Now, before I begin what I'm about to say, I figured I'd share this funny Honest Trailers with you for
Mad Max: Fury Road.
Now, with that in mind, I wanted to bring up something that was mentioned, which appears to be something that I've noticed in a lot of the reviews I've seen on YouTube. People say, "Max is in the movie, but doesn't do anything." I can see how people can think that, but I can actually see what could have happened if Max really didn't do anything, or wasn't even there. Without Max, the events of this film would have gone down dozens of bad dead ends for the characters. I mean, if Max wasn't there, then Furiosa, the Many Mothers, the Wives and Nux would be dead (or still dying at the Citadel) and Immortan Joe would still be ruling over his kingdom. I'll explain. But first, this is all based on my observations of the film and I could very well be wrong on this interpretation. There are spoilers, so you've been warned.
What does
The Road Warrior,
Beyond Thunderdome and
Fury Road all have in common? Simple: Max's involvement is what lead to the end results of each of those films. If he wasn't involved in those stories, the outcome would be different for each one. Without Max in
The Road Warrior, the people at the refinery never would have found the semi truck to haul the tanker (an important part of the plan) and they'd all be dead (either by supplies running out, by Humungus' group's hands in attempts to find a truck or in the wasteland if Humungus was a man of his word and let them walk away from the refinery without any fuel), and Humungus would be the proud owner of the foundation for a Gastown. For
Beyond Thunderdome, Aunt Entity would still be in a stalemate with Master Blaster and the children would still be sitting in their home waiting for Captain Walker to come take them to Tomorrow-Morrow Land, where they'd eventually grow up and eventually die. Without Max's involvement, those two films would have had outcomes that ended badly.
Now, in the case of
Fury Road, the same is also true. I'll have to break it down, so you can see what I mean.
For Nux, he would either still be dying at the Citadel (thanks to Larry and Barry) and would not be able to go out after Furiosa when he hears the war drums. Sure, he could have gotten hooked up to another blood bag and still end up going after her as seen in the film, but then he would have died in his kamikaze attempt at the War Rig (which Max stopped him from dropping the flare as Nux slammed on the brakes of his pursuit vehicle, which would essentially have turned it into a bomb and damage, if not destroy the War Rig. It was Max stopping him from killing himself at that moment, as well as Max's blood that gave him his ability to go out on the chase, that gave Nux as reason to live and actually die for a truly worthy cause (for the love of someone, not for the mindless pursuit of an afterlife).
Now, this in turn is one side of a double-sided explanation on how Max ended up saving Furiosa, the Vulvalini and the Wives for either death, or fate worst than death. Like I said previous, Max's actions stopped Nux from blowing up the car and causing some serious damage to the War Rig. If Nux had succeeded at that, the War Rig would have been permanently stopped, Immorton Joe would have caught up to them with his armada, the Wives would have been taken back to their prison and Furiosa would have been either executed, or she would have been subjugated to some sort of torture, or worse, possibly kept alive to be used as a sex slave for either People Eatter or maybe even the War Boys (seriously, that is a possibility that is not outside of the realm of what Immortan Joe would possibly do).
"But you said that Nux could have ended up staying at Citadel without Max's blood, didn't you?" Yes I did. Let's say that was the case. Nux is stuck at the Citadel and Furiosa ends up continuing the trek without Max or Nux being involved. Now, I actually had to time this to be sure. Without Max, Furiosa and the Wives would have been 14 minutes and 40 seconds ahead of Immortan Joe's Armada if Max wasn't there (I started timing after Max drops Nux to the ground, catching the attention of the Wives and Furiosa and stopped as the War Rig was within eyesight of the canyon. And, of course, assuming the scene in the film is in real time). Basically, the Wives would have continued to bath and get the chastity belts off and Furiosa would have been ready to get the War Rig rolling about a minute after that if Max hadn't showed up with Nux. With Max there, he wasted 9 minutes and 40 seconds of Furiosa's time, leaving all of them a five minute head start (if Furiosa's estimation was correct). If Max hadn't been there, they would have gotten through the canyon without any problems, this including Furiosa completing her deal with the canyon tribe to bring the canyon wall down in the path in exchange for guzzaline. This also means that Splendid, the pregnant wife, would have survived past the canyon (as she not only would have not been injured by Max's gunfire, but the War Rig would have been well ahead of the Armada that the vehicle he uses to pursue the War Rig in the canyon wouldn't have been there to harpoon the steering wheel, thus no need for her to get out of the rig to cut the chain, have a close call and end up falling off the rig.
"Okay, you're not convincing me that Max is necessary here." I'll admit, without Max, things with Furiosa and the Wives' trip would have been smoother. They still would have been delayed at the Quagmire (though maybe a bit longer than they were in the film due to both Max and Nux not being there to help get the Rig out of the mud) and they still would have met the Vulvalini, Furiosa suffering her Heroic Blue Screen of Death upon discovering the Green Place was gone. But, without Max being there, after that point, Furiosa, the Wives and the Vulvalini would be dead.
"What? How?" Simple: if things had played without Max, Furiosa, the Wives and the Vulvalini would have attempted their trek across the salt, eventually running out of supplies in 160 days. Without gas for their rides, and eventually the exhausting of their food and water supplies, they would eventually die out in the desert as a result. Remember: it was Max's idea to turn around and go back to Citadel. And worse, Immortan Joe would still be alive to rule over the subjects he's been mistreating, him pretty much giving up on the Wives because he's exhausted a lot of supplies in an attempt to get them back and there's always the possibility that there are other women like the Wives he could find to attempt to get himself an heir to his throne. So, without Max, the women take off into the desert and die horribly from the ruthless nature of the desert and the lack of supplies, and Immortal Joe (along with Bullet Farmer and People Eater) continue to rule their kingdom unopposed until their deaths, leading to more pain and suffering within those years.
Of course, I could be wrong with this interpretation of information. People could be right about Max "not doing a thing" in this film. But I'll continue to think he did, because I believe that one man can make a difference.
Still, it was 20 bucks VERY well spent. I just can't get enough of this movie!
