Mad Max: Fury Road (Possible Spoilers? Assume there's spoilers)

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I personally liked the film. So much in fact, that I watched the original Mad Max afterwords to satisfy my curiosity of what could have possibly been the forerunner to such a bombastic and satisfying film. What I found was, in my opinion, underwhelming.

All I can really say is that the originals and the newest rendition are two completely different films. To simplify things, I'll divide the two films into three categories to compare and contrast.

Action
  • The old movies seemed a tad lacking in this area, though that is to be expected. These days, to be frank, are dedicated to making bigger and better explosions. The original was simply outclassed, outdated, and out budgeted. While the newest Mad Max had my stomach churning in my seat as I wondered which character was going to die next, the original had the opposite effect. There were a few 'chase' scenes, but the worst scene in the newest one could blow the best scene in the old one out of the water special effects wise.​
  • TLDR; Newer movies have better action scenes due to better technology and funding.​

Characters
  • For the main character, I have to say that I like the newer Mad Max. It was a close tie, but I like the Clint Eastwood vibe of the newest one. Max isn't the typical white paladin, and I liked how the newer movie gave a realistic impression that Max really didn't dig the whole 'hero' scthick. Sure he softened up towards the end, but he pulled off a pretty good antihero impression in my opinion.​
  • For the villains, I really wasn't a fan of either films. I couldn't take Joe or Toecutter seriously honestly. They were both pretty ridiculous in my opinion. The leather pant trend of the 80s really didn't help Toecutter either.​
  • TLDR; Newer movies are grittier overall, and I feel like that suits Mad Max.​

Plot
  • This is one point that I'll admit the original had a better plot, but did it drag on forever. When I bought tickets to see Fury Road, I basically expected the usual explosion and boobfest of most action thrillers. While there weren't many breasts (except that one slightly unnerving scene), the action definitely delivered. I didn't buy tickets for a social commentary on the human condition. I wanted a cheap thrill for ten dollars, and Fury Road delivered.​
  • TLDR; Old one had better plot, but not enough action.​
 
It was a fantastic movie that I loved and am definitely buying.

It's also a movie where Max isn't the main character. It's Furiosa, and it's her story. Ultimately, it's a feminist story that showcases that you can have movies centered around strong female characters who don't need to be rescued by the male protagonist. In that regard, it's refreshing to see a change from the usual action movie tropes. The thing about Max in this movie is that while he's not the main character, everyone knows who he is and he's along for the ride helping another character in a more supporting capacity than being the main character. It's actually a really interesting dynamic that I read about in an article after the movie came out; imagine seeing something like an Iron Man movie where instead of focusing on Tony and developing him, it sets the stage for another hero character that Tony works with. Iron Man would still be a heavy presence on the screen and would definitely be a major player, but we don't need to spend as much time developing him because we already had 3 movies (well, 5 if you count the Avengers) to develop his back story. Each movie could feature a different new hero, who may or may not get a spin off film of their own, and it would help keep things fresh and interesting.
 
I saw it with a group of my friends, I loved it. I also loved the older Mad Max movies. But the absolute best part of the movie? This guy:

the-man-behind-the-awesome-flamethrower-guitar-player-in-mad-max-fury-road-is-a-popular-australian-musician.jpg

Like this if you think he needs his own movie
 
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I thought it was pretty great. Maybe because I have a thing for mindless action every once in a while, and went to the movie expecting nothing but thrills and explosions. I got that and a simple, easy to follow storyline that was neither unbearably pretentious nor insufferably stupid. It was simple, could have been better, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. That should be the aim of movies, anyhow; who the heck wants a movie detailing all the things the director hates about people?

Anyway, the originals were good for their time, and I get your nostalgia completely. All the old stuff gets picked up in the present and turned into something "new" to fit the demographic, but that doesn't mean it's good in everyone's eyes, especially the ones who grew up with it. Each new generation always wants something completely different, but people aren't always fond of change. So there's always going to be anger from both sides.

Though I do still wonder why they didn't just title it Furiosa, because it wasn't about Max at all.
 
