Miller Talks Up Mad Max 4
Source: Cinematical
Last we heard from the Mad Max 4 camp, director George Miller was bummed after having to abandon production on the film in Nambia, Africa due to the war, and the fact that they couldn't get insurance or their vehicles shipped into the country. Mel Gibson, who had reportedly signed on to star (for a crisp $25 million, mind you) bailed, and a lot of the budget was lost, as well as a heck of a lot of time. This is the reason why it's been 8 years since Miller directed a film -- before the upcoming Happy Feet, his last pic was 1998's Babe: Pig in the City.
However, more time has passed, and in a recent interview with In Focus Miller once again addressed the question on everyone's mind: Will he or will he not be helming a Mad Max 4? Says Miller, "Mad Max 4 is so prepared, there seems to be a lot of momentum for it to get done. Right now, I've got another, smaller film to do, and then we'll gear up and do Mad Max again. In what form and so on, I don't know. But it hasn't gotten stale in the meantime, and I'm very very keen to do it. It seems like there's the appetite out there." The title of the film (we're assuming) will still be Mad Max: Fury Road, and although originally pegged as a prequel, Miller denied those rumors without saying anything more about the project.
But what about Mel? Will he hop back on the wagon, even though he's already fallen off of it? And would a Max Max sequel be worth it if Mel doesn't sign on? After all, he did agree to do a fourth Lethal Weapon, so I suppose there's a good chance he'll be game.
'Mad Max' sequel in the works
'Fury Road' will shoot in Sydney, outback
Source: Hollywood Reporter
SYDNEY -- The fourth installment in George Miller's "Mad Max" franchise, "Fury Road," is set to go into production in Sydney and outback New South Wales next year, according to local reports Saturday.
Miller, who also will produce the film through his production shingle Kennedy Miller, is quoted as saying that " 'Fury Road' will put NSW back on the map as a filmmaking destination.
"Hollywood has cut its production in half. Big movies like 'Fury Road' and 'Happy' Feet are rare and competitively sought after in all the filmmaking regions of the world," Miller told the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
"The production agreements have been a long time in the making and (NSW) Premier Rees and his team have worked like Trojans to ensure this substantial investment comes into this country. Not only does it help fuel the local economy but it means many talented people get a chance to practice their craft and lift their skills."
News that "Fury Road" has been given the greenlight comes just 10 days after Warner Bros. announced was pulling production of "Green Lantern" out of Australia.
No studio backing for "Fury Road" was announced for the film which reportedly has a $100 million budget.
"The 'Mad Max' films are iconic," Rees said. "In the hands of director George Miller, we will see one of the largest and most ambitious live-action films ever made in Australia. This is a clear vote of confidence in Australian expertise. This proves that Sydney is an international contender for major film production."
Kennedy Miller is also in production on "Happy Feet 2" in its digital production joint venture with Omnilab Media, Dr D.
"Its been 30 years since the post-apocalyptic thriller "Mad Max" was released, propelling Mel Gibson to stardom.
Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy hit 'Fury Road'
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy are in negotiations to star in "Fury Road," this century's installment of the "Mad Max" movie series from writer-director George Miller.
Miller is producing with Doug Mitchell.
Despite his long association with the fourth movie, Mel Gibson is not reprising his iconic role of Max Rockatansky, the hardened ex-cop in a future beset by gas shortages and marauding gangs.
That job goes to Hardy, the British-born actor who stole scenes as Handsome Bob in Guy Ritchie's "RocknRolla." ("RocknRolla" has proved to be a launch pad for Hardy, who booked a gig in Christopher Nolan's "Inception" as well. He also starred in "Bronson.")
Theron is playing the female lead.
While story details are being kept under wraps, the movie does take place a short while after the story detailed in 1985's "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome," which keeps Mad Max relatively young.
A shoot next summer in Australia is being eyed. The movie will be an Australian production which Warner Bros. will distribute.
"Road" has been in the works for more than a decade, with Gibson attached to star at one point. When the project finally began ramping up earlier this spring and summer, Miller began looking at and testing numerous actors who could step into the grim shoes previously worn by Gibson.
Courtenay Valenti is overseeing for the studio.
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I find this trailer so not impressive at all. Sand and vehicles.
But I've not seen the first Mad Max and am unaware of George Miller talent, so, maybe it'll change. I'm excited because people are excited, though!
When did dirt get so glossy? I miss Mel Gibson and Toe Cutter and CGI-less chases. I do like the thumbs up Tom Hardy gives to Theron but this is not Mad Max. This is some other, other shit...
The thumps up is what gives me hope.
Very impressive and exciting trailer. Real sand and cars! I wonder if it works as a movie, though.
JEEEEEESUZZ................I HATED THE FIRST TRAILER.......BUT THIS ONE IS ACES.
IT'S LIKE MILLER EMBRACED THE MADNESS AND CAMPNESS PULLED OUT HIS DICK ON SOME REAL LOCATIONS AND THEN FUCKED HIS COMPUTER IN POST, A FREE FOR ALL WITH ALL THE ILM STAFF, MANUFACTURING MAGIC AND EXPLOSIVE WHIRLWIND CUMSHOTS........
IF IT'S THIS FLAMBOYANT, MAD AND ZANY: I'M IN.
IN IN IN.
WHERE DID UR CAPSLOCK COME FROM MADMAX FROM FEARLESS
I read his post as the Humungus from Road Warrior yelling it over the loudspeaker.
JUST WALK AWAY. THERE HAS BEEN TOO MUCH VIOLENCE. TOO MUCH PAIN.
MY CURRENT CAPSLOCK MANIA IS MY HOMAGE TO PTA SCRIPTS WHEN SHIT'S POPPING OFF IN HIS PSYCHOMANICDREAM NARRATIVES, APPLIED TO MAD MAX FROM FEARLESS. LIKE THAT SHOT OF CHARLIZE ABOUT TO SCREAM.
HOLD. HOLD. HOLD. HOLD. HOLD.
:shock:
My only reaction to this: "Holy shit!"
It looks amazing. Been a while since I've been pumped for a summer blockbuster.
Exciting action.
But it feels like they've shown all the big impressive stuff.
Quote from: Lottery on March 31, 2015, 10:22:23 PM
But it feels like they've shown all the big impressive stuff.
They definitely could have. What intrigues me more is that George Miller says this film is entirely a chase film. The idea of sequence balancing within a full plate of action sequences that's surrounded by a possible minimal story, it's a fascinating concept. In the hands of someone like Miller who I think has a high visual pedigree, I think it has good chance to be awesome. Too many action films fluff their big action sequences by over depending on them as being high payoffs after progressing bad drama and story, but a film trying to do it from inside out by looking for internal drama within a fucking chaotic world, I think is a good twist. Of course optimism hinges on idea of someone like Miller staying true to talent I know he has. This could be a huge disappointment too. Either way, it will be truly no holds barred.
if ur trying to be new pubrick, don't.
if not, carry on.
