Mad Max: Fury Road

Theatrical Release Date: 2015 05 15 (USA - 3D) / 2015 05 15 (USA)

UPC: 883929411665

Studio: Warner Home Video

Summary: In this long-awaited reboot of the landmark series that helped define the postapocalyptic genre, loner Max (Tom Hardy) joins forces with the mysterious Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) and a group of warrior women as they flee from an evil despot across a sun-parched wasteland. ~ Violet LeVoit, Rovi

Category: Action

Features: Maximum Fury: Filming Fury Road
Mad Max: Fury on Four Wheels
The Road Warriors: Max and Furiosa
The Tools of the Wasteland
The Five Wives: So Shiny, So Chrome
Fury Road: Crash & Smash
I Am A Milker
Turn Every Grain Of Sand!
Let's Do This

Mad Max: Fury Road

Format: DVD

Release Date: 09/01/2015

Daniel Gelb

After festering in the mind of writer/director George Miller for more than a decade, the fourth installment of the Mad Max series is finally here -- and boy was it worth the wait. More of a reboot of the franchise than a sequel, Fury Road is an aesthetic masterpiece and a truly unique 21st century action thriller. Miller's universe has been rendered in painstaking detail, and the result is a pulse-pounding two hours of pure anarchy.

The film opens with a brief monologue by Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) that sets the stage for the barren wasteland the story takes place in: Nuclear war has devastated the earth, and the warring factions that remain have been driven to bloodshed in their search for fossil fuels and human life. Max is quickly captured by the War Boys, the deranged, albino disciples of despot King Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), and taken to their base, the Citadel. He is deemed a "universal donor" and is hooked up to an IV to pump his precious blood into the body of an ailing War Boy named Nux (Nicholas Hoult). Meanwhile, stoic war-rig driver Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) prepares for a dangerous mission to the nearby Gas Town in order to obtain fuel and sustenance for the faction.

Furiosa has secretly smuggled Joe's five young brides into her rig and plans to leave the faction for good, but when the warlord learns of this scheme, he launches an all-out assault to retrieve his wives and recapture Furiosa. The tumor-pocked Nux deems himself fit for battle, and affixes Max to the front of his war machine to supply a steady stream of healthy blood into his system. Thus begins the descent into chase-movie madness.

While the plot of redemption and survival is nothing new for the action-movie circuit, Fury Road's stylization is simply astounding. The choreography of the vehicular chases is expertly paced and never feels exhausting. Viewers will be able to count the noticeable instances of CGI on one hand -- the film's death-defying stunts were mostly done for real -- and that's quite a feat given modern cinema's overreliance on computer-animated action. Every element of the movie fits perfectly into the wasteland setting thanks to cinematographer John Seale, and each nuance immerses the viewer in Miller's infernal landscape. Deformities are the norm in this post-nuclear world, yet the filmmakers never exploit these oddities; instead, they're used to provide context for the desperation and hopelessness in Fury Road. There is so much to unpack in Miller's universe that it rightfully deserves multiple viewings.

Theron elbows Hardy out of her way and shines the brightest amidst this hellscape. Her performance balances strength and compassion, and defies most of the usual conventions of action flicks. Hardy has little dialogue, instead portraying Max as a reserved loner who's haunted by the hallucinations of his past mistakes. He's no superhero, yet his checkered history becomes an inspiration rather than a hindrance as he decides to help protect Furiosa and the brides. Although, ironically, it's Furiosa who must often come to the aid of Max, making the film distinctly female-driven. Hoult also delivers a spectacular performance as the brainwashed Nux.

Mad Max: Fury Road is a magnificent attack on your senses, and the ferocious picture will no doubt be held in high esteem in the annals of action classics. The roaring of the steampunk (and supposedly drivable) war machines, the crazed battle drummers and metal guitarist, the nonstop chase scenes, and the earsplitting sound editing will leave viewers searching for a way to pick their jaws up from the theater floor. What a lovely day, indeed. ~ Daniel Gelb, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Christopher de Faria  Executive Producer 
Graham Burke  Executive Producer 
Iain Smith  Executive Producer 
P.J. Voeten  Producer 
Nico Lathouris  Screenwriter 
George Miller  Director 
George Miller  Producer 
George Miller  Screenwriter 
Bruce Berman  Executive Producer 
Doug Mitchell  Producer 
Tom Holkenborg  Composer (Music Score) 
Steven Mnuchin  Executive Producer 
Courtenay Valenti  Executive Producer 
Brendan McCarthy  Screenwriter 
Tom Hardy  Actor 
Charlize Theron  Actor 
Nicholas Hoult  Actor 
Zoë Kravitz  Actor 
Adelaide Clemens  Actor 
Abbey Lee  Actor 
Riley Keough  Actor 
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley  Actor 
Hugh Keays-Byrne  Actor 
Josh Helman  Actor 
Nathan Jones  Actor 
Courtney Eaton  Actor 
John Howard  Actor 
Richard Carter  Actor 
iOTA  Actor 
Angus Sampson  Actor 
Jennifer Hagan  Actor 
Megan Gale  Actor 
Melissa Jaffer  Actor 
Melita Jurisic  Actor 
Gillian Jones  Actor 
Joy Smithers  Actor 
Antoinette Kellerman  Actor 
Christina Koch  Actor 
Jonathan Iles  Actor 
Quentin Kenihan  Actor 
Coco Jack Gillies  Actor 
Chris Patton  Actor 
Steve Dunlevy  Actor 
Richard Norton  Actor 
Vincent Roxburgh  Actor 
John Walton  Actor 
Ben Smith-Petersen  Actor 
Russ McCarroll  Actor 
Judd Wild  Actor 
Elizabeth Cunico  Actor 
Greg VanBorssum  Actor 
Ben Smith-Petersen  Actor 
Robert Jones  Actor 
Sebastian Dickins  Actor 
Darren Mitchell  Actor 
Greg VanBorssum  Actor 
Steve Dunlevy  Actor 
Crusoe Kurddal  Actor 
Shyan Tonga  Actor 
Cass Comerford  Actor 
Albert Lee  Actor 
Ferdinand Hengombe  Actor 
Noddy Alfred  Actor 
Christian Fane  Actor 
Gadaffi Davsab  Actor 
Jackson Hengombe  Actor 
Callum Gallagher  Actor 
Abel Hofflin  Actor 

Country: Australia,USA