Mad Max: Fury Road [Blu-ray]

“That was nuts.” That’s my girlfriend’s word-for-word quote on our way out of the theater. She had never seen any of the Mad Max movies before, so she didn’t know what to expect. I have seen all three of the Mel Gibson Mad Max movies, and it’s pretty safe to say I’m a fan. I even put The Road Warrior on my “Should Have Won Best Picture” list.To be honest, however, when I heard they were making another Mad Max movie, I was very skeptical. Thunderdome is better than you remember, but it is the weakest of the first three. Sequels that come out more than ten years after the original are rarely, if ever, good movies. It’s been thirty. It sounded to me like a cynical cash grab. I also read about the delays in production and other problems on set (not the least of which was Gibson’s very public fall from grace) and expected a disaster. Then, I saw this trailer:My mouth dropped, and I was blown away. I can’t remember a trailer that hooked me so quickly, or strongly. (Whoever created it deserves some kind of award.) Then, the reviews that came in were overwhelmingly positive. This, I figured, was the summer movie to see. I figured right.If heavy metal was a movie instead of a music genre, this would be it. (Forget the cartoon from the 80s.) Blood, skulls, metal, motors, fire, spikes, guitars, gasoline, dirt, and scantily dressed babes. That’s metal, and that’s Mad Max: Fury Road. You don’t have to be a fan of heavy metal to enjoy this movie, however. If you appreciate the art of cinema, you will most likely enjoy it. There is so much to love about this movie; I’ll do my best to touch on as many elements as I can remember. Witness me!Pros The action. This had to be number one on my list. The action is almost non-stop from the movie’s start until the explosive finale, but it’s varied enough in intensity to keep the audience invested in the ride. This is a chase movie, after all. The best scene is the one teased in the trailer. It’s the first battle involving a giant dust storm, and it will keep you on the edge of your seat. I was physically drained after the sequence and I actually breathed a sigh of relief when it ended. The computer effects are blended seamlessly with the practical stunts, of which there are many. The result is pure audience immersion and investment. Any action movie to follow has a tough act to follow. What a lovely day, indeed. The sets/props. The vehicle design appealed both to the ten-year-old kid in me that liked to play with toy cars and to the designer in me that appreciates practical design. These vehicles all belonged to this world, and they all served a purpose (while looking insanely badass). Even the flamethrower guitar and drum truck (which was added out of sheer joy for the sake of being over-the-top, I’m sure) seemed to serve the purpose of boosting the War Boys’ morale. The costumes/makeup. The costumes and makeup design were top notch as well. The villains all looked both human and monstrous at the same time. The War Boys used oil, grease, and chrome as war paint, to a very unique and original effect. The Wives’ costumes objectified them, while at the same time empowering them. The objectification comes from the fact that they were sex slaves dressed by their captor. The empowerment comes from how they wore them, and owned them. Furiosa’s (Theron) robotic arm looked real, and it served a grander purpose (which I won’t spoil here). The editing. I’ve read that action movies are the most difficult to edit. Stay too long on a shot, and the audience will bore. Cut too quickly and they’ll miss what’s happening. The editor here, who I think is Miller’s wife, does a fantastic job of finding the happy medium. The acting. Tom Hardy is great as Max. He doesn’t say much; it’s mostly a physical performance. Gibson is better, but the comparison is unfair as he had three movies to tackle the role, and he had a lot more dialogue. Hardy’s Max is definitely crazier. Hugh Keays-Byrne, who played the villain Toecutter in the original movie, is back in Fury Road as Immortan Joe. He’s absolutely terrifying as an aging tyrant. His performance is a bit over the top, but it needed to be. Charlize Theron’s Furiosa steals the show, however. This is her movie. Her performance runs from badass to heartbroken to hopeless to triumphant in the span of the movie’s two hour run time. She’s the most interesting character, and the one you root for the most. The photography. This is a beautiful movie to look at. One reviewer remarked that the desert looked cartoonish. I disagree. I thought the CGI was blended expertly. The hot reds, oranges and yellows of the daytime battles contrasted beautifully with the deep blue of the night scenes. You could watch this movie and enjoy it just for the cinematography. The sound. The soundtrack jarred my insides. You felt every car flip, every gunshot, every explosion. This is a loud movie, but it’s supposed to be. The directing. Miller waited thirty years for the follow up, but he delivered in every way. The director brings everything together, and he shared his vision like an expert. The audience is truly immersed in this world. I’m impressed. No Gibson cameo. I was afraid there would be a Mel Gibson cameo in this movie, but that fear proved unfounded. A Gibson cameo would have taken the audience out of the world, so I’m glad it didn’t happen.ConsThere really isn’t much wrong with this movie; it was a little bit difficult for me to think of any cons. However, I was able to manage a couple: The plot. Fury Road is basically The Road Warrior with a higher budget. Sex slaves have been swapped in for gasoline as the chase’s spark. I’m totally okay with this, but I can understand some moviegoers’ complaint in this department. It’s not Max’s movie (see “The acting” above). Again, I’m okay with this, but I understand the gripes. Furiosa (Theron) is the star of this movie, not Max. I read one review that calls her a Moses character, and Max is her Joshua. I mostly agree with that. The protests over the movie’s feminism are very stupid. What’s wrong with a testosterone fueled picture that also empowers women? Everybody wins, I say.Mad Max: Fury Road is the best movie I’ve seen (so far) this year. It’s a pure joy to watch, and George Miller, once again, thoroughly immerses you in his nightmare world. Although The Road Warrior is still my favorite in the series, Fury Road takes a very close second. Make sure you watch it on the big screen. It’s mad.Story: ★★★½ of 5Action: ★★★★★ of 5Visuals: ★★★★★ of 5Overall: ★★★★½ of 5

