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The Rewatchables ·

Mad Max: Fury Road

year 2015decade 10sdirector George Millergenre Drama
host Chris Ryanhost Sean Fennesseyhost Micah Petershost Jason Concepcion
All 15 categories

Most Rewatchable Scene · 11:20

The canyon Excitebike sequence

Three sequences are proposed to start, all more sequences than scenes: the War Boys coming after Imperator Furiosa, which introduces the Doof Warrior and Rictus Erectus and culminates in the sandstorm; the Bullet Farmer pursuing the war rig while it is stuck in the mud and the chain-up to the tree, which impressed on second watch; and the return to the Citadel with the pole cats and the Vuvillini's valiant defence; the slower dialogue-laden scenes are deliberately left out, and a joke calls Andres Biedrins the original Doof Warrior.

The canyon sequence, with Furiosa warning she will drop the pod and the signal to go when she yells, is added as the thing to show someone asking what makes the movie special: a director taking a wide-open vista and putting it into a rectangle so you know where everyone is and how long it takes to get there, pure visual filmmaking only ten or eleven people have mastered, and very John Ford-ish as the rig arrives at the canyon surrounded on all sides.

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie · 52:52

"I am the scales of justice"

The Bullet Farmer's lines open the category: 'I am the scales of justice', 'Sing, brother' and 'Conductor of the Choir of Death', called good writing; almost every Immortan Joe line is biblical phraseology, such as 'Do not, my friends, become addicted to water, it will take hold of you and you will resent its absence'.

The film

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Directed by George Miller · Drama

120 minutes

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Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Tom Hardy "Mad Max" Rockatansky , a former police officer
Charlize Theron Imperator Furiosa , a woman with a prosthetic left arm with whom Max allies. Theron shaved her head for her portrayal of Furiosa.
Nicholas Hoult Nux, a sickly War Boy who Max is briefly chained to
Hugh Keays-Byrne Immortan Joe , the ruler of the Citadel
Josh Helman Slit, Nux's lancer
Nathan Jones Rictus Erectus, Joe's muscular, intellectually disabled son
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley The Splendid Angharad, a barefoot woman who is Joe's most "treasured" breeder. Pregnant with his child, she is shown to be strong yet compassionate and protective, and as the de facto leader of the other wives.
Zoë Kravitz Toast the Knowing, a barefoot woman who is another of Joe's wives. She is the most practical and intellectual of the five and is shown to have good knowledge of guns. Kravitz wore a dark pixie wig over her natural hair when portraying Toast.
Riley Keough Capable, a red-haired woman and another of Joe's wives, she appears to be the most level-headed and mature of the five and forms a bond with the War Boy Nux. Keough's hair was dyed red when portraying Capable.
Abbey Lee The Dag, a platinum-haired girl and another of Joe's wives, she has an eccentric and bold personality who is later shown to form a bond with the Keeper of Seeds and is often seen with fellow wife Cheedo the Fragile. Lee wore a platinum wig over her natural hair when portraying the Dag.
Courtney Eaton Cheedo the Fragile, a barefoot teenage girl who is the youngest of Joe's wives. She is portrayed as the meekest and most fearful, and is initially afraid to leave Joe. However, she becomes more courageous later on. She is often seen with her fellow wife The Dag.
John Howard The People Eater, a minion of Joe who rules Gas Town
Richard Carter The Bullet Farmer, a minion of Joe who rules the Bullet Farm
iOTA The Doof Warrior (Coma), the eyeless guitarist who travels with Joe's war convoy and whose guitar doubles as a flamethrower
Angus Sampson The Organic Mechanic, a doctor who works for Joe
Jennifer Hagan Miss Giddy, an old woman who is the caretaker of Joe's wives who aids in their escape.
Megan Gale The Valkyrie, the youngest of the Vuvalini and Furiosa's childhood friend
Melissa Jaffer Keeper of the Seeds, one of the Vuvalini
Jon Iles The Ace, head of security on the War Rig
Quentin Kenihan Corpus Colossus, Joe's older son who has a physical disability that stunted his growth and prevents him from being able to walk
Coco Jack Gillies Glory the Child, the young girl in Max's flashbacks [ a ]
Chris Patton Morsov, a War Boy that was assigned to protect the War Rig when it was en route to the Bullet Farm and Gastown

Everything from the episode

In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.

26:47

Casting What-Ifs

Mel Gibson was the presumptive Max until he declined around 2003 for The Passion of the Christ; Heath Ledger was cons...

Mel Gibson was the presumptive Max until he declined around 2003 for The Passion of the Christ; Heath Ledger was considered before his death in 2008

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:26:47Read transcript
  • There are few casting what-ifs: conceived in the 80s shortly after Beyond Thunderdome, the film had Mel Gibson as presumptive Max until about 2003, when another round of funding came through and he declined because he had become fascinated by the story that became The Passion of the Christ.
  • Heath Ledger was considered before his death in 2008, which opens the question of whether he would have suited the role better than Tom Hardy.
  • Asked whether anyone else should realistically have played Max, Heath Ledger is raised again as a cool idea, Statham is rejected as too comic-y, and nobody would be picked over Tom Hardy for the role.
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40:42

Half-Assed Internet Research

Pre-production began as early as 1997 and 2001 and 2003 shoots were delayed by September 11th and the Iraq War; Mille...

