Mad Max: Fury Road

Title: Mad Max: Fury Road

Director: George Miller

Released: 2015

Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, Zoe Kravitz, Abbey Lee, Courtney Eaton, Megan Gale, Josh Helman, Nathan Jones, John Howard, Richard Carter, Angus Sampson, Melissa Jaffer

Plot: In the distant future society has all but collapsed while those who remain battle over the last remaining resources. In this latest instalment of the series Max (Hardy) has been captured by the fanatical War Boys who in turn are ruled by the tyrannical fascist Immortan Joe (Keays-Byrne). Meanwhile supply truck driver Imperator Furiosa (Theron) decides to break away from his rule as she liberates his captive wives with a plan to head for the Green lands, with her path soon crossing with Max’s as the two realise that their salvation will require them to work together.

 

Review: Coming a staggering thirty years after the flawed yet still highly enjoyable “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome” there was unquestionably a sense of hesitation as much as there was giddy excitement to finally have a new addition to the franchise for while it had been left open with potential for further adventures the fans weren’t left feeling that there was still things that hadn’t been left unanswered at the end of the last film which could very well have remained the end of Max's journey. So while Miller went on to other projects, including more randomly the celebrity voiced animal features “Babe” and “Happy Feet” there was however always an undying desire from the fans for another entry in the series. Still considering the film has been in various stages of development hell since 1998, on one hand its surprising that the film has now actually been released, while unquestionably setting a bar of expectation from the fan base which couldn’t possibly be met….could it?

Well thankfully I can report that the wait has been more than worthwhile as Miller shows he’s not lost any of the vision which made the original films stand out and if anything has spent the last thirty years thinking of ever more creative ways to bring chaos and destruction to screen once more which he delivers here in spades. At the same time this is also not so much a reboot but rather a tweaking of the series which sees the film being shot with more brighter colours than the original trilogy and with minor changes to Max's character, while Miller clearly chooses to leave it to the fan boys to hammer this entry’s position onto the timeline, especially with no real clear indication on where the story is supposed to happen on the timeline.

One of these major changes of course sees  the original road warrior Mel Gibson passing the torch to Tom Hardy who he has gone on record to call "a real firecracker" and its great to see Hardy once more being able to take on a such an iconic role while at the same time continuing to his reputation as the human chameleon. Max here is shown as still a shell of a man, whose years in the post-apocalyptic outback have at this point left him essentially feral while still haunted by the ghosts of the family he lost. However its fun to see Hardy pulling off some of Max's classic badass moves including entering into a standoff with an empty sawn off shotgun, while bringing a smile to my face with his ideas for unchaining himself from Nux. This time though he is equally matched by the feisty Imperator Furiosa who also carries with her, her own ghosts while hoping to find salvation at the mythical green lands much like her rag-tag band of survivors she takes along for the ride. Furiosa is equally enhanced beyond being just a female Max she might seem on the surface thanks to feminist writer / activist Eve Ensler who is no doubt best known for writing “The Vagina Monologues”  and here Miller brings on board to help develop the female characters. A smart decision especially in this world were the wives are see by Joe as being another commodity, an aspect which see’s Ensler bringing her real life experiences of working with abused and dominated women to help shape their creation, as seen with their rebellious graffiti they leave behind in their former prison / quarters proclaiming such slogans as “We Are Not Things” an aspect only further highlighted by their shedding of barbed Chasity belts they have had padlocked to their bodies.

