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

En-ou

Member
beautifully shot with great action scenes but where's the story? it wasn't even about mad max. his presence is almost irrelevant. main character seems to be furiosa. and why was max grunting for half of his dialogues...
 

duckroll

Member
And people, this is exactly why Nolan's films are packed with exposition:

beautifully shot with great action scenes but where's the story? it wasn't even about mad max. his presence is almost irrelevant. main character seems to be furiosa. and why was max grunting for half of his dialogues...
 
beautifully shot with great action scenes but where's the story? it wasn't even about mad max. his presence is almost irrelevant. main character seems to be furiosa. and why was max grunting for half of his dialogues...

Neither was The Road Warrior or the second half of Thunderdome.
 

jett

D-Member
beautifully shot with great action scenes but where's the story? it wasn't even about mad max. his presence is almost irrelevant. main character seems to be furiosa. and why was max grunting for half of his dialogues...

If only they had fucked off to a farm for 30 minutes.
 

IronRinn

Member
Are any of the posters actually purchaseable?

http://posterposse.com/exclusive-poster-posse-project-15-embraces-the-insanity-of-mad-max-fury-road/
tumblr_nlbe5ltoGP1tdmwb4o1_1280.jpg
This one will be available from Bottleneck Gallery in the coming week, I believe.
 
It isn't.

It just needs a time and place and has to feel natural.
So when someone says that this movie lacks it, that's fair I think. It's also fair to say that Fury Road was aiming to something completely different and rare for today's standards, yet, one is free to say that this movie has weak character development, be it a good thing (for the sake of pure cinema) or a bad thing depending on the subject.
 

duckroll

Member
In what twisted world is exposition a bad thing per se?

Exposition isn't a good or bad thing. But if you're relying on exposition alone to explain things to the audience, that's a pretty good indication that you're not making the best use of visual narrative, or you just think your audience are bunch of morons, which I guess... is valid most of the time! :p

So when someone says that this movie lacks it, that's fair I think. It's also fair to say that Fury Road was aiming to something completely different and rare for today's standards, yet, one is free to say that this movie has weak character development, be it a good thing (for the sake of pure cinema) or a bad thing depending on the subject.

Exposition is not character development. Let's not confuse the two. Having zero exposition is not a flaw. This is a visual medium. There's a ton of character development in Fury Road, it is communicated through actions instead of words.
 
You got your fucking exposition with Furiosa and the Vulvalini, they literally stand around talking about what happened to the world for a few minutes, what more do you need?!

Everything about Max was easily discernible. His character doesn't need much else from the visuals already given.
 

Monocle

Member
I can't stop thinking about this movie. When a work gets stuck in my mind this firmly after the first experience, I know it's something special. The last time this happened to me was with Only Lovers Left Alive, which is much more esoteric than Mad Max, and harder to recommend to the average moviegoer.
 

Paz

Member
baffling to me that people could accuse this of lacking story/narrative, it does so much with every single line of dialogue and piece of visual design that they end up creating a more complex and interesting world than most dialogue heavy movies.

Incredible story telling in this movie, I could not be more impressed with every single aspect of Fury Road.
 

gotoadgo

Member
That that last action sequence sure was something. The first few were good too, but that last dash to the canyon was absolutely mental.
The more movies that do away with excessive CGI and use practical effects and stunts the better. It makes the world of difference in crazy action movies like this.
 

Crisco

Banned
What more exposition did people want? Humans blew up the world and everyone left went crazy. Beyond that, the role of each character was totally clear, their motivations all made sense, and you even grew to care about a couple of them by the end. What more of a story do you want in a movie that's essentially a 2 hour car chase?
 
Can't stop thinking about this movie, holy crap. The action was amazing, everything was directed nice and clean - And the soundtrack...my God. Immediately bought the deluxe edition as soon as I got home last night. I was a little worried about the direction of the action watching the pre title card sequence, but once everything took off I was captivated the whole time.

As soon as it was over my friend turned to me and said "that was bananas." And it was. Damn. I really want the game now, too.
 
That that last action sequence sure was something. The first few were good too, but that last dash to the canyon was absolutely mental.
The more movies that do away with excessive CGI and use practical effects and stunts the better. It makes the world of difference in crazy action movies like this.

I think that more directors need to figure out how to shoot action scenes and plot them out better first. A poorly shot practical effect and stunt sequence is still poorly shot.
 
Can't stop thinking about this movie, holy crap. The action was amazing, everything was directed nice and clean - And the soundtrack...my God. Immediately bought the deluxe edition as soon as I got home last night. I was a little worried about the direction of the action watching the pre title card sequence, but once everything took off I was captivated the whole time.

