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Mad Max Fury Road

StingrayStingray Elite Ranger
edited July 2015 in General Discussion
If you don't have anything better to do, do something else than watch this movie. It's not awful but it could have been so much more considering what went into its making. I'd heard quite positive reviews before and I was quite excited at first. The plot can be summed up like this:

Max gets hunted and caught by a tribe led by Immortan which sends out a squad of warriors led by Furiosa to get fuel for their vehicles at some far off place we'll never get to see. She veers off the route for a mission of her own. Immortan gathers up the remainder of his troops to try to get her back. Max involuntarily joins them as a blood donor of one of the road worriors (he's tied to the front of the car and has a blood line running inside the car). Furiosa's plan is to reach a "greener" place where she grew up as a child with the remainder of the fertile women of the tribe (insert girls/top models in skimpy clothing) who are all trying to escape. Then there's a bunch of car/bike/truck chases and crashes mixed in with a bunch of explosions. This could have been a Michael Bay movie. Short story short, the green place of the past is gone and only a few old people remain. Max escaped by the way in all that mess and joined Furiosa. He convinces her to head back from where they came. They end up in another mass confrontation, many die including Immortan. They reach the citadel. Max disappears in the cheering crowd. The End!


If you've read this far that's almost two hours of your life you can now put to good use right there. You'll thank me later. ;-) I would have done something else today too but it was just too hot outside. Anyway, your mileage may vary of course but consider yourself warned. If you like movies with hardly any dialogue, story, deep characters, growth but with a lot of action, mad vehicles, sand, scars and bald heads, this might just be what you're looking for. ;-)

Comments

  • I thought it was a great movie. Its not dumbed down like most modern action movies (no lengthy exposition to explain stuff that doesn't matter), its not neutered, it has lots of practical effects and limited cgi, good cinematography (you can actually see things going on!).

    I loved it.
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    It has also gotten great press and reviews on how pro-women/feminist it is.
  • WORFWORF The Burninator
    It's one of my favourite movies of the year, pretty much for the same reasons Seafroggys and croxis gave. It also felt like it was being made by people who cared about making a good movie, which gives it something that many other big budget movies lack.

    Oh and it was a great deal of fun :D
  • Oh, and I forgot to mention; its also great because it has a flamethrower guitar. One of the greatest things I've ever seen on film.
  • StingrayStingray Elite Ranger
    edited July 2015
    Well, I tried to keep it spoiler free, but yeah the flamethrower guitar is awesome. Not sure how you could dumb down this movie as it lacks any intelligence. It's 100% instinct!!! Edit: I correct myself here by stating that you could dumb down this movie by having Michael Bay direct it. lol
  • PJHPJH The Lovely Thing
    I'd sum up the movie like this myself: 2 hour car chase in a desert, the end.

    I had high hopes for it after seeing the trailer, which was great, but the movie was a big disappointment. No real plot, no character development of any kind, no variety, no nothing except car chasing in a desert.
    And the guitar thing was absolutely horrible and supercorny. Whoever came up with that has no idea what a good taste is and what the term corny means. It was possibly the most tasteless thing I've ever seen in a movie.

    Anyway, as a car chase it was pretty good, but as a movie it was a big disappointment. But unfortunately it's nothing new in today's movie industry, which mostly produces super-expensive, but dumb, boring and plotless movies with boring characters and actors. Just watch older movies from before 2000's and even before 90's and there's a huge difference in quality all around. Movies back then had real plots, fascinating stories, sense of adventure and interesting and charismatic characters and actors. All of that is largely missing in today's movies and Mad Max: Fury Road is a prime example of this.
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    edited July 2015
    Anyway, as a car chase it was pretty good, but as a movie it was a big disappointment. But unfortunately it's nothing new in today's movie industry, which mostly produces super-expensive, but dumb, boring and plotless movies with boring characters and actors. Just watch older movies from before 2000's and even before 90's and there's a huge difference in quality all around. Movies back then had real plots, fascinating stories, sense of adventure and interesting and charismatic characters and actors. All of that is largely missing in today's movies and Mad Max: Fury Road is a prime example of this.
    I have not seen any other Mad Max movies but my impression from popular culture is that they are over the top with a nice scoop of camp. Liking that is a matter of personal taste! I don't think anyone expected a flame throwing guitar but I thought it fit my mental idea of what to expect from Mad Max.

    I also disagree about the lack of character development. Every protagonist had growth. The thing is the movie was subtle -- there was no camera pausing on their face with a montage flashback as they make their grandiose sudden "character growth changing" decision. Young women turned from victims and running for freedom to fighting for it and owning their futures. A young fanatical man's faith was broken and reforged from serving to saving (this one was a bit harder for me to follow, needed a little more screentime I think). Max went from making survival-oriented choices regardless of the cost, to fighting for a cause, to the choice he made at the end of the movie. All of this happened without hand holding the audience.

    Those are some nice rose colored confirmation bias glasses you are wearing there. For every Schindler's List there is a Gigli, Bring it on 2 (and 3, 4 ,5), Disney direct to dvd horrible sequels, anything featured on mystery science theater 3000, and the spice girls movie. There are a number of bad movies that were trying to cash in on hits like Star Wars or ET from the 70s and 80s. Heck some movies were so bad they became cult classics and are considered pillars of culture (Plan 9, Rocky Horror). Human memory is crap.
  • StingrayStingray Elite Ranger
    edited July 2015
    To me this movie falls into the category of films like Quantum of Solace and Gravity. All visuals, action and little else. It's not a movie you'll ponder about for days or weeks to come. The previous Mad Maxes were not exactly better in that regard. So it's probably just not everyone's cup of tea. I enjoyed the Book of Eli and No Country for Old Men films a hell of a lot more even though they are not quite in the same manhunt genre. The characters were a lot richer there IMHO. Why they used Charlize Theron here is a complete mystery to me too. Any other actress would have been good enough.
  • edited July 2015
    I totally agree with Croxis. Even though it was just action, it was amazing how good a sense I got of the characters and the world the story took place in. Just because it didn't follow the character development tropes doesn't make it bad or plotless. In fact, the weakest parts of the movie occurred when it did try to traditionally develop characters.
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