That's absolutely fair, I see where you're both coming from. I think it's just because I'm so nostalgic about the originals and I liked the story and characters. I can see why it seems really dated if you watch it after this one, it had a budget that pretty much equated to peanuts. I think three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Mel Gibson was an unknown actor and the villain was silly, yeah. Going into it, I know what I wanted to see and it wasn't what I got. From that standpoint, I didn't think it was a great story and I didn't particularly like the characters presented. It went a different direction than the others did and I wasn't entirely feeling it.
One thing I try really hard not to do with long-running franchises that get reboots and entirely new casts is judge the new one by the old one, and vice versa. There's always the risk of nostalgia glasses that make you forgive a lot of stuff that you'd really find bad in newer movies, and sometimes they are trying to make something that stands out from the originals. It's probably why I was able to enjoy Jurassic World as much as I did, because while the first remains my favorite movie of all time and it's pretty much perfect as far as movies go (at least for what I look for in a movie), it wouldn't be fair to compare a far-off sequel that feels like a reboot to the original on a point by point basis. There were a couple things I was looking for, namely that they treat the dinosaurs like animals instead of movie monsters and that they respect the source material, but overall I went in without having pre-existing expectations and I think I came out a bit happier for it.

It's like how I have no doubt that some people are going to see the new Star Wars movie and inevitably compare it to the original trilogy and end up hating it because of nostalgia glasses and they pretty much want the exact same movies as the originals (ugh, the stormtrooper armour looks stupid! Only the original characters are interesting! That lightsaber is killing the franchise like Jar Jar Binks! Why don't they bring back this really obscure character that only shows up for 10 minutes in the original trilogy? The ewoks were masterpieces compared to this stupid shit!) without accepting that holy shit, those things were made back in the late 70s/ early 80s and were largely a happy accident.

Now, that said, I can understand how in cases like Star Trek where the remakes seem to completely miss the message and themes of the source material that people will definitely have some justified beef. In cases like that, I consider it a great thing about entertainment media that we can completely pretend terrible things don't exist. :D
 
Though I do still wonder why they didn't just title it Furiosa, because it wasn't about Max at all.
Because that probably wouldn't get butts in seats like a known name would, and it takes place in Mad Max's universe.

Also, I just wanted to point out my approval for your avatar. The Autobots don't always do right, but Wheeljack is fucking awesome.
 
Because that probably wouldn't get butts in seats like a known name would, and it takes place in Mad Max's universe.

Also, I just wanted to point out my approval for your avatar. The Autobots don't always do right, but Wheeljack is fucking awesome.
Yeah, I suppose that's true. Furiosa would make an awesome movie title, though...

Your approval is appreciated and the Wheeljack fan in me says heck yeah.
 
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Furiosa sounds like a disease that makes you erode whenever you get really angry. I don't even know what I'm talking about, but that would make for a terrible superpower.
Nah, just sounds like a more feminine Furious. But that's what you would have if your superpower was getting lots of sympathy. And candy; people usually give you lots of candy if they feel bad for you.
 
Max is hardly a sympathetic character in the second movie. He saves the dude at the beginning only because a deal was made for gas! He's just as self-serving as he is characterized in Fury Road (which finally bends way to some sort of altruism, which is what ultimately ends up happening in Road Warrior as well).

He also hardly speaks in Road Warrior as well.

But as pointed out, Fury Road is more about Furiosa and the Fierce Model Bitches. It's about all sorts of things, a lot of people pointing at glaringly obvious feminist topics, a few others talking about the worth of human life. Yadda-yadda-yadda.

Ultimately, I think it was an insanely incredible movie. Hands-down the greatest action movie of the last decade, and if you read some of the behind the scenes stuff, you'll realize exactly to what extremes George Millar went to make this movie as spectacular and as genuine as possible.
 
Went to see it at 3 a.m-ish. Fell asleep at some point, but woke up later and felt like I haven't missed anything.

Honestly, it was alright enough. I can't reallt judge it fully since sleep got the best of me, but I really did like it. I enjoyed the action scenes -- they were really dynamic. I felt like the movie was very, erm, true to itself? It felt very genuine and honest somehow, as opposed to some other movies of this year that took themselves so seriously that I was pissing myself with laughter through every fight scene.