Once more it is a colourful cast of characters that Miller brings to life here, while he clearly takes advantage of the time which has passed to bring back Keays-Byrne who originally played “Toecutter” in the original “Mad Max” and who here returns as the equally colourful Immortan Joe, with his skull mask and ventilator backpack and who like so many members of his clan he is slowly dying of disease and infection, while using his monopoly on a seemingly unlimited supply of water (or aqua cola as he calls it) to keep maintain his position of power and using his wives to breed the next generation of war boys. His gang the War Boys are equally an fascinating group as they live with a set of beliefs comparable to that of the Vikings as they view it an honour to die in battle, fuelled with hopes of making it into their version of Valhalla as they call for their brothers in arms to frequently witness them as they sacrifice themselves for their greater cause as highlighted by the conflicted path travelled by Nux (Hoult). At the same time Miller this time doesn’t just settle with one gang, as this cross desert chase also sees several other clans also joining in the fight, each with their own distinct styles including one who seem to be paying a direct homage to Peter Weir’s “The Cars Which Ate Paris” in particular its spiked beetle which is again replicated here.

Unquestionably the cars though are the star of the show with Miller this time crafting a film which is essentially one big car chase, with over 150 vehicles being created for the film of which over half were destroyed throughout filming. It is of course refreshing to see a director insisting on practical effects with CGI here only being used to highlight or cover for sequences which would otherwise be impossible, while the film more than delivers on its promises of a world of fire and blood as cars explode and crash in ever more spectacular ways with Miller seemingly setting out to top the already spectacular carnage he crafted with the original trilogy, a mission he more than achieves here. At the same time his eye for detail only adds to these sequences as he gives us such delights as a war drum truck complete with its own flamethrower welding guitar player or the tank treaded Mopar which makes for the ride of choice for the Bullet Farmer (Carter) it almost demand a repeat viewing just to take in the wide selection of instantly iconic vehicles featured. At the same time the cinematography by John Seale who was tempted out of retirement for this film, only emphasises the carnage with his use of crash cams and slow motion footage, for if car crash porn didn't exist before here he certainly gives us it. 

If there is any flaw in this film it could mainly be in the fact that this really doesn’t feel like Max’s film as like we saw with the recent "Godzilla" here the marquee name is pushed frequently to the background with Furiosa taking the lead, even though he is once again essentially doing the same thing he did with the previous two films by entering a community and helping them resolve their issues. Unsurprisingly this has led to several critics referring to this as being a feminist action movie, even though Miller has frequently featured strong women in the series from Mad Max 2’s “Warrior Woman” through to Thunderdome’s “Aunty Entity”. Equally the plotting is paper thin with much more of the focus on the chase which forms the real meat of the film, but honestly it’s so much fun let alone fast paced that you really won’t care.

Ultimately this is easily the film of the summer, while here's hoping that audiences also feel the same way as the critics, especially with Miller already having the next to films in this new trilogy planned out and currently awaiting the studio green light, which will no doubt happen if the box office matches the current excitement levels for this film. But if your an established fan then you will no doubt devour this latest entry while at the same time it still provides a nitro fuelled introduction for the uninitiated. This is one wild ride you don't want to miss!!

Mad Max

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Title: Mad Max

Director: George Miller
Released: 1979
Starring: Mel Gibson, Steve Bisley, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Time Burns, Geoff Parry, Roger Ward, Vincent Gill

Plot: Set in the near future were with the Earth’s oil supplied nearly exhausted, society has begun to fall apart. Meanwhile Main Force Patrol (MFP) officer Max (Gibson) soon finds himself the target of a vengeful motorcycle gang lead by the Toecutter (Keays Byrne) after he accidently kills one of their members

 

Review: One of the key Ozploitation movies of the Australian New Wave era and a film which despite its limited budget would not only spawn two sequels (with the third “Fury Road” as of the time of writing currently in production), it would also go on to set the benchmark for car smash movies. This is only further justified when you look at what is possibly one of the greatest opening sequences ever rivalled perhaps only by “Narc”, as we are mere minutes into the film, before we are straight into the opening car chase, featuring a caravan being decimated, cars flipped and even a rocket car, all shot with a heavy dose of car porn as Director Millar ensures that the whole sequence is shot at break neck speed.

