Mad Max Furiosa

[pengbuzz]

Yeah that's a start. I think it would take much more though. Fast-moving vehicles need whole body shapes in general. Pre-WW2-style open wheels (and standalone fender shapes) are outdated when vehicles are cruising at speeds over 40-50 mph. It's too easy for open wheels/fenders to get caught on stuff. And for Batman it would be harder to punch the car through obstacles/walls/etc. The wheels need protecting. The bodywork works better when it's a shell around the whole thing.

Right; I didn't want to spend too much time on it, just get the idea down that they didn't need to make it look like he used an electromagnet in a junkyard to make his car.

Charlize's Furiosa showed a pretty serious grudge against Immortan Joe in 'Fury Road'. They had history.

The new trailer says "45 years after the apocalypse" . . . but that puts 'Fury Road' at least 50-60 years after the apocalypse . . . and Tom Hardy's Max was how old in that? Didn't Max used to be a cop with a family before the nuke action? I think George Miller is hand-waving a bunch of continuity snags as usual.

Right on all counts there. I'd say if anything, for Furiosa to still look anything young, it'd be 5-10 years prior tops.

 

[batguy]

Yeah, the MM timeline becomes generally unworkable as Miller develops it farther.

IMO the world of 'Fury Road' (and even 'Thunderdome' for that matter) feels like it should be beyond living memory of the apocalypse. Like at least 75-100 years. But somehow the 20th-century cars & other tech are still sorta usable. And Max is an ex-cop who barely seems any older than when the bombs fell.


I suspect Miller might put a quasi-patch on the issue by retconning out Max's backstory (the first movie). If Max is entirely a post-apoc character then that buys some breathing room. I've been suspecting this ever since I saw 'Fury Road' and Max was having flashbacks that didn't look anything like the first MM movie.

There are still the glaring tech problems with having the new movies set so far after the apocalypse. But those problems aren't nearly as obvious to most viewers. Not the way human lifespans are.


Spitballing up a theory:

I could see Max being a Dread Pirate Roberts, or at least an inherited name. Maybe Mel Gibson was Max and Tom Hardy is Max Jr. It makes sense the way Max is portrayed as a 2-dimensional hero archetype who barely even speaks. And there has already been some rationalizing (in canonized sources) that the '73 Falcon XB in 'Fury Road' was a second one that Max put together after the first one got wrecked in MM#2.

 

[pengbuzz]

Yeah, the MM timeline becomes generally unworkable as Miller develops it farther.

IMO the world of 'Fury Road' (and even 'Thunderdome' for that matter) feels like it should be beyond living memory of the apocalypse. Like at least 75-100 years. But somehow the 20th-century cars & other tech are still sorta usable. And Max is an ex-cop who barely seems any older than when the bombs fell.


I suspect Miller might put a quasi-patch on the issue by retconning out Max's backstory (the first movie). If Max is entirely a post-apoc character then that buys some breathing room. I've been suspecting this ever since I saw 'Fury Road' and Max was having flashbacks that didn't look anything like the first MM movie.

There are still the glaring tech problems with having the new movies set so far after the apocalypse. But those problems aren't nearly as obvious to most viewers. Not the way human lifespans are.


Spitballing up a theory:

I could see Max being a Dread Pirate Roberts, or at least an inherited name. Maybe Mel Gibson was Max and Tom Hardy is Max Jr. It makes sense the way Max is portrayed as a 2-dimensional hero archetype who barely even speaks. And there has already been some rationalizing (in canonized sources) that the '73 Falcon XB in 'Fury Road' was a second one that Max put together after the first one got wrecked in MM#2.

A simpler explanation (although I like your Dread Pirate Roberts theory ): They have no real way of keeping time accurately given the disintegration of society, so they may count time a bit differently. Yeah, they still have the Sun and the rotation of the Earth for days, but the rest could be muddled and no one is even sure what month or even year it might be.

 

[CessnaDriver]

It's all stories from the Great Northern Tribe. Passed down doin' the tell over and over. It's not going to fit perfect.

