A Few Words About A few words about...™ Mad Max Fury Road - 3D -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

Mr. Harris,


I'm afraid I need more meat on the bone, so to speak, with these modern "event" films (Jaws, Raiders, E.T., Die Hard, etc. were not just a bunch of special effects - there was imaginative storytelling, film craft, and decent acting too).


Stunts and gyro cameras only go so far and just don't hold my attention for very long without some semblance of cohesive story that wasn't just written on a napkin as a means to tie action set pieces together... to go along with the flash and bang. Gravity, for instance, is a great demo for Dolby Atmos, but everything else about it is wafer thin. I'd only watch it to show off my audio system.


There's gotta be better films coming out than this and a bunch of mediocre superhero films or tired retreads of past classics.

I take it you didn't like this film.

 

[DanH1972]

I take it you didn't like this film.

To be truthful, I haven't liked many of the summer type films that have been released for a good long time. Hollywood is suffering a dark period in its history. IMHO.

 

[Tino]

Of what? Schlock? I think that's giving the film a bit too much credit calling it a "masterpiece." The stunts were the only good things about the film. The rest of the script was overly simplistic.

In your opinion. And its a vastly minority opinion too. You didn't like it? So what. I did.

 

[DanH1972]

In your opinion. And it's a vastly minority opinion too.

That's unfortunate.

 

[Peter Neski]

this was great on the big screen

 

[Tino]

And why the antagonistic attitude? No one here has attacked your opinion. We're stating opinions and you seem to take it personally. Relax dude. [emoji12]

 

[DanH1972]

I'm not attacking yours either. I'm just depressed that better films aren't being made and celebrated, that's all.

 

[Tino]

This was definitely a weak summer at the movies. Fury Road being the only exception imo. Hopefully better films are coming for both of us. [emoji3]

 

[Robert Crawford]

Can we get back on topic.

 

[Tino]

Mr Harris. Have you sampled the extras?

 

[Robert Harris]

Mr. Harris,


I'm afraid I need more meat on the bone, so to speak, with these modern "event" films (Jaws, Raiders, E.T., Die Hard, etc. were not just a bunch of special effects - there was imaginative storytelling, film craft, and decent acting too).


Stunts and gyro cameras only go so far and just don't hold my attention for very long without some semblance of cohesive story that wasn't just written on a napkin as a means to tie action set pieces together... to go along with the flash and bang. Gravity, for instance, is a great demo for Dolby Atmos, but everything else about it is wafer thin. I'd only watch it to show off my audio system.


There's gotta be better films coming out than this and a bunch of mediocre superhero films or tired retreads of past classics.

In other words, where are the likes of Mssrs. Lean, Brooks and Mankiewicz when we need them...

 

[TravisR]

I'm afraid I need more meat on the bone, so to speak, with these modern "event" films (Jaws, Raiders, E.T., Die Hard, etc. were not just a bunch of special effects - there was imaginative storytelling, film craft, and decent acting too).

Based on your screen name, I'm going to guess that you were born in 1972 so you were a kid when you saw those movies and I think that plays the biggest part in your issue with modern summer movies. If you were born in 2002, you'd love all the Marvel movies today and in 30 years, you'd be longing for 'the golden age of superhero movies' and saying how everything current sucks.

 

[schan1269]

When it comes time to spin this, it will be part of a trio...

Restraint and Romper Stomper to start...

 

[Patrick McCart]

I won't name examples, but when I see action movies with lame filmmaking, it's films like Fury Road that prove that's just being... mediocre.


This looked and sounded incredible in the theater (4K 2-D with Dolby 7.1).

 

[Brandon Conway]

I completely disagree that the film is just great eye candy. It's a masterwork of presenting a fully realized world in shorthand, of understanding that story is far more important than plot. Too many films rely too much on plot and too little on story. The plot (A-B-A) is almost besides the point. The story, on the other hand, is almost endless, from the various subcultures, to the world views of the characters of Nux, Immortan, Max, the Wives and Furiosa.

Take the moment where Nux first appears in the truck's front cabin and tries to capture Furiosa. Before the Wives toss him out of the car they argue with him over his faith - he's spitting out the religion of the War Boys, the idea that he'll be redeemed by Joe and go to Valhalla pure and free of his earthly torments. Splendid tells him that it's all a lie, that he's been manipulated to be fodder for a power hungry, corrupt man who has no such powers, ending the conversation with the accusing rhetorical question "Then who killed the world?"