Hah, Pubes and I have little in common.
haha my bad i meant to delete that after i figured out the april fools thing. i thought you were typing like that on purpose.
You know when people say that you're not ready to watch X movie? Often, it's bullshit. Trust me, you're not ready for Fury Road. It's a classic. It's INSANE.
this is the greatest action movie ever made.
Damn! I've had my entire life to watch the first 3, but only caught bits and pieces on TV. I don't think I'll be able to see 'em all before the theatrical run ends, but oh well. Just nice to know there's a kickass summer blockbuster, finally.
help a brother out.
is this film suitable for a ten year old boy?
Yes.
Well, I better go see this before I hear too much more talk about it. Already had to mute a review on NPR today. Patton Oswalt said it's a stand alone film and it makes 'The Road Warrior' look like 'Claire's Knee'
Quote from: Ghostboy on May 15, 2015, 06:19:40 PM
Yes.
What a pleasure it must be to discover this movie at ten in a movie theater.
Just gonna grab my Twitter rant and put it right here...
Just had a solid two-hour idiot grin on my face. If you go to the movies this summer and they don't show you Mad Max: Fury Road, ask them for a refund. We kept waiting for the next generation of action directors to take over the mantle from Spielberg & Cameron but it never really happened. Glad 70-year old George Miller came back to show everyone how it's done. This is what movies can be. "Fuck you, modern movies. You can take your PG-13 family values, CGI-shaki-cam action & shove it straight up your arse." - Mad Max: Fury Road
Disney is great at managing franchises responsibly. Warner Bros. is the studio that gives $150m to a madman to make this film. A glimmer of hope for a film as good as Mad Max: Fury Road is why geeks get riled up every single time for a sequel/reboot of a film they love. Imagine a world where George Lucas comes back 15 yrs after the OT with something like this for the Star Wars prequels. Can you even imagine?
I can't imagine I'll see a better movie this year and after 1 viewing I would be surprised if this doesn't sit comfortably on the shelf next to Aliens, T2 and Jurassic Park as a masterpiece of action filmmaking.
Most liked:
Max: Why did you leave Green Place?
Furiosa: I didn't. (dramatic eye-roll.) I was taken from there.
Glad this is being treated seriously, I guess because of how hard it musta been to make. It's kinda like the genre version of Boyhood this year, so respek.
It's more:
How do you know it exists?
I'm born there.
Without any eye-roll.
It's a beautiful story about escaping an oppressive system — a post apocalyptic, insane system — which contains three stories of redemption. It's full of poetic moments while being an insane car chase. There and back again, as Bilbo would say. Of course I'm taking it seriously!
I've seen it twice. I'll go again.
Quote from: Drenk on May 16, 2015, 06:58:18 PM
It's more:
How do you know it exists?
I'm born there.
Without any eye-roll.
It's a beautiful story about escaping an oppressive system — a post apocalyptic, insane system — which contains three stories of redemption. It's full of poetic moments while being an insane car chase. There and back again, as Bilbo would say. Of course I'm taking it seriously!
I've seen it twice. I'll go again.
Promise you, look for it if you wanna:
Max: How do you know it exists?
Furiosa: I was born there.
Max: Why did you leave it?
Furiosa: I didn't. (dramatic eye-roll.) I was taken from there.
It's not a dramatic eye-roll so much as a contemplative gaze away.
Yeah "a beautiful story about escaping an oppressive system — a post apocalyptic, insane system — which contains three stories of redemption" is spot on for my interests. Are you kidding? I love Max. I love Boyhood for that matter, and I think there's a bit of accomplishment to the very production of Fury Road also, from the rock'n'roll truck to the bandits swinging from poles to the entire environment with the water control and the wizard of this Oz, and George Miller is from Oz and 70 years old. Oh I love it, the whole bit. It's interesting to see it loved in a passionate way for a list of reasons people are willing to carry! That's the kinda thing that makes a movie last, and all that passion keeps movies running (I also think Mad Max has greatly cinematic grammar, and my favorite part was when the classical music was playing [as it did during the quoted scene] and the camera tracked along the truck's side where a person was traveling), and I'm plain fascinated by the elevation of people's appreciation for this movie. It's a bit nextlevel appreciation, about Mad Max, hell yeah, although Pitch Perfect 2 is currently winning the box office, which I also like for a reason that'd be in a side conversation.
The strong feminist themes didn't bother you?
(Note: I ask not because there's anything wrong with strong feminist themes. In fact they're fucking great, and I love that this movie has them. I only ask because of jenkin's well documented hatred of themes in general)
Quote from: Tictacbk on May 16, 2015, 08:38:02 PM
The strong feminist themes didn't bother you?
(Note: I ask not because there's anything wrong with strong feminist themes. In fact they're fucking great, and I love that this movie has them. I only ask because of jenkin's well documented hatred of themes in general)
Charlize and Tom have such terrific eye movements in the movie. I'm able to believe in the movie because of their eyes, which are completely engaged in their post-apocalyptic setting, and they're maybe my favorite eyes since Dennis in Night Tide in terms of setting the mood.
I think about things like that, that's what I'm saying. I'm not an active feminist a.k.a I don't process my perspective through that principle. The thing I know is this what my John Wayne looks like:
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Fair enough. It's a movie for everyone!
is this the most unrelentingly entertaining, kinetic movie since buster keaton's the general? was also reminded of fritz lang's metropolis for various reasons, not the least of which is its vastly ambitious, thoroughly realized, generous vision. and if it isn't obvious enough that miller is conjuring the silent giants, the blue tinting for night scenes makes it pretty goddamn undeniable. i'm convinced he's accomplished something on the level of lang and the like with this film. i'm gonna go see it again right now, and again tomorrow.
Making of Mad Max: Fury Road from ACS Victoria with John Seale ACS ASC and David Burr ACS
ACS Victoria presents this wonderful explanation of what went into filming Mad Max: Fury Road. Presented by the film's cinematographer John Seale ACS ASC and 2nd Unit cinematographer David Burr ACS in Melbourne for the Victorian Branch of the ACS. (2 hours)
https://vimeo.com/127381179 (https://vimeo.com/127381179)
if you're in the LA area, go see this in the cineramadome at the arclight hollywood before it gets replaced. fourth time seeing it and it felt like the first time around. the dome offers the most immersive sound experience i know of and this movie becomes that much more glorious when the aural sensations are cranked up to 11 and become as tactile as the imagery. the only thing is the screen size, maybe the curvature brought out some digital noise in the projection.
Quote from: samsong on May 15, 2015, 06:21:23 AM
this is the greatest action movie ever made.
