11 Reasons Why Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) is Cinematic Gold

Like most film buffs out there, I’ve seen Mad Max: Fury Road more than once already and I've realized one thing: I’m ready for another watch! Actually, I’m seeing it tonight, on the silver screen, where it should be seen! If you haven’t seen Mad Max: Fury Road yet, stop whatever you are doing and watch it! This movie is a masterpiece and I’m using that term in the most literal way possible. Mad Max: Fury Road is George Miller’s best film to date, Miller finally made the Mad Max movie that he's always wanted to make. But why is Mad Max: Fury Road so freaking cool? Well, it’s a spectacle in every sense of the word, it's sensory overload! At times there’s so much coolness happening on the screen that I simply could not take my eyes off the screen! This does not happen often. Usually I’m rolling my eyes back at the stupidity I see in theater screens, but with Mad Max: Fury Road it was like watching a masterpiece unfold, like I was being a part of cinematic history by watching this one for the first time in theaters. So since this film has turned me Mad Max crazy, I’ve decided to count the many ways in which this film kicks ass, just to make sure that you, my dear readers, finally take the plunge and see this one in theaters. So kick back and relax, cause up next, I offer you 11 reasons why Mad Max: Fury road is the best Mad Max yet!

It’s Pure Eye Candy

Normally one doesn’t associate the post apocalypse with color because post apocalyptic movies are usually a bleak and dark looking bunch. Not so with Mad Max: Fury Road! On this film George Miller wanted to create a beautiful and colorful take of the apocalypse. This doesn’t mean that the movie loses its post apocalyptic look or feel. You’re not going to see rainbows and flowery fields on this film, this is still very much George Miller’s post apocalyptic wasteland, but the color palette that was used turns everything into intense reds, yellows, blues. It’s no wonder one of the characters says: “Oh what a lovely day!” Indeed.

The Post Apocalyptic Wasteland is Epic on this One

If you’ve seen the Mad Max trilogy, you probably noticed that the post apocalyptic wasteland grows with every picture. Where the first one only showed us a glimpse of society disintegrating, by the second film the post apocalypse shows its head and the craziness begins to grow. By Thunder Dome we have entire societies forming, trying to reinstate normalcy by adding a form of government with new rules and laws. But this growth is only natural, with each movie, the budget kept growing. For example, with the first film Miller had less than ten million dollars to fulfill his post apocalyptic vision, but for Fury Road Miller managed to get 150 million, so of course the post apocalyptic wasteland we get in Fury Road is more epic than what we’d seen in previous films. The society that we are presented with on this film has actually found a way to survive in the wasteland; a society whose main concerns are feeding, breeding and driving cars. They’ve even created a new religion where heaven is called Valhalla and you have to spray metallic colored spray on your mouth before you die serving your leader! The post apocalypse has never looked or felt more epic.

Say Goodbye to The Interceptor and Hello to Imperator Furiosa’s War Rig

In the first five minutes we are treated to visuals of Max, basking in the wasteland with his trademark Interceptor parked by his side. The Interceptor still looks every bit as cool and kick ass as it ever did, but Miller apparently wanted you to cut ties with the old movies and absorb the new one, so in the first few minutes during Fury Road its goodbye to The Interceptor which gets taken out of commission rather quickly. Of course, you came to see a Mad Max movie; you want more of that cool looking Interceptor. But wait, we are then presented with Imperator Furiosa’s War Rig which is this kick ass gigantic rig that Max drives for most of the flick, it’s just awesome looking. When you see how cool it looks in action you won’t have time to even remember The Interceptor. Of course, The Interceptor can never be replaced, but the War Rig is a fine substitute; at least for this film. And speaking of cars…

The Cars are Bigger and More Elaborate

Since this time around George Miller has a bigger budget to bring his visions to life, this time the cars are bigger and way crazier in design. I loved the cars in this movie! I was watching Road Warrior the other day and really, the cars in Fury Road leave the cars in previous Mad Max films in the dust. They are bigger and way more outlandish! You have to see them to understand but these are monster trucks, gigantic in proportion, with more fiery turbines and gigantic tires than you can shake a stick at! They are awesome to see in action!  Once again, you get the feeling that this is what George Miller always wanted to do with his Mad Max films, and since this is the most expensive Mad Max of all, he really wen't crazy with the designs for the cars. Everything is bigger and crazier! 

It Plays with Interesting Themes.

