some feel-good moments here and there. I suppose the music box that one of the wives operated referred to the one in Road Warrior? Although the one in Road Warrior played a Happy Birthday song. Not sure what the one in this played. The part where the war rig was consecutively bombarded by explosives thrown by motorcyclists felt like some old school platformer game. It's cohesive chaos.

Minor issues? Well, sometimes it felt like Max wasn't the main character of the film even though the title has "Max" in it. Not really a big deal though.

Oh, and one more thing. The guitarist and the people playing drums on top of a vehicle were amusing to me. Yet after leaving the theaters, I felt like perhaps that was just some useless, over-the-top frippery that shouldn't be there. Then I remembered that it's kind of a thing that is happening in my country...

 

[Snaeper]

@NoobMan DS The thing that blew me away with the movie, is that every time I look up on the internet to see whether or not one of the scenes was real or one of the few CGI aided effects, I find that it's real, because I'm so used to CGI effects (and I imagine many moviegoers are) some of the scenes might seem tame or just okay, but considering that those were cars that were actually flipping, those were guys actually those poles bouncing from car to car, those were motorcycles actually jumping, throwing a bomb at a moving vehicle in mid air, and then landing... it gives me a huge appreciation for the movie.

And one thing that they brought up about the music War Rig was that, before communication systems were developed for modern armies, they used a bugler or drummer to help organize the march and send basic commands that otherwise would be difficult to send given the time period. Now that technology has fallen in the tank, that vehicle serves the same purpose, communicating to the warband on what to do and where to go.

 

[05XR8]

Spoiler

"i saw it today. it was entertainjng but, empty. What a spectacular scene to show Imortan Joe and not at least explain how the Citadel came to be. Yes, in this day and age, people can figure things out for themselves. But the story should have been told and not have me use my imagination to bring me up to speed.

The vehicles are first rate. Killing a couple of the characters wasn't needed. How those women and biker gangs survived in the Wasteland, I don't know."

 

[GTboyz]

Minor issues? Well, sometimes it felt like Max wasn't the main character of the film even though the title has "Max" in it. Not really a big deal though.

Oh, and one more thing. The guitarist and the people playing drums on top of a vehicle were amusing to me. Yet after leaving the theaters, I felt like perhaps that was just some useless, over-the-top frippery that shouldn't be there. Then I remembered that it's kind of a thing that is happening in my country...

oh god the Persija bus hahaha ! i never thought of that

oh btw, Mad Max film is always like that, He doesn't feel like a main character but he actually is, it's just not his story. If you haven't watch the Road Warrior, then you gotta see it, Max presence is similar to Fury Road but it's not his story, instead it's his legacy being told by the people who is involved in the story of the hero. In Fury Road, the hero is Furiousa and it's her story. In Road Warrior it's Pappagallo's story and he's also the hero, Max is the one who helped them.

@NoobMan DS

And one thing that they brought up about the music War Rig was that, before communication systems were developed for modern armies, they used a bugler or drummer to help organize the march and send basic commands that otherwise would be difficult to send given the time period. Now that technology has fallen in the tank, that vehicle serves the same purpose, communicating to the warband on what to do and where to go.

It was really scary hearing the music from far away when the war parties are seen in the horizon.

 

[NoobMan DS]

@GTboyz

I watched Road Warrior a week before I watched Fury Road. Pappagallo was an elemental character to move the plot forward, but at no point he seemed like a main character to me. Although being a leader, he was more like a "more-words-than-action" kind of person. The impression he left on me was very weak; he even died an anticlimactic death while trying to help the Feral Kid. (who despite not saying any actual words still managed to become an influential character, by forming a somewhat intimate bond with Max after he received the tiny music box) Not saying Pappagallo wasn't influential, but he remained merely a necessary ingredient in the plot and nothing much more. The legacy told about Max was an account of his heroic deeds, and although they largely involved saving Pappagallo's tribe, it barely paid any tribute to Pappagallo. Overall it still felt like Max was the main hero.

