вℓα¢кℓιѕтє∂: Mad Max: Fury Road

Mad Max: Fury Road

Mad Max: Fury Road

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Mad Max: Fury Road
Theatrical release poster
Theatrical release poster
Directed by George Miller
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Music by Junkie XL
Cinematography John Seale
Edited by Margaret Sixel
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
Running time
 120 minutes[1]
Country
  • Australia
  • United States[2]
Language English
Budget $150 million[3][4]
Box office $367.6 million[5]
Mad Max: Fury Road is a 2015 post-apocalyptic action film directed and produced by George Miller, and written by Miller, Brendan McCarthy and Nico Lathouris. The fourth instalment in the Mad Max franchise, the film is set in a future desert wasteland where gasoline and water are scarce commodities. It follows Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy), who joins forces with Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) to flee from cult leader Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and his army in an armoured tanker truck, which leads to a lengthy road battle. The film also features Nicholas Hoult, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, Zoë Kravitz, Abbey Lee and Courtney Eaton.
Fury Road was in development hell for many years, with Miller first attempting to shoot the film in 2001. However, due to the September 11 attacks, shooting was delayed and Miller decided to focus on Happy Feet. In 2003, Miller finished the script for a fourth film, and the film was greenlit with a US$100 million budget. However, production was delayed again, and then cancelled after the start of the Iraq War. Mel Gibson, originally set to reprise his role as Max, departed from the project after the cancellation. By 2007, Miller was pursuing the film again, and in 2009, it was announced that the film would instead be a 3D animated film, though this was eventually abandoned in favour of a live-action film. Later that year, Miller announced that filming would begin in early 2011. Hardy was cast as Max in June 2010, with production planned to begin that November. Principal photography was delayed several more times before beginning in July 2012. The film wrapped in December 2012, although additional footage was shot in November 2013.
The film had its world premiere on 7 May 2015 at the TCL Chinese Theatre. It began a wide theatrical release on 14 May 2015, including an out-of-competition screening at the 68th Cannes Film Festival. It received significant acclaim from critics, with some calling it one of the greatest action films ever made, and received praise for its acting, direction, screenplay, practical effects, stunts, and action. The film has grossed over $367 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing film in the Mad Max franchise.

Contents

Plot

Following a nuclear holocaust, the world has become a desert wasteland and civilization has collapsed. Max Rockatansky, a survivor, is captured by the War Boys, the army of the tyrannical Immortan Joe, and taken to Joe's Citadel. Designated a universal blood donor, Max is imprisoned and used as a "blood bag" for the sick War Boy Nux. Meanwhile, Imperator Furiosa, one of Joe's lieutenants, is sent in her armoured truck to collect gasoline. When she drives off-route, Joe realizes that his five wives — women selected for breeding — are missing. Joe leads his entire army in pursuit of Furiosa, calling on the aid of nearby Gas Town and the Bullet Farm.
Nux joins the pursuit with Max strapped to his car to continue supplying blood. A battle ensues between the truck and Joe's forces. Furiosa drives into a sand storm, evading her pursuers, except Nux, who attempts to sacrifice himself to destroy the truck. Max escapes and restrains Nux, but the car is destroyed. After the storm, Max sees Furiosa repairing her truck, accompanied by the wives: Capable, Cheedo, Toast, the Dag and Angharad (who is pregnant). Max steals the truck, but its kill switch disables it. Max reluctantly agrees to let Furiosa and the wives accompany him; Nux, left behind, is picked up by Joe's army.
Furiosa drives through a biker gang-controlled canyon to barter a deal for safe passage, but with Joe's forces pursuing, the gang attacks Furiosa. She flees while the bikers detonate the canyon walls to block Joe. Max and Furiosa fight pursuing bikers as Joe's vehicle, with Nux now on board, surmounts the blockade and eventually attacks Furiosa's truck, allowing Nux to board, but as the truck escapes, Angharad falls off and is run over by Joe's car, mortally wounding her and her child.
Furiosa explains to Max that they are escaping to the "Green Place", an idyllic land she remembers from her childhood. Capable finds Nux hiding in the truck, distraught over his failure, and consoles him. That night, the truck gets stuck in mud. Furiosa and Max slow Joe's forces with mines, but Joe's ally, the Bullet Farmer, continues pursuing them. Nux helps Max free the truck while Furiosa shoots and blinds the Bullet Farmer. Max walks into the dark to confront the Bullet Farmer and his men, returning with guns and ammunition.
They drive the truck overnight through swampland and desert, coming across a naked woman the next day. Max suspects a trap, but Furiosa approaches the woman and states her name and clan affiliation. The naked woman summons her clan, known as the Vuvalini, who recognize Furiosa as one of their own who was kidnapped as a child. Furiosa is devastated to learn that the swampland they passed was the Green Place, now inhospitable. The group then plan to ride motorbikes across immense salt flats in the hope of finding a new home. Max chooses to stay behind, but after seeing visions of a child he failed to save, he convinces them to return to the undefended Citadel, which has ample water and greenery that Joe keeps for himself, and trap Joe and his army in the bikers' canyon.
The group heads back to the Citadel, but are attacked en route by Joe's forces and Furiosa is seriously wounded. Joe positions his car in front of the truck to slow it, while Max fights Joe's giant son Rictus. Toast is captured and put in Joe's car, but she distracts him, allowing Furiosa to hook Joe's mask to his car's wheels, tearing his face off and killing him. Nux sacrifices himself by wrecking the truck, killing Rictus and blocking the canyon. Max, the wives and the Vuvalini escape in Joe's car. Max transfuses his blood to Furiosa to help her survive her injuries.
At the Citadel, the impoverished citizens are overjoyed at the sight of Joe's corpse. Furiosa, the four wives and the Vuvalini are cheered by the people and welcomed by the War Boys. Max walks away, sharing a glance with Furiosa before disappearing into the crowd.

