When I first saw "The Road Warrior" in it's initial theatrical release, I was blown away by the action, the machines, the quiet intensity of a young Mel Gibson, and the fact that there were only about a half dozen lines of dialogue in the entire movie.After seeing much critical praise heaped on "Mad Max, Fury Road", I needed to experience it first hand in a quality theater.
In my non-expert in the art of movie criticism way, I believe "Fury Road scores on all counts, and is indeed one of if not the greatest action film ever. Tom Hardy as Max is asked to do much that most actors typically would not want any part of. For much of the movie his face is obscured by a metal mask. He has little dialogue with which to establish himself as the lead character, and he is quite obviously doing much of the "phyisical acting" as Harrison Ford once described, himself.
And yet he succeeds in conveying a full range of emotions, mostly through his eyes when he is masked, and later through his facial expressions. When he does get a chance to speak, the gravitas established by his character makes his words all the more compelling. We want and need Max to do the right thing, not just to ease his own tortured memories, but also to help these people he has known for less than a day in a seemingly impossible task.
Charlize Theron is brilliant in the most unglamorous role of her career. Also with little dialogue, we feel her every emotion. She proves herself the equal in all respects of Max, and the two combined have a passion and strength that cannot be defeated.
From the opening scenes we see the outlandish, super-charged, nitro-burning monster off-road machines that rule the day. Max starts out in the oft-rebuilt V8 Interceptor, first seen at the end of "Mad Max" and throughout "The Road Warrior". Even after again being wrecked, the Interceptor is reborn and used against Max. These by all accounts are actual running vehicles that were built for this film. There is little in the way of Special Effects or CGI. This is the most "physical effects" laden film ever made.
The ending definitely sets up a future Mad Max epic. I would love to see Max go in search of the Great Northern Tribe, as described in the narration at the end of "The Road Warrior" by the adult "Feral Kid", who becomes their leader...
..."And as for the Road Warrior, That was the last we ever saw of him".
When I first saw "The Road Warrior" in it's initial theatrical release, I was blown away by the action, the machines, the quiet intensity of a young Mel Gibson, and the fact that there were only about a half dozen lines of dialogue in the entire movie.After seeing much critical praise heaped on "Mad Max, Fury Road", I needed to experience it first hand in a quality theater.
In my non-expert in the art of movie criticism way, I believe "Fury Road scores on all counts, and is indeed one of if not the greatest action film ever. Tom Hardy as Max is asked to do much that most actors typically would not want any part of. For much of the movie his face is obscured by a metal mask. He has little dialogue with which to establish himself as the lead character, and he is quite obviously doing much of the "phyisical acting" as Harrison Ford once described, himself.
And yet he succeeds in conveying a full range of emotions, mostly through his eyes when he is masked, and later through his facial expressions. When he does get a chance to speak, the gravitas established by his character makes his words all the more compelling. We want and need Max to do the right thing, not just to ease his own tortured memories, but also to help these people he has known for less than a day in a seemingly impossible task.
Charlize Theron is brilliant in the most unglamorous role of her career. Also with little dialogue, we feel her every emotion. She proves herself the equal in all respects of Max, and the two combined have a passion and strength that cannot be defeated.
From the opening scenes we see the outlandish, super-charged, nitro-burning monster off-road machines that rule the day. Max starts out in the oft-rebuilt V8 Interceptor, first seen at the end of "Mad Max" and throughout "The Road Warrior". Even after again being wrecked, the Interceptor is reborn and used against Max. These by all accounts are actual running vehicles that were built for this film. There is little in the way of Special Effects or CGI. This is the most "physical effects" laden film ever made.
The ending definitely sets up a future Mad Max epic. I would love to see Max go in search of the Great Northern Tribe, as described in the narration at the end of "The Road Warrior" by the adult "Feral Kid", who becomes their leader...
..."And as for the Road Warrior, That was the last we ever saw of him".