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MOVIE REVIEW

Mad Max: Fury Road

MPA Rating: R-Rating (MPA) for intense sequences of violence throughout, and for disturbing images.

Reviewed by: David Simpson
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating: Very Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Adults
Genre: Sci-Fi Action Adventure Thriller 3D IMAX
Length: 2 hr.
Year of Release: 2015
USA Release: May 15, 2015 (wide—3,550+ theaters)
DVD: September 1, 2015
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Relevant Issues

the concept of “peak oil”—the hypothetical point in time when the global production of oil reaches its maximum rate, after which constantly reducing production leads to terrible world problems

fighting for the necessities of life

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the world’s multitude of dystopian future scenarios

post-apocalyptic movies that revel in displays of depraved evil and ugliness and extreme violence

THE REAL POST-APOCALYPSE WORLD COMING—What will the biblical Millennium be like? Answer —also see: Millennium

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dealing with loss of one’s wife and child—while trying to survive the actions of really bad people

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FILM VIOLENCE—How does viewing violence in movies affect families? Answer

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Issue of pain and suffering

Why does God allow innocent people to suffer? Answer

What about the issue of suffering? Doesn’t this prove that there is no God and that we are on our own? Answer

Does God feel our pain? Answer

ORIGIN OF BAD—How did bad things come about? Answer

Did God make the world the way it is now? What kind of world would you create? Answer

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evil men who treat women as things

Is Feminism the answer?

Biblical women with admirable character, include: Mrs. Noah, Mary (mother of Jesus), Esther, Deborah, and Milcah, daugher of Zelophehad

About despair and hope

Click here to watch THE HOPE on-line!
Discover God’s promise for all people—told beautifully and clearly from the beginning. Discover The HOPE! Watch it on Christian Answers—full-length motion picture.
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Featuring Charlize TheronImperator Furiosa
Tom HardyMax Rockatansky
Zoë Kravitz (Zoe Kravitz) … Toast
Nicholas HoultNux
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley … Splendid
Riley Keough … Capable
Nathan Jones … Rictus Erectus
Megan Gale … Valkyrie
Hugh Keays-Byrne … Immortan Joe
Josh Helman … Slit
Abbey Lee … The Dag
Courtney Eaton … Fragile
Richard Norton … Imperator
See all »
Director George Miller — “Mad Max” (1979)
Producer Kennedy Miller Productions
Village Roadshow Pictures
Distributor Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures. Trademark logo.Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company

Max Max is back! It’s been 30 years since the last film (the third installment), and a whole 36 years since the first one came out. But director George Miller has resurrected his unique masterpiece, and gives us another Ozploitation extravaganza.

Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) lives in a post-apocalyptic world, where water and greenery are sparse. He is haunted by the deaths of his wife and children, and somehow feels to blame for their demise. The land is run by Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), who is kept alive by various disgusting mechanisms and rules with an iron fist. Owning thousands of slave boys, and an army of road warriors, he controls the people by limiting their water.

Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) is one of his greatest drivers, but she abandons him to escape the tyranny by escaping with five of his wives, all of whom are living on the hope that there is a “green place” where they can live in abundance. Manning a big-rig war machine, she meets up with Max after a vicious car chase as Joe pursues, and together they strategize how to keep going.

There have been plenty of post-apocalyptic worlds in the last 10 years of cinema. “The Road” and “The Book of Eli” to name a couple. The recurring theme is the bleakness and devastation of the environment. The directors emphasize this by using a sepia tone to dumb down all colors. Director of “Mad Max,” George Miller, went against this trend by making everything as bright as possible. It’s still desolate, as the world has become one big desert, but the vibrancy is there.

And unlike many films of the same genre, the hope that spurs people on, is a theme that is not just dashed against the rocks and beaten down, but is resurrected time and again. This is not a movie to depress you. If anything, it’s a story of the strength and resolution of the common people to stand against those that seek to control them.

Is Max a savior? Is Furiosa a savior? No. They are just people who believe in something, and will break themselves to make it happen. They don’t promise a way out, but they do promise results. Furiosa leads through hope and will power. Max leads through guilt and survival instincts. They challenge each other, and despite Max’s early adamant protests that hope shouldn’t be used, his mind is changed.

