@MongoLloyd said:

@Russ007 said:

It's all about redemption. In Max's visions, we see all the people he couldn't rescue and it torments him to no end. He feels guilty

All what people? His wife and young daughter were killed by Toecutter et al and he failed to save them. There were no others.

Funny how Max had no visions whatsoever in The Road Warrior.

Do you honestly think that Max did absolutely nothing in-between films? For all we know, these incidents might have actually happened during the course of one of the older movies. And why does he need to have visions in RW?? But I'm glad you thoroughly read my point about his redemption arc. /s

@Russ007 said:

Do you honestly think that Max did absolutely nothing in-between films?

Haha, I was gonna say exactly the same thing. But it sounds like you've got this.

@Russ007 said:

Do you honestly think that Max did absolutely nothing in-between films? For all we know, these incidents might have actually happened during the course of one of the older movies. And why does he need to have visions in RW?? But I'm glad you thoroughly read my point about his redemption arc. /s

Wow... "in-between films." That's absolutely not how movies work. You can't just have an established character start doing things or exhibiting behavior that's out of character for them.

Re: "redemption arc," meh. He had a deal as before, then needed help as before, then became more invested in helping them/made a new deal, then got screwed over as before. Yawn.

@JustinJackFlash said:

Because it's well made.

There is nothing elaborate about the plot and it is just a chase film. And those are the kind of films that have to get by on cinematic craft.

The Raid is another example of this. Even if these films are made adequately they would be pointless, bad films. They really do require exceptional skill and an understanding of rhythm and tension to pull off. So people like Fury Road for this well crafted atmosphere and intensity.

But, yeah, I can see why people who need some sort of plot to take their interest just wouldn't like FR.

I'd also say there is a difference between narrative and plot. So I'd add that FR has a great narrative but little plot.

agree totally. Maybe I would add: why it is so great is not just a well made cinamtic masterpiece, but also just a great addition to the Mad Max world building. It kept me thinking about how the factions in the movie would interact if they would exist in a post apocalyptic world. One could even argue it has great character development in Nux and Furiosa for the slim story they got.

@Schnatterick said:

agree totally. Maybe I would add: why it is so great is not just a well made cinamtic masterpiece, but also just a great addition to the Mad Max world building. It kept me thinking about how the factions in the movie would interact if they would exist in a post apocalyptic world.

Perhaps a tv show set in this world would be a great way to build on that concept.

I enjoyed watching it once in the theater and have no desire to ever see it again. I am a HUGE MAD MAX 2: THE ROAD WARRIOR fan; it's one of my favorite movies and I basically have the whole movie memorized. Fury Road filled me up but inevitably felt like it let me down (like eating a bunch of Krispy Kreme doughnuts).

Reasons I enjoyed Fury Road:

1) Action packed and kinetic 2) Moments of over-the-top insanity 3) Mostly free of annoying CGI (besides dust storm) 4) Fairly realistic fight scenes at times (the old woman having no chance in a fist fight with a giant brute - kinda neat) 5) Cool to see them bring back the original actor who played the ToeCutter. I think he did a great job as the villain and was appropriately grotesque for someone who was barely kept alive for decades after crashing head-first into a truck. 6) Impressive to see a 70+ year old man return to the franchise that made him famous and deliver an acceptable action movie.

Reasons I was annoyed by the film and think I'll skip watching it again:

1) Overly saturated color pallet. I preferred the other Mad Max movies looking like real life. 2) Lack of interesting characters - I never have found Charlize Theron that attractive or likeable and the harem girls were just window dressing 3) Mad Max isn't the protagonist. He's just along for the ride while Theron does all the dirty work. 4) They destroy the interceptor at the start for no reason. 5) The lame "girl power" angle to the whole thing.. There's a few fight scenes that almost transcend this, but not enough. 6) The big crash felt majorly disappointing. The film could have had a mind-blowing finale had it added another element like a ticking clock or more suspense. Instead it all fell flat. 7) Knowing where it all ends up going (just going to the edge of the former ocean and then driving straight back) is a major buzzkill.

Even though, say, WATERWORLD is a lot "worse" and has a pretty similar plot (big chase scene with the post apocalyptic bad guys over a woman), WATERWORLD I'll rewatch many more times if only because it sets up a more interesting universe.

I actually prefer the black and white ' BLACK AND CHROME' version that came out on blu-ray.

Wokeness (ie. political correctness, forced diversity and inclusion with communist/anti-west undertones) ruins everything it touches. Mad Max is no exception. It's not full-on-woke like Terminator: Dark Fate, but, like 20% woke. So its relatively lightness in wokeness doesn't seem so bad in comparison with newer action movies, but it acts as a nuisance sign of bad things to come.

A similar situation would be UNDER SIEGE. People remember that one fondly even if it is the last of Seagal's "good" movies. He was already starting to pork up, wear a wig, and lazily lend some of the heavy lifting to other protagonists, so it was sadly an alarming premonition of things to come (his weight, obvious wigs, and laziness would exponentially grow from there).

Charlize Theron was really likeable in it