 

[Ron]

Hey batguy . You're a car guy. I had a question about the Interceptor, specifically about the blower. It was of course non-functional on the prop car (well, it was functional in the sense that the belt and wheel spun). I was checking out some custom built MM cars and wondering if it was possible to integrate the blower as we see it in the movie with an on/off switch. I assume it's not practical at all because the blower is the only intake into the engine so basically it's always 'on' persay and... why would you even want it 'off'?. I realize the MM movies take cinematic liberties in that regard to have exciting boost moments. Nevertheless, can it be done somehow?

 

[Strikerkc]

Nah, no dread pirate robberts.
I'm fine with a property melding and changing as time goes on, as long as the stories feel good.

I always kind of got the feeling that there were parts of Australia that became "old school" after the bombs (example: the first MM movie), while other parts had gone completely feral (road warrior+).
Max's life in "society" was over, so he drifted to the truly chaotic places.
Sadly, the society from the original MM would probably fall to chaos within a generation.

Even without that rationalization, I'm fine with fury road just feeling like a "what if the only other MM movie had been Road Warrior?" Vibe

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

I'm fine with a property melding and changing as time goes on, as long as the stories feel good.

I'll take this route any day. The first three MM movies follow a loose continuity where we, the audience, know that each film broadly followed on after the other and that was about it; other details were ancillary, either built upon or outrightly discarded. Fury Road just being an amalgam of all the best elements from the originals while being its own thing, I'm more than happy with what we got and happier we get more of it.

 

[batguy]

Hey @batguy . You're a car guy. I had a question about the Interceptor, specifically about the blower. It was of course non-functional on the prop car (well, it was functional in the sense that the belt and wheel spun). I was checking out some custom built MM cars and wondering if it was possible to integrate the blower as we see it in the movie with an on/off switch. I assume it's not practical at all because the blower is the only intake into the engine so basically it's always 'on' persay and... why would you even want it 'off'?. I realize the MM movies take cinematic liberties in that regard to have exciting boost moments. Nevertheless, can it be done somehow?

Hi. Yes, I'm a car guy, to put it mildly!

Short answer: A switchable blower might be do-able on paper but it's not worth the compromises. The final product would have more drawbacks than the movie version.


- Mechanical:
You would need some kind of electric clutch on that front blower belt like an overgrown AC compressor clutch. But it would need to be REALLY strong for that job. Enough to hold at least 150-200 horsepower. (An A/C compressor clutch deals with maybe 10% of that.) This is why the rubber belt on the front pulley of a blower is so much wider than the other rubber belts on the rest of the engine.

- Another issue would be the engine compression. Engines making big horsepower with blowers are rebuilt for the job with low compression pistons. (It offsets the extreme cylinder pressure squeeze.) So this switchable-blower engine would be a total dog when the blower is not running. It would be much slower than stock (and it wouldn't even have a big fuel-efficiency gain to show for it).

There is also the intake situation. The engine would have to pull the air/fuel mixture through the blower (in place of an intake manifold) when the blower is not turning. Not efficient, to put it mildly. More power & mileage losses. More reason why this hypothetical engine would run like crap when it's in blower-off-mode.


- Appearance:
The Mad Max prop cars had the fake blowers mounted a few inches too far back on the engine. It's enough to be clearly visible if you had a real & fake setup next to each other. (I suppose you could cope with that problem by building a recessed firewall and moving the whole engine back a few inches, if you were so inclined . . . )


A fake prop version of a switch-able blower? Sure. That's no problem.

The 'Fast & Furious' 1970 Chargers have been done that way for years. Since the 4th movie they have been running a stock GM LS3 Corvette engine in those cars + a fake blower housing bolted onto the top of it. An electric motor inside the blower case is what spins the pulley on the front of the blower.

 

[Ron]

Hi. Yes, I'm a car guy, to put it mildly!

Short answer: A switchable blower might be do-able on paper but it's not worth the compromises. The final product would have more drawbacks than the movie version.


- Mechanical:
You would need some kind of electric clutch on that front blower belt like an overgrown AC compressor clutch. But it would need to be REALLY strong for that job. Enough to hold at least 150-200 horsepower. (An A/C compressor clutch deals with maybe 10% of that.) This is why the rubber belt on the front pulley of a blower is so much wider than the other rubber belts on the rest of the engine.

