Who killed the world?
Do you regularly ask yourself, “Where’s the world heading?” Friends and family may tell you that this is morbid, pessimistic or that Earth is doomed anyway, so why bother? But if you are asking yourself this question you obviously give a damn and maybe, just maybe, you are being – god forbid – unashamedly optimistic.
While we are currently being ravaged by war, genocide, drought, famine, ice storms, extinction and the rapid depletion of our natural resources, there is, way off on the horizon, a glimmer of hope. A hope that perhaps we will find a way to survive and surrender to nature and Mother Earth before it’s too late. Mad Max: Fury Road, the highly anticipated post-apocalyptic action film by George Miller, takes us to a world where we did not listen, where we got greedy and didn’t bother to ask where we were headed, and instead leaves us asking, “Who killed the world?”
Challenging preconceptions
If you haven’t seen Fury Road then you better hop to it. This is the biggest film to hit the screens in 2015, if not this decade, and possibly this century. It will blow your mind. It’s a sensory overload that will leave you both wired and tired. Be prepared for tense butt cheeks, don a supportive bra and bring a warm cardy.
Personally, I had no idea what 4DX was, but I was keen to try it out with a mate. After all, I have been waiting 30 years for the next Mad Max installment and thought it deserved to be seen in all its glory. What better way to experience 4D than with an action film? We thought our chairs would swivel around a bit and that a few blasts of air would tussle our hair. I’d studied Mad Max at university, as well as The Terminator and Blade Runner, and I couldn’t wait to see what the legendary George Miller had in store. I have to admit, however, I was a little skeptical of Tom Hardy playing Max, the movie living up to its 10/10 hype, and this thing called 4DX.
Well, ding dong, I got it wrong. Within seconds of sitting in our chairs we were transported to another place. Vibrating and shaking in our seats, blasts of mist in our face, legs whipped by rubber tongues and flashing lights immediately made our senses come alive. We had entered 4DX, a world like no other. We had also entered a world where black gold, or “Guzzoline” (oil), had been depleted and “Aqua cola” (water) was a precious commodity. We had been transported to life post-apocalypse, where the world as we now know it was, well, dead. But, my god, what an amazing world it was.
Mad Max: the legend
Now is probably the time to fill in a few details for those who may have been living under a rock or not even born. Many of you may be asking, “Just who the hell is Mad Max?”
Mad Max came to life in 1979 starring the then little-known actor Mel Gibson. The movie was the dream child of Byron Kennedy and George Miller. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, followed in 1981 and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome hit the screens in 1985, starring Tina Turner (who remembers belting out We Don’t Need Another Hero?).
Max Rockatansky is an ex-cop in post-apocalyptic Australia who has been thrown into war, fighting for critical resources depleted due to gluttony and greed. Max’s wife and daughter are murdered by a bikie gang and Max decides to take revenge as a road warrior in his infallible car, the Interceptor, a signature black 1974 XB Ford Falcon Coupe.
In the fourth film in the series, Mad Max: Fury Road, we find Max (Tom Hardy) in The Wasteland wandering alone. However, this suddenly changes when he becomes embroiled with a group fleeing the Citadel dictated by the warlord Immortan Joe. In a War Rig racing across the plains, Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) has taken something irreplaceable from the Citadel. She initiates a pursuit by the War Boys, resulting in a high-octane road war that will have you gripping your seats.
The first three installments made Mad Max famous all over the world. As George Miller himself puts it, “I realised I’d unconsciously tapped into that classic mythological archetype,” he says. “In Japan, they called Max a lone Ronin Samurai. In France, they saw the film as a ‘Western on wheels’ and Max as the lone gunslinger. In Scandinavia, some said Max reminded them of a solitary Viking warrior, wandering the harsh landscape.”
The film also stars a range of talented actors, while the 150 cars, trucks and bikes, all hand-crafted for Fury Road, are also true characters in the film.
Ten years in the making
Fury Road was a long time coming. George Miller tried to get it off the ground in 2003 with Mel Gibson cast as the lead but it ran into production problems.
Location scouting began again in 2009, and the quest to find the stage for Fury Road was nearly as epic as the production itself. The team ultimately decided to return to Broken Hill, but after two years of record rainfall, the Australian desert had come alive with wildflowers, somewhat detracting from a dystopic vibe. Production was delayed until 2012, when the whole set was moved to Namibia, which provided the perfect climate for The Wasteland.
With over 400 hours of footage resulting from 3,500 storyboards, Fury Road is an editor’s masterpiece – we have the award-winning Margaret Sixel (Happy Feet) to thank for that.
The film was finally released on May 15, 2015. Unfortunately, age caught up with Mel Gibson in the delay, so British actor Tom Hardy stars in his place giving Max a fresh edge.
Furiosa is born
“We are not things!” – the Wives.
Not only are movie-goers introduced to a new Mad Max (and, to his credit, Tom Hardy does a stellar job filling big shoes), Fury Road introduces us to Imperator Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron. Furiosa will make most women want to pump their fists in the air – she is simply badass.
Some have even said that Max is a supporting actor in the film of his namesake, but Furiosa is there to reinforce the almighty role that women and Mother Nature play in our society. Furiosa is a leader and a mentor. We don’t know much about her except that she came from the Green Place and has a prosthetic arm. Furiosa stands for freedom in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by men and where women are treated as objects.
Theron undertook significant strength training, primarily upper-body yoga and inversions, to fulfil the role. She has been quoted as saying she looks like a footballer in the movie but she didn’t want a scrawny girl taking on a man and winning.
Apparently, Miller has enough material to make two more films in the series: prequels, which are rumoured to be called Mad Max: The Wasteland and Mad Max: Furiosa.
Cambodian chrome
One question you are left asking at the end of the film (aside from the aformentioned “Who killed the world?”), is: Why do the War Boys spray themselves shiny and chrome when going into battle?
A stand-out scene in the film is when War Boy Nux spray paints his mouth chrome and chases Furiosa and the War Rig through a dust storm. The War Boys are prepared to die for their master Immortan Joe and go to the gates of Valhalla in continuous kamikaze thrall, throwing up the consequences of religious fundamentalism and dictator rule.
According to Miller, there was a specific reason behind it. “I saw a documentary where young [Cambodian] soldiers would go into war, they had little jade deities, and before they ran into battle, they put them in their mouths and just held them with little straps.”
It seems that Miller has thought about every last detail, and this is what makes the movie so incredible. It is simply flawless. The stunts are unreal (Miller even engaged Cirque du Soleil to perform the role of the pole cats), and I’m pretty sure action film producers are now quietly shitting their pants. Game on!
4DX Excess
The 4DX experience is simply a must and one you won’t forget it. However, as Mad Max is two hours of non-stop action (at one point I was secretly wishing for a break) it is like a roller-coaster ride, so be prepared. Those with weak hearts or bladders may want to watch it the old-fashioned way.
Motion chairs and environmental effects such as wind, light, bubbles and scent work in synchronicity with the action onscreen. I struggled to smell the scents the first time around, as I was so overwhelmed with everything else going on. However, the second time I could smell the smoke and burning rubber.
I even took my trusty tuk tuk driver along for the ride and he loved it. A 30-year-old guy obsessed with bikes and cars, he was the perfect demographic. He had no idea who Mad Max was, but now he’s telling all his mates and can’t wait to buy the DVD. I think he also got the message that we can’t continue to guzzle gasoline forever. He is hoping for a solar-powered tuk tuk soon.