Cast

Themes and analysis

The primary theme of Mad Max: Fury Road is survival.[6][7] As the underlying goal for Max,[8] the theme of staying alive has been carried over from the previous instalments of the series that also highlight issues such as ecological collapse and moral decadence.[9] "Survival is key", explained Miller. "I think it's a reason why the American Western was such a staple for the better part of a century in American cinema. They were allegorical tales with figures in the landscape working these things out".[10]
Further themes pointed out by critics have included vengeance, solidarity, home and redemption. In his review of Mad Max: Fury Road, film critic A. O. Scott wrote: "The themes of vengeance and solidarity, the wide-open spaces and the kinetic, ground-level movement mark Fury Road as a western, and the filmmakers pay tribute to such masters of the genre as John Ford, Budd Boetticher and, not least, Chuck Jones, whose Road Runner cartoons are models of ingenuity and rigor."[11] Similar to the previous Mad Max films, home has been regarded as a central theme in Mad Max: Fury Road as it dominates the motivations of Max, Furiosa, and The Five Wives: his home was destroyed, she was taken from her home, and the wives are in search of a new home to raise their children.[12] The unity of these characters also harnesses a concern for family, a common theme within Miller's filmography.[13] Biblical theme of redemption has also been noted by critics, especially Nux's constant aspiration to be taken to Valhalla.[14]