Inspired by a strange yet effective combination of the post apocalyptic cult classic “A Boy And His Dog” (Sadly he choose not to also use a talking dog), the 1973 fuel shortages in Australia, were motorists were frequently resorting to violence to fill their fuel tanks, aswell as what Millar was seeing while working as an Emergency Room doctor and from these sources he crafts a world of violence and chaos, one he would continue to build on with the sequels to create a truly original vision of a post-apocalyptic Australia. However it is not a world without hope which in this film comes from the skeleton crew of MFP officers still trying to maintain law and order, despite the local populace becoming increasingly more wild and violent, while the courts have all but collapsed meaning that they frequently struggle to make their arrests stick, with the crumbling halls of justice sign essentially capturing their current state. Meanwhile Millar truly captures a society on the edge of implosion.

Within this world Miller undoubtedly crafts some truly memorable characters, a trait he also carried over to the sequels, with fleshed out characterisation which extends well beyond the main characters and carried right through to even the most minor characters so that it feels like a living world that the film exists within. As the big evil of the film Keays-Byrne makes for a suitable intimidating villain as the Toecutter, a role he reportedly based on Genghis Khan which is a pretty suitable model considering the nomadic styling his gang and while he might not be anywhere as psychotic as the villains who followed, as he prefers to have his gang carry out his dirty work, while using his towering size to intimidate those he encounters, aswell as to keep his gang in line.

Despite the challenges and horrors Max faces on a daily basis, he refuses to give in as he continues to try and fight the good fight, finding solace from the horrors he sees from his loving wife and child who provide him the rock he needs, something which is only emphesised by him becoming the titular Mad Max after they are viciously killed by bikers in a truly hunting sequence and one which I found affecting me more while rewatching it for this review, possibly because of being a father myself, something I was on the previous times I had watched this film. It is a role embodied by the fresh faced Gibson, with this film launching him into superstar status, despite originally only attending the auditions for the film to support his close friend Steve Bisley who here appears similarly as Max’s best friend Goose. Ironically it would be the battered appearance he turned up to the audition in as a result of the previous nights bar brawl that would land him the part, with one of the casting agents advising him to come back as “We need freaks”. Gibson despite his inexperience perfectly manages to potray the two sides to Max, especially in his transformation from loving family man to ice cold avenger.

The violence here despite the films legacy is largely retrained and more implied with Miller preferring to give the viewer bursts of intense violence, which can be slightly disappointing after such a strong opening that the film on first viewing can feel like one drawn out chase movie, as Max and his family try to escape from Toecutter and his men, who are quick to spurn themselves into a whirlwind of violence and rape (Both male and female with bisexual / homosexual villains one of the more random  reoccurring themes of the series). While future instalments would amp up the violence, this film instead is more a study of revenge and what happens when a man reaches his breaking point, with Max’s revenge being especially blunt as he utilises both his trademark black pursuit special but also a sawn off shotgun as his tools of revenge, while memorably forcing one gang member to choose between sawing through a chain or his ankle to avoid being blown up in a scene which would also provide the inspiration for “Saw”. Needless to say this is world were only those willing to fight or give in to more primal instincts survive, aswell as one were the intimidating MFP Captain is called FiFi (Ward)

While it is my least favourite of the trilogy, it is a film which benefits from a repeat viewing or atleast some prior warning over what to expect, especially when comparing to the sequels, which are very much a different beast in comparison, but as an origin story it is still solid on its own merits and a films which certainly has lost nothing in the years since its release.

Ozploitation Month: Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

So here is the first review, as part of my month long look at "Ozploitation" movies and what better place to start than with one of my all time favourite movies "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. If you want to have your thoughts, on the subject of Ozplotiation be it reviews, essays or anything that ties in with this months theme, just click here for details of how you too can be part of Ozploitation month.





Title: Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
Director: George Miller
Released: 1982
Staring: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Max Phipps, Vernon Wells, Kjell Nilsson, Emil Minty
Rating: 5/ 5


Plot: Continuing after the event of the first film, Max (Gibson) now travels through the post apocalypse Australia where Gasoline has become most valuable commodity. It’s here that he becomes involved in a struggle between a group of psychotic bandits lead by the Humangus (Nilsson) and a town that has built its defences around a small refinery.