Pre-production began as early as 1997 and 2001 and 2003 shoots were delayed by September 11th and the Iraq War; Miller briefly considered a computer-animated version in 2007; iOTA's guitar weighed 132 pounds and shot real flames; the film was shot in sequence; a 120-day shoot in Namibia and Western Sydney wrapped 17 December 2012; Miller demanded colourful cinematography and beautiful art direction; John Seale came out of retirement; Eve Ensler consulted on the female characters

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:40:42Read transcript
  • Fury Road sat in development hell with pre-production as early as 1997; attempts to shoot in 2001 and 2003 were delayed by the September 11th attacks and the Iraq War; Miller returned to it in 2007 after Happy Feet, briefly considered a computer-animated film, then went live action, which everyone agrees was the right choice; his filmography of Happy Feet, Babe, Babe Pig in the City and Lorenzo's Oil is called incredible, one of the most fascinating in movies.
  • iOTA, the Australian artist whose real name is given as Sean Hape, told Vice the guitar weighed 132 pounds and shot real gas-powered flames controlled by the whammy bar, which the hosts half doubt was verified; the movie was shot in sequence, from page one straight through, surprising given the complexity, and Charlize appears 15 or 20 minutes in after Max is captured and escapes.
  • Principal photography began on 26 June in Namibia, with work at Potts Hill and Penrith Lakes in Western Sydney; in October 2012 The Hollywood Reporter reported that Warner Brothers sent an executive to keep the production on track, and filming wrapped on 17 December 2012 after 120 days, a long shoot.
  • Miller's two stipulations were cinematography as colourful as possible to set the film apart from desaturated post-apocalyptic movies, after producers talked him out of an initial black-and-white concept, and art direction as beautiful as possible; the hosts doubt the second was achieved, calling it not a beautiful movie nor one rich in interior design, with only the 'Rose of Cabbage' (as transcribed) and the stilt-walkers at the now-defunct Green Place standing out.
  • The untreated YouTube clips of the car sequences show overcast days, off-white skies and light-brown rocks in shabby deserts, with the computer grade supplying the contrast; John Seale, who shot many of Miller's films plus The English Patient and The Talented Mr. Ripley, came out of retirement in his 70s at Miller's behest; and Eve Ensler, creator of The Vagina Monologues, was consulted to enhance the portrayal of the female characters.
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56:42

Picking Nits

Did Immortan Joe have a point?; Tom Hardy's voice is dubbed throughout; if the Green Place were real, why did more pe...

Did Immortan Joe have a point?; Tom Hardy's voice is dubbed throughout; if the Green Place were real, why did more people not know about it?

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:56:42Read transcript
  • 'Did Immortan Joe have a point?' was written down as a nit, which the host says Chris already raised earlier as a joke; the other nit is that Tom Hardy's voice is completely, or at least many times, dubbed, compared to the lossy sound of taping over an old radio mixtape.
  • Dubbed lines are pointed out: 'that's my head' at the beginning, when the harpoon is shot past him on the hood of the car, and 'that's mine' when he sees Slit driving his car on the way back to the Citadel are somebody else's voice, and many more can be picked out.
  • If the Green Place were real, why would more people not know about it? There are no podcasts or smartphones in the wasteland, the Outback setting holds maybe a thousand people with little information sharing, yet it is only a hard night's drive away and someone would have scouted it; if there were a place of salvation, people would try to go and word would get around.
  • Earlier, during what aged the worst, Immortan Joe's plan was flagged as more of a nitpick: why marshal the whole Citadel to chase five or six wives when there should be other women to turn to.
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58:49

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Will there be a sequel?; Who could direct one other than George Miller?; Did Max leave the Citadel at the end?

Will there be a sequel?; Who could direct one other than George Miller?; Did Max leave the Citadel at the end?

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:58:49Read transcript
  • A sequel was supposed to happen, with Charlize and Tom Hardy believed signed up, but George Miller was in litigation with Warner Brothers over an undisclosed sum and is 73, so it is doubted; asked directly, one host would absolutely love one, and IP lives forever.
  • Letting someone else direct seems inevitable but could not possibly be as good; names floated are Michaud (as transcribed), Jeremy Saulnier, David McKenzie and Michelle McLaren (as transcribed), since the first three films lacked Fury Road's frenetic pace and editing, yet nobody else speaks this cinematic language of frame rate, quick cutting and practical explosions, and Miller, like Martin or Tolkien, has been thinking about this mythology for most of his adult life since his first feature, Mad Max.
  • Did Max leave the Citadel? He shrinks into the crowd at the end, perhaps to become anonymous again or to find something elsewhere; he has never gotten over the tragic-hero curse that everything attached to him dies, so he likely wanders the wasteland again like Ethan in The Searchers, not right for society or capable of normal life, 'more of a bullet farmer' in the joke.
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