This simple exchange is layered with world building story because Miller isn't shy about trusting the audience to glean the key info, which is: Nux has been deceived, and the Wives have been abused and come to see through the deceit. That's the minimum one needs to grasp, and it's the primary focus of the exchange. But the smaller details opens up the far larger world if one wants to explore them.

Well, why would Nux have this belief? One can infer that he's been raised on this conceit, that he's been kept separate from anything that would challenge this world view. This ties back in with where we saw him living at the beginning of the film - in a cave surrounded by symbols of his faith such as the shrine, perhaps with never ending instruction on their philosophy. He only leaves when permitted to go on quests, wherein the vehicles he worships transport him across a ruined world. At the Citadel he would see Joe only from afar (his joy at being even looked at earlier overwhelming him), and is therefore completely sold on his physical strength and presence.

Contrast that with the wives and Splendid - they live in his locked chamber, with access to Miss Giddy and her experience of the previous world. They know that Joe is a deceiver, because they more than likely have seen his sickness and ailments as he's had sex/raped them. They've likely experienced seeing years of war boys exit to their deaths in the Wasteland, and possibly overheard Joe talk without his religious terminology and therefore added the knowledge of that deceit onto the deceit of his appearance/health, and therefore extrapolated that to their own role as breeders. They would logically assume that Joe and the War Boys, and man in general, Killed the World by squeezing from it all the valuable resources and hoarding it for themselves.

And that's just the beginning to the possible insights into the film's world. There's still the allegorical element for our world, from the religious fanatics who live in caves and are promised exaltation for sacrificial extremism, to the few in control hoarding the world's resources to keep their power, to men boxing women into restrictive roles as strictly mothers or strictly pretty objects to oogle over.


Think of another conversation later when the dirtbiking granny (this movie has DIRTBIKING GRANNIES - I mean, how awesome is that?) says she has killed everyone she ever met by sniping them in the back of the head. Then a few moments later when she's reminiscing about the past before the Wasteland she states something as simple as "no reason to snipe anyone back then" - meaning our time, where we kill/snipe people over far pettier matters than pure survival. Yet another loaded, world building, allegorical beat that doesn't rely on minutes of longwinded exposition to convey a lot of info on the multiple levels of direct story, world building backstory, and real world allegory.

The economy of this film impresses more and more with each viewing.

 

[Tino]

Great post Brandon![emoji106]

 

[DanH1972]

In other words, where are the likes of Mssrs. Lean, Brooks and Mankiewicz when we need them...

Abso-frickin'-lutely.


Not that they're action films, but I've enjoyed watching Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, House of Cards, and The Newsroom (ended too soon) as a few examples because they focus on character, sharp and witty dialog, and pacing. It's like a refreshing nod to old school Joseph L. Mankiewicz and the like where the things that mattered to the craft were key. Something that mainstream Hollywood has sadly moved away from.


Perhaps new media will help bring things out of the doldrums as long as the owners reach for talent rather than easy money.

 

[DanH1972]

Based on your screen name, I'm going to guess that you were born in 1972 so you were a kid when you saw those movies and I think that plays the biggest part in your issue with modern summer movies. If you were born in 2002, you'd love all the Marvel movies today and in 30 years, you'd be longing for 'the golden age of superhero movies' and saying how everything current sucks.

I don't think it's just a generational thing. Good movies are good movies no matter when they were made. And the same goes for mediocre, corporate churned stuff made for the sake of making money without much thought and care.

 

[john a hunter]

While the practical stunts (when used) were well orchestrated and a welcome reprieve from all the CGI porn we've been subjected to, I cannot say the same for the movie itself. Silly beyond belief.


Why do bad movies get such good sound mixes???

Some semblance of some sort of a plot would have helped. That's not economy in story telling. Just no story of any worth.

Loud and tiresome in the extreme.

 

[TravisR]

...and The Newsroom (ended too soon)...

I loved that show.

It's like a refreshing nod to old school Joseph L. Mankiewicz and the like where the things that mattered to the craft were key. Something that mainstream Hollywood has sadly moved away from.

When guys like Mankiewicz were at their creative heights, there were plenty of people that said that Hollywood was terrible and used to be much better. Since the time that the second movie ever made came out, there's been people that have said that Hollywood ain't what it used to be. So either a century old complaint has finally come true and everything is terrible or it's all in the eye of the beholder.