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Mad Max

Blog Entry: Mad Max

Blog Entry: Mad Max
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Posted by: VampireWarith
Posted: January 2, 2016, 3:57:56 AM
Updated: September 13, 2023, 1:49:34 PM
Films (1979-2015)
I first saw Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, then Mad Max and then Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. For me the first two and the fourth are the best, the third one is just a weird mess of a film. I saw Mad Max Fury Road at the beginning of June of 2015, and I thought it was pretty good.

The 1st film is not without its problems and flaws since it was George Miller's first film he ever directed, but I like the relationship between Max, Jessie, Goose and Fifi Macaffee, there was a good buildup to care about them. It showed just how evil and insane the villains are and not just by killing the main character's friend and family, they killed and terrorized other people as well. Usually, a revenge film kills off the family in the first act, but in the 1979 film it doesn't, and it showed the kind of family man Max once was.

What can I say about the 2nd film, it's nearly a perfect sequel in the series, I say nearly because there are a few things I don't like what happens. I hate how they somehow thought that Max needed to wear a jacket with only one sleeve... he somehow ripped off his right jacket sleeve. He leaves the compound right in front of the gang, doesn't use his gun when they smash his windshield which runs him off the road (he was given functioning shotgun shells), gets his dog killed and his car destroyed. They needed a reason for Max to go back and drive the tanker... so they came up with that lame excuse.

The 3rd film on the other hand, it started out ok... but it just got weird and dumb after the fight in the Thunderdome. By the time Max is found by "Peter Pan's lost boys"... I can't watch the film anymore at that point. The chase scene at the end lacks any kind of adrenaline that the other films have. Once in a blue moon I can watch it from beginning to end. But the songs "One of the Living" and "We Don't Need Another Hero" are pretty good, it actually fits pretty well with scenes from Fury Road.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRk6iZT5PT8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYoZdDuWzmU

As for Max not saying all that much and was almost a background character in the 4th film, well after the first film Max was never meant to be the central protagonist, he's a character who always said very little, he's not the type to have character development, what happens is not really going to change who he is, so therefore the films (except the first one) don't focus that much on him. Since Max is a reluctant anti-hero who doesn't change, the real heroes or the heart of the story in Fury Road was Furiosa and the Wives, the same thing can be said in The Road Warrior with the Gyro Captain, Pappagallo and the rest of his people, the kids in Thunderdome and that all seems to have been intentional.

Another thing people have criticized about the film is that when they find out that the green place no longer exists, Max talks them into going back to the Citadel since it has everything they need to survive and to make sure that they cut off the way there so Immortan Joe and his War Boys can't follow them. Given their options, what were they suppose to do? Wonder the wasteland until they found something?? They would have run out of gas; Max even tells them that there's nothing but salt.

One thing that films do too much these days is having slow talking dragged out scenes of explanatory exposition, Fury Road didn't suffer from that, instead it does that though the action and character motivation. I'm not saying that FR is perfect, any other film in the Mad Max series will not be able to top the 2nd film since it set the bar so high.

Interview with Mad Max Fury Road director George Miller by Katherine Tulich
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxt3csOol-E

George Miller talks Mad Max Fury Road (7.30 Australia)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMfyL2Cx_iY

While I don't need everything spelled out for me, but maybe a few lines of dialog or scenes would have helped to explain Immortan Joe's gas and bullet supplies and it would have been nice to have heard Max talk with an Australian accent. I thought that the little girl he keeps seeing was supposed to be one of the kids he helped from Thunderdome since we're never told who she was in the film (the one next to Max's right arm)
http://c8.alamy.com/comp/BPCTE2/mel-gibson-mad-max-beyond-thunderdome-mad-max-3-1985-BPCTE2.jpg
(again, the one next to Max's right arm)
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/91/0e/c3/910ec3c666647922e5bd4b09d8fc05cc.jpg

"You promised to help us, Max", "Why didn't you save us?" As it turns out, she's called Glory the Child, she appears in the prequel comic book to Fury Road when Max learns that a child has been kidnapped. I'm not a fan of assuming that average moviegoers are going to pick up a comic book or novel in order to fill in the blanks that a film should have provided... because most of them don't.

History of FURY ROAD INTERCEPTOR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qERJ8vaVB4s

As for the film being a "feminist" film... feminist make a lot claims, to which they can't backup at all, even non-feminist don't go into details on this. Why are some of these people willing to agree them on this when they disagree with them over everything else???? I don't agree with feminist on anything and user Walking-Maelstrom makes some very good points on this subject.