As soon as it was over my friend turned to me and said "that was bananas." And it was. Damn. I really want the game now, too.
As much as I love the soundtrack it's one of those pitfalls that hammers Zimmer too: it just doesn't sound the same on its own as it does with the context of the movie. The only exception imo is "Let them up"
 

Monocle

Member
In what twisted world is exposition a bad thing per se?
It's not. The issue is that clunky exposition can stop your story dead. The basic storytelling principle of "show, don't tell" says it all. Effective storytelling conveys information the same way you'd discover facts in real life: letting the audience notice things and make inferences. It's the difference between seeing someone cringe when they walk past a dog and having them shout "I FEAR DOGS" at you.

Movies that have long talky scenes that exist only to tell the audience things they could be shown are a great big step below movies like Fury Road that trust in the audience's intelligence.
 

Snaku

Banned
It's not. The issue is that clunky exposition can stop your story dead. The basic storytelling principle of "show, don't tell" says it all. Effective storytelling conveys information the same way you'd discover facts in real life: letting the audience notice things and make inferences. It's the difference between seeing someone cringe when they walk past a dog and having them shout "I FEAR DOGS" at you.

Movies that have long talky scenes that exist only to tell the audience things they could be shown are a great big step below movies like Fury Road that trust in the audience's intelligence.

Yeah, everyone calling for a big exposition scene are basically asking for that awkward as fuck scene near the end of the Silent Hill movie that basically destroyed all of the momentum the story had been building up. No thank you, Fury Road is perfect the way it is.
 

Corpsepyre

Banned
In what twisted world is exposition a bad thing per se?

I would say it's a NEEDED thing more than anything else. You do know that blockbusters, most of them anyway, are catered to the dumb teenage crowd and families that come out in droves for their blockbuster, a.k.a explosion fix, right?
Makes all the sense in the world to have exposition in your movies. You have to ensure your movies earn, and is fully understood to the last tooth, as well as be escapist entertainment. I particularly don't like exposition-heavy movies myself, but I fully understand why they have such a thing in movies.
 
If this was a Nolan movie, Max would explain, in exacting detail, about those flashbacks of his to Furiosa, shot in a seemingly never-ending series of shot-reverse shot close-ups. before she explains, in exacting detail, every facet of her plan, which leads into a frankly terrible action set piece, with shaky cam, incoherent editing, and LOUD SNYDER NOISES to make up for a lack of proper choreography, spatial awareness, and visual inventiveness. The geography of the scene? who cares. Where are the characters in relation to each other and the various elements of the environment? Eh just go with it, look how loud this Snyder track is this is clearly exciting right
 

gotoadgo

Member
I think that more directors need to figure out how to shoot action scenes and plot them out better first. A poorly shot practical effect and stunt sequence is still poorly shot.
Agreed, but using more practical effects is a better springboard toward a great action sequence than CGI. The main thing that irks me in action sequences these days is shaky camera work and extreme close ups. Thankfully this movie had non of that and in every sequence the action was easily discernible. Other directors should be taking notes.
 

jett

D-Member
Oh? This movie is a truck chase through a fucking desert. I must have missed the part where it deal with quantum physics, time dilation and relativity

Agreed. It could've also needed several doses of mind-numbing love arguments, scientists explaining to other scientists basic scientific concepts and surely any movie could use some good ol' MURPHS.
 

Corpsepyre

Banned
Agreed, but using more practical effects is a better springboard toward a great action sequence than CGI. The main thing that irks me in action sequences these days is shaky camera work and extreme close ups. Thankfully this movie had non of that and in every sequence the action was easily discernible. Other directors should be taking notes.

I never knew such a thing existed before the last two Bourne movies. I was legit confused as to what I was watching whenever the action scenes would come up. To this day, I can't tell you how a particular action scene in those two movies went down.
 

duckroll

Member
Oh? This movie is a truck chase through a fucking desert. I must have missed the part where it deal with quantum physics, time dilation and relativity

I love Interstellar, but you know that stories don't have to be complicated or filled with scifi shit to count as a story right? :p
 

Simo

Member
So does anyone know if there will be toys or figurines? I'd give my middle nut for a figure of the war wagon with the drums and guitar guy.

No sadly. No company picked up the license which is fucking bizarre considering how iconic the character is, not to mention how great the designs are. I mean NECA could of done a great job with just Max, Furiosa and Immortan Joe! I'm hoping Hot Toys will do it but who knows.

That art book though....hooooly shite is it packed to the brim with details. Concept art, storyboards, behind the scenes photos...everything!
 

JB1981

Member
I love Interstellar, but you know that stories don't have to be complicated or filled with scifi shit to count as a story right? :p

This movie is Star Wars if Star Wars was 2 hours of the Rebel cruiser being pursued relentlessly by the Star Destroyer. I guess some people call that "distillation" but it's not all that satisfying from a narrative point of view
 

SkylineRKR

Member
I don't think any movie is going to top this for 2015, unless something like SW is going to deliver big time.