It doesn't beat
Castle in the Sky, but a tie I'm willing to allow.
(Are there any Second wave feminists and/or descriptive linguists who want to talk about that anti-seed/antecede joke?)
Quote from: OstrichRidingCowboy on May 26, 2015, 07:58:41 PM
Quote from: samsong on May 15, 2015, 06:21:23 AM
this is the greatest action movie ever made.
It doesn't beat Castle in the Sky, but a tie I'm willing to allow.
I think T2 is the apex of the action genre- but I'm so glad you bring up CitS because it is very close to the top. It is a perfect action/adventure film. A very robust work, satisfying in almost every way. Fury Road is also pretty great (but probably not top 5 or anything).
For me, to say Castle in the Sky is better and talk about it in terms of being in the same genre, is to say both films are comparable. I don't see that at all. Mad Max: Fury Road represents the uniqueness of the action genre today. It doesn't have a label but it feels like extravaganza action. The action scenes carry on for extended periods of time and are more about interest in the intricacies of stunt coordination, effects, and what imagination can be spurred when tunnel visioning an idea of how many ways a crash scenario of destruction can be played out and extended in every way. Miyazaki is more of Kurosawa humanist in seeing tumultuous moments for minimalism and representations of someone's struggle to bear through a situation and overcome obstacles. Still, with that being said, his stories are about characters having courage to make right decisions.
Even T2 doesn't feel comparable. I enjoy the movie a lot, but come on, the most memorable part of the movie is that it exists in that early 1990s realm of CGI experimentation where usage was minimal and made to look more realistic before CGI effects became overwhelming and thus cartoonish because it kept replacing more realms of world around the characters. Besides, the original Terminator has a bare bones look and intensity and feel while T2 simply feels more clean and better produced in visual look - no actual advancement in style or experimentation. Just a neater Hollywood look.
Yes, I classify Mad Max alongside films of today. The nice difference for Mad Max is that its narrative is singular and has little interest to be bad dramatic stories just sugar coated by extravagant action effects so people don't feel completely dumbed down by characters and situations below all levels of consideration for anything worth caring about, i.e. a few decisions from full caricature or satirical rendering. Mad Max tries to use the storyline of constant combustion of action and craziness and reflect it against someone who feels lost in a world of voices in his head and uncertainty in his sanity and push it against him and others lost in a world that is essentially a full war zone. The genre is technically science fiction, but the density of plot details is a mass collection of different things from humanity's past in referencing different attitudes in war over time and how humans can get lost in a pride and belief mind fuck when fighting for something they feel is a greater good - however insane it feels to us the viewer, the outsider to it all. None of this even includes all the technical innovation George Miller did in making the film and challenging most establishments of action filmmaking today.
that was a very eloquent way to say what I was thinking which was simply why would you compare an animated film to a non animated film. Like yeah that movie was the best drama since toy story 3
This is some WonderBra-level compartmentalization going on; I hereby rescind any irony contained in my previous post.
I love animated films but for some reason I would never consider one a pure action film which to me must involve real humans and stunt-people to really have that leaning-forward-in-your-seat suspense.
If an animated film has a bravado similar to Mad Max and pure interest in extended action scenes, I would be fine with comparing the two. The cinematographer to Mad Max: Fury Road actually credited Miller's previous experiences in directing animation to really helping him handle the CGI and other special effects in post production with this film. The two can be comparable but not in the Miyazaki case. Different aesthetic worlds.
i remember when i saw star wars the first time. i was a little kid and i hadn't seen too many films at that time. i saw eraserhead shortly after. and i remember feeling really weird, you know? like i was looking in on something incredibly special that no one else knew about, because i didnt know any better at the time.
i went into this movie with incredibly high expectations mostly due to all of yalls words.
i had no idea i would feel like that little kid again.
i have never seen a better action/science fiction/dystopian film in my life, and i really love those.
this is one of the most original things i have ever seen. literally everything caught me by suprise.
nothing really else to say that hasnt been. best film of 2015.
saw it again tonight in an empty theater. Anyone here who hasn't seen this in cinema yet needs to get on it immediately. Restored my faith in modern film. People can still make the kind of movies that revolutionized the seventies.
I saw this like two weeks ago, but I've given up on posting a review that could do it justice or express why I love the movie. My only complaint is that it wasn't 3 hours long. I'm not even an action fan in particular, but this was profoundly beautiful.
It's impossible not to get caught up in the insanity, but the quiet moments are just as absorbing. And there is a particular balance achieved. I can't remember the last film I saw that was so precisely and effectively paced.
SPOILERS
The 3D was transcendent. When they're coming back through the mountain pass and the war rigs are finally destroyed, a massive collection of machine parts explodes right at us in this intricately designed symphony of mechanical carnage, with the guitar as the centerpiece. That moment basically melted my brain.
It's also surprisingly emotional. I was completely overwhelmed by the ending.
I think this is the movie Waterworld wanted to be.
I waited with the comments for two weeks.
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The first ticket is for night film marathon "Mad Max", which included first, second and fourth installment (no Thunderdome). It was worth the price for being able to see "The Road Warrior" on big screen alone. Experience of watching "Fury Road" was kinda weakened for me - sitting for so long in a chair isn't my thing and that combined with drunk chicks next to me took away a good chuck of fun. On the other hand it was easier to catch some nods to "The Road Warrior" - a music box, misfire from double barrel etc.
Now I have to say "Fury Road" deserves a second viewing - there is so much going on that you can miss some fine bits. Today I picked a place closer to the screen - for lauder music and sound (it was a right choice).
I'll list some things (and questions to you), since I'm in a bit of hurry and it is hard to vocalize your feeling toward a film like that.
Possible spoilers:
- Favorite scene? For me it is scene, where Furiosa replaces "stolen" steering wheel with a pipe wrench right away. In other hands (director/screenwriter wise), lack of wheel could be exploited for a "what to do? what to do?" prolonged scene. Not here, simple and practical.
- Feminism in "Mad Max". I don't see it myself. The problem is what was going on in mainstream. I love that there is a strong female presence. Not only that, but we got older ladies kicking ass on a good side - roles for older people are typically limited for villains or some form of wisdom tellers. Here we get R-rated flick with female led (Furiosa) in an action movie - who would predicted that?
- Color grading is very different. In a way it feels like a black and white movie - for the most part only one color is dominating the screen, be it orange at day or blue at night. I'm waiting for Blu-ray, which supposedly will include black and white version.
- Anyone surprised by chronology? I was sure judging by trailers that sand storm will be the last scene - how wrong I was.
- Favorite car? Doof Wagon was over the top, but my personal pick goes for Buzzard Excavator - that thing seemed almost indestructible for awhile.
My mind is still spinning around, will try to write more next time.
What a great time at the theater!
