In 1979 an unknown director, with a shoestring budget, cast an unknown actor in a film called ‘Mad Max’. The director was George Miller and the actor…Mel Gibson. The rest is history. No one had seen a film like ‘Mad Max and the franchise became a huge hit. And now, George Miller has done it again. Only this time, it’s bigger and absolutely incredible. Not only is it visually beautiful but the action, except for 5 minutes is non-stop and the story is very timely considering what’s going on in the world today. ‘Mad Max Fury Road’ takes place once again in Australia, 45 years after the fall of the world. There is no law, no power grids, no water, and very few nice people. Civilization is but a memory to a only a few. The world’s economies have fallen and the coastal cities no longer exist. If that isn’t bad enough, food is scarce and the air is poison.
When we meet Max (the wonderful Tom Hardy) he is wandering through the wasteland barely surviving and haunted by his past. He gets captured by these SUB human dudes known as the War Boys. They drag him back to the Citadel, a fortress stronghold in the Wasteland. Max is considered livestock, needed for one thing…his blood. Apparently Max is a universal donor. The War Boys shackle him, lock his face in an iron mask, hang him upside down and drain his blood. In this warped culture ‘fill her up’ means you’re filling up the War Boys with high-octane blood. The head of the Citadel is a diseased, barely human called, Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), Besides having a distorted body filled with really disgusting sores, he wears this freaky looking mask over his face so he can breath. Joe’s passion is impregnating woman with his seed. Haven’t sex with this guy, has to be a fate worth than death. Joe is determined to have a perfect child, so at first you don’t succeed…You know the rest.
Anyway, Max’s future really looks bleak, until Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) comes into the picture. Pretending she’s making a gas run, Furiosa is actually escaping the Citadel and taking with her five beautiful half naked women. Two have already been impregnated by this beastly man. She tells the girls about this ‘green place’ and that’s where they are headed. Unfortunately it doesn’t take long, before the war lord finds out about her plan and along with his marshals and war boys head out into the Wasteland to stop Furiosa. Oh, they also bring along a guitar player, who enjoys heavy metal music.
George Miller dropped out of medical school to become a filmmaker and what a great filmmaker he is. ‘Mad Max Fury Road’ opens in theatres May 15, 2014 and is totally deserving of my five out of five bagel score. Don’t miss it. Check out our Two Jews On Film video for more of my thoughts and I’d love to know what you think.
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