Surely there were some similarities between Max eventually wanting to help Pappagallo by driving the tanker with Max convincing Furiosa to claim Immortan Joe's Citadel. I'd say it symbolized a recovery of the person's conscience built through shared experiences between those characters and their affiliates, a pivotal breakout from the selfish, individualistic motive of personal survival. But whereas in Road Warrior this turning point centered on Max until the end of the movie, in Fury Road it just seemed to center on Max at the particular moment where he advised Furiosa to go back. For the latter, after the moment mentioned the impression Max left just seemed to falter again. It's more about Furiosa. Nothing against her, I actually like her character. Again, as I implied it's not a major issue. I just feel the need to clarify why I said what I said, since you brought it up.

 

[GTboyz]

@GTboyz

I watched Road Warrior a week before I watched Fury Road. Pappagallo was an elemental character to move the plot forward, but at no point he seemed like a main character to me. Although being a leader, he was more like a "more-words-than-action" kind of person. The impression he left on me was very weak; he even died an anticlimactic death while trying to help the Feral Kid. (who despite not saying any actual words still managed to become an influential character, by forming a somewhat intimate bond with Max after he received the tiny music box) Not saying Pappagallo wasn't influential, but he remained merely a necessary ingredient in the plot and nothing much more. The legacy told about Max was an account of his heroic deeds, and although they largely involved saving Pappagallo's tribe, it barely paid any tribute to Pappagallo. Overall it still felt like Max was the main hero.

Surely there were some similarities between Max eventually wanting to help Pappagallo by driving the tanker with Max convincing Furiosa to claim Immortan Joe's Citadel. I'd say it symbolized a recovery of the person's conscience built through shared experiences between those characters and their affiliates, a pivotal breakout from the selfish, individualistic motive of personal survival. But whereas in Road Warrior this turning point centered on Max until the end of the movie, in Fury Road it just seemed to center on Max at the particular moment where he advised Furiosa to go back. For the latter, after the moment mentioned the impression Max left just seemed to falter again. It's more about Furiosa. Nothing against her, I actually like her character. Again, as I implied it's not a major issue. I just feel the need to clarify why I said what I said, since you brought it up.

i see, it seems it's because Miller wanted Furiousa to be another main character in the movie.

 

[Jawehawk]

Fun fact people. You can have more than one protagonist.

 

[Snaeper]

And given that Max is the definition of Antihero, it seems appropriate that another character would share the light.

When you cast Charlize Theron across from the quiet Anti-Hero, of course there's going to be some confused spotlight.

Max was, ultimately, in no different a position than he was in the first three movies. Just a guy trying to eke it by, not looking for anything. In the first three films, there wasn't any other strong protagonist characters to share the screen with, so naturally Furiosa would take more of a front seat simply due to Max's character not having a desire to be a hero.

Spoiler

In the first film, he was just a cop who was worried about becoming too good at what he did. On the one hand, he had the police trying to lure him into staying with a shiny black car, and on the other you had a biker gang that happened to take a vengeful interest in him because the last person he killed was a friend of theirs. Dude goes on vacation well out of town and the bikers find and kill his wife and kid anyways. (should note that this is the first instance of George Miller putting a strong female character in his film, because that granny with the shotgun was no joke, people act surprised by the ones in Fury Road and labeled it feminist propaganda, I just called it George being George)

In the second film again, he's just roaming the wasteland with his dog and happens to come across some of Hummungus' goons, then a crazy Gyro guy, and the gas town people. He doesn't want to help them, but they take his stuff and he wants their gas so they work something out. After he looses everything, he drives the rig for them since there's nothing else to do. (Note, again, the Warrior Woman presents a strong female character in the franchise. Again, I have no idea why people were surprised, granted there was a lot of rape and she died off pretty unremarkably, but she didn't take no BS).

Lastly, you have the third film. Again, Max is just minding his own camel-towing business when his stuff gets jacked and he has to fight to get it back. This leads to everything spiraling out of control, it turns into an Australian version of the Goonies for a little bit, but then ends off in the same way that the Road Warrior and Fury Road did. (And Aunty Entity is another strong female character)

 

[Brett]

I cannot really understand why anyone would have a problem with strong women characters. I am also surprised this is still a talking point for anyone. Strong women characters are awesome. Enjoy the movie for what it is, an absurdly, ridiculously awesome movie.