Production

Development

Plans for a fourth film in the Mad Max series hit financial difficulties and the project spent several years in "development hell".[15]
In 1995, George Miller re-acquired the rights to future Mad Max films from Warner Bros.[16] The idea for a fourth instalment occurred to Miller in August 1998 when he was walking in an intersection in Los Angeles.[17] About a year later, while travelling from Los Angeles to Australia, the idea coalesced. Miller conceived a story where "violent marauders were fighting, not for oil or for material goods, but for human beings."[17] The film was set to shoot in 2001 through 20th Century Fox, but was postponed because of the September 11 attacks that same year.[18] "The American dollar collapsed against the Australian dollar, and our budget ballooned", Miller said, adding that he "had to move on to Happy Feet because there was a small window when that was ready". Mel Gibson, who starred in the original three previous films, was also set to reprise his role as the lead character. Miller ended up re-casting the role because of controversies surrounding Gibson and because he wanted Max to remain at a younger age, as the "same contemporary warrior".[17] Miller announced in 2003 that a script had been written for a fourth film, and that pre-production was in the early stages.[19] Although the project was given the green light for a US$100 million budget to begin filming in Australia in May 2003, Mad Max 4 entered hiatus because of security concerns related to trying to film in Namibia because the United States and many other countries had tightened travel and shipping restrictions.[20] With the outbreak of the Iraq War, Mad Max 4 was abandoned as it was considered a potentially politically sensitive film. Although Gibson had been cast to return as Max, he lost interest after production was cancelled.[20]
Director George Miller (pictured in 2014) announced in 2003 that a script had been written for a fourth film, and that pre-production was in the early stages.
In November 2006, Miller stated that he intended to make Fury Road, and considered doing the film without Gibson: "There's a real hope. The last thing I wanted to do is another Mad Max, but this script came along, and I'm completely carried away with it."[21][22] The film's screenplay was co-written with cult British comic creator Brendan McCarthy, who also designed many of the new characters and vehicles.[23] Miller again confirmed his intention to make another Mad Max at the 2007 Aurora film maker initiative. However, he stated that he thought Gibson would not be interested in the film because of his age.[24][25] Heath Ledger was reportedly considered for the lead before he died from combined drug intoxication in 2008.[17] On 5 March 2009, it was announced that an R-rated 3D animated feature film was in pre-production and would be taking much of the plot from Fury Road,[26] although Gibson would not be in the film and Miller was looking for a "different route", a "renaissance" of the franchise.[26] Miller cited the film Akira as an inspiration for what he wanted to do with the franchise. Miller was also developing an action-adventure tie-in video game based on the fourth film, along with God of War II video game designer Cory Barlog. Both projects were expected to take two to two-and-a-half years, according to Miller, with a release date of either 2011 or 2012. Fury Road was going to be produced at Dr. D Studios, a digital art studios founded in 2008 by Miller and Doug Mitchell.[26]
On 18 May 2009, it was reported that location scouting was underway for Mad Max 4.[27] After exploring the possibility of an animated 3D film, Miller decided instead to shoot a 3D live action film.[27] By this time, production had moved to Warner Bros.[18] In October 2009, Miller announced that principal photography on Fury Road would commence at Broken Hill, New South Wales in early 2011, ending years of speculation.[28] This announcement attracted widespread media attention in Australia, with speculation on whether Gibson would return as Max.[29] That same month, British actor Tom Hardy was in negotiations to take the lead role of Max, while it was also announced that Charlize Theron would play a major role in the film.[30] In June 2010, Hardy (who was just six weeks old when the original Mad Max began shooting) announced on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross that he would play the title role.[17][31] In July 2010, Miller announced plans to shoot two Mad Max films back-to-back, entitled Mad Max: Fury Road and Mad Max: Furiosa.[32] Weta Digital was originally involved with the film when it was scheduled for a 2012 release.[33] The company was to be handling visual effects, conceptual designs, specialty make-up effects, and costume designs until production was postponed from its November 2010 start date.[34]
In November 2011, filming was moved from Broken Hill to Namibia, after unexpected heavy rains caused wildflowers to grow in the desert, inappropriate for the look of the movie.[35]
In a July 2014 interview at San Diego Comic-Con International, Miller said he designed the film in storyboard form before writing the screenplay, working with five storyboard artists. It came out as about 3,500 panels, almost the same number of shots as in the finished film. He wanted the film to be almost a continuous chase, with relatively little dialogue, and to have the visuals come first.[36] Paraphrasing Alfred Hitchcock, Miller said that he wanted the film to be understood in Japan without the use of subtitles.[37]

Filming

Principal photography began in July 2012 in Namibia.[38] Filming also took place at Potts Hill and Penrith Lakes in Western Sydney.[39] In October 2012, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Warner Bros. sent an executive to keep the production on track.[40] The filming wrapped on 17 December 2012[41] and lasted for 120 days.[18] In February 2013, a leaked draft from the Namibian Coast Conservation and Management group accused the producers of damaging parts of the Namib Desert, endangering a number of plant and animal species.[42][43] However, the Namibia Film Commission said it had "no reservations" after visiting the set during production. It disputed claims reported in the media, calling the accusations "unjust rhetoric".[44] In September 2013, it was announced that the film would undergo reshoots in November 2013.[45]
Cinematographer John Seale, who came out of retirement to shoot Fury Road,[46] outfitted his camera crew with six Arri Alexa Pluses and four Alexa Ms, as well as a number of Canon EOS 5Ds and Olympus PEN E-P5s that were used as crash cams for the action sequences.[47][48]
In July 2014, director George Miller described the film as "a very simple allegory, almost a western on wheels".[49] Miller said that 90% of the effects were practical.[50] Second unit director and supervising stunt coordinator Guy Norris was in charge of over 150 stunt performers, which included Cirque du Soleil performers and Olympic athletes.[46][51] Miller invited playwright Eve Ensler to act as an on-set adviser. Impressed with the script's depth and what she saw as feminist themes, she spent a week in Namibia, where she spoke to the actors about issues of violence against women.[52]