As pointed out earlier, Fury Road was really Furiosa's movie and Max was just there to give the plot a little shove. That being said, I can't really judge Fury Road compared to the rest of the series because the last time I watched any of the Mad Max movies was a helluva long time ago.

But overall? It was good. I might even re-watch it once it's avaliable for legal streaming or something. It had its own unique vibe and a certain voice to it that really made it stand out.

*throws papers up in the air* I rest my case.
 
I loved the Movie, just like the other three.

About the guy playing a guitar the entire time, they actually have a story made for him. His name is Coma the Doof Warrior and he was found in a cave with his Mothers head and Immortan Joe got him to come with him, blah blah. Now the guy gets the blood flowing with music and wears his mothers face as a mask. (<---Fucked up, but so is the Post-Apoc Australia that is Mad Max.)
 
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I liked the over the top ridiculous equipment and action. Everything else was just as dumb but in a bad way. Well, that's not entirely true. The universe has a bunch of historical influences that were delicious to pick out but pretty much all that this film specifically exposed was there simply to serve a dumb as fuck plot. Which would have been forgivable if they didn't try to evoke emotion. Needless to say I feel they failed spectacularly at that. It almost felt like they were parodying drama. Not just because the characters feel like cardboard, but because I could predict literally everything that happened within the next ten minutes of the movie.

And while the action itself was interesting enough, when you have so much of it and care so little for the characters, I personally found myself sitting there asking myself when it would finally end (something I fared reasonably at predicting as well.)

I don't know. I paid the ticket, saw the show, but I just don't see the hype.
 
I absolutely adored the movie. As a Mad Max fan it gave me the despair filled portrayal of a harsh manmade apocalypse world that I've wanted to see ever since MM2. It had a very well executed save yourself theme to it with arguably the strongest female portrayal I've seen in a Blockbuster style action movie for ages. Not to mention it was a visual feast that was completely over the top but with a vision behind every thing.
 
I had maybe saw half of the first Mad Max movie over the years in the 80s on USA network though I confused it with Dune honestly. I was a kid and never saw either from beginning to end! However I love action flicks and when I hear the women were not portrayed as all weak mewing damsels I was in. I don't know. It had a lot of action but the plot fell flat. I wanted more back story and just a touch less chase scenes. Or not I don't know. It was fun but like an elephant ear, tasty but not fulfilling. I do want to see the original now though just to understand the franchise.
 
Those people who claim mad max doesn't have plot or anything should pay more attention to how much is told by visual cues without the 'I'm going to explain everything with a five minute speech.' The movie was masterfully crafted to make important parts obvious. No one had to ask why the War Boys said 'WITNESS ME' or why they worship the V8 (shiny and chrome it is).

There was nothing in that film which was out of place. The entire setting and characters summed up to paint a world that one can accept as internally consistent.

Quite possibly one of my favourite movies, ever.

Telling a story without boring exposition, a focus on the setting instead of plot, and strong characters without implied romantic undertones? Iwaku could learn from all three.
 
Those people who claim mad max doesn't have plot or anything should pay more attention to how much is told by visual cues without the 'I'm going to explain everything with a five minute speech.' The movie was masterfully crafted to make important parts obvious. No one had to ask why the War Boys said 'WITNESS ME' or why they worship the V8 (shiny and chrome it is).

There was nothing in that film which was out of place. The entire setting and characters summed up to paint a world that one can accept as internally consistent.

Quite possibly one of my favourite movies, ever.

Telling a story without boring exposition, a focus on the setting instead of plot, and strong characters without implied romantic undertones? Iwaku could learn from all three.
Very well said.
 
but because I could predict literally everything that happened within the next ten minutes of the movie.
How subtle do you want your cues?

Did you predict that Furiosa stole something from Immortan Joe, or was it because she kept eyeing the Citadel to wait until their signaling was finished before going off road? Or that the green place was poisoned - was it because they drove past a fetid swamp with crows? Or that Max would turn the convoy around back to the Citadel - was it because the movie showed Max catching up with them?
 
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