It should also go without mention that the strong women in the movie are incredibly attractive and I do not just mean physically.

 

[Snaeper]

Well, Fury Road stirred up the Feminism debate for some. In reality it was just the extremists on both sides trying to slant or champion the movie for their cause, but ultimately it was just a movie.

 

[NoobMan DS]

Honestly I don't understand why many people see this as a feminist film. I don't feel such vibe myself while watching it. Strong female characters aren't a new thing, they were already present in previous films. And I'd say in the Mad Max world you're bound to push your limits and act more aggressive than ever if you wanna survive, no matter your age or gender.

 

[Maldoxx]

Feminist film, WHAT? Anyway, when I left the theather, I heard a lot of people complaining about Nux sacrificing himself. Seems like Nux managed to touch the heart of someone after all.

 

[NoobMan DS]

Nux seemed like someone who was ready to die for whatever looked like a greater cause, even early in the film. But at first he was just another one of the brainwashed War Boys; what particularly made Nux distinctive was him desperately seeking approval from his master. That explains why he was so excited when Immortan Joe seemingly looked at him, I suppose. Perhaps that makes him a somewhat relatable character for many people. Many of us experienced trying to gain approval from someone else and failing to do that. I can see if there's great sentimentality among the audience toward him. I guess when one of the wives expressed sympathy for him, he felt like he could have a new purpose in the midst of hopelessness, a purpose chosen out of his own will and not fostered under a certain authority. Yet even though he wasn't chained anymore to the lingering desire for approval, his willingness to die didn't disappear.


I guess I didn't word it correctly when I labelled Max not being a prominent character as an issue. Not that it is a fault in filmmaking and I don't have a degree in such field. I guess it's more like, I'd prefer it more if there's a lot more action from him.

 

[Maldoxx]

I guess I didn't word it correctly when I labelled Max not being a prominent character as an issue. Not that it is a fault in filmmaking and I don't have a degree in such field. I guess it's more like, I'd prefer it more if there's a lot more action from him.

I also heard people complaining about Max just being the driver of Furiosa.

 

[GTboyz]

well, this is awesome

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

@NoobMan DS The thing that blew me away with the movie, is that every time I look up on the internet to see whether or not one of the scenes was real or one of the few CGI aided effects, I find that it's real, because I'm so used to CGI effects (and I imagine many moviegoers are) some of the scenes might seem tame or just okay, but considering that those were cars that were actually flipping, those were guys actually those poles bouncing from car to car, those were motorcycles actually jumping, throwing a bomb at a moving vehicle in mid air, and then landing... it gives me a huge appreciation for the movie.

And one thing that they brought up about the music War Rig was that, before communication systems were developed for modern armies, they used a bugler or drummer to help organize the march and send basic commands that otherwise would be difficult to send given the time period. Now that technology has fallen in the tank, that vehicle serves the same purpose, communicating to the warband on what to do and where to go.

That's George Miller for you.

 

[DK]

I'm just waiting for Nux to be used in an Unexpected Jihad video.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

@NoobMan DS The thing that blew me away with the movie, is that every time I look up on the internet to see whether or not one of the scenes was real or one of the few CGI aided effects, I find that it's real, because I'm so used to CGI effects (and I imagine many moviegoers are) some of the scenes might seem tame or just okay, but considering that those were cars that were actually flipping, those were guys actually those poles bouncing from car to car, those were motorcycles actually jumping, throwing a bomb at a moving vehicle in mid air, and then landing... it gives me a huge appreciation for the movie.

And one thing that they brought up about the music War Rig was that, before communication systems were developed for modern armies, they used a bugler or drummer to help organize the march and send basic commands that otherwise would be difficult to send given the time period. Now that technology has fallen in the tank, that vehicle serves the same purpose, communicating to the warband on what to do and where to go.