Post-production

The lead visual effects company for Mad Max: Fury Road was Iloura, who delivered more than 1,500 effects shots for the film.[53] Additional visual effects studios that worked on the film include Method Studios, Stereo D, 4DMax, BlackGinger, The Third Floor, and Dr. D Studios.[54][55] The film contains about 2,700 cuts of its entire running length, which is equivalent to 22.5 cuts per minute compared The Road Warrior's 1,200 cuts of its 90-minute running time equivalent to 13.33 cuts per minute.[56] The frame rate was also manipulated. "Something like 50 or 60 percent of the film is not running at 24 frames a second, which is the traditional frame rate," said Seale. "It'll be running below 24 frames because George, if he couldn't understand what was happening in the shot, he slowed it down until you could. Or if it was too well understood, he'd shorten it or he'd speed it up back towards 24. His manipulation of every shot in that movie is intense."[57]
The extensive effects work included altering lighting and time of day, weather effects, terrain replacement, and plate composition.[58] Night scenes were filmed in bright daylight, deliberately overexposed, and color-manipulated. In many shots, the sky was digitally replaced with more detailed or interesting skies. Charlize Theron wore a green cover over her left arm to aid effects artists in digitally removing her arm from her scenes.
Both a PG-13 and R-rated version had been shown separately in different test screenings. The R-rated version was better received by test audiences, leading Warner Brothers to release it.[59]

Music

Main article: Mad Max: Fury Road (soundtrack)
The musical score for Mad Max: Fury Road was written by the Dutch composer Junkie XL.[60] Prior to Junkie XL's involvement, John Powell and Marco Beltrami were attached at separate times to score the film.[61][62] After hearing Junkie XL's score for 300: Rise of an Empire,[63] Miller met with the composer in Sydney. "I got very inspired and started writing pieces of music for scenes," said Junkie XL. "The initial main themes were written in the four weeks after that first meeting and those themes never changed."[64] A soundtrack album was released by WaterTower Music on 12 May 2015.[65]

Release

George Miller, Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy promoting the film at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
Mad Max: Fury Road had its world premiere on 7 May 2015 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.[66] On 14 May 2015, it screened out-of-competition at the 68th Cannes Film Festival,[67] and then was released in theaters on 15 May 2015.[68] Leading up its release, the film was digitally re-mastered into the IMAX 3D format. It was released into IMAX theaters in select international territories on 13 May 2015.[69]

Prequel comics and art book

Main article: Mad Max: Fury Road (comic book)
In May 2015, Vertigo began publishing a comic book prequel limited series, with each issue focusing on the backstory of one or two of the film's characters. The first issue, titled Mad Max: Fury Road - Nux and Immortan Joe #1, was released on 20 May. The second, Mad Max: Fury Road - Furiosa #1, was released on 17 June. The third, Mad Max: Fury Road - Mad Max #1, was released on 8 July. The final issue, Mad Max: Fury Road - Mad Max #2, will be released on 5 August.[70][71][72][73][74] A single volume containing the stories of all four issues will follow on 26 August.
A deluxe edition hardcover collection of art titled Mad Max: Fury Road - Inspired Artists Deluxe Edition inspired by the film was released on 6 May 2015.[70][71]

Home media

Miller stated that the Blu-ray Disc/DVD release would include black-and-white and silent versions of the film, with the latter accompanied by the musical score. Miller described the black-and-white cut as the best version of the film. The home media release will also include a few deleted scenes that didn't make it to the theatrical release of the film.[75][76] However, when details for the United Kingdom release of the Blu-ray were announced, both alternate cuts were absent from the release's features.[77] The Blu-ray release in United States won't include the alternate cuts as well.[78]
The Blu-ray release of the film will be released in the United Kingdom on October 5, 2015.[79] In United States, the Blu-ray and DVD release of the film will be available on September 1 and the film will be available digitally on August 11. In addition on the same day, a Mad Max anthology Blu-ray containing all the four movies of the series as well as a documentary Madness of Max and a set of Mad Max Anthology trading cards will be released.[80]