Favorite Line: Do not, my friends, become addicted to water. It will take hold of you, and you will resent its absence!
Favorite Vehicle: The Peacemaker (car with tank treads) driven by the Bullet Farmer, followed by the Gigahorse driven by Immorton Joe (two Cadillac Coupe de Villes sitting on top of each other!?!)
:shock::bravo:
Bill Hader has seen it 4 times. His story is pretty great.
http://collider.com/bill-hader-talks-love-for-mad-max-fury-road/
So this movie was good. It was pure action. Nothing more, nothing less. Action. Hot fucking action to the max, Jack.
Simple action, a ride. A simple story and an amazing spectacle in a fully realized, beautifully realized, world. It was gorgeous, and amazing to look at. The action was astounding.
This was a beautiful, exquisite cartoon. But I want more.
This review appears positive but almost like a backhanded compliment particularly the "nothing more, nothing less" part to which I would argue it is so much more.
...it's unnecessary at this juncture to defend Mad Max against someone not liking it as much as you do. It landed as a classic. Props. But still, and I know this is tricky, the movie doesn't mean to everyone what it means to those who love it, which is the perspective Mad Max fans need to get a grip on.
TUBA, your reaction could not be more alien to me.
This is the thing... I love it because it did have a lot of meaning. It's simple, and it's basically encapsulated in the final scene, but it was deeply affecting.
...he meant that what was deeply affecting and had a lot of meaning to you, was non-transferrable to him, and he'll search elsewhere for a movie that pulls him in. Why's that --- that's ok man. That's totally ok.
I don't care if he loved it or not but to say that there was "nothing more" than action in this film is patently untrue.
It does sound true that the movie didn't put more in him, or me, and you just gotta deal with that.
Again, I don't think a defense of Mad Max is necessary now, and some people don't like it as much as the people who love it.
Why are you trying to discourage discussion?
I'm encouraging an opposing viewpoint and having conversation when few other people here do (there's like 11 people here?), so I don't know what you mean. Why am I supporting the other side? It just happens, in fact it happens with most of the movies I personally like.
You're not encouraging a viewpoint, you're discouraging Modage and JB from defending their own viewpoint. You seem to be trying to end a discussion instead of having one.
Well you proved yourself wrong since we're having a conversation. On the topic of the movie, it's been going like this: TUBA packaged his reactions to the movie in a post, I was happy to hear someone with me on this, then modage defended an aspect of the movie, then I said I didn't think Mad Max needs defense at this point, then JB provided defense for the movie, then modage clarified that there's a lot to like in the movie there really is, which is a reassertion of what him and JB are saying, then I brought up the point that our reactions to movies tend to come from what the movie puts inside of us, rather than what's inside the movie, which perspective fans of the arthouse know well, then you asked me why we're talking about this movie that we're not supposed to be talking about or something. That's what it looks like to me.
I absolutely know what you're getting at jenkins. I think you're being generous though; I don't see the substance of what you're saying in TUBA's post. His post didn't offend me of course, it's just so alien to my experience that I felt the need to highlight that contrast.
I agree with this:
Quote from: modage on June 13, 2015, 04:20:57 PM
to say that there was "nothing more" than action in this film is patently untrue.
Sincerely though TUBA, I'm curious what you thought of the way it ended (SPOILERS) with the matriarchal rebellion/takeover and whatnot. Was that affecting, or did it wash over you?
Seems there's really the demand that TUBA, him specifically, explain his response to Mad Max. So we'll wait 'til next week on that. I'll assert that the story was flawed from the beginning through the bogus pouring out of water, in which all these people who never ever get water apparently haven't planned and are completely idiotic about how to receive the little bit of water given to them. Puddles on the ground! Outta town. So, no, I wasn't moved by the victory since I wasn't moved by the battle. That's how it works. And I know it drives the Maxheads up the wall. Folding my cards on this conversation.
I definitely think this movie could be analyzed a lot more than what it is. I'm happy with the huge enthusiasm because I'm fully on board too, but I also thinking a lot of adults are rediscovering what it means to have a fully youthful enthusiasm for a movie. Blockbusters directly want to excite viewers and "wow" them in ways many adults can no longer get excited about - especially those who have already seen a lot of movies. But I'm noticing for a lot of people, Mad Max is a return to a lost basic enjoyment for a movie.
It's great but I can definitely understand a lot of people not being that impressed. When we analyze films, we selectively put certain qualities over others. Many things in this film are well done, but many things in the film are cliche and fit into generalizations of a lot of action films today. Since Mad Max wants to go along with those films and (in many ways) out bravado them, there is opportunity for many people not disposed to liking these movies on any subjective level to seeing them alongside every other film made like it.
guys guys i think we're getting distracted from the main point here which is that tubas review was totally stupid and wrong.
QuoteHere, I'll go one step further. Fury Road is, yes, a fantastic piece of action filmmaking – breathless, beautiful, and bold – but it's also something else. Through its sheer, spectacular drive, it puts me in the same kind of reverie that slow cinema does. One of the great pleasures of watching the static long-take aesthetic – in a film like, say, Tsai Ming-Liang's What Time Is It There? or Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Distant – is the way it focuses our attention on small details that gain monumental importance: a pair of wet socks on a radiator, or an otherwise irrelevant small fish swimming around in an aquarium. I would argue that for all the sublime beauty of the non-stop action in Fury Road, it possesses a similar kind of refinement.
In movies like these, the absence of conventional dramatic development makes us lock in on the smallest of gestures and incidents – not out of poverty, mind you, but because great filmmakers teach us to see all over again. Their work transforms us, changes our inner rhythms and points us in all sorts of directions we may never have noticed. And yes, a film by George Miller at his best does that same thing. Even if, instead of long takes of people staring off into space, he's giving us fast cuts of trucks and motorcycles flying through the air.
http://ebiri.blogspot.fr/2015/06/this-is-our-furiosa-mad-max-and-moments.html
Fwiw I agree with TUBA. Really big thrill that failed to leave any impression on me once it was over. I don't even think that's such a bad thing, just that it would never become a favourite. Still looking forward to seeing it again.
