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Mad Max: Fury Road (2015, Australia/US)
In producer/director George Miller's highly-acclaimed
action-thriller film, the fourth film (a reboot) in the entire Mad
Max franchise, about a post-nuclear wasteland with warring factions:
- the opening voice-over narration (during the initial
credits) by drifter Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy), to set the stage,
in post-apocalyptic Australia: "My name is Max. My world is
fire and blood. Once, I was a cop. A road warrior searching for
a righteous cause. As the world fell, each of us in our own way
was broken. It was hard to know who was more crazy. Me or everyone
else"
- the setting - the Citadel, ruled over by tyrannical,
evil despot King Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), with hordes of
his deranged, bald albino disciples (vicious pale followers known
as the War Boys); Joe had a hideous appearance: a grotesque face
mask composed of horse teeth set in a large pair of jaws, with two
air hoses coming off each side, attached to a bellows system on his
back for breathing assistance [Note: Breast milk was supplied to
the post-apocalyptic future by obese slave women hooked up to milking
devices]
- the early sequence of Max apprehended by the War Boys,
brought to the Citadel, where he was tattooed and muzzled - with
an exciting escape sequence in which Max jumped from an opening high
in a rock face and clung to a swinging hook before he was recaptured
- the sequence of mysterious driver Imperator Furiosa
(Charlize Theron) sent out by Joe in an armored War Rig to collect
fuel from Gas Town - but it was soon revealed that Furiosa had changed
course and was fleeing to the East from Joe, and escaping with his
five breeder brides - young warrior women: Capable (Riley Keough),
Cheedo the Fragile (Courtney Eaton), Toast the Knowing (Zoë Kravitz),
the Dag (Abbey Lee), and the fully-pregnant Splendid Angharad (Rosie
Huntington-Whiteley); they left a large painted message for Joe:
OUR BABIES WILL NOT BE WARLORDS
- the incredible sequence of the frantically-paced,
beautifully-choreographed non-stop chase, after King Joe found out
about Furiosa's betrayal; he sent all of his War Boys to pursue Furiosa
across the sun-parched wasteland and into the massive vortex of an
apocalyptic tornado-sandstorm, where she fled to evade the pursuers;
during the chase, another scavenging tribe, known as the Buzzards,
joined in
- one of the sickly War Boys named Nux (Nicholas Hoult)
strapped captive Max Rockatansky (with a muzzle-type face mask) positioned
like a figurehead onto the front of the vehicle that he was driving
- Max was connected to Nux by a metal chain and via a central line
blood transfusion tube that functioned as a perpetual "blood
bag"
Imperator Furiosa in War Rig -
Fleeing From Evil Despot and Pale Albino War Boys
Max Was Tied as Figurehead to Nux's Vehicle
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- after Furiosa survived in the storm, and Max had
escaped from Nux's control, he confronted her and the warrior women
and attempted to steal her War Rig, but was unsuccessful when she
fought back; Max was forced to join forces with them as they journeyed
to an idyllic location from Furiosa's childhood known as the "Green
Place"
- the next exciting chase sequence, when the warrior
women, Max, and Furiosa were pursued by a group of biker-gang bandits
in a canyon (with King Joe's forces close behind); Splendid Angharad
slipped and fell off the side of the War Rig and was run over (with
her unborn child) by the wheels of Joe's car following behind (Max
to Furiosa: "She went under the wheels"); the group was
reluctantly forced to carry on, while the other women mourned for
the loss of Spendid
- an enraged King Joe held Spendid Angharad's body
in his arms, and then later that night, a C-section was performed
on her belly by his lieutenant Organic Mechanic (Angus Sampson),
to pull out a perfectly-formed infant boy ("Crying shame. Another
month, could have been your viable human....Your number one alpha
prime. Hey, Rictus?...You lost a baby brother. Perfect in every way" -
he cut off and inspected the stillborn baby's umbilical cord; Joe's
adult son Rictus (Nathan Jones) cried out: "I had a brother!
I had a little baby brother! And he was perfect! Perfect in every
way!"
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Biker Gang Attack
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Angharad's Fall From Rig
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Max: "She went under the wheels"
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Angharad In King Joe's Arms
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C-Section
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Rictus: "I had a brother"
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- in the next sequence the following morning, the
group drove up to an abandoned water tower where a naked Valkyrie
(Megan Gale) was screaming for help, and it was feared to be a "bait" trap;
she cried out: "I am one of the Vuvalini! Of the Many Mothers!
My Initiate Mother was K.T. Concannon! I am the daughter of Mary
Jabassa. My clan was Swaddle Dog!" - her clan of aging women,
known as the Vuvalini, emerged, and the eldest, Keeper of the Seeds
(Melissa Jaffer), informed Furiosa that the muddy uninhabitable
bog that they had previously traversed through was the "Green
Place"
- a striking image was one of Furiosa walking into
the sand, falling to her knees, and delivering a despairing primal
scream
- Max convinced Furiosa and the other women on motorbikes
to turn around, go back through the canyon, and attack the unguarded
Citadel; during the counter-assault, although seriously wounded,
Furiosa hooked Joe's mask onto the wheels of his car, growled at
him: "Remember me?", and watched as the vehicle's wheels
lethally ripped off the mask and part of Joe's face
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Furiosa - Convinced by Max to Lead a Motorbike
Attack on the Unguarded Citadel
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Furiosa to King Joe: "Remember Me?"
Then Ripped Joe's Face Off
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- in the final redemptive scene, the group arrived
at King Joe's headquarters or Citadel base, where Joe's mouthless
corpse was displayed and then thrown to the ground to the delight
of the remaining War Boys; the poor citizens cannibalistically
fed off his body; the victorious forces of Furiosa, Joe's wives
and other Vuvalini were welcomed and cheered - a celebration was
marked by the release of water upon the inhabitants, and Furiosa
was apparently to be appointed as their new leader - she glanced
at Max as he walked off into the crowded masses
Last Glances
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- the film ended with the title card (white letters
on a black background): "Where must we go... we who wander
this Wasteland in search of our better selves?" -The First
History Man
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"My name is Max"
King Immortan Joe
Milking Devices
Max's Brief Escape from War Boys on Swinging Hook
Furiosa Driving Into the Desert Tornado-Sandstorm
Furiosa
(Charlize Theron)
Warrior Women
Nux and Five Warrior Women During Struggle
Valkyrie (Megan Gale): Suspected "Bait" Trap
Furiosa's Primal Scream
Display of Joe's Corpse in Citadel
Max and Others Victorious
Celebration at Citadel: Release of Water for Inhabitants
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