About despair, fear and HOPE

There are positives to take from this, although it can quite easily be blown out of the water by the consistent explosions, car chases, music, and death rattle of a world we hope never comes to fruition.

It’s a violent film. Very violent. It’s a violent world that they live in, and people live and die on a daily basis, due to cruelty and deprivation. The majority of deaths occur through vehicle explosions or crashes and, therefore, are gruesome and graphic. It could have been made far worse, don’t for a moment picture “Kill Bill” levels here, but it’s in-your-face violence. People are stabbed, shot, mangled, crushed, dragged, torn apart, blown up and tortured. All manner of weapons are used.

FILM VIOLENCE—How does viewing violence in movies affect families? Answer

The language is moderate due to the single F-word. Other than that, it’s sparse. There are undercurrents of a sexual nature. Immortan Joe has several wives of all shapes and sizes, but they are treated more like slaves. We see some topless women, and the forms of some of his younger wives throughout the film. In a way, this all fits in with the brutal nature of their existence. It isn’t in place to be gratuitous and provide eye candy. Be aware, too, that there are several frightening images of Max’s family, and of other characters in close ups. These could be too intense for the soft-hearted.

Cinematically, George Miller has done a fantastic job. He has recreated his world for the modern day audience. Having read that the majority of the film was done for real (i.e., not CGI), it heightens admiration for the techical difficulty of the project. The cinematography is superb, the car chases and action sequences so well thought out, the two hours just fly by. This is a true action film, where needless dialog doesn’t exist, and it’s left to the action to tell the story.

Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron have a distant connection. It never becomes cheesy, and you always feel there is mutual respect, rather than any kind of affection. The casting is great, Keays-Byrne is a treat to see cast as the main villain again, since the first Mad Max. Nicholas Hoult plays his role with an enthusiasm that endears him, despite his character.

Overall, it’s put together exceptionally well. It’s an adrenalin-boosting thrill ride that never seems to slow down. When you get a moment of calm, you relish it, as you know it’ll explode again. For the cinematic experience, I would gladly pay twice or even three times to go back to see this in theaters again. On the other hand, keep in mind that although the film is an enormous spectacle, it is filled with disturbing evidence of the depravity of mankind, amidst its hopeful notes and courageous fight against evil.

  • Violence: Very Extreme
  • Swearwords: Moderate to heavy—f-word (1), bollocks (1), ?-bugger (2)
  • Sex/Nudity: Heavy—lots of shirtless men, topless woman, nude woman calling for help, a little cleavage, breast pumps, women washing in revealing clothes, chastity belt

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive
Positive—Firstly, this is a violent film en par with Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto.” And like that film, it is an intense thematic battle between good and evil with moral protagonists in continuous peril. For mature viewers clearly, but, in my opinion, not sickly gratuitous like a “Saw” movie or many others. Also, I am a somewhat jaded movie viewer tired of videogamish CGI and ridiculous acting passing for blockbusters, especially in the action genre.

“Mad Max” blew me away. It is a superlative original directing feat that should set the standards like the original “Matrix” once did. It is incredibly visual and amazingly choreographed for nearly the entire running time. This is a film made for the big 3-D theatre experience.

Parts of it are like Cirque du Soleil on steroids with machine guns and grenades; the rest just mind blowing cinematography at an octane pace. Add in characters who are not only developed over time but are both hard core and vulnerable (not to mention quirky and insane), Charlize with a career performance, and you have an action movie to end all action movies.

George Miller clearly put his whole heart and skill set into this one. No sequel here.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 5
Todd Adams, age 47 (Canada)
Positive—Mad Maxine—Redemption Of The Female Eunuch —“We are not things.”
George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” is a two hour chase movie. It is also, unwittingly, a bold portrait of biblical feminism. Balls to the Wall* Miller delivers the expected testosterone-fest, but not a few men feel like they have been had. The central character is not Max, the ex-cop of the previous films, but a woman called Imperator Furiosa. Even worse, Max spends most of the movie surrounded by women. The film has been called triumphantly feminist by some critics.