No one's review is totally stupid or totally wrong. (i feel your passion, but c'mon) The film has some remarkable filmmaking in it. The last 15 minutes blew me away: the audacity of the camera, the effects and the physical action, combined with the high stakes and the stripped down action, not to mention the incredible small and telling details in production design and wardrobe, which add to the stripped down gestures and nuances in the performances (especially Theron's awesome turn (it all feels like an epic silent movie) that make this cinematic universe come alive in a brutal, manic, bonkers fashion. That being said, although the film transported me, it didn't stay with me or move me in the way that "The Road Warrior" or "Mad Max" do/did, and I was left with very little but the spectacular filmmaking and technique. Which doesn't mean I think the film is bad (fuck bad or good in this case, I think we can all agree that some remarkable things take place in this movie, right?) it just means it didn't tap into the deep reservoir in myself, which moves me or makes me think about a movie, the next day or week, in terms of it's story or character or it's performances, all that remained was the thrill, which feels slightly hollow without these things ---- FOR ME. Which is why I popped Road Warrior on, and found it slightly more satisfying. But this is still the most eye-popping, bonkers, beautiful bit of filmmaking I've seen this year. I don't know if that makes sense? I felt the same way about "The Tree of Life" the filmmaking and the ambition touched me and inspired me, but all the things that the filmmaking was in service of, didn't quite reach me. Nonetheless, there are great things to be discussed when talking about Fury Road. The post-production sounds bonkers. We could talk about the colour correction all day. The performances (Charlize owns this) The faces of the characters. The cars. The propulsion of the thing. The opening sequence. 2D and 3D. (I've only seen it in 2D) How cliches that I'd normally scream about in other films, are fine here, because of the sheer bonkers momentum and madness of this thing. How it's the first tent-pole in a long long time that feels totally idiosyncratic and personal and very very MAD. Ultimately, I don't think there's any right or wrong or good or bad, here, with this particular film, the fact that it's got everyone talking, excited and debating is absolutely beautiful and I wanna hear as many diverse opinions as possible. It's funny it feels like it's a thin film, but there's a lot of depth there, I dunno, I've only seen the mad bastard once and I'm looking forward to seeing it again.....Contradictory musings but all true, basically what Garam said but in extended cut, with loads of scenes we don't need and a long ass director's commentary.... :yabbse-grin:
Just to clarify since this seems to have been lost in translation. I don't care if the film wasn't for you or it didn't move you or you didn't love it like we love it but to say it was
only action and nothing more is a misreading of the film and therefore not a valid criticism to me.
Everything in the film has a thematic/emotional underpinning and a logical/character-based reason for existing, which is why it's 2 hours of mayhem that we actually do give a shit about unlike 99% of films that attempt this feat and just end up boring us to death.
Quote from: modage on June 13, 2015, 04:20:57 PM
to say that there was "nothing more" than action in this film is patently untrue.
Quote from: modage on June 15, 2015, 07:45:20 AM
which is why it's 2 hours of mayhem that we actually do give a shit about unlike 99% of films that attempt this feat and just end up boring us to death.
hmmm. are you being hilarious? you see in the end there how you start speaking for other people, assuming everyone experiences the movie the same way you do? all of everything you love in the movie being in the movie, totally perfect, so perfect send a copy of the script to the president, and it still doesn't work such that it moves everyone in the same way
Modage is not dumb, I think it's clear the "we" he's talking about is people who liked the movie.
We can have a civil conversation about whether this movie has substance. I think everyone can acknowledge, as a factual matter, that it at least tries. (Which is what modage is getting at.) It has character content, in that words are spoken in this movie by characters, and actions are taken by those characters, to try to develop them. The movie also does worldbuilding to try to make us care what happens to the society and the rest of the people.
All of that is actual content in addition to the "simple action." It worked for some of us. For others, it worked so poorly as to be nonexistent in their memories.
Suffice it to say, it worked for me. I did not expect Mad Max to be so emotionally powerful and genuinely inspiring at the end, even 2/3 through it. To frame this as a bad metaphor: the subtexts were apparently seeding my brain throughout, only to bloom when victory arrived. I definitely did not expect to cry at the end of this movie, but it happened, and it happened strong. I think it was the water gushing from those pipes.
goddamnit. the only thing uncivil from my perspective is the absolute disbelief at other people not clicking with this movie. the point of the conversation continues to be not that modage is dumb (why was that mentioned?), not that jb is dumb (mentioning), but the point seems to be that tuba's review was dumb. apparently tuba is a fucking idiot and mad max was awesome, eat it losers. what. ever. i think gold trumpet has replied the best, and i do think derek was right when he reminded me that people have a right to love this movie. i just think it's tacky right now to love it by throwing fire on why tuba didn't like the movie, the same as it's tacky for me to throw fire on people liking this movie (which i havne't). you guys can like it, let us not like it, art doesn't have to be a thing we settle on paper because art can be settled by the person and the art. this is all human shit
Quote from: jenkins<3 on June 15, 2015, 11:18:10 AMgoddamnit. the only thing uncivil from my perspective is the absolute disbelief at other people not clicking with this movie.
I see. When I described TUBA's reaction as being alien to my own, that is literally all I meant. That it's crazy that two people can have such different reactions to a movie. My post was made with a genuine sense of wonder and confusion, not indignance (as you say, this movie will be just fine) and certainly not condemnation.
Frankly I assume we're at a point where we can take at face value that multiple reactions to a movie are valid. No explanation required.
i forgot who to quote this response to but i was totally joking in my post, i felt that was fairly obvious
you'd like to clarify there's humor in what brought us to this line, for some reason you wanna clarify that
Quoteapparently tuba is a fucking idiot and mad max was awesome, eat it losers. what. ever.
Well I was referringnto max from fearless who seemed to quote me when I was was joking thats
all man.
Ok good I'm just like my sweeping my floor, I think it's nice you wanted to let TUBA know you weren't seriously trying to call him stupid.
Okay!
I thought this fantastic, and I had a blast experiencing it. It is certainly one of the finest action films I have ever seen.
There were certainly "deeper" themes that emerged from the movie, but I identify with max from fearless here.
Quote from: max from fearlessit didn't tap into the deep reservoir in myself, which moves me or makes me think about a movie, the next day or week, in terms of [its] story or character or [its] performances
Like samsong, I was reminded of silent cinema throughout. I could be out of my mind, but did anyone else notice the outrageous frame rate? (I saw it in 2D.)
A great movie. I ate a large popcorn and curled into the fetal position. Even so, my emotions were not stirred in the same way as my peers here. Really lovely, though.
there was definitely some frame rate variance, most notably in the scene where max tries to escape after being captured by the war boys.
awe isn't something movies really illicit anymore, especially not as an adult, so to see something that does just that, that's so immersive and so profoundly spectacular in every sense of the word, that for me is a moving experience.
Quote from: samsong on July 01, 2015, 05:47:17 AM
awe isn't something movies really illicit anymore, especially not as an adult, so to see something that does just that, that's so immersive and so profoundly spectacular in every sense of the word, that for me is a moving experience.
Beautifully said. The film was certainly moving in that sense, which is not to be taken lightly.
Even so, while I found the ending satisfying, it didn't hit me in the gut. And that's fine! Great movie.
Watched it again. Insanely rewatchable. Subtitles aid incredibly;;
Yeah I definitely need to watch it with subtitles. It didn't help that my theater was playing the movie a little quiet too.