The first one was a revenge flick, the second one was purely about survival and the third one was about Max the savior. What’s this fourth outing about? Well, on this film Max plays the savior once again, helping Imperator Furiosa and her five lady friends reach ‘The Green Place’. In this sense, Fury Road felt a bit like Thunder Dome. Yet this new film also plays with new themes to the series, namely, it’s all about feminism. On this film, Immortan Joe treats women like breading cattle. For Immortan Joe, women are for procreation and for drinking their delicious breast milk. It is alluded that they are objects to him, which is why the five wives run away with Imperator Furiosa, leaving graffiti all over Immortan Joe’s chambers that read “We are not things!” and "Our babies will not be Warlords!" Also sending a message of peace. So Immortan Joes wives run off in search of their freedom, hopefully to a place where they can be treated as human beings.The film also touches upon politics and religion through the characters of Immortan Joe and his crew of zealot followers. They will do anything to serve the Immortan, but at the end of the day, it's all a facade. Immortan Joe is a sick man, lying to all of his followers. Ultimately, they learn that a god can die.   

It Isn’t Centered Around Max, Yet the Movie Still Manages to Grab You

This is probably the only hiccup I found in this film, that it wasn’t really centered on Max, it's Theron's Imperator Furiosa who takes center stage. But, on my second watching I realized this really doesn’t matter. Aside from the fact that Theron's character is great, and their story a good one, this wasteland is such an interesting place, filled with so many crazy characters and cool looking cars that I realized that the real star of these films is the world that Max inhabits. It is so rich, so well constructed. Sure Max is the driving force at the core of these films, but the world he inhabits is really what wows us. I’m sure Miller will give us more of Max in future films, but the star of the show will always be The Wasteland Miller has created. Even the title of the proposed next film lets us see what these films are all about. The next films title is: Mad Max: The Wasteland.

It Is George Miller’s Best Film to Date, Period.

I’ve seen all of George Miller’s films and he has a pretty solid repertoire. First of course there’s the Mad Max franchise, but then we have the ‘Nightmare at 20,000 Feet’ segment from Twilight Zone: The Movie (1982 ). Millers segment was so good that they used it to close the film with a bang. The Witches of Eastwick (1987) is a great film about Satan (played by Jack Nicholson) falling in lustful love with three witches played by Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer and Cher. It’s an awesome comedy, from the bygone era when they made comedies for adults. Its script explored the nature of men and women, relationships and sex. The film also has some excellent visual effects. Then Miller went with a dramatic film called Lorenzo’s Oil (1992), a story about two parents who never gave up in trying to find the cure for their sons decease. Then he made three children’s films one after the other: Babe: Pig in the City (1998), Happy Feet (2006) and Happy Feet Two (2011). I’m of the mind that Miller made these in order to make the studios happy so they would give him the money to make Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). To me Fury Road is the culmination of all of Miller’s cinematic knowledge. Mad Max: Fury Road is without a doubt in my mind Millers most amazing, escapist fantasy. The cinematic wizardry displayed in this film and the sheer understanding of what makes a film amazing could only come from a master with the knowledge and experience that Miller has acquired through the years.  

Computer Generated Effects Do Not Take Over the Film!

This is something we hardly see today. A film that was actually shot in front of the cameras and not inside of a computer! Do you know how I’ve longed to see a movie like this one? Only a handful of directors have resisted giving into using computer effects extensively, Tarantino and Scorsese come to mind. These are directors who understand that a film simply looks better when it’s actually shot on film in front of a camera, with actors and sets. Nothing can replace that realistic, tangible feeling you get from capturing visuals through the lens of a camera. Of course Miller uses computer generated wizardry as well, but he uses it to enhance what he has already filmed, to paint a landscape, a vast colorful wasteland. In no moment do you feel that you are watching minutes upon minutes of entirely computer generated images. Nope, on this film the cars blow up in your face and the fire and brimstone feels and looks real. Thank you mister Miller for that! Lovers of film were missing that real, tangible cinema!

Intensely Evil Maniacal Villains are Back!

Yes! Finally! This is something I loved from films that came out of the 80’s the villains where insane and maniacal! Absolutely psychotic! Memorable! Hell, sometimes the villain would steal the show and become the main character of the film. Remember those days when we’d get villains like Jack Nicholson as The Joker in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989)? How about Clarence Boddicker, the crazy bad guy from Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop (1987)? Still remember them don’t you? That’s what you call a memorable villain. Sadly, Hollywood’s current idea of a villain is a banal one. Today’s films are filled with lifeless villains you could hardly tell apart from the good guys. For an example of this watch the Robocop remake, blah. Invisible villains seems to be the order of the day at Hollywood. Thankfully, truly evil bat shit insane villains have always been one of George Miller’s specialties. Remember The Toecutter from Mad Max (1979)? That guy scared me as a kid! How about Lord Humungus from Mad Max 2 (1981)? Totally insane, that one even went for sadomasochism! Immortan Joe is another fine addition to the list of insane villains and it’s the kind of villain I love. Over the top, crazy looking and relentless! Boy, I had truly been missing these kinds of memorable villains in my movies. Thank you George Miller for bringing that back!

