THE DANMAN CAN

Just like  Mad Max: Fury Road  (2015) ( review 1 , review 2 ), I felt like I was watching a video game half the time that I was viewing Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) (the CGI in this one is even more obvious than in FR and, my goodness, there is so much of it). (Side note nitpick: I'm guessing  George Miller  was contractually obligated to use the MM  subtitle, but it's still annoying and unnecessary; people know what the movie is and Furiosa ,   on its own, makes a much bolder title.) In many ways, these modern  Mad   Max  films look and feel too much like other franchises (Marvel, the modern Planet Of The Apes , Star Wars , the Villeneuve Dune s) for my tastes. Everything is so clean and perfectly color graded; I just can't get past that. I miss the grittiness and genuine sense of danger of the first two films (reviews for those here and here ), and even 1985's  Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome  (1985) ( review ), the weakest fil...

Simply one of the most influential action films and one of the best sequels (that also just edges out its predecessor, my review of which is here )—with one of the most thrilling finales—ever made. George Miller 's  Mad Max 2 (aka The Road Warrior ) (1981) features some of the most insane stunts, frenetic camerawork, badass chases, wildest vehicles, iconic costumes and baddies, and general mayhem of any film. A pivotal part of (and frequent rewatch during) my teenhood, one of my Top 100 Films , and a movie I’ll love ‘til I die.  Mad Max Franchise Films Ranked

Mad Max (1979) is a bonafide classic. It has one of the best cold opens and one of the best endings of any film ever. Aussie  George Miller 's feature debut went on to spawn three sequels (with more supposedly planned) and he has maintained control of the franchise , which I commend him for (even if I'm not so into the third film, 1985's Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome , and think the fourth one is vastly overrated). Long before the digital sheen of Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) (which everyone but me seems to love; my initial review here  and my "Take 2" review, where I liked it even less,  here ), Miller created the template for low budget post-apocalyptic films which so many other films would attempt to replicate or blatantly rip-off in the 1980s.  Max 's world, while certainly dystopian, is presented as but a few years in the future, where the societal collapse still seems new. A ruthless motorcycle gang faces off against a leather-clad police force in spectacula...

You can view my initial review of Mad Max: Fury Road  (2015)  here . My "Take 2" reaction is largely the same; I might even say I like the film less. Now granted, I watched the Black & Chrome Edition, which is supposed to be Miller 's preferred version, but I found myself thinking that the CGI (and there is so very, very much of it) looked even worse and it felt like I was watching a Robert Rodriguez  film (and nothing against him, I like him). But that's not my kind of Mad Max film. Plus I really disliked how most of the voices seemed to be dubbed in post (and man, some of the dialogue is so basic and cheesy). The elements just feel disconnected and everything is too pristinely presented. I'll stick with the first two films when I need a true Max fix. If you're interested in listening to a podcast that I guested on, where we discussed all four  Max  films, you can do so here . Mad Max Franchise Films Ranked

Ryan and myself, on behalf of Focus On Film Podcast , guested on the Moving The Needle Podcast this week. Please join us as we discuss all four  Mad Max  films! Podcast:  Play in new window  |  Download Episode 83 | The Mad Ones The only movies for us this episode are the mad ones, Mad Max that is. We review the mad max series, talk about every iteration of Mad Max, desire more Max and at the same time maybe one less movie, We never yawn or say a commonplace thing about Mad Max, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like CGI (or perhaps practical) spiders across the stars. This is a thorough, thoughtful, and fun review of the Mad Max series of films, and we hope you enjoy. Thank you for listening!

Well, Mad Max: Fury Road  (2015) was fun and better than expected. But I think people need to chill out a bit on the hyperbole. Yes, the action was excellent. Yes, the vehicles were cool. Yes, the production design, makeup, and costumes were mostly great. Yes, it was a lot of fun. But I have a lot of issues, big and small. The big: the look. Right from the get-go, I've disliked the look in the trailers and marketing and it's no different in the film. It's too colorful and clean. The reason I love the first two Mad Max   films so much is because they are gritty, dirty, and a bit bland-looking (my kind of post-apocalypse). I mean, naturally they had smaller budgets and film stock looked different back then. But there was too much color grading that went on with this new film. Another big issue is the fact that people keep saying that there is very little CGI in this film, but this is only partially true. There are a few scenes that are largely CG and I didn't like the ...

As a non- Mad   Max film, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) is good, very Spielberg ian, and contains many homages to Lawrence Of Arabia (1962) ( Maurice Jarre even did the score), but after the first 45 minutes—when the Peter Pan children get introduced—the film goes downhill and never recovers, even when it tries to throw in a Max -style chase with cool-looking vehicles at the end. George Miller should have kept this one as a non- Max film, as originally planned. Mad Max Franchise Films Ranked