Mad Max: Fury Road |OT| What a Lovely Day | RT: 98% | Metacritic: 89

The two best action movies ever made are Raiders of the Lost Ark and Die Hard. It's hard to get close to either of those two. If this movie doesn't do that, it's not a knock against this movie (or any of the other action classics that have come out since). It's just a testament to how perfectly put together those films are.
 
2011 The Raid
2012 Dredd
2013 - Controversial. Quantity over quality that year. Iron Man 3 for me.
2014 John Wick
2015 Fury Road

DREDD was a back-to-basics milestone.
 
BobbyRoberts said:
The two best action movies ever made are Raiders of the Lost Ark and Die Hard. It's hard to get close to either of those two. If this movie doesn't do that, it's not a knock against this movie (or any of the other action classics that have come out since). It's just a testament to how perfectly put together those films are.
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I think T2 is still better than both on pure action alone. The stories they tell, that's an entirely different game altogether.
 
Terminator 2 and Predator are my favourite action films of all time. There are many more I love but I've yet to see anything surpass those first two in my eyes.
 
For me, and granted, I've only seen Fury Road ONCE (so far), my top action movies are, in order:

1. Raiders
2. Die Hard
3. Fury Road
4. Terminator 2
5. Road Warrior

I'm honestly considering bumping Fury Road up a spot. But I haven't seen it multiple times yet. I plan to fix that soon.
 
Saw it this morning.

Believe the hype. This movie is relentlessly incredible.

I would say they just don't make them like this anymore, but the truth is they never did.

I loved every minute of it.

Nibel said:
For people who watched it and praise it as the next action movie milestone: what was your previous personal milestone of the genre?
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I agree with what others are saying. This is the best big budget action movie I've seen since T2 (and I pretty much watch every action movie that gets released). There is liberal use of undercranking, but after the first five minutes you will get used to it, if it even bothers you at all.
 
Sojgat said:
Believe the hype. This movie is relentlessly incredible.

I would say they just don't make them like this anymore, but the truth is they never did.
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This is the best way to describe this, and I think it's why I like it so much. I've -never-seen a movie like this. And the pace is absurd. Even when it's slow, it really isn't.
 
Nerdkiller said:
I think T2 is still better than both on pure action alone.
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Nah. I don't think Cameron gets there. I don't even think T2 is Cameron's best action film. That's still ALIENS (which isn't even a 100% action movie, honestly)

I think last time I did a list like this, it looked something like

Raiders of the Lost Ark
Die Hard
Road Warrior
ALIENS
Predator.

I don't think I'd change it, looking at it now, and that's even having seen things like The Raid & Dredd in the meantime.

In fact, if we had to do the bottom 5 there, I think I'd go

Drunken Master II
The Matrix
T2: Judgment Day
The Good, The Bad, The Weird
Hard Boiled

Although that could/would likely change if you asked me again some other day. Because that's still leaving off The Raid, Fast Five, Casino Royale, Dredd, Temple of Doom, Police Story, etc. etc.

So if Fury Road slots itself ANYWHERE in that top 5, it's dislodging some fucking BEHEMOTHS in the genre. That's saying something.
 
Nibel said:
For people who watched it and praise it as the next action movie milestone: what was your previous personal milestone of the genre?
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Red Cliff for me, as for best of all times, I'd go

US: - Predator
WW: - The Killer

I cannot believe Fury Road will soon enter my personal top ten action movies of all time list, not because I doubt it will but because it really seems unbelievable to get such a top tier blockbuster these days
 
I flip flop between considering Aliens an action film or not. On the one hand, I like it more than T2, but on the other hand, I don't really like it the same way I like a film like Die Hard or Raiders or Road Warrior.

Also, Bobby Roberts has good taste in action movies.
 
I think what's most interesting about Fury Road is that it doesn't really try to be anything like classic action films. It deserves a place among them -because- it offers something so refreshing AND well executed. It doesn't feel like it's aping the "good old days" or whatever, other than the scale of practical effects and stunning scope of set pieces. It's honestly something never seen before on this scale in terms of a chase film.
 
Terminator is Cameron's best work.