I loved this movie and have always been a fan of the Mad Max franchise. Original Road Warrior was my favorite until I saw this. (I was a major Mel Gibson fan until his anti-Semitic rants. Still a great movie, but that kind of messed it up for me. I try to separate the art from the personality, but that's sometimes hard to do. )I still like to own movies so I'm not dependent on streaming services.Looking forward to Furiosa.

Probably one of my top three if not the best movie I’ve ever seen, especially if you’re mad Max fan.

Just what I needed for my Madmax fix.

This is the fourth installment in the Mad Max story. Up until now, I'd always regarded Thunderdome as the best of these films. But now, Fury Road is, hands down, no contest, the best of them all. The action is 10 times wilder; the intensity 10 times stronger; and the story 10 times better.The Mad Max films, in one way or another, always have something to do with the protection of future generations. This time, that line is given even greater import, since Max ends up trying, with increasing desperation, to help save and establish what will surely turn out to be the future generation of this enormous group of survivors. In addition, he is running from the ghosts of the generations he failed to save before. It is strongly hinted that the children from Thunderdome somehow did not survive and they are haunting almost his every waking and sleeping moment. So Max is not in a very nice place mentally, even before this story begins. He is carrying, both figuratively and literally, the chains of his past. And it isn't until he makes some kind of peace with these new people, the seed of future generations, that those chains finally fall away, at least to some degree.The action in this film is absolutely terrifying. Especially when you keep in mind that some three-quarters of the stunts were live-action. That's very impressive -- in this age of fake film effects. But. again, what worried me most going in to this story was precisely that -- over-done FX. But this is not the case. Miller manages to wow the hell out of you with all those practical effects, then proceeds to pull out your heart with a genuinely well-told tale of survival and loss.The one minor criticism I have is that they did not use Gibson in the lead. Granted, Hardy does a thoroughly masterful job of convincing you he IS Max. That isn't the problem. It's just that for those of us accustomed to seeing Gibson in this role, another face, no matter how accomplished, tends to jar just a bit. At first, I assumed that Gibson was just too old for the part. But after looking at many photos of him, and factoring in the weather-beaten appearance of most of these characters anyway, I realized that he still would have been perfect for the role. After all, it's been a few years since we last saw Max, so an older face would have been quite logical. So, I don't know. Maybe Gibson just asked for too much money to do the film? Whatever the reason, I'm still convinced Gibson should have done the role. Oh, well. Can't always get what you want.Everyone else in the film does a spectacular job. Not one of them turns in a bad performance.There is one more point that needs to be made: Recently, films have insisted on making "strong" female characters while belittling male characters. What's more, they seem to go out of there way to grind male characters into the mud. The list of films and TV series doing this is now enormous. In every case, each and every male is shown to be little better than a satanic, blood-thirsty, unredeemable, nazi bastard, while every female is shown as a victim, or as an invincible hero. Even actresses are getting in on this act with their snide, savage, compassionless, man-hating comments. It rather reminds me of a pack of pre-school little girls banding together to beat up the boys, HOWEVER, doing so only one boy at a time and somewhere they won't be caught, so that the girls always have the upper hand.Their argument has always been that films never show women in a positive light. Well, it was 2015 when this Mad Max Fury Road was made. And Furiosa is a great character. Yes, she's "strong", whatever the hell that means. But she is internally strong. She is driven to succeed, no matter what. And she's compassionate, not just toward the women she's trying to save but also toward Max and Nux, once she understands who they are. She never belittles them. She defends them when necessary and fights alongside them toward the same purpose. Even with one hand missing, she is still a genuine badass -- no question. But, again, it is her heart that defines her, that drives her to do good even against overwhelmingly bad odds. And when Max suggests a better plan, she listens, with an open mind, instead of kicking him to the curb and saying something like she doesn't need no man to tell her what to do.Contrast this with these fake, sickening, man-hating females in other films who basically steal all the hard work a man has created and then state basically that they don't need men for anything. Or films that go out of their way to present men as weak, unreliable, untrustworthy, essentially everything bad, and present women as perfect little angels. Really? These "filmmakers" should take a serious, in-depth lesson from Mad Max Fury Road, to learn how to create powerful characters that are realistic and valid and reach deep into your heart, because the garbage they're creating is turning people away from their movies in droves. Good. I hope they all go broke.Anyway, I absolutely recommend this film to all, but especially to the Mad Max fans and action/adventure fans. You will not be disappointed. That much, I guarantee.