It Feels Like the 80’s Again!

The ideas in this film are so crazy that they bring to mind the 80’s, a decade when the craziest films would get made. I mean, who the hell green lit Dead Heat (1988) you know what I mean? But suddenly, there you are, watching a zombie cop, fighting a re-animated dead cow and you’re left wondering just how the hell did this movie get to the silver screen? Who the hell said sure, here, take 5 million dollars and make that zombie buddy cop movie you always wanted to make? I don’t know, but it was the 80’s and crazy movies like that one would get made left and right and get released in theaters! Nowadays seeing a movie of such a crazy nature released theatrically is a rare thing. Machete (2006) and MacheteKills (2013) are two rare exceptions. Want to make a movie about a baby crazed, milk drinking villain who runs a post apocalyptic society with an iron fist and likes to chase heroes through the dessert on monster trucks? Sure, here you go Mr. Miller! And you say you want a truck with a rock and roll stage on it, with flame throwing guitars? Sure, here’s 150 million! Do your best! Make your masterpiece! And thank the movie gods, Miller did just that!

Mad Max: Fury Road is Why We Go to the Movies!

We go to the movies to escape our reality, to let our minds go for a while and escape the every day life. We want to see something grand, something amazing and Mad Max: Fury Road offers us that and then some. It's non stop action from beginning to end, now go and watch this masterpiece before it leaves theaters. This kind of film only comes around once in a blue moon. It’s a special kind of film, the kind that is crafted not by a studio but by a filmmaker who truly wanted to make it. Mad Max: Fury Road is the reason why we go to the movies, now go watch it where it’s meant to be seen: in the theater!

Behind the Scenes Awesomeness: Mad Max Edition!

George Miller and Tom Hardy

'Feral Kid' from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1982) messing around with movie props

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Title: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Director: George Miller

Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Hugh Keays Byrne, Rosie Huntington, Nicholas Hoult, Zoe Kravitz

Mad Max: Fury Road is insanity caught on film! It’s 100% purely bonkers! It harkens back to the glory days of the 80’s, when even the craziest of ideas would get green lit by a studio. Mad Max: Fury Road is the long awaited return of Max Rockatansky to the silver screen. Oh how I had been longing for this day! You guys know how much I love post apocalyptic movies...so yeah, I was pumped for this one. I’ve re-watched these movies with a vengeance, over and over again throughout the years and I’m sure I am not alone. People love these movies! But why? Why the obsession? I think its because they are about cars, speed, revved up, tricked up engines and spectacular vehicular mayhem.  Who doesn't love a cool cinematic car crash? Much less a whole film filled with them? No other series offers that better then the Mad Max movies. People also enjoy the post-apocalyptic angle of these films, another area in which these films deliver like no other movie can. It’s no wonder these films have influenced thousands of rip offs, with thousands others using Mad Max as their blue print. And let’s not forget, this is Mel Gibson’s most iconic role, it’s the one he’ll always be remembered by. So we’re talking about a legendary series of films here. And thanks to the cinematic gods, here we are back again! Back to post apocalyptic world of Mad Max, thirty years after the last Mad Max movie! Did they wait too long to make this film? Would director George Miller capture that Mad Max magic again? Would Tom Hardy prove himself worthy of playing the role of Max Rockatansky?

This time around Max is still surviving in the post apocalyptic waste land, just like everybody else. After a nuclear meltdown destroyed humanity (as seen in The Road Warrior (1982), the world is one messed up place, with small groups of humans spreading themselves thin throughout the world. Society has been unable to rebuild itself from the ruble. All that is left is animalistic craziness, humans surviving on their basic instincts. All they care about is food, water and procreating so that humanity can live on. Immortan Joe, the despotic leader of one of these ram shackle societies, has five wives with whom he is always trying to have babies with. He feeds on freshly squeezed breast milk and he is obsessed with one of his wives, who is pregnant with his baby. Too bad for him that one of his cronies, a woman named Imperator Furiosa (Theron), decides to go her on way and steals one of Immortan Joes trucks! Her plan is to return to her childhood home, a green paradise filled with enough water and green trees for everyone. Imperator Furiosa also steals Immortan Joes five wives, including the pregnant one! Will Immortan Joe allow this? Will Imperator Furiosa make it to her home town and how does Mad Max Rockatansky fit into all of this?   