All the war boys dialogue is just simple poetry its awesome.
'Mad Max: Fury Road': The Oral History of a Modern Action Classic
Production was shut down three times, the stars often clashed, and studio executives were baffled. Here's how a difficult shoot led to an Oscar-winning masterpiece.
By Kyle Buchanan
The characters were intriguing, the stunts were exhilarating, and every frame was bursting with incredible, how'd-they-do-that nerve. "Mad Max: Fury Road" set a new high-water mark for action filmmaking when it came out in 2015, and no summer blockbuster since has been able to match its turbocharged ingenuity.
Even Oscar-winning auteurs have been awed by George Miller's operatically staged spectacle. "Parasite" director Bong Joon Ho said last year that the scale of the movie brought him to tears, while Steven Soderbergh put it more bluntly: "I don't understand how they're not still shooting that film," he said in a 2017 interview, "and I don't understand how hundreds of people aren't dead."
So how did Miller and his cast pull it off and survive to tell the tale?
Five years after "Fury Road" was released, I asked 20 of its key players what making it was like. Though its post-apocalyptic plot is deceptively simple — road warrior Max (Tom Hardy) and the fierce driver Furiosa (Charlize Theron) must race across the desert to escape the vengeful Immortan Joe and his fleet of kamikaze War Boys — filming the movie was anything but easy.
"Like anything that has some worth to it, it comes with complicated feelings," Theron said. "I feel a mixture of extreme joy that we achieved what we did, and I also get a little bit of a hole in my stomach. There's a level of 'the body remembers' trauma related to the shooting of this film that's still there for me."
"It was one of the wildest, most intense experiences of my life," said the actress Riley Keough, while her co-star Rosie Huntington-Whiteley added, "You could have made another movie on the making of it." As for Hardy? "It left me irrevocably changed," he said.
Here, in the cast and crew's own words, is how a nearly impossible project managed to become an Oscar-winning action masterpiece.
After making three progressively bigger "Mad Max" movies — the 1979 original as well as "The Road Warrior" (1981) and "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" (1985) — Miller let the franchise he created lay dormant until 1998.
GEORGE MILLER (director) For so long, whenever the idea of another "Mad Max" movie came up, I thought there wasn't much more I could do with it, but I specifically remember the moment that changed. I was crossing the street in Los Angeles and this very simple idea popped in my head: "What if there was a 'Mad Max' movie that was one long chase, and the MacGuffin was human?" I was flying back to Australia a month later, ruminating on it, and by the time I landed, I called Doug Mitchell and said, "I think I've got an idea."
DOUG MITCHELL (producer) There were a number of names thrown out for the female lead back when we first started, [like] Uma Thurman.
MILLER I remember we were talking about Charlize even then. Her agent said she wasn't interested, but I mentioned it to her over a decade later, and she said, "No one ever told me!"
With the series' star Mel Gibson set once again to play Max, the plan was to shoot "Fury Road" for 20th Century Fox. Dozens of expensive vehicles and set pieces were built for a shoot scheduled for March 2003.
MILLER Then 9/11 happened and everything changed. We couldn't get insured, we couldn't get our vehicles transported. It just collapsed.
COLIN GIBSON (production designer) I was in Namibia in 2003 when I got the call to stop spending money. I don't know whether [the studio] decided to reroute their money back to the Iraq war, or if it was the email I got from Mel Gibson's wife asking me how many Muslims there may or may not be in Namibia and, therefore, how interested she may or may not be in the whole family coming to visit.
Miller pivoted to directing the animated film "Happy Feet," and when it proved to be a box-office success for Warner Bros., he was able to convince the studio to take on "Fury Road." Still, his longtime leading man Mel Gibson was now in his 50s and considered a Hollywood pariah. Miller and Mitchell decided to search for a new Max.
MITCHELL Mel is obviously blighted by a number of things that everyone in the world knows about, even though he's a highly gifted filmmaker and a brilliant actor and a lovely guy behind that demon that sometimes pops out. But he was too old at that point. It just didn't make sense.
ZOË KRAVITZ (Toast, one of the five "wives" fleeing Immortan Joe) I did a chemistry test with Jeremy Renner reading for Max, because they hadn't hired Tom yet.
MILLER I had the same feeling about Tom that I had when Mel Gibson first walked into the room: There was a kind of edgy charm, the charisma of animals. You don't know what's going on in their inner depths, and yet they're enormously attractive.
TOM HARDY (Max) I hadn't done that much action at that time, certainly not with this level of involvement. The nature and sheer scale and volume of action set pieces was unlike anything I had experienced.
CHARLIZE THERON (Furiosa) I grew up on all the "Mad Max" movies — they're very popular in South Africa. I remember being 12 and my dad letting me watch it with him. So I was like, "Oh yeah, I wanna be in a 'Mad Max' movie. Are you kidding me?"
RILEY KEOUGH (Capable, another one of the Immortan's escaped "wives") They were holding crazy, nontraditional auditions in Australia. They'd have bunches of us, five to six girls, go through this audition process with no scenes from the film but a lot of improv, a lot of acting-class stuff. We had no idea if we'd get chosen or not, and out of my group, I was the only one who got selected.
KRAVITZ When they cast me, I was brought to a room that I wasn't allowed to leave, and I sat there and read the script. It was one of the strangest scripts I'd ever seen, because it was like a really long comic book.
JOHN SEALE (cinematographer) I couldn't make head nor tail of it, so I gave up. I thought, "They've been in preproduction for 10 years, let's just go make it."
With his cast in place, Miller set a late-2010 shoot in Broken Hill, Australia, the desert mining town where he had filmed the first two "Mad Max" movies.
THERON The roughest moment was when we were in Australia, two weeks away from shooting, and they pulled the plug on us.
MITCHELL During preproduction, the weather pattern changed in Australia and it rained and rained in Queensland, the sort of weather that happens once in a century.
GIBSON Slowly, what was desert turned into beautiful flowers. So we put everything into storage and slunk away yet again.
KEOUGH It was the first time I had experienced a big push on a film, and I was heartbroken. I was like, "Is it really because of the weather? Am I fired?"
MITCHELL We were basically defeated. How do we move on?
But Miller refused to give up on the film.
MILLER I said, "Let's wait a year and see if it all dries up." And when we saw that it wouldn't, I decided we should to go back to Namibia, where it never rains.
MARGARET SIXEL (editor and Miller's wife) It was kind of nuts to take all those people and all those vehicles to Namibia. Who would do that? I guess that's George. He isn't like other people, really — which is what I love.
In July 2012, a year and a half after the planned Broken Hill shoot, filming finally commenced on "Fury Road" in the Namibian desert.