Club shootout and police station shootout are the best action sequences in the franchise.
 
duckroll said:
I think what's most interesting about Fury Road is that it doesn't really try to be anything like classic action films. It deserves a place among them -because- it offers something so refreshing AND well executed. It doesn't feel like it's aping the "good old days" or whatever, other than the scale of practical effects and stunning scope of set pieces. It's honestly something never seen before on this scale in terms of a chase film.
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Which is a trap too many filmmakers fall into. Nostalgia, homages, romanticism, poor execution; whatever the reason for those failures, Miller's vision has always been his own when he's thinking clearly.
 
duckroll said:
I think what's most interesting about Fury Road is that it doesn't really try to be anything like classic action films. It deserves a place among them -because- it offers something so refreshing AND well executed. It doesn't feel like it's aping the "good old days" or whatever, other than the scale of practical effects and stunning scope of set pieces. It's honestly something never seen before on this scale in terms of a chase film.
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Well I think part of that is due to his age. He's not only worked through those eras but already has a classic under his belt.

He doesn't have to prove anything.
 
Jarmel said:
Terminator is Cameron's best work.
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I place it *juuuuuuust* below ALIENS, personally. But it's close.

They're both better by a decent margin than anything else he's done, though. I dont' think he's ever made a bad movie. Or even really one you could call "mediocre." But after those two, his technical prowess consistently improved, but the quality of his films never quite got back to that 1986 level.

Meanwhile, look at Miller's filmography:

The Mad Max Trilogy
The Witches of Eastwick
Lorenzo's Oil
Babe: Pig in the City
Happy Feet 1 & 2
Fury Road.

That's kinda crazy. Now, Thunderdome (not all him) Happy Feet Two (not all him) and Lorenzo's Oil (all him) are wavering around that mediocre level, but there are a lot of bonafide successes in there. And they're all, at the least, very visually interesting. He's doing stuff with his imagery that not a lot of directors do. There's something about the way he sees things that is just markedly different from a lot of people, in a way that isn't very easily replicated at all.
 
Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Road Warrior, and Aliens are my personal holy trinity of action films.

I told a friend Robocop was up there just yesterday, but I had forgotten about Aliens for some baffling reason. So Robocop and Die Hard would round off my top 5. T2 would be number 6, with Predator after that.
 
Just got back. Believe the hype - film is fantastic.

It's the perfect marriage of the wacky, ambitious, over-the-top style and sensibilities of an 80's cult b-movie combined with the budget and technical abilities of modern blockbuster film-making.

Cinematography and art direction are stunning, beautiful, Oscar worthy. The kinetic action is relentless and intense yet never tediously repetitive or incoherent. It's action is chaotic and mad but directed and edited with skill and style.

The only minor complaints I'd have are with the dialogue. At times it's muffled and inaudible, other times the accents are quite heavy. Some people will no doubt find the dialogue a bit weird, but the film in unapologetic in having these characters speak in a way that is often their own and not ours. Personally, that didn't bother me, if anything it adds to the feeling of the world being real.

But those minor gripes aside, the film is one hell of a ride and I'd recommend anybody to go see it. It's feels like no other action film I've seen since the 80s/90s. I'm pretty sure 90% of GAF will eat it up. Go see it.

Oh and and I'm sorry Tom but Charlize is the real star of the film. She's fucking amazing in it.
 
duckroll said:
I think what's most interesting about Fury Road is that it doesn't really try to be anything like classic action films. It deserves a place among them -because- it offers something so refreshing AND well executed. It doesn't feel like it's aping the "good old days" or whatever, other than the scale of practical effects and stunning scope of set pieces. It's honestly something never seen before on this scale in terms of a chase film.
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Yup. I legitimately left the theatre feeling like I had never seen anything like Fury Road.

And it is SUCH a simple movie! It's amazing.
 
BobbyRoberts said:
I place it *juuuuuuust* below ALIENS, personally. But it's close.

They're both better by a decent margin than anything else he's done, though. I dont' think he's ever made a bad movie. Or even really one you could call "mediocre." But after those two, his technical prowess consistently improved, but the quality of his films never quite got back to that 1986 level.

Meanwhile, look at Miller's filmography:

The Mad Max Trilogy
The Witches of Eastwick
Lorenzo's Oil
Babe: Pig in the City
Happy Feet 1 & 2
Fury Road.