Review: When it comes to naming the greatest sequels of all time, it’s usually a pretty short list, especially when you limit it to movies which manage to surpass the original film from which they have been spawned, which will no doubt leave you with a list that looks a lot like this.

* Godfather part 2
* Gremlins: The New Batch
* Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
* Terminator 2: Judgement Day
* Aliens
* Baby cart at the River Styx

But for myself when it comes to one movie that not only surpasses its original film, but blows it out of the water, I always think of this film, which was released three years after the original movie and costing ten times the budget of the original movie, it’s hardly surprising that this was at the time one of the most expensive Australian movies made at the time of it’s release, but for myself this truly is a film that surpasses it's original, which honestly I never really cared for, seeing how it had a strong memorable opening and a great finale, but somewhere in-between it became just a run of the mill chase thriller, as Max and his family found themselves constantly on the run from “The Toecutter” and his marauding group of bikers and true it’s storyline might be important, due to it showing how Max became the shell of the man he is, when we catch up with him in this film, where it seems since the last time we saw Max, the world has gone to hell in a hand basket, thanks to the war over oil, ravaging the planet which only proves all the more ironic when we look at the conflict currently happening in Iraq. Still thanks to the dramatic opening narrative, we are quickly brought up to speed, before being thrown into the first of the films many chase sequences, which after all were the selling point of the first film and realising this Miller, has with this sequel created some of the most memorable chase sequences put onto film, maximising on the apocalyptic setting, to not only create strange hybrid vehicles, but also using the setting to bring a new primal and more brutal edge to these sequences, with the standout of course being the final tanker chase, which not only clocks in at an impressive 15 minutes, but in many ways modernises the familiar set piece of westerns by giving us his version of a stage coach ambush setting, as we see the Humangus’s dogs of war leaping from vehicles, to try and climb onboard the tanker.


It’s true that “Mad Max 2” might also be almost a complete reimagining of the world created in “Mad Max” (1979), which despite having a future time frame still looked very current for the time of it’s release, but it’s a reimaging or even a reboot which saved the series, which at the end of the first film had really no where to go, but by making the subtle tweaks to the setting, such as the world now being post apocalyptic, it helps make the film more open to creativity, which is none more present than with Humangus and his dogs of war, who are really a rag tag band of bikers and savages still trying to cling onto familiar symbols of the old world, such as several members of the gang, being seen wearing police uniforms, similar to the ones we saw Max and his fellow officers wearing in the first film, while the bikers tend to favour the more traditional leather and Mohawk combo, with the Humangus’s muscle “Wez” (played here by Vernon Wells in what would prove to be his most memorable role) even sporting a pair of ass-less chaps, which along with the affection he has for the blonde guy who rides with Wez on his bike, only further fuels, the idea that several of these bandits are openly gay and idea not usually associated with tough and sadistic villains like these, who are happy to torture and rape their victims, whenever provided the opportunity and judging by the comments made by the Humangus while trying to calm down a psychotic Wez, saying the following words softly, as he restrains him

“I understand your pain. We've all lost someone we love.”

We are also shown that these bandits, have also been driven insane by the violence, which has erupted around them and that Max could easily have become one of these men, as he to seems to care for nothing in this world which has taken everything he cares about, having become a shell of his former self, with his emotions as barren as the desert landscape which surrounds him, with the only real sign of any emotion in the whole film, being at the start, when he finds a small music box, which when wound up plays the tune of “Happy Birthday” raising a slight smile on his face. Still it would seem that Max, still holds onto a lot of his old values, as he keeps his deals with both the Gyro captain (Spence) and PappaGallo (Preston) again proving, that even though he is emotional dead, thanks to the experiences he has been through, he is still not ready to turn into a savage like the Humangus and his gang have long since become. The Villagers on the other hand seem strangely innocent compared to Max and the bandits, dressing almost uniform like in their Nomadic white cloth wraps, yet are prepared to defend their makeshift village, no doubt having learned from previous experience that passive behaviour, holds little weight in this world, an idea only re-enforced by the opening montage, as the narrator explains states that