KEOUGH It was the craziest thing you could imagine, and the craziest thing I've ever experienced. For one, it felt very real, which is why it looks so incredible. Everyone in this film was so excited to be their characters that walking around on set was like actually walking around in that world. It was almost like a cosplay thing.
NICHOLAS HOULT (Nux, one of the Immortan's War Boys) Hugh, who played the Immortan, would put photos of himself all around the stunt gym where the War Boys trained.
HUGH KEAYS-BYRNE (Immortan Joe) It was a wonderful thing to feel everyone around me crashing about in their costumes and absolutely living it.
COURTNEY EATON (Cheedo, another "wife") I had never acted in my life before, except for drama class in school. When I got to set and they asked me to stand on my mark, I turned around and said, "I don't know what that means."
KRAVITZ There was something really beautiful about how inexperienced a lot of us were — we were so down for the cause. I don't know what it would be like if you had five actresses who'd been working for a long time that would call their agents and be like, "What the hell is going on here?"
ROSIE HUNTINGTON-WHITELEY (the "wife" Splendid) I've lived with Jason [Statham] for 10 years, and I've never known him to have an experience like it. I remember explaining it to him, and he said, "Wow, this is so different from how I've ever gone to work."
The spectacular action sequences were difficult to stage, but they had a sense of actual weight and physics that had been lost in a decade and a half of CGI spectacle.
GIBSON All the action had to be real. The hair can't stand up on the back of your neck — not for me, anyway — watching Vin Diesel drag a three-ton safe down through perfect right-angle turns on the street. The whole rationale was to make it as real as possible so that as much as possible was at stake.
HARDY As we dug in, it was dangerous, or certainly could have been extremely so, if it weren't for the methodical professionalism and preparation of the experts: stunt coordination, stunt team and riggers.
BEN SMITH-PETERSEN (stunt performer) On most films like this, you're working your way up to a stunt — maybe there's one a week. But on this film, from the time your day starts, you're already doing a stunt and then there's another one on top of that. It was a stuntman's dream.
HOULT I remember turning up one day, and they strapped me under the War Rig in a harness.
KRAVITZ Everything you see is really happening, there's no green screen. I'm really being pulled out of the truck and going super high in the air — and I'm pretty sure that's Riley's husband, Ben, who grabbed me and pulled me out. They met on the movie.
KEOUGH We ended up falling in love. So my husband's a War Boy.
Many of the young actresses were cast as the sex slaves Furiosa was trying to smuggle to freedom. To help them better understand their characters, Miller engaged a surprising recruit: "The Vagina Monologues" playwright Eve Ensler, who was working with Congolese survivors of gender violence.
EVE ENSLER It was really surprising for me, too! George would send me pieces of the script for feedback, and we began to get into a dialogue about the women who were going to play the sex slaves and how they would know what that lived experience was. Eventually, he invited me to Namibia to spend time with them in workshops, and my contribution was really to help those actresses become confident in that world. I think it was a really radical thing that he asked me to do that.
KRAVITZ Even if a lot of the women's history wasn't in the dialogue, it was really important to George that we understood what we were running from.
HUNTINGTON-WHITELEY The workshopping process was really emotional. Having grown up with a very pleasant childhood in a middle-class family in the U.K., it was a big shock to the system.
KRAVITZ We would do exercises like writing letters to our captor, really interesting stuff that created deep empathy. I'm glad we had that, because it was such a crazy experience — so long and chaotic — that it would be easy to forget what we were doing if we didn't have this really great foundation that we could return to.
KEOUGH I thought it was amazing that George cared so much. It could have just been like, "This is a big Hollywood movie, now put on your bathing suits and get outside."
But the film's centerpiece character was the determined, resourceful Furiosa.
HARDY Charlize arguably laid down the finest lead character in an action movie, and that credit is much deserved, in my opinion; both to her as a phenomenal talent and also to George for recognizing from the very start that it was time to pass Mel's shoes onto Furiosa.
THERON At first, Furiosa was this very ethereal character, with long hair and some African mud art on her face. It was a different costume designer back then, before Jenny Beavan, and the costume felt a little more Barbarella-y. I worried about it.
JENNY BEAVAN (costume designer) I am not into fashion, and I don't particularly care what people look like — the clothes have to come out of the stories they tell. Since she travels long distances, Furiosa needed very practical clothing, and when I met with Charlize, that was one of the things we talked about. That, and what on earth would she do with her hair?
THERON George was really incredible in just hearing me out. I called him and said, "I don't know how she's getting by in the mechanics' room with all this hair. I think we need to shave my head, and she needs to be a more androgynous, grounded character." You know, he trusted me so much that it kind of makes me emotional. In that sense, I feel like I let him down.
Tensions could run high on the set, where the principal cast was crammed into one vehicle for most of the blockbuster-length shoot.
THERON The biggest thing that was driving that entire production was fear. I was incredibly scared, because I'd never done anything like it. I think the hardest thing between me and George is that he had the movie in his head and I was so desperate to understand it.
SIXEL It was very difficult for the actors, because there's no master shot, no blocked-out scenes. Their performances were made of these tiny little moments.
SEALE (cinematographer) It was tough for them. The crew can be protected by the elements — the cold and wind and sand — but they can't. They're wearing a wardrobe that is very specific.
ABBEY LEE (the Dag, another "wife") It looks warm, but we shot it in the winter and it was blisteringly freezing. Us girls weren't wearing much, and Riley got hypothermia.
KEOUGH There were night shoots that were brutal, and there was so much dust that your face would be covered with three inches of sand by the end of the day. We kept it together pretty well, I think, for the first five months.
KRAVITZ By the end, we wanted to go home so badly. It had been nine months, and not nine months where you're in a city and you hang out in your trailer. It was nine months of the environment you're seeing in the movie, with nothing around. You really do start to lose your mind a little bit.
MILLER There was a high degree of difficulty on the film, and unless you are entirely rigorous about safety, something is inevitably going to go wrong. That was my biggest anxiety — it's something I'd experienced before [when a stuntman broke his leg], and it gnaws at you. I guess the actual working process of the actors, I probably should have paid more attention to.
THERON All of those young girls kind of turned to me as someone who would problem-solve for them, and this is not anybody's fault — I only say this now because I know George and I've experienced this with George, so I'd fully trust him. But I've also trusted directors fully when I didn't comprehend what they were trying to do, and it just turned into a mess.
HUNTINGTON-WHITELEY There was a lot of tension, and a lot of different personalities and clashes at times. It was definitely interesting to sit in a truck for four months with Tom and Charlize, who have completely different approaches to their craft.
HARDY Because of how much detail we were having to process and how little control one had in each new situation, and how fast the takes were — tiny snippets of story moments were needed to make the final cut work — we moved fast, and it was at times overwhelming. One had to trust that the bigger picture was being held together.