That's kinda crazy. Now, Thunderdome (not all him) Happy Feet Two (not all him) and Lorenzo's Oil (all him) are wavering around that mediocre level, but there are a lot of bonafide successes in there. And they're all, at the least, very visually interesting. He's doing stuff with his imagery that not a lot of directors do. There's something about the way he sees things that is just markedly different from a lot of people, in a way that isn't very easily replicated at all.
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As far as action goes, Aliens is Cameron's masterpiece. Just relentless and exhausting.

And as for Miller's filmography, I am a big fan of Witches of Eastwick. More people need to see it, as it is a lot of fun. Cmon, it has Jack Nicholson playing the Devil for crying out loud.
And the part near the end where the women fuck with him by using a voodoo doll is great after all the shit he puts them through.
 
I can't narrow it down to a 'Holy Trinity' for me but my top 4 would be

1.Die Hard
2.Alien
3.Terminator
4.Last Crusade

I love Raiders but that Connery/Ford chemistry was just so unbelievably topnotch.
 
Jarmel said:
Terminator is Cameron's best work.

Club shootout and police station shootout are the best action sequences in the franchise.
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I may have to agree with this. Sure, T2 has the budget and technical prowess to literally dwarf it in terms of scale and pure destruction and Cameron's skills are as good as ever, but there's something about working on a tight budget that makes Terminator almost look like a John Carpenter movie. It's just raw talent, enthusiasm, craftsmanship and no money, all the best ingredients of a great action movie in the literal sense minus one
 
Sitting here and listening to the soundtrack to Fury Road right now. But, this thread has been making the Aliens part of my brain twitch. My wife is out of town until tomorrow, so this is a good day to scratch that itch. I can't watch those films with her around because they are the only things to give her nightmares.
 
bananafactory said:
Still at 99%.

95 fresh, 1 rotten. 9/10 average.

Is this the best reviewed big budget action movie in recent history?
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All I care about is that an R rated movie is getting reviews like this. I just hope they make money for this. Then maybe we can stop with these pg13 horror movies
 
Jarmel said:
Well I think part of that is due to his age. He's not only worked through those eras but already has a classic under his belt.

He doesn't have to prove anything.
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It's a credit to him that his age is actually a positive factor here. Not many filmmakers can say the same. Not everyone ages as well. :)
 
100 reviews counted, 99 positive, 1 negative, 9/10 average rating. That's frankly staggering.

I'm sure there will be some more negatives when the flood of reviews hits tomorrow, but this should hold as one of the best reviewed action films of all time.
 
dork said:
All I care about is that an R rated movie is getting reviews like this. I just hope they make money for this. Then maybe we can stop with these pg13 horror movies
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Man, I don't know if anything will stop that god awful train.

Horror movies seem destined to BUMP and BANG along to that tune for years to come.

Maybe this will start of an R rated action renaissance, though.

I feel like that's being overly optimistic.
 
Just went to see it, the film is INSANE.

It's not just the action scene's, but nothing looked CG or to over the top the moment by moment acting was great too. It's the weird little world details. How they decorate their cars with spike's, steering wheel security system and use explosive on spears because bullets are rare.
Mother's milk, uggghh.
. I like the way Max is treated, he's like the side character, the ronin, who come's in sorts shit out then disappears. He's treated like that in a specific scene, like what he does on his own is insignificant.
And he really was mad.

Was a refreshingly good film.
 
PhoncipleBone said:
Even if it was animated, Spielberg did some awesome action stuff in Adventures of Tintin.
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Jarmel said:
Action stuff. Munich was very good though.
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Tintin had great actions sequences. Captured the book's spirit rather well too.

In terms of action, the only arguable failure in his history is War of the Worlds. Beyond that, he hasn't attempted an action heavy film since Minority Report (which was fantastic).

His history is pretty spotless, Jarmel. I'm thinking Phon Bone and I might agree here.
 
BronsonLee said:
I have no idea how he tops this. This movie was seemingly made against all odds, and over a decade or so of preproduction. It's just so finely tuned.
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Yeah, it's one of the most polished blockbusters I've seen. The editing is so tight. Not a single scene feels too long, every frame feels like it's just right.
 
nrvalleytime said:
Tintin had great actions sequences. Captured the book's spirit rather well too.

In terms of action, the only arguable failure in his history is War of the Worlds. Beyond that, he hasn't attempted an action heavy film since Minority Report (which was fantastic).

His history is pretty spotless, Jarmel. I'm thinking Phon Bone and I might agree here.
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I guess Crystal Skull doesn't count.
 
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