Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

[alchemist]

Mad Max is back! Or at least he will be next year, in this reboot with Tom Hardy in the title role and Charlize Theron backing him up.

Much BOOM, SMASH and Crash!

 

[J Riff]

Fine to blow up, shoot, crash, explode and rend each other while burning off gas... but why does he stomp on that harmless little lizard? That's just mean.

 

[AdmiralGeezer]

They chose the right actor for the job! I'm glad to see him in the main role. Maybe he can turn into Bane and get real mad if things get tricky.

 

[BAYLOR]

Based on the Trailers , looks good.

 

[Chris Guillory]

I agree. Looking forward to this one. I told my wife that it's time for a marathon of the originals to gear up for this release.

 

[Rodders]

It does look good, but I probably won't get around to seeing it at the cinema. Probably DVD purchase for me.

 

[Brian G Turner]

The original video link has been removed - this seems to be the official one:

 

[Boaz]

Just saw it.

Hardy is the titular character, but Theron is at least the co-lead if not the lead... and I'll mention that the subtitle actually refers to her character.

If you're a fan of non-stop action, 40K, car chases, car crashes, nonsensical gadgets, explosions, chaos, mayhem, destruction, and insane stunts... or if you're a guy, then you'll at least mildly enjoy Mad Max: Fury Road. The action puts everything by John Woo, the Wachowskis, Donnie Yen to shame.

My friend who loves action flicks was giddy throughout and after the flick. I worry he'll ram someone on the way to work tomorrow.

The setting is basically Stagecoach, the film that made John Wayne a star, at the speed of Fast and Furious, but the story is pretty close to The Last of the Mohicans. Hawkeye (Hardy) and Chingachgook (Theron) have to get the Monroe girls to safety. One of them falls for Uncas while Magua wants them all for himself. The entire movie is one long chase.

Hardy only had to wear a half mask for half of the movie this time.

If you don't need any plausible basis for the setting or the villain, if you don't need more character development than venting anger, if you don't need any more character motivation than 'because', and if you can just turn off your brain because the thrill ride gives a new definition to gratuitous violence, then go see Mad Max: Fury Road immediately if not sooner.

Don't get me wrong... I enjoyed it. It was big and fun without needing a reason to be anything else. FR is what Beyond Thunderdome should have been.

 

[The Bluestocking]

My immediate visceral reaction to the movie (which I just watched today) is this:

BLOODY HELL! BEST ACTION HEROINE SINCE ELLEN RIPLEY AND SARAH CONNOR! ALL HAIL CHARLIZE THERON'S IMPERATOR FURIOSA!

This is HANDS DOWN the best unapologetically and unabashedly FEMINIST action movie I have seen in YEARS! (With the bonus of being a rip roaring chase movie). It totally deserves the 99% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

I'm still digesting it all but I urge you all to RUN to the cinema to see it. NOW!

(Well, unless you are a Men's Rights Activist/misogynist who thinks that kickass female characters "ruin" good action movies or even good movies, period. There have been a fair number of them screaming bloody murder about the feminist themes and approaches of this installment of Mad Max including rants about why Mad Max should take orders from Imperator Furiosa given that she's a woman...)

 

[Brian G Turner]

I've edited the original post to add the full official trailer.

 

[BAYLOR]

Ive read nothing but good things about this film.

 

[millymollymo]

I love me a good hi-octane endless action movie. It had all the things you'd want... lots of "things to look at." Even the 'Khaleesi' imagery which is a growing trend in the presentation of vunerable female roles.
Perhaps my standards were set WAY too high. I avoided all the hype, which is what usually spoils it for me. I think I stand to be one of the few ladies out there not impressed by it. Sure it was nice to see the female "lead" the pack, and in the back of my mind I know I should be whooping.
But meh.
And the cars...as I was leaving I heard "Mad Max for boy racers..." which I did have a chuckle at.

One day I will turn off the inner critic and perhaps enjoy the movie for what it was, a lot of fun, but right now I am still trying to figure out why I left the cinema feeling cheated.
I'll get my coat.

 

[alchemist]

I thought it was excellent. Visceral action from beginning to end and with a semi-decent story. My only issues would be the lack of backstory and Max/Bane's voice which was a bit OTT.

But 9/10 for me.

 

[BAYLOR]

I plan to see it on memorial day weekend.

 

[Toby Frost]

Well, that was very enjoyable. It managed not to have that over-produced feel of a lot of big blockbusters. The action was very well directed, but not too slick, and it felt quite quirky and individual. Not many films would have their hero spend a third of his screen time with his face padlocked to a garden fork. The car chases were excellent and inventive, the setting and look were great, and the story not bad either. Max was a bit thin as a character, but then he is: he’s basically the Man with No Name in a car. It’s also a rather beautiful film, in a grotesque way. The scene with the people on stilts in the marsh is one of the most memorable images for me and nothing even exploded then.

I feel slightly disappointed that none of the cars was recognisable except the Interceptor (which might actually be a Ford Falcon, but anyhow). But for me that’s pushed aside by the sheer ingenuity of the machines. Fury Road is one of those films that makes no real sense outside its own world, but I don’t think that matters. After all, nobody complains when dragons breathe fire, so I don’t see why I should complain about some bloke on a truck made of amplifiers shooting flames from his guitar. Actually, that was cool.

Some of the comments I’d seen about this film on Facebook and in reviews made me wonder if it was going to get a bit preachy. However, anyone worried about a film about large objects hitting one another at speed being watered down by long speeches about feminist theory can rest easy. Fury Road is feminist in the same way as Aliens. This doesn’t so much pass the Brechdel test as drive straight through it in a bulldozer covered in spikes. Good. I would give the film a very solid 8/10.

 

[The Bluestocking]

Fury Road is feminist in the same way as Aliens. This doesn’t so much pass the Brechdel test as drive straight through it in a bulldozer covered in spikes.

Best. Description. Ever.

 

[Toby Frost]

Why thank you. It was either that or a comment that the action took place at high levels of Decibechdels.

 

[Juliana]

This doesn’t so much pass the Brechdel test as drive straight through it in a bulldozer covered in spikes.

Best. Description. Ever.

Agreed! Wow, loving all the reviews here. Hoping to watch it this weekend.

 

[Lenny]

Great fun, this! I don't think I've ever experienced such a quiet cinema - you usually have rustling, whispering, random phones lighting up, all around you, but I didn't notice any of that tonight. When the credits rolled, you could have heard a pin drop.

 

[clovis-man]

Saw it this past weekend. I expected a remake for some reason. Perhaps because of the title. But it turned out to be a pretty good follow-up to the first three. Didn't need much dialogue. A major criticism is that the script lines were meager. But it seemed just right to me. Great action. Well filmed. As I told my younger son (who loved it), "It was much better than I expected".