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ShortcutToMoncton · May 17, 2015, 07:28 PM

Can't wait. So far Rumor has the only bad comments I've seen.

Rumor · May 17, 2015, 07:37 PM

Don't get me wrong, I liked it. I just had really high expectations going in that weren't met.

ort888 · 02:15 PM

While I also really enjoyed it overall, I think this movie is getting overhyped. The action scenes, of which there are almost too many to keep track of, are all amazing. The look and feel of the movie is amazing. The soundtrack and special effects and all of the performances were great... but... and I know this might sound a little silly, but it feels like it's really losing a lot of the gritty believability of the first few movies and taking things in a little too "epic" of a direction. The action was almost too gonzo and over the top. How could anyone survive this in world? How are there old people? How could someone as (seemingly) dumb, impulsive and strategically impaired as Imortan Joe build an empire like that?

What is up with the timeline? Mad Max looks like he's in his thirties, but was at least a young adult when the world "ended", and yet, when you look at the mini society that was set up in this movie, it looks like something that has existed for generations. I guess it's best not to think about.

I dunno, now I'm being harsh. I wish I could just sit back and enjoy movies like I used to be able to, but I'm turning into a real curmudgeon about these things. Are we not entertained?

At the end of the day, this feels like a B movie with a $140 million dollar budget. That can be seen as a positive or a negative.

What was the deal with the War Boy Nux switching sides? I really didn't get that. It felt very out of place. Also, meeting the gang of women in the desert so they would have some cannon fodder for the big finale felt a little forced. Hey, let's meet up with 10 new people... and they all got killed in the final battle, but hey, all the main characters were (mostly) fine! And this is the first Mad Max movie without a downer ending. What was up with that? That's like the one of the main calling cards of the series. Sad ambiguous endings without a tidy hollywood resolution.

All that said... should you go see this? Hell yes, go see this.

Hawkeye_a · May 26, 2015, 04:04 PM

Mad Max: Fury Road is a 2 hour action sequence. Non-stop action, with none of the "fluff". The entire script of the movie would have probably fit on 5 pages(exaggeration). The villain, despite being fairly straight forward and of few words, was menacing.

It was pure sensory overload, and i enjoyed it. I actually felt tired when leaving the theater. So far, it was the best theater experience of 2015, for me!

Cheers

PS>> The only slight criticism I have is the generally misogynistic (anti-male) themes in the movie.

ghporter · May 26, 2015, 07:45 PM

It had a vague plot, with some actual character development to boot. It was a Mad Max movie; it's a series of 'splody car chases with bodies and car parts flying hither and yon, stitched together with "characters" who serve to help identify which side is which. As such, it rocked. It took me an hour for my heart rate to slow down, a measure of the intensity of the 'splody stuff...

As for the anti-male bit, it was pretty clear that all of the "major male leaders" were small male-type organs who were not good for anything but blowing up stuff and wasting lives. The Many Mothers seemed to be the counterpoint to that. They also proved that females were not just bearers of the head muck-a-muck's degenerate children.

badidea · May 28, 2015, 10:21 AM

Originally Posted by ort888

I wish I could just sit back and enjoy movies like I used to be able to, but I'm turning into a real curmudgeon about these things. Are we not entertained?

I watched it yesterday and while I would agree with all you wrote in your post, I was lucky enough that I didn't start to think at all while watching this movie - I just sat there for 2 hours with an open mouth and a huge grin on my face and enjoyed the action!

Hawkeye_a · 10:09 AM

Went and watched this movie again. This was the first time I have ever gone to watch a movie more than once in a theater! And it was just as awesome the second time around.

I realized that the movie has a drastically different "format" to any other movie i've seen. (it isn't a typical 'start, middle, end' kind of thing; or maybe the 'start' and 'end' bits were so minor), and i think thats one reason why it was so refreshing. There is no 'comedic relief' thrown in, there is no 'burgeoning romance' forced onto the characters; none of the annoying cliches of contemporary cinema. And i think thats why it was so refreshing to see a movie experiment with the art form in such a way.

subego · Jun 8, 2015, 07:52 PM

Just got out about 10 minutes ago. It wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Totally fine with the misandry.

The universe was a little "goofy", but carried me along with it.

The one thing which stood out was how they set Nux up to sacrifice himself, but then because the engine got torn out, he was put in a situation where it would be pointless for him not to make the sacrifice. I was hoping for it to be something he didn't have to do.

Saw it in 2D, dead center of the theatre. I could see pixels, which was irritating. It's not like I have great vision, either.

subego · Jun 9, 2015, 01:58 AM

The implausible parts of the movie didn't bother me at all because I felt it set itself up as being cut from entirely different cloth than The Road Warrior.

The Road Warrior was a gritty document. This is post-modernist pop art. Verisimilitude is supposed to be secondary.