KRAVITZ Tom really had moments of frustration, of anger. Charlize did, too, but I feel like he's the one who really took it out on George the most, and that was a bummer to see. But you know, in some ways, you also can't blame him, because a lot was being asked of these actors and there were a lot of unanswered questions.
THERON In retrospect, I didn't have enough empathy to really, truly understand what he must have felt like to step into Mel Gibson's shoes. That is frightening! And I think because of my own fear, we were putting up walls to protect ourselves instead of saying to each other, "This is scary for you, and it's scary for me, too. Let's be nice to each other." In a weird way, we were functioning like our characters: Everything was about survival.
HARDY I would agree. I think in hindsight, I was in over my head in many ways. The pressure on both of us was overwhelming at times. What she needed was a better, perhaps more experienced, partner in me. That's something that can't be faked. I'd like to think that now that I'm older and uglier, I could rise to that occasion.
LEE The grueling nature of the shoot really served it, in my opinion. The characters are supposed to be exhausted, they're supposed to be searching for strength. I just don't think that any of the performances would have been the same had it all been green-screen and we did it in a controlled environment. The fact that it was a huge mess is why it's so brilliant.
As the shoot continued into late 2012, the Warner Bros. studio head Jeff Robinov prepared to intercede.
GIBSON There's a lack of control you have when you're sitting in Los Angeles and 600 people are wandering the desert with what's left of your money.
KRAVITZ We were behind schedule, and we heard the studio was freaking out about how we were over budget.
SEALE The president of Warner Bros. flew to Namibia and had a gold-plated fit.
MILLER Jeff was in a bake-off with Kevin Tsujihara about who was going to head the studio, and he had to assert himself to show his superiors that he was in command and a strong executive. I knew what he was going through, but it wasn't going to do anybody any good at all. [Robinov could not be reached for comment.]
MITCHELL He said, "The camera will stop on Dec. 8, no matter what you've got, and that's the end of it." We hadn't shot any of the scenes in the Citadel yet, where the opening and closing book ends of the film are set, and we had to go into postproduction without them. It was almost incomprehensible.
SIXEL I was worried about George. You wouldn't even know the half of it, let me tell you. You should have seen him by the end of the shoot, he was so thin.
IOTA (the Doof Warrior, a War Boy who wields a flame-spewing guitar) I saw him deteriorate over that six months. He looked so shattered by the end.
Still, Miller could not lose faith: He had to continue searching for a way to complete his film.
MILLER A younger filmmaker who has done very well called me before his first feature and said, "Any tips?" I told him, "The day will come on the shoot when you think you're completely crazy and what you're doing makes no sense. Just keep going." When he finished that film, he told me, "Remember what you said? What you didn't tell me is that it's going to happen every day." And it's true.
SIXEL It was really difficult to spend that year cutting a film that didn't have an opening or closing. I kept thinking, "How am I going to make this work? Are we going to write voice-over and try to fill in all the gaps during the opening chase?"
MITCHELL What happened then is that Jeff lost his job and Kevin Tsujihara was appointed, and he decided later that year, "You know what, let's do this properly. We need to shoot these scenes at the Citadel." So we brought back all these vehicles from Namibia, reassembled the team in late 2013, and brought Tom and Charlize to Australia. It could have been completely different, had the gods not been shining down.
Though Tsujihara permitted Miller a month of additional shooting, studio executives remained skeptical as he worked on the final cut.
SIXEL There was this constant thing from the studio: "How much shorter is it?" That's all they wanted to know. I just got so sick of it. They were just obsessed with getting the film under 100 minutes, which I knew was impossible.
MILLER When someone is directing a film, they're thinking about it every waking hour, and even processing it in their dreams. The problem is, if you're a studio executive, you tend to think about it for 10 minutes on a Wednesday.
SIXEL It was an incredibly painful film to cut. I think the studio didn't believe in it, so it was really difficult to keep going. Eventually George and I decided, "We're just going to make the film we want to make, and if no one else likes it, that's fine." And that last four months is when the film really came together.
In May 2015, "Fury Road" was released to rave reviews, starting with its Cannes Film Festival premiere. At a news conference there, Hardy apologized to Miller for the times he felt frustrated during the shoot: "There is no way George could've explained what he could see in the sand when we were out there. I knew he was brilliant, but I didn't quite know how brilliant."
HARDY As the reality of his accomplishment soaked in for me, I felt it was the right thing to say in the moment.
KRAVITZ As an actor, you make a lot of movies — some of them are good and some of them are bad, and you have to kind of let that go. But with this one, it really felt like we put our actual blood, sweat, tears and time into it, and if it hadn't been good, I would have been devastated. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life, but it was absolutely worth it, and I would do it again if George asked me to.
SIXEL When we actually finished the film and it was a success, that was the best year we ever had. We'd repeat the stories of making the film to each other over and over again: How did we get to the other side? We still kind of marvel at it.
MILLER In Japan, there was a critic who was telling me about the film, and I was astonished by the degree to which he read the subtext, all the stuff you hope is there. I said, "How many times did you see the film?" He said, "Only once. Can I show you something?" And he opened up his shirt, and he had the logo of the Immortan tattooed in red on his chest. So when you see things like that, you're sort of humbled by it.
"Fury Road" earned $374 million worldwide and was nominated for 10 Oscars, including best picture and best director. Though it didn't win either of the top prizes, the film took six Oscars in categories like editing, production design and costume design.
MILLER Not for a moment did we think "Fury Road" would be anything like an Oscar movie.
SIXEL Half the time, I thought I was going to get fired off the film, and then I win an Oscar! How about that? We were just disappointed that George didn't win, but basically, they were all his Oscars in a way.
SEALE We had a lovely guy in England come up to us and say, "I voted for you guys, and I'll tell you why: I look at a film and think, 'In 20 years' time, will I remember that film?' And in 20 years, I know I'll remember 'Fury Road.'"
Years after its release, the film's themes of female empowerment, class inequality and environmental collapse are more relevant than ever.
MITCHELL What an extraordinary experience to have a film that was so difficult, that may never have been made, and at the end of the day it wins Academy Awards and is called one of the best films of the decade.
MILLER When the ideas that you start off with are then comprehended by an audience at large out there, that's ultimately what redeems the process for you. The Swahili storytellers have this quote: "The story has been told. If it was bad, it was my fault, because I am the storyteller. But if it was good, it belongs to everybody." And that feeling of the story belonging to everybody is really the reward.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/12/movies/mad-max-fury-road-oral-history.html#click=https://t.co/cvYSHDcosZ (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/12/movies/mad-max-fury-road-oral-history.html#click=https://t.co/cvYSHDcosZ)
a true classic.
Has anyone seen the "chromed" black and white version? I saw it a few months ago and was blown away, now I don't wanna see it any other way and was bummed to find out there's no 4k blu ray for that version.