- Another issue would be the engine compression. Engines making big horsepower with blowers are rebuilt for the job with low compression pistons. (It offsets the extreme cylinder pressure squeeze.) So this switchable-blower engine would be a total dog when the blower is not running. It would be much slower than stock (and it wouldn't even have a big fuel-efficiency gain to show for it).

There is also the intake situation. The engine would have to pull the air/fuel mixture through the blower (in place of an intake manifold) when the blower is not turning. Not efficient, to put it mildly. More power & mileage losses. More reason why this hypothetical engine would run like crap when it's in blower-off-mode.


- Appearance:
The Mad Max prop cars had the fake blowers mounted a few inches too far back on the engine. It's enough to be clearly visible if you had a real & fake setup next to each other. (I suppose you could cope with that problem by building a recessed firewall and moving the whole engine back a few inches, if you were so inclined . . . )


A fake prop version of a switch-able blower? Sure. That's no problem.

The 'Fast & Furious' 1970 Chargers have been done that way for years. Since the 4th movie they have been running a stock GM LS3 Corvette engine in those cars + a fake blower housing bolted onto the top of it. An electric motor inside the blower case is what spins the pulley on the front of the blower.

Very informative thank you! Truth be told, I've never liked the look of blower type superchargers on cars with the exception of old, hot rod roadsters. But that Weiand with the Scott injector hat pairs with the Falcon XB so beautifully, like it was made for it.

I wonder if I was lucky enough to buy a replica, and I had the choice, would I go for a "faux" setup like the movie or would I go for a full on working setup. Part of me likes to keep things prop accurate but the other part of me thinks if you have a perfectly good supercharger, why not use it?

Interestingly, in the little bit of research I did, the Mad Max 2 car's supercharger apparently was functional. When you see it turned on and off in the movie (closeup shots), they were simply starting up and cutting off the engine.

 

[batguy]

I've read that the (original movies) Mad Max blowers did spin full-time, but they weren't compressing the intake air & making horsepower. It was a hollow casing on top of the carb.

The sources agree that they did simply start & stop the whole engine when they filmed the blower turning on & off. Makes sense.

IIRC they've done real working blowers on some of the bigger truck creations for the recent MM movies. Those things need it.
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For street legal cruisers, I tend to agree with how Hollywood prop car builders operate: Get a big enough displacement engine to do the job and don't hot-rod it more than necessary. I would be fine with a fake blower on a MM replica. But the non-blown V8 underneath it would be overhauled with a stroker crank and aluminum heads.


For me, the bigger question with a MM replica is, what car to use? Pay up for a real Aussie Falcon and then deal with right-hand-drive and no local parts sources on my continent? I would be sorely tempted to use a Ford Torino. Those are only moderately rare and valued (by 50yo muscle car standards) so I wouldn't mind cutting one up to modify it to look more like an Aussie Falcon.

Here's one. Stock front bumper/grille/etc. It's basically just a spray-painted Torino with sidepipes and a blower, and it already looks that good.

 

[Ron]

I've read that the (original movies) Mad Max blowers did spin full-time, but they weren't compressing the intake air & making horsepower. It was a hollow casing on top of the carb.

The sources agree that they did simply start & stop the whole engine when they filmed the blower turning on & off. Makes sense.

Ah okay. I didn't read about the hollow casing. I'm guessing then the only time the blower was independently powered was in the garage scene when Max first meets his new ride. There's an electric motor supposedly hidden under that yellow bucket haha.

 

[batguy]

Yep, quick fixes ruled the day!

The truth is that near/stock engines are just easier for film crews to deal with. Mad Max is like 'Knight Rider' or 'Dukes of Hazzard' or 'Blues Brothers' or any of the others. They hate dealing with hand-built engines that overheat, wear out rare mail-order parts, make all their power at high RPMs, etc.

They can get chase footage done with crude methods. Over-inflating the tires, wetting down the road, etc. Most car stunt work is really done at moderate speeds like 30-50 mph. You don't need a ton of horsepower for that.