Wouldn't say feminist ally but more ally. The point of the film wasn't gender politics (and if anything you get a closer parallel with Joe and the War Boys to radical Islam than anything else). It was showing two human beings teaming up against a tyrant and just both knowing their strengths and weaknesses. You also see this when he walks off to take on the Bullet Farmer and wins without any boastful words. Both know their place as badasses and not "feminist and ally."
---
The gold standard is Ellen Ripley, period end. Alien was brilliant, Aliens was her crowning moment of glory. Granted, Aliens was an entirely different context in film compared to Fury Road. Aliens was a movie about horror in space, yes, but also about motherhood and guardianship. The scene of Ripley with Newt facing the Alien Queen was the most poignant where even the Queen as a creepy bug knew the score.

he's not surprised, he's not confused, he doesn't try to impose traditional gender roles on them by insisting on leading the action

You're reading too much into it. Since The Road Warrior, Max's only cares are about surviving and as a former police officer protecting the innocent. It just so happened that Furiosa and the Wives were those he eventually sympathized with not as women but as victims. It's why he goes from wanting to kill Nux to trusting him as an ally. Max doesn't give two shoots about gender roles and not from a social justice standpoint...otherwise he'd be questioning Aunty Entity, but because it never crossed his mind to begin with (not in defense of women but just because there's nothing there). It's why he cares more about water than seeing six women showering themselves. He cares about survival and protection no matter who the bad guy is. Omission of attempt is not the same as even being cognizant about it. He's not even cognizant. He just helps. Mad Max is about a survivalist with horrid PTSD helping out those against tyranny. That's the whole message. It's about him with other humans taking down tyrants or showing them up like Lord Humungous, Aunty Entity, and Immortan Joe.

Thing is, those women that saw it weren't the creator. I take the Word of God trope to be the final authority. It's like the scene in Annie Hall where a movie "expert" is talking about Marshall McLuhan's films. He pulls Marshall in to where he then chews out said pundit with "you know nothing of my work." If Miller states he wanted to equal the playing field then yes that's it. If he literally says he wanted to just show Mad Max and his adventures with a badass woman then that's what it is. Consensus =/= actual message.
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Ah but I call that more egalitarianism. I think the minute you slap on any gender/sex of a word on an "ism" and you're bound for trouble.

I know Miller consulted the Vagina Monologues writer...very well aware of that. And the movie itself has some feminist themes going on. I just get a greater sense of trust if Miller says it himself. Consensus or not, the creator is the brainchild as to how and why. Everyone under the sun can debate the intent of the film, even the cast, but the creator is the final authority. David Lynch directed a Dune movie, but Frank Herbert was the creator. Only Frank has the true say as to his intent behind the stories. Now Lost Highway or something like that...then yeah Lynch has his say, but I am wary when a consensus builds despite what the creator says. If David Lynch literally says he has no symbolism behind Lost Highway and when he watches it his intent is to just film a story, then I'll take his word for it. He's the creator after all. I'm not treating opinions as invalid. I just don't like reading "so many people say it's X when the creator may not say X but instead Y." If creator says Y, then it's ultimately Y and you can find elements of X in it to your heart's content.

Miller's a smart guy and I can respect that. He can consider himself supportive of feminism no problem. At least if he wants to sprinkle elements of it, he's doing it right and not like some dipshoot Lynne Stuart Parramore article. Feminism is taboo in Hollywood too because stupid people take it to their own advantage, such as Beyonce with Ban Bossy. In spirit, it's noble, it really is...but nobility requires intelligence and that's a rare commodity in the public sphere. I'd prefer it just be left alone.
http://comments.deviantart.com/1/548525610/3895462981

George Miller on Those Wild Stunts and High-Speed action in 'Mad Max'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2xmgNcM8ZY
"You know people call this a feminist movie, I won't say it's a feminist movie"

There was a fan film in 2011... but it's pretty awful, the so-called actors can't act, the main lead playing Max looks like he's been eating too much fast food and his leather outfit looks like it barely fits him. He has those long silent stares that goes on just a few seconds too long and he just ends up looking like a retard. It makes no sense as to why he's still listening to the MPD dispatcher or has a badge or the blue police light siren, he's not with the police anymore at that point. It tries to make Max into a vigilante, but he was not about avenging people, just survival, "Save it, I'm just here for the gasoline" and he only helped people when he got dragged into it. The couple he finds dead, or near death, the wife conveniently lives long enough to tell him what happen just before she dies... the dog he has in the 2nd film just shows up out of nowhere and just instantly decides to be with him... typical cliché fan fiction writing.