One of the better looking steelbooks I’ve seen in a long time. It’s not glossy, but it has some shiny areas, the texture is hard to describe - it’s similar to the Harry Potter “sorcerers stone” standalone release. One of the rare cases where the back artwork is just as intricate than the front. Very impressed. Arrived in immaculate condition, not a single blemish. And the age restriction stickers came off easily without leaving any residue behind.

What’s to even go over at this point? I mean, I’ll just say it came in great shape, plays great.

Great movie

What can be said about Mad Max Fury Road that hasn't been said already? It is pure cinematic perfection and that's it. The steelbook design is awesome too, I was delighted to get a second chance at obtaining a Fury Road steelbook so that I could then place my newly acquired Furiosa steelbook alongside it. Both movies are impeccable and I simply cannot believe that they exist.

one of the best action movies of all time. looks fantastic on 4K

Una de las mejores o la mejor película de acción de la historia del cine. De una belleza y fuerza visual inigualable más disfrutable si cabe en 4k Uhd. Extraordinaria imagen y sonido mejor en la V O. Imprescindible en mi colección. Edición francesa con audio y subtítulos en castellano solo en el 4 k. Gran precio y rápido envío de Amazon . No me canso de ver MAD MAX FURY ROAD.

Witness me!

Alors c'est sûr, George Miller a eu le temps de le faire mille fois dans sa tête, ce nouveau Mad Max. Il en a ciselé soigneusement chaque scène d'action, minutieusement, amoureusement. Il a aussi et surtout repensé son mythe, soit reconnaitre que seul le second volet de la sage initiale était génial. Pour le reste, l'univers de désert et de poussière, il n'avait plus qu'à le décliner naturellement puisque ça a toujours été le sien.La grande force du film réside sans aucun doute dans le fait que George Miller, issu d'une certaine génération, et sûrement peu enclin aux compromissions à cette heure-ci de sa carrière, retrouve le ton des films d'aventure d'antan, soit un charme purement physique dans les scènes d'action. Ce ton, propre aux films de l'âge d'or du cinéma, cette tension viscérale non feinte et tout en nerfs et sueur, est omniprésente dans "Mad Max fury Road". Et ce qui est formidable, c'est que le film ne souffre cependant pas de la comparaison avec les films d'action contemporains. Il réussit la gageure d'être aussi puissant et impressionnant que n'importe quelle grosse artillerie d'un blockbuster actuel mais garde néanmoins un parfum de film à l'ancienne. C'est que Miller a fait confiance aux scènes filmées pour de vrai et ne s'est donc pas réfugié derrière le tout numérique des effets spéciaux actuels, impressionnants il est vrai mais faisant difficilement passer le grand frisson. On aura beau dire et beau faire, à l'écran, ça se voit, ça se sent.Et "Mad Max Fury Road" déborde de scènes d'action époustouflantes qui prennent aux tripes. C'est un festival ininterrompu de cascades, de coups de flingues et de courses-poursuites à l'arrache, physiques, mais toujours filmées avec une maestria remarquable. Le spectacle est total, tous les ingrédients sont réunis et, en plus, idéalement dosés.Tom Hardy ne fera certes pas oublier Mel Gibson; on remarque d'ailleurs tout le talent de ce dernier à jouer ce rôle maintenant qu'on en voit un autre dans la peau de Max le taiseux. Dans les expressions, les mimiques et les grimaces du visage pour faire passer les émotions, Gibson est remarquable là où Tom Hardy fait de son mieux. Ce n'est au final et de toute façon pas un mauvais choix. Le fait est que la touche féministe du film demeure la deuxième vraie bonne idée, apportant une touche originale, moderne et salutaire à toute l'entreprise, lui évitant l'étalage viril du patriarcat tout puissant car maître de la castagne et fin en soi. Bravo, bien vu, c'est même, quelque part, gonflé.Tout fait mouche dans ce film, rien n'a été laissé au hasard, un énorme roller coaster des plus balaises, un film à la fois parfaitement maitrisé et porté par un allant jubilatoire et contagieux. Magnifique et prenant, "Mad Max Fury Road" est un divertissement de grande classe, un moyen d'évasion surpuissant qui agit durant deux heures. Du cinéma coup de poing comme on n'en fait plus du tout.