MM was perfect. No drama, just action through and through with great use of camera and stunts. I could feel the bones of those dudes breaking during crashes. It was intense. I also watched Furious 7 and while it was fun, its too much CG. It doesn't deliver like MM does.

People complaining about Max playing second fiddle; its how he is. Its no real different in the other movies.
 
This movie is Star Wars if Star Wars was 2 hours of the Rebel cruiser being pursued relentlessly by the Star Destroyer. I guess some people call that "distillation" but it's not all that satisfying from a narrative point of view
Read a book then. What are you watching movies for, if you can't get enough storytelling from all the visuals?
 

kitzkozan

Member
In what twisted world is exposition a bad thing per se?

Kubrick talked about this in one of his interview about 2001: a space odyssey. I quote him: "The problem with movies is that since the talkies the film industry has historically been conservative and word-oriented. The three-act play has been the model. It's time to abandon the conventional view of the movie as an extension of the three-act play. Too many people over thirty are still word-oriented rather than picture-oriented.

For example, at one point in 2001 Dr. Floyd is asked where he's going and he replies, "I'm going to Clavius," which is a lunar crater. Following that statement you have more than fifteen shots of Floyd's spacecraft approaching and landing on the moon, but one critic expressed confusion because she thought Floyd's destination was a planet named Clavius. Young people, on the other hand, who are more visually oriented due to their new television environment, had no such problems. Kids all know we went to the moon. When you ask how they know they say, "Because we saw it."

So you have the problem that some people are only listening and not really paying attention with their eyes. Film is not theater -- and until that basic lesson is learned I'm afraid we're going to be shackled to the past and miss some of the greatest potentialities of the medium"
.
 
I mean, the fanbase for this movie are mind numbing.

Which is it in this case? Is this a non complicated story or is it one riddled with complex and subtle layers? No one here upholding this movie's honor can make up their mind on the matter.
In the case of Mad Max? A simple story set in a larger complex world that's much grander than the small slice we get to experience. The world has a lived-in textured atmosphere, that it exists beyond the characters and their current situation
 
This movie is Star Wars if Star Wars was 2 hours of the Rebel cruiser being pursued relentlessly by the Star Destroyer. I guess some people call that "distillation" but it's not all that satisfying from a narrative point of view

I mean, the fanbase for this movie are mind numbing.

Which is it in this case? Is this a non complicated story or is it one riddled with complex and subtle layers? No one here upholding this movie's honor can make up their mind on the matter.

If I didn't know better, I'd think you guys -really- didn't like Fury Road!

If the other bajillion posts weren't such an indicator
 

duckroll

Member
This movie is Star Wars if Star Wars was 2 hours of the Rebel cruiser being pursued relentlessly by the Star Destroyer. I guess some people call that "distillation" but it's not all that satisfying from a narrative point of view

You can break anything down to a basic frame, but that rarely represents the full picture. The entire movie is a chase yes, but so what? Things happen during the chase, the chase happens for a reason, people change over the course of the chase, relationships are built, alliances are forged, sacrifices are made. I find the layers in the narrative and the character development extremely satisfying. The fact that it all happened over the course of a single chase doesn't change any of that.
 

JB1981

Member
Read a book then. What are you watching movies for, if you can't get enough storytelling from all the visuals?

Read a book? The movie is wall to wall action with some inspired visual design and world building. The story itself is thin as hell, characterization is minimal, Max himself is cypher. Hardy's accent is goofy as hell. I admired the attention to detail, the energy of the direction and the action choreography but the movie was lacking in character development and narrative. There are action movies that exist that are able to blend all these things. It's not an either or proposition
 
Let's be honest: film is not an ideal storytelling medium. TV has eclipsed it. If you want to tell long, complex stories, TV is where you need to go.

A film like Fury Road perfectly plays up the strengths of film: it has a streamlined (yet still compelling story) with breathtaking, intricate visual and sound design and near-perfect editing. It makes a concise, unforgettable artistic statement.
 
This was packed to the brim with cliches.

Tyrant? Check
People in dire situation? Check.
People in dire need to change dire situation? Check

So you're saying the movie had an antagonist, protagonists who faced a challenge, and took the actions to overcome the challenge?

wow

you really figured it all out. This, and like every other fuckin' film ever made. Cliched trash all of em
 
So you're saying the movie had an antagonist, protagonists who faced a challenge, and took the actions to overcome the challenge?

wow

you really figured it all out. This, and like every other fuckin' film ever made. Cliched trash all of em

The entire classic narrative structure is a cliche.

We're all living a lie.
 

Nibel

Member
"Hey why is this movie a movie I wanted this to be more than that

also, why is there so much action in this action movie? are they dumb?"
 
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