Dumb Fan Theory
There's a really, really dumb theory that Max in Fury Road is really... (groan)... the Feral Kid from Road Warrior... this doesn't make any sense due to the fact that the character himself said that he and the rest of the tribe went North to safety, grew to manhood and become the leader. So, are these people trying to make it seem that the Feral Kid got bored being a tribe leader, decided to leave and... become a "road warrior" by calling himself Max Rockatansky, conveniently wears the same clothes, thick black stitching on the left shoulder (Bearclaw Mohawker damage from Mad Max 2), gets a leg brace on the left leg, and drives the same car???? From what I've heard George Miller himself said that it wasn't true.

9 Dumbest Movie Theories EverNumber 1# Max is actually the Feral Kid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isZDgyZsL60
"But frack all that, because I can't except two actors playing the same damn character!"


Imperator Furiosa
At first, I thought that Furiosa was going to act like Jack from Mass Effect but thank god that wasn't the case. She's tough but not a hardcore dog 24/7, they're not arguing, throwing insults at each other like Han and Leia from Star Wars. She's actually nice, Max and Furiosa don't start off on good grounds right away but that quickly changes, and they work very well together. Also, thank god there was nothing going on between them.


Non-Romance
This type of crap usually comes from teenage or early 20-year-old fan girls (with gigantic egos) who always puts characters together that's based on nothing or write up these typical OC Mary Sues that come out nowhere. Both the filmmakers and the actors didn't want that at all.

Charlize Theron: "I think for me originally when they were like, 'Oh, 'Mad Max." I was like, 'Uh, I'm not going to play the fracking girl for 'Mad Max."
http://screenrant.com/charlize-theron-mad-max-4-fury-road-interview-rothc-175684/

Romance between Furiosa and Max was ever intended.
"More importantly, she is not there to serve out a romantic storyline between her character and Max."

"You can't say 'the stakes are this high' and you're literally in a driving war and we cannot stop because 'if we stop, we die' - and then have them pull off to the side of the road to have sex, like fall in love, because then immediately the anxiety has been relieved for the audience."

"Unfortunately some film-makers think you can have both. What was great about this is that the luxury of a love story was not where we were, I mean they can't even talk to each other."

"The luxury of a love story was not where we were... We never even talked about it-- no one said 'maybe', we never had to fight against it. It was always going to be two warriors on par, starting off with very little respect for each other and ending up with a massive respect for each other."
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-32547167

Max and Furiosa don't have any scenes of being closer to each other, there's just a scene of Max saving her life and telling her his name, nothing more. Is it really that hard of a concept to understand of two people not falling for each other in matter of minutes or hours and doing it like a couple of rabbits????

To quote the Nostalgia Critic from his review of Blade
"Wow. Really? They don't get together? There is such a thing as a man and a woman working together, in an action film, and they DON'T have to hook up? QUICKLY, TUMBLR, RE-WRITE THIS ENDING SO THAT NOT ONLY THEY GET TOGETHER, BUT THEY HAVE TWENTY CHILDREN, ALL WITH DIFFERENT SEXUAL IDENTITIES! If twenty sexual identities don't exist, MAKE THEM UP, YOU'RE GOOD AT THAT!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIR_R8bVSBA


Video Games
In 1990 video game publisher and developer Mindscape Inc. made Mad Max for the NES... and it was pretty bad.

It's said that video game publisher Mindscape was working on a Mad Max 2 video game, but the story goes that near completion, Mindscape lost the rights to the license and the title was changed to Outlander. It first came out on the Sega Genesis in 1992 and then on the Super Nintendo in 1993. Most would say that the Sega is the better version, but the only difference between the two versions is that the driving sequences, a cockpit view for the Genesis, and a third-person view of the car in the SNES.

However, the SNES controls are better, more responsive where the Sega's are a bit stiff, because the controller only had 4 buttons (if you count Star) means you end up shooting two weapons at the same time. The SNES controller with its 8 buttons (if you count Star and Select) simply didn't suffer from that. Even if you get the Sega controller that has more buttons, you need an options menu to change it, otherwise it won't matter. The SNES version did have a little more detail in the background, characters, objects, the audio is clearer, but the rest is pretty much the same. The SNES did have better hardware, the Sega only had faster speed (7.6 MHz).
https://i.imgur.com/SQ9FaY1.jpg
SNES VS. Sega Genesis (Part 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb73kHBAirU

SNES VS. Sega Genesis (Part 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_y3waeqxU8

Sega
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSKXwzJ932o

SNES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcOjERKYQRM

I do like the SNES a little bit more, I like seeing the car, the dashboard for your health, the rearview mirror is bigger and wider, ammo and gas has more detail which makes it easier to see. Now you could make the argument that the Sega version makes you feel more part of the game because of the cockpit view and I can understand that.