In some ways it is, but I would argue that Miller’s gender politics, understood in a biblical light, bring feminism full circle. Womanhood ends up back where it began, but it will never be the same again.

Blood Bag—There are only two ways to achieve prosperity. The first is the promised abundance from the hand of God given after faithful obedience. The second is through slavery and robbery, which turn Eden into Egypt. Miller’s post-apocalyptic story begins in an Eden-gone-wrong, a tree-covered mountain in a desert which withholds its life giving springs as a means of control, releasing only occasional streams of water pumped up from the depths of the Earth as a reminder of its power. An enormous carving above its ruler’s balcony tells us that this is the place of the skull.

See all » My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Mike Bull, age 48 (Australia)
Positive—Oh. My. Gosh. Just got back from the theater, this movie was INCREDIBLE. Absolutely loved it. I was sitting on the edge of my seat for the whole ~2 hours, and didn’t get bored once. And that doesn’t happen to me very often. After the credits ended, I sat there speechless, trying to figure out how to communicate my thoughts without screaming gibberish somewhat related to how much I loved it.

There are chick flicks, and there are guy flicks. This is most definitely a guy flick. I’m extremely disappointed with all the negative comments made by people who didn’t even stay through the film, or watch it. One viewer left because of a pregnancy scene… That wasn’t even remotely disturbing… There was literally no gore, and it served a purpose—to show how far gone society is/was, and how inhuman and cruel the protagonist was. Another viewer didn’t even WATCH the film based on what his friend said about a milking scene that hardly even showed boobs! Bleagh, whatever. Don’t listen to them. See all »
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Fyzzymetalhead, age 19 (USA)
Positive—I am a pastor of a church in Queensland, Australia, and I went to see this movie. I only found out after it that the reviews said the movie was full of sex and swearing. This is not true. There was no sex, and you only see someone’s rear end. This movie had some violence, but it is not as violent as some of the things that happen in the Bible. Overall, it was a good quality movie, and I would recommend it to my friends and family.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Michael Smith, age 43 (Australia)
Positive—I didn’t see this movie when it first came out, because I had more important things to do (like review other movies; this one got assigned before I could look into it). Part of me wishes I had gone to see it anyway, because it is easily the most stunning movie I have ever seen.

The plot is a little thin, let’s be honest. However, there are many admirable qualities in the hero and heroine. Morally, it is FAR from “very offensive.” There were very few scenes of gore in this movie, and the few that were there only lasted a few seconds and weren’t gratuitous. The sexual content is not salacious, and I didn’t hear any language (apparently there was some, but little enough to be missed).

This film may be largely just entertainment, but it’s surprisingly inspiring at the end. I walked away feeling encouraged. Oh, and by the way, it should NOT be rated R. It should have easily gotten a PG-13.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Gabriel Mohler, age 26 (USA)
Positive—While this is an exhilarating and well-crafted film, mostly I compared it to its predecessor “the Road Warrior,” of which it is essentially a remake, with updated touches of women’s empowerment, video game like intensity, and suicide bomber like “war boys”. I found it wanting by comparison, despite its incredible filming, stunts and choreography. “The Road Warrior” was more human, the characters were interesting, even the villains were interesting. This film is essentially one big chase with one extreme vision and stunt after another, for many an entertaining boundary busting wild ride but with only a flicker of human interest. Both films are faithful to the post-apocalyptic genre the Mad Max movies helped to define, in which humankind has destroyed civilization and is reduced to a brutalized state of scarcity and violence. See all »
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Stanley Hirtle, age 70 (USA)
Positive—First off, within the broad category of Biblical values, I would rate “Mad Max Fury Road” as a fictional story that values a moral worldview. That is to say, it is a classic battle for escape from a bad guy. So, good fleeing evil, and ultimately battling evil—along the lines of an old cowboys and Indians chase through hostile Indian territory. Or Pharaoh chasing the Children of Israel. The film is not a religious film, still it is a classic good vs. evil story at it core.