Reception

Box office

As of 26 July 2015, Mad Max: Fury Road has grossed $151.6 million in North America and $216 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $367.6 million against a budget of $150 million.[5]
In the United States and Canada, Mad Max: Fury Road opened simultaneously with Pitch Perfect 2.[81] It opened Friday, 15 May 2015, across 3,702 theaters, and earned $16.77 million on its opening day.[82] This included $3.7 million it made from Thursday night run from 3,000 theaters.[83][84] In its opening weekend, the film grossed $45.4 million, finishing in second at the box office behind Pitch Perfect 2 ($69.2 million).[85]
Outside North America, it opened on 14 May on 12,000 screen in 48 countries, earning $10.4 million.[86] It opened in 20 more countries on 15 May, earning $14.2 million from 16,700 screens in 68 countries, for a two-day total of $24.6 million.[87] Through Sunday, 17 May, it had an opening weekend total of $65 million from over 9.1 million admissions on nearly 16,900 screens across 68 countries, debuting at second place behind Avengers: Age of Ultron. It went number one in 40 countries. Its highest openings were recorded in the UK ($7 million), South Korea ($6.6 million), France ($6.1 million), Russia and the CIS ($6 million) and Australia ($4.9 million).[88] In total earnings, its three largest market outside of the U.S. and Canada are South Korea ($29.7 million), followed by the UK ($25.5 million) and France at ($17.7 million).[89][90]

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Mad Max: Fury Road has a 98% approval rating and rating average score of 8.8/10 based on 278 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "With exhilarating action and a surprising amount of narrative heft, Mad Max: Fury Road brings George Miller's post-apocalyptic franchise roaring vigorously back to life."[91] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 89 out of 100 based on 47 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[92] CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade cinema audiences gave the film was a "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[93] Some have called the film one of the greatest action films ever made.[94][95]
Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph gave the film a full five stars and praised the film for its acting, screenplay, choreography, stunts, humor, and direction calling the film a "spiritual sequel" and an "eruption of craziness."[96] Writing for The Guardian and awarding the film four stars out of five, Peter Bradshaw wrote, "Extravagantly deranged, ear-splittingly cacophonous, and entirely over the top, George Miller has revived his Mad Max punk-western franchise as a bizarre convoy chase action-thriller in the post-apocalyptic desert."[97] The New York Times wrote, "Miller has reminded us that blockbusters have the potential to not only be art, but radically visionary – even the fourth in a series. What a lovely day, indeed."[98] Scott Mendelson of Forbes gave the film 10/10 stars and wrote, "Mad Max: Fury Road is a remarkable and glorious motion picture, not just one of the great action movies of our time but also a great and timely film, period."[99] Alonso Duralde of TheWrap wrote, "In the same way that the original 1979 Mad Max was the Citizen Kane of gut-bucket Australian exploitation cinema, Mad Max: Fury Road may well be the Götterdämmerung of drive-in movies. It has its roots in the Western and the post-apocalyptic road-rage action saga [...], where Miller dares anyone else to follow in his tire treads."[100] IGN reviewer Scott Collura gave the film 9.2 out of 10, saying: "The over-the-top stunts and eccentric characters and designs are all hugely important to Fury Road, ... but it's the overriding sense of the film's uniqueness, its striving to be something more than just another action movie, that is most impressive."[101]
The film has also been praised by feminists[102] on several fronts, including the dominant role taken by Furiosa and the range of atypical female roles including the Vuvalini and the gun-toting wives.[103]

Sequels

In 2011, Miller and McCarthy found during the writing process for Fury Road that they had enough story material for two additional scripts. One of these, entitled Mad Max: Furiosa, had already been completed, and Miller hoped to film it after the release of Fury Road.[104] In March 2015, during an interview with Esquire magazine, Hardy revealed that he was attached to star in four more Mad Max films following Fury Road.[105] In May 2015, Miller told Wired magazine: "Should [Fury Road] be successful, I've got two other stories to tell."[106] Later in May, Miller revealed that plans for the sequel had changed and the next instalment will be instead titled Mad Max: The Wasteland.[107][108]
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