 ***PLEASE NOTE: A Blu-ray 3D disc is only compatible with 3D Blu-ray players.*** Tagline: The future belongs to the mad. In a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, two rebels just might be able to restore order: Max, a man of action and of few words, and Furiosa, a woman of action who is looking to make it back to her childhood homeland. Storyline: An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and almost everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order. There's Max, a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos. And Furiosa, a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland. Written by Production Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Kenneth Brown, August 26, 2015 -- It isn't often I don't know how to begin a review. Or that I leave a theater at a complete loss for words. And not just once. Four times. Four separate bouts of speechlessness; shaking my head in bewildered awe, my poor mind incapable of wrapping itself around the entirety of a film. But here goes. Director George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road is a stunning, revelatory triumph of post-apocalyptic blood, bone and steel. It's thrilling. Jaw dropping. Mind blowing. An unassuming spectacle somehow steeped in minimalism and excess. A blistering two-hour chase without a break in action or a lull in storytelling, because action and story are one. A visionary melding of reboot, reimagining and loosely connected sequel that requires no foreknowledge of previous Mad Max films yet builds upon everything that comes before it. A brazen dual-character piece confident enough to allow its title character to ride shotgun to a far more complex female antihero. A wildly inventive, beautifully brutal comicbook adaptation without a comicbook to adapt. A bold, breathtaking feast of incredible practical effects and death-defying stuntwork. A bold crossroads of old and new, where CG is used sparingly to enhance rather than create. It is, in a word, astonishing. Is Miller's brash, unrelenting style divisive? Sure. Is Fury Road for everyone? Absolutely not. Does it matter? Not a bit. I've heard they don't make movies like this anymore more times than I care to count, but there's just one glaring problem with that sentiment: they've never made a movie like Mad Max: Fury Road. Battle-hardened road warrior Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) wanders the wasteland of a nuclear holocaust alone, haunted by memories of those he's lost. Captured by a party of War Boys in the service of cruel, water-hording tyrant Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), Max finds himself strapped to the front of a car, hurtling through the desert with a needle in his neck; a "bloodbag" for an ailing War Boy named Nux (Nicholas Hoult). Immortan's army is in desperate pursuit of the once loyal Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), a lieutenant who's not only stolen an armored war rig, but has liberated Joe's five breeder-wives: The Splendid Angharad (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), Toast the Knowing (Zoë Kravitz), Capable (Riley Keough), Cheedo the Fragile (Courtney Eaton) and The Dag (Abbey Lee). Furiosa is determined to reach "The Green Place" of her childhood, despite the deadly journey it requires, and soon finds a reluctant ally in Max. Now Furiosa and Max must lead the wives across hundreds of miles of wasteland, battling a legion of War Boys, several rival gangs, faction leaders like The Bullet Farmer (Richard Carter) and The People Eater (John Howard), Immortan's son Rictus Erectus (Nathan Jones), and Joe himself. The simplicity of Fury Road's plot can't be overstated. "The first half is a chase. The second half is a race," quips production designer Colin Gibson, and he ain't kiddin'. Max is just trying to survive. Furiosa is just trying to get home. The wives are just trying to escape. Immortan Joe is just trying to reclaim what's his. Nux is just trying to go out in a blaze of glory. It doesn't get much simpler than that. Max doesn't trust Furiosa and Furiosa doesn't trust Max. Guns are drawn, wrenches are swung, blood is drawn, and the two forces of nature only ally with one another out of convenience, thankfully without a contrived romantic subplot to be found. These are warriors coming to respect one another as warriors, working together out of mutual self-preservation long before either one is willing to sacrifice his or her life for the other. And not any respect. Respect that's earned the hard way, through loss, long forgotten integrity and organic redemption. Yet Miller and co-writers Brendan McCarthy and Nico Lathouris deliver far more than two hours of bizarre characters, rampaging war machines, roaring engines, truck-top fights and guzzoline explosions. Fury Road is a masterclass in world building. Little is told, yes, but so much is conveyed that each return trip reveals detail after detail that only make Max's world that much richer. Everything from the cars to the various road tribes, V8 gods, artistry, post-apocalypse jargon, costumes, weapons, and tools of a mind-bent culture tell tiny stories all their own, and together weave a tale that's nearly inexhaustible. For some, that will no doubt frustrate. Questions are heaped atop questions, often with no answers to be had. But for those who enjoy exploring and experiencing a strange new world without being subjected to hours of exposition, Fury Road's wasteland will prove to be anything but a wasteland. Miller's ideas are so densely packed that dialogue couldn't possibly cover as much ground as the film's visuals. Fury Road in many ways evokes a silent movie. Max and Furiosa speak only when it's necessary, leaving most of the heavy lifting to the imagination, the nuances of the actors' performances, the suicidal stunts, crashes and vehicle shrapnel, and the deceptively gorgeous repurposed salvage that comprises the production design. Hardy and Theron are outstanding, and in a film that nearly broke them. Between a grueling shooting schedule, horrifying conditions and a host of spirit-crushing challenges, Hardy and Theron often wondered exactly what they had signed up for, or whether Miller would be able to honor their very literal blood, sweat and tears with anything resembling a functional film. The supporting actors are wonderful too, without a miscast miscreant in the bunch. The villains climb over the top of over-the-top, but it only boosts the unruly, unrelenting lunacy of the world in which Max and Furiosa struggle to escape. The marriage of stomach-churning character, make-up, prosthetics, costumes, gore and other small touches only sells the illusion of a wasteland gone mad. It slowly but surely begins to make sense why a hulking, radiation-saturated monster like Immortan Joe could hold such sway over the thirsty masses. There's a logic to the illogic, a truth in the grotesque that renders the inhuman creatures Max faces all the more intriguing and their world that much more fascinating. Mad Max: Fury Road is a high octane contradiction; a movie that shouldn't work for the very reasons it works so well. If I have one minor quibble (key words: minor and quibble) it's that Miller occasionally cranks the speed of shots too high. (Furiosa's first fight with Max being a prime example.) These split-second tweaks are meant to intensify an already intense moment, but instead rush what might be an even stronger action beat without the extra post-production meddling. Otherwise, Fury Road doesn't disappoint in the least. It's hands down the best action film of the summer season and easily one of the best films of 2015. Mad Max: Fury Road isn't for everyone. I know. But that doesn't mean I understand how anyone could come to Miller's masterwork and walk away unimpressed. I couldn't get enough and cannot wait to see where Miller takes Max next. Warner's 3D Blu-ray release is almost as impressive, despite whatever small disappointment may come from the studio's admittedly solid but less-than-overwhelming supplemental package. The BD's video and audio presentations are outstanding -- some of the best of the year -- as is its 3D experience, which is fitting since Fury Road is one of the best films of the year. Highly recommended. Aside from Max, the main characters are:
Trivia:
Cast Notes: Tom Hardy (Max Rockatansky), Charlize Theron (Imperator Furiosa), Nicholas Hoult (Nux), Hugh Keays-Byrne (Immortan Joe), Josh Helman (Slit), Nathan Jones (Rictus Erectus), Zoë Kravitz (Toast the Knowing), Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (The Splendid Angharad), Riley Keough (Capable), Abbey Lee (The Dag), Courtney Eaton (Cheedo the Fragile), John Howard (The People Eater), Richard Carter (The Bullet Farmer), Iota (The Doof Warrior), Angus Sampson (The Organic Mechanic). IMDb Rating (06/14/15): 7.7/10 from 57,664 users
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