Overall great movie!! A tad overrated but still very enjoyable. So much chaos and craziness. Knowing most of it was not CGI also helped me appreciate the movie even more. However the CGI Charlize Theron missing arm was very impressive.

 

[GTboyz]

in the advanced screening back then, Max was supposed to wear an earpiece like in the one of the posters for the half rest of the movie but they digitally removed it in the final piece.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Lots of clever elements and touches, with good action sequences, I think they certainly made the best of the vehicular related stunts and effects. But, personally I didn't find the characters engaging enough to really care about, and I felt like I was waiting the whole film for Max to do what he was going to, which he never really did. Nux was probably the only character that was really developed during the film. I didn't find myself engrossed in the the main characters ("good guys") struggle particularly, and maybe it's just because Mel Gibson had an implied charisma (by which I mean y'knew it was Mel....), but Tom Hardy didn't really leave much of an impression on me at all.

Having said that, this point in the Mad Max timeline isn't the one I'd like to see explored, I don't think it really adds much to the Mad Max universe, to see again just a "tale from the wastelands".. gang, truck, some flames, sand.... people living a fairly unenjoyable pointless life. So maybe I wasn't so much hoping for something better, just something slightly different.

Good but not great.

 

[Brend]

I really enjoyed the movie although I wasn't amazed by it. I liked the stylistic choices but it wasn't incredible by any standard.

8/10

 

[Jawehawk]

I didn't find myself engrossed in the the main characters ("good guys") struggle particularly, and maybe it's just because Mel Gibson had an implied charisma (by which I mean y'knew it was Mel....), but Tom Hardy didn't really leave much of an impression on me at all.

Uhm... Am I missing something here? What are you talking about regarding Mel Gibson? He's not in the movie.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Uhm... Am I missing something here? What are you talking about regarding Mel Gibson? He's not in the movie.

I was comparing Tom Hardy in this, to Mel Gibson in the previous films. The fact that in the first three films it was Mel Gibson playing the part lent some charisma to the character of Max (or at least it did for me, I didn't see the first film until about 15 years ago, by which time Gibson was Det. Riggs, or Brett Maverick....), compared to Tom Hardy who I find pretty uninteresting - I honestly didn't much care what happened to Max in Fury Road.

 

[Jawehawk]

I was comparing Tom Hardy in this, to Mel Gibson in the previous films. The fact that in the first three films it was Mel Gibson playing the part lent some charisma to the character of Max (or at least it did for me, I didn't see the first film until about 15 years ago, by which time Gibson was Det. Riggs, or Brett Maverick....), compared to Tom Hardy who I find pretty uninteresting - I honestly didn't much care what happened to Max in Fury Road.

ohhh, I see. I haven't seen 'em, so I didn't understand. Sorry for the confusion

 

[FoolKiller]

Watched the film on Monday. Perhaps a tad overrated, I don't think it deserves a rating as high as 98%, but I enjoyed it very much.

Rotten Tomatoes scores are the percentage of positive reviews. There could be 98% of the reviews that gave it an 80, 4/5. or 8/10 and it would get a 98%.

The Metacritic score (an average score of all scores they record) is 89, or just below an average rating of 4.5 stars.

 

[NoobMan DS]

@FoolKiller

Yeah, I am aware that the scores on RT are aggregate data based on the number of positive or negative reviews collected. I don't know the specific algorithms carried out, but I could somewhat infer the basis of the displayed score by noticing the relation between the number above and the labels of the linked reviews below. Say, on May 11, all the reviews for this movie collected on RT had the tomato labels, and the rating displayed was 100%. It's just that Rotten Tomatoes' scores are commonly used by people to determine if a film is really worth watching in the theaters or not, hence why I decided to refer to the number 98%. Actually I was wondering if I really should mention it at the start of my post; I had a feeling that someone would just point out that it's kind of a flaw to rely on RT ratings.

Nevertheless, I usually don't check or rely on Metacritic scores, and I wasn't aware of how they got to their numbers. That's good to know! Sounds like a more reliable representation on how good a movie is.