"Only those mobile enough to scavenge, brutal enough to pillage would survive."
Though like the bandits they too, have chosen to follow the leadership of a charismatic leader, with their leader coming in the form of PappaGallo, whose command they follow without question, despite having launched numerous failed attempts to escape from the bandits. It is also curious that with a society that these villagers have created for themselves that they have a feral child, the imaginatively named Feral Kid (Minty) amongst their number, who speaks only in grunts and howls and despite his young age has already become desensitised to the escalating violence around him, while showing no remorse when his steel boomerang kill’s Wez’s partner, giving the viewer the impression that this child is the new evolution of humanity, created in this societies soup of violence and rage.



Now were most movies would be lucky to manage one interesting villan, this film is unusual in the fact that it has two, with both the Humangus and Wez fighting for the title of supreme evil of the wasteland, even though it made clear that the Humangus is the one with the power, easily commanding his followers with a few simple words and inspiring them with his torture party demonstrations of power, aswell as Neo Nazi like rants at the towns folk, with his style of leadership having possibly been inspired by his own father, as we see in the Humangus’s gun case a photo of a man, who could be his father wearing a Nazi uniform. However he is slightly let down by his costume choice, which thanks to S & M style leather and a hockey mask covering his disfigured face, means he does end up looking like Jason’s gay Australian cousin. Wez on the other hand is less focused with his intentions and merely a man of action, admittedly these actions are mainly of a psychotic and violent nature, who draws pleasure from pain, demonstrated near the beginning when we see him pulling an arrow from his own flesh, with an almost transfixed look of concentration on his face. Still for myself the most memorable character of the film, will always be the Gyro Captain, with Bruce Spence playing the role, like it had been written for him, which makes his appearance in “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome” (1985) all the less suprising. The Gyro Captain makes for an interesting choice of sidekick for Max, even though Max rejects his offers of partnership, whenever it is brought up he continues to follow Max around, knowing that they both need each other, if they are to survive in this new world, even if Max isn’t forthcoming in admitting to it, only expressing his respect for the Gyro Captain at the very end of the film.

Brain May once again provides a great orchestra score to the film, adding real tension and drama, to what is unfolding on the screen, in much the same way that he would later do for many Ozploitation classics including “Turkey Shoot” (1982) and “Patrick” (1978), the score coming into real effect during the chase sequences, all of which were shot without the use of CGI, making every smash and crash all the more exciting, as Miller attempts to top each chase sequence with the final chase especially easily worth noting as one of the most spectacular and exciting ever captured on film.

Since it’s original release Mad Max 2 has been endless paid homage to, with many films sharing it’s apocalyptic setting drawing heavy influence from the ideas which it along with the other films in the trilogy laid the foundations for. The film is also packed with textbook examples for how chase sequences should be done and certainly something which Australian films have in time become renown for, but Mad Max 2 just ups the ante with these sequences almost as if Miller was playing a game of one upman ship with himself, to see just how insane a chase sequence it would be possible to create and these sequences stand as a testament, giving almost textbook example as to how chase sequences should be shot.
Mad Max 2 is also a film that since I first saw it, back in my early teens, it has frequently been a film, which I have returned to and even after countless viewings still manages to create the same emotions in me, that it did the first time I saw it in much the same way as “Zulu” (1964) and like that film, it is one of the films which I hope gets passed onto the next generation of film junkies, who will no doubt never get to experience a film like this, especially in these times were CGI has pretty much replaced the role of old school effect, atleast this film much like John Carpenter’s “The Thing” (1982) will remain testament as to the power of the old school style of film making.