Mad Max: Fury Road

Yeah re-watching yet again, Furiosa certainly is the center of the film (I mean it really is her story)... but we view her story through Max, which makes him the MAIN protagonist. And he does a lot in the flick... really just overshadowed by the awesomeness of Furiousa.
 
I was really looking forward to this film, and expected I would love it, but, alas, I found myself extremely underwhelmed by the story and characters. The stunts were off the charts great, just unbelievable stuff, but I felt no connection to the characters at all. I didn't care if they lived or died. Also, where is this film in the timeline? He's got the car with the tanks in the trunk but it's wrecked--again? How is that supposed to work?

I felt that Miller simply was weaving familiar elements from the other films (the car again) to get fans' blood up in lieu of introducing new stuff. It all had a familiar ring. I like Hardy as an actor, but he didn't cut it for me. I would rather have seen an unknown as Max. Many of the scenes were just too long and others completely pointless. A little bit of cutting here and there could have trimmed 15 minutes and tightened it up. The truck stuck in the mud scene could have been cut completely as could Max trying to fight his way out of the place where he's being held. Neither scene accomplished/changed anything. Too much time was spent on unrelenting action and not enough given to bonding with the characters or to catch your breath.

The cars were too customized. The RW cars are mostly real and the Thunderdome vehicles looked cobbled together from whatever parts were available, but these looked like high-end custom jobs that cost fortunes. They're in the middle of nowhere, where the hell are all these parts coming from? I know that a certain suspension of belief is involved, but it was too much for me.

I'm glad you other guys liked it.
 
I was really looking forward to this film, and expected I would love it, but, alas, I found myself extremely underwhelmed by the story and characters. The stunts were off the charts great, just unbelievable stuff, but I felt no connection to the characters at all. I didn't care if they lived or died. Also, where is this film in the timeline? He's got the car with the tanks in the trunk but it's wrecked--again? How is that supposed to work?

I felt that Miller simply was weaving familiar elements from the other films (the car again) to get fans' blood up in lieu of introducing new stuff. It all had a familiar ring. I like Hardy as an actor, but he didn't cut it for me. I would rather have seen an unknown as Max. Many of the scenes were just too long and others completely pointless. A little bit of cutting here and there could have trimmed 15 minutes and tightened it up. The truck stuck in the mud scene could have been cut completely as could Max trying to fight his way out of the place where he's being held. Neither scene accomplished/changed anything. Too much time was spent on unrelenting action and not enough given to bonding with the characters or to catch your breath.

The cars were too customized. The RW cars are mostly real and the Thunderdome vehicles looked cobbled together from whatever parts were available, but these looked like high-end custom jobs that cost fortunes. They're in the middle of nowhere, where the hell are all these parts coming from? I know that a certain suspension of belief is involved, but it was too much for me.

I'm glad you other guys liked it.
Click to expand...


This seems to be a common reaction among big MM fans. It doesn't surprise me. Fury Road does feel like a remake that was cranked up a notch in all directions, George Miller's project or not.

I had followed the development of this movie enough to know what I was in for. (No previous MM continuity, the more fantastic nature of it all, etc.) My expectations were also severely lowered because the track record of older filmmakers revisiting their early shows has been so bad lately. That helped me really love this new one.

The down-to-earth style of the original MM movies would probably not have gone over well enough with a mainstream modern audience now. People see cheap-looking props and they think the whole movie was cheaply made. That's another factor that probably influenced the studio to encourage Miller to go bigger.
 
The thing is, you have to watch this movie with a bit of distance from our civilization. The cars aren't merely modded cars. They are vehicles build from found parts. No one in this movie ever saw what the parts originally came from. So you have to look at it as you would watch some tribal culture that has very little in common with you.

The other thing is that Miller considers this saga to be a fairy tale. The continuity is ever evolving. It's the complete opposite of the marvel cinematic universe
 
astroboy said:
The thing is, you have to watch this movie with a bit of distance from our civilization. The cars aren't merely modded cars. They are vehicles build from found parts. No one in this movie ever saw what the parts originally came from. So you have to look at it as you would watch some tribal culture that has very little in common with you.

The other thing is that Miller considers this saga to be a fairy tale. The continuity is ever evolving. It's the complete opposite of the marvel cinematic universe
Click to expand...

Not only that, you have to look at Immortan Joe's armada as a part of his brand. By having a big, intimidating fleet with a unique appearance, one would get that what they were seeing were vehicles unique to Immortan Joe's fleet. They took what they could find and made it in the way Immortan Joe would have wanted it: big, loud and nasty. And what he wanted was to be feared and recognized (like any ruler would).
 
Rather than reiterate what's already been said, here it is in Miller's own words regarding the cars.

 
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He can take all the time he wants with them just so those movies will be on par with Fury Road.

However, they need to put out that special release of Fury Road that's black and white, and silent. I want that one!
 
Can someone please tell me what the heck I am watching? How did this movie get a best picture nom? It's like they let a meth head make a movie. I have about an hour to go and don't know if I'm going to finish it.
 
Can someone please tell me what the heck I am watching? How did this movie get a best picture nom? It's like they let a meth head make a movie. I have about an hour to go and don't know if I'm going to finish it.
Click to expand...

Fury Road wasn't trying to win Best Picture. It was just trying to be a badass over-the-top Mad Max movie. It succeeded.


I'm glad it's up for BP. We're long overdue for some BP winners that weren't designed as Oscar-bait from the start. Once upon a time a musical or comedy could win it.
 
jcoffman99 said:
Can someone please tell me what the heck I am watching? How did this movie get a best picture nom? It's like they let a meth head make a movie. I have about an hour to go and don't know if I'm going to finish it.
Click to expand...

I agree, I don't quite understand the logic on best picture. It was a ok movie but not one I would ever watch again.
 
Best picture is for best effort overall, how the direction, pacing, score, etc. all work together to make one flawless film. I tend to see a lot of viewers want a "real world documentary" style film, but people forget that movies can be fiction and for straight entertainment. I said about Fast and Furious complainers that despise the over-the-top fictional scenarios, that if I want to see realistic cars in a realistic world I'll step outside and watch a traffic jam :lol

Mad Max is fiction, post-apocalyptic, and yes over-the-top. The people who run the awards shows know this about the franchise, and the MM lovers see that it should be up for best film. I'm not "blindly fanboying" over it, even my girlfriend (who thought MM1 and MM2 were oddly wacko in more than one way to say the least) thought Fury Road was a total blast! And yeah I think Tom Hardy helped her opinion a bit too LOL.
 
batguy said:
Fury Road wasn't trying to win Best Picture. It was just trying to be a badass over-the-top Mad Max movie. It succeeded.


I'm glad it's up for BP. We're long overdue for some BP winners that weren't designed as Oscar-bait from the start. Once upon a time a musical or comedy could win it.
Click to expand...

Exactly right! I love the term, Oscar-bait. For me, Mad Max is the BP of the year. It has a compelling story and exists in an unbelievably detailed and well anchored world. It's exciting and fresh! Acting is as good as any! What's to disqualify it from top dawg? And Remember it wasn't made as Oscar-bait!
 
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