Mad Max: Fury Road was directed by legendary filmmaker George Miller, the guy behind the original Mad Max trilogy of films: Mad Max (1979), The Road Warrior (1981) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). He also made The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Babe Pig in the City (1998) and in a turn towards the dramatic, Lorenzo’s Oil (1992). If we look at his repertoire, most of his films show an emphasis on the visuals. Even Babe: Pig in the City, a children’s film, displays a huge amount of care in constructing a visually interesting world, something we can really dig our retinas on. This was essentially the approach that Miller took with Mad Max: Fury Road, a film with very little dialog, and a whole lot of action. It almost fells like a silent film in this way, feelings and emotion are displayed through action rather than words. When designing this film, Miller asked that the art direction be as colorful and beautiful as possible in order to set itself apart from most post apocalyptic films, which usually have a bleak color palette. This is something that is extremely evident on Mad Max: Fury Road. Even though the film feels extremely familiar, like we’re entering Miller’s post apocalyptic vision once again, the film definitely sets itself apart from previous Mad Max films. It’s the most visually striking and colorful of all the films in the franchise. There’s this awesome moment in which what is happening in the film is so visually awesome that one of the characters says “What a lovely day!” My sentiments exactly. This movie is truly beautiful to look at.

The big attraction with these films are the cars and the stunts performed with them, which are amazing as expected. The cars on this film are awesome; they are filled with skulls and spikes and whatever else they could think of. Big tires, flame throwers, machine guns, guys hanging from tent poles, they really went crazy with the car designs for this movie, seeing them in action is a delight on itself. I was worried that George Miller would succumb to computer generated effects the way that most filmmakers have, and while he does use computer effects to an extent, he doesn't do entire sequences completely rendered in a computer, which is a delight for me. Most of the vehicular mayhem happens right in front of the cameras. Of course, Miller does use computer generated technology, but he uses in an artful manner, to enhance what he has already filmed, to make it beautiful. Like a painting. He doesn't create a world inside the computer; he enhances the world he has already filmed, which is the best way that you can use cgi, and I applaud Miller for that. It shows that he wasn't about being a lazy filmmaker, where  75% of his film happens inside of a computer, no sir, Miller is a real, true blue, bonafide filmmaker who cares about shooting a film in front of the camera. He cares about constructing a shot, about creating a specific look, an atmosphere. Special effects are but a tool to enhance. So kudos to Miller, you made my day sir! You might be 70 years old, but same as Ridley Scott (who’s well into his 70’s) you sir are still making amazing films. Dare I say this is one of your best films ever? Mr. Miller, I salute you man! Your cinematic expertise shows through and through on Mad Max: Fury Road!

The thing I loved the most about this movie is that it’s so heavy metal, 80’s style heavy metal. Skulls, bones and rock & roll are infused into every strand of dna of this film! How so? Well, there’s this awesome vehicle that is basically a moving rock and roll stage, that is composed of drums and amplifiers and drummers and a crazy dude, hanging from wires, riffing on his heavy metal guitar! It doesn't get more heavy metal than that! The whole vehicle functions to stimulate the chase, like the beats of a war drum. And speaking of the chase, that’s all this movie is, it’s a two hour long chase. Honestly, I didn't feel the two hours. They felt short to me, I was having such a blast in this crazy post apocalyptic world that the two hours wheezed by. You know how sometimes while watching the old Mad Max movies you’d fast forward to the chase sequences? Well, now you don’t have to because this whole movie is about cars going at high speeds, exploding and crashing in colorful ways.

So did Tom Hardy do good as Max? I’d say yes, the only thing is that Max  feels different. Obviously it shows just how much of Mel Gibson was put into Max the character. Hardy's take on it is different. A man of even fewer words. He speaks as little as possible and when he does its in grunts. Max is more of a mystery on this film than on previous ones. He seems madder, crazier, more enigmatic. I can’t say I blame him. He has been living in this crazy, shitty world longer now. Though it is a pleasure seeing Max Rockatansky back on the screen again, if there’s one thing I can say that I didn't love about the film is that Max is not the primary focus of the film. I wanted more Max, instead the film is more about Imperator Furiosa, which isn't a bad thing either because she’s a fascinating character. But if we really get down to it, the only one of the Mad Max films which was truly about Max is the first film, which is all about him and his family and friends, and his revenge. The rest of the films in the series are about him protecting or helping someone, serving the role of savior. In that sense I'd say Fury Road is similar to Mad Max: Beyond Thundedome (1985). Still, that’s just a minor hiccup. The film is amazing. It deserves to be seen more than once, something I will be doing before it leaves the silver screen, where it should be seen and appreciated in all its cinematic, post apocalyptic glory.

Rating: 5 out of 5