These games are not easy to play, luckily there are passwords and Game Genie Codes. The ending is the same in both games but it has to be one of the worst in video game 16-bit history, it's something right out of Monty Python. For a lot of people, this game will end up being very boring and repetitive, I only play the game once in a blue moon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn0loxj7s6E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckxm-lysltE

The 2015 video game didn't appeal to me at all, one trailer had Max with an American accent and another really tried to Americanize it by putting in AC/DC music... meh. Even though they ended up giving Max an Austrian accent, but he sounds like someone doing a poor Sam Worthington impression. The beard look also doesn't work, but according to some people, having a character grow hair on their face is somehow... epic... I don't get it...

From what I've heard the game itself was based on a rejected Fury Road script and the developers either screwed up or didn't care, but they have further confused people into thinking that Fury Road was a reboot, that Max had a daughter and not a boy... did they somehow think that the idea of making Max's dead child a pre-teen girl was more tragic than a toddler son or did they even bother to watch the first film???? Miller was only involved with the game as a consultant back in 2008 and things clearly changed from 08 to 2015.
http://www.gamesradar.com/george-millar-was-involved-mad-max-game/

If anything, the game ended up separating itself from the movies, becoming its own universe.
"A Mad Max game is coming, but it's not going to be related to any of the movies, because of Avalanche's radical position that movie tie-ins are pretty terrible."

"A Mad Max game is in development, but don't call it a movie tie-in. Developer Avalanche Studios is making it clear that their upcoming game, based on the long-standing franchise, is not tied to any of the films, particularly the upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road."
http://www.shacknews.com/article/80824/mad-max-not-a-movie-tie-in-says-avalanche-game

"The studio is very clear that this game is in no way associated with the upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road movie starring Tom Hardy, that it is very much an original, standalone story, set in a standalone world."
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/12/e3-2013-harpoon-dudes-in-the-face-in-mad-max

For one thing, Max didn't have a little girl, he didn't have any pictures of them after the first film, a character named Glory appears in the video game, however, that character's storyline and her mother's differs significantly from the official canonical version presented in the comic book (which Miller co-wrote). The interceptor he drives off in at the end of the game isn't the same at the start in Fury Road. Even if it took place after the 4th film, it still doesn't tie into the films.
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Mad-Max-Fury-Road-Max

Anyone saying that it's connected or loose connected to the films, don't be surprised if they don't provide any proof, just options and speculation from reviewers and bloggers, but not from anyone who actually worked on the game itself. This is why I always use reliable source links straight from the horse's mouth on all my pages to backup what I say.

The main plot of the game as far as I can tell is just Max looking for a V8 engine... that's it... it doesn't go anywhere, even the side missions and activities add nothing to the story and it becomes a repetitive grind fest. Compare that to Fury Road where it was one big long high-octane chase film, trying to help a small group of people, who are used as "things", find a better life. It had likable tough characters to care about like Max, Furiosa, the Wives, The Valkyrie, and the old women... but the characters in the game... there's nothing to care about them at all, there not interesting and are just forgettable.

The attempt at trying to give Max a... love interest (oh god) who's named, ugh, Hope... even though Max shows no affection for her at all... it wasn't needed, it comes out of nowhere due to the fact that it's based on nothing. It feels forced and out of place in the Mad Max universe, even in a non-canon standalone universe. It also doesn't help that she's an annoying forgettable character that's just a plot device to show that Max is still a "good guy". She's then killed off just to give him a poor excuse to go on a cliché revenge quest. Max stop being a vigilante after killing Johnny the Boy, Miller never reused the revenge plotline after the first film and for good reason.

After the first film, there has never been any romance for Max of any kind. He is far too emotionally broken, the world is too screwed up for things like romance, sex or even a kiss to happen for him. It really goes against the style of the franchise, but it seems that the developers were just going for what sells... the game may "look" like the Mad Max world, but they clearly didn't understand the character of Max or the type of post-apocalyptic world it is.