A subtle yet pervasive indicator of the type of movie you're dealing with is how the brides never got dirty. You can see this as utterly ridiculous, or see it as the movie giving metaphor precedence over (in this case, literal) grit.

ort888 · Jun 9, 2015, 11:12 AM

I just rewatched Beyond Thunderdome, and wow, is that a misfire of a movie.

I remember it not being so great, but I had forgot just how toned down it was. It was like all of the edge was gone. It was like they made a family movie in the Mad Max universe. The musical cues with the kids were just so awful. It was like you were watching a reboot of Peter Pan or something. You want to talk about a timeline not making sense. How can you have a gang of kids as young as 10 or so stranded like that? The timing just doesn't work. It was just so goofy. And Tina Turner is just bad in this movie. And the final big chase is also bad.

This movie is bad. I knew that going in, so I'm not really surprised, but bleach.

I also just rewatched the original Mad Max, which is better than I remember it, but still so far removed from the other films in the series that it just doesn't feel right. The problem with Mad Max is that the car chase that opens the movie is actually the best part of the whole movie. The big finale is pretty anti climatic. It was kind of hard to follow that action in a few parts and I didn't even realize when the main baddie bought it, because it wasn't really made clear who he was in that moment.

subego · Jun 9, 2015, 01:55 PM

Did you recognize Toecutter as a young Immortan Joe?

Why has no one mentioned the guy with the guitar in the new movie is named "Doof"?

subego · Jun 9, 2015, 02:00 PM

WRT, Thunderdome, didn't something happen to Miller half way through filming?

I vaguely recall it was his wife had died, and someone else directed the other half of the movie.

ort888 · Jun 9, 2015, 02:00 PM

You would never recognize him, but I knew it was him. Toecutter was actually the highlight of the movie for me. He really owned that role.

I actually thought he was a much more interesting villain than Immortal Joe, who really was just an over the top mustache twirling madman. Toecutter was intimidating as hell.

subego · Jun 9, 2015, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

It had a vague plot, with some actual character development to boot.

I think this stood out. There's a lot of character development for a movie which can be accurately described as a never-ending car chase.

Someone made the point you get more character development of the brides over a total of 30 lines of dialogue than you get for all the dwarves in 9 hours of Hobbit.

subego · Jun 9, 2015, 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by ort888

You would never recognize him, but I knew it was him. Toecutter was actually the highlight of the movie for me. He really owned that role.

I actually thought he was a much more interesting villain than Immortal Joe, who really was just an over the top mustache twirling madman. Toecutter was intimidating as hell.

What Immortan had however was this pretty unprecedented entrance as this weak, rotting... thing.

It's like if your introduction to Darth Vader was the guy dying in Luke's arms, then he puts on the suit and starts being disappointed by your lack of faith.

ort888 · Jun 9, 2015, 02:11 PM

Originally Posted by subego

WRT, Thunderdome, didn't something happen to Miller half way through filming?

I vaguely recall it was his wife had died, and someone else directed the other half of the movie.

His producer, good friend and creative partner on the previous two films died during location scouting for Beyond Thunderdome. I think George Miller more or less completely pulled back from the project and just directed the action scenes. It really shows too.

From wikipedia

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was the first Mad Max film made without producer Byron Kennedy, who was killed in a helicopter crash in 1983 while location scouting for the film. While the film was in development before Kennedy's death, director George Miller was hesitant to move forward without his producing partner. "I was reluctant to go ahead," said Miller. "And then there was a sort of need to – let's do something just to get over the shock and grief of all of that." A title card at the end of film reads: "...For Byron".

Seriously though, the worst part of this movie was the music. It was just so light-hearted and goofy. Like they were beating you over the head with the whole... "Look at these rascally little rascals, what a whimsical adventure they're having!" The camera panning here and there to show all them in their various little silly escapades. "Why, look over here at this little scamp, just scampering about like a little precious scamp... and look here, it's that kid, and oh, look, he's peeking out of a hole, how adorable!"

Barring car crashes, I think only one person actually dies on screen in this movie.

subego · Jun 9, 2015, 02:42 PM

I thought there was something like that.

I remember enjoying it as a kid in the theatre, so I'm pretty determined never to see it again.

subego · Jun 9, 2015, 02:52 PM

One more thing about Immortan Joe...

I think that villainous skills didn't match his position of authority was part of the point. The injustice is this was all perpetrated by someone who could have been toppled a hundred times over. All it took was a group of people looking for redemption.

subego · Jun 9, 2015, 02:54 PM

I like this movie.

ShortcutToMoncton · Sep 11, 2015, 03:35 PM

It was really good. All the points made by Ort888 I noticed while viewing - i.e. they were noticeable enough - but it didn't seem to matter or pull me out of my enjoyment. The movie was awesome anyway. I enjoyed it way more than I expected to and far more than any of the other Mad Max films.