As far as artistic merit, it is a fantastic visceral action film, with well thought out themes that are not talked all through. Rather, the film is thin on plot, and the characters don’t explain themselves, as much as we witness their actions, and we figure out the story and motivations for ourselves, as exposition is almost non-existent. We are plopped down into a story in process and get to use our imaginations, as the film does not pause to explain it—simply moves forward. See all »
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Phil Early, age 52 (USA)
Positive—It is striking how much Biblical imagery is in this movie. In way, it’s a better Exodus movie than the “Exodus” movie (which didn’t strike me as anything spectacular). You have water from the rock, the freeing of slaves, the search for a Promised Land, you have Pharaoh’s chariots updated to a post-apocalyptic vision… this is a struggle between those who seek something to believe in and those who follow a false god. Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Should you be over 17? Definitely.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 5
Anders [an Atheist], age 41 (Sweden)
Neutral
Neutral—As a female Christian, I found this movie viewing experience emotionally stressful. As an avid movie watcher, I thought it a thrilling, impressive and intense ride. The acting was exceptional. At moments of utter despair, you really felt what the character was portraying in that moment. It tugged at your inner most feelings of despair and hatred while also empowering you to hope, be courageous and continue to fight the good fight in your own life, no matter how hard it gets.

But, watching other women be enslaved and treated as property solely used for sex and procreation was hard to bare. I felt so much anger, and found myself bitter towards men after watching this movie. I felt they over did the theme of bashing men. However, there was so much more, both good and bad, that went on in this film. It was entertaining, unforgettable and disturbing.

I recommend soft-hearted individuals be wary of viewing this film. There is a part where a wife of the antagonist dies, while pregnant. The horrifying scene of her pregnant body falling to the ground from a moving vehicle, only to be hit by another oncoming vehicle was painfully unsettling, to say the least. Then, a callous and grotesque man cuts the dead baby from the dead mother, tosses the corpse aside, then proceeds to play with the severed umbilical cord. To me, the movie makers crossed the line here. I will never forget that moment, and it will haunt me for years to come. However, that scene did make a point and struck a cord. This was an illustration of utter human depravity. You see a glimpse of how evil humans can be.

This cinematic novelty reminds us that humans are innately evil and in need of a savior. Even the good guys break sometimes. We are also reminded that until we go to heaven we must constantly fight against evil. I felt that the antagonist was portraying the devil himself and his minions were misguided people who followed him and were now his demons. The fleeing protagonist and group of courageous women were Christians, confused on if they should give up and return to their evil master who enslaved them or if they should keep fighting even though all hope is lost. See all »
My Ratings: Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Hannah Neal, age 26 (USA)
Negative
Negative—I really loved the “Road Warrior” because Max was a saviour archetype willing to sacrifice himself to save others in a world gone mad. In “Fury Road,” Max is the impotent (can’t really call him) hero. The pathos of the previous films is all but gone, replaced by shock and awe. In our contemporary world where louder is better, “Mad Max: Fury Road” hits its key audience. No character development, just explosions and “really wicked stunts.”

I actually left the film when a scene involving a pregnant woman was too hideous to watch. I am unsure if this is now the litmus test for contemporary audiences, i.e., seeing how much depraved ugliness they can be proud to devour—like a trophy of sorts. I am feeling sad that so many movies are hollow now. Like the Romans, our entertainment is becoming the spectacle of death. Gratuitous violence is the quickest thrill.

While the actress who played the pregnant woman goes to buy a new Hollywood Hills home with her paycheck, I’ll go back home and read Acts. (And the actress actually did buy the house with husband Jason Statham.)
My Ratings: Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 5
SDH, age around 40 (USA)

PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.

Comments from non-viewers
Negative—Contrary to some comments from other viewers, this is not an “Exodus” movie in a Biblical sense whatsoever. That the protagonists need “something to believe in” and that everyone else is ultra-violent, because they are without “religion” says nothing about any of the character’s relationship with God… and the scraps of morality that you’re left with merely boils down to: “their humanity vs. my humanity,” leaving morality an open playground without ultimate rules of right or wrong.

In reality, it is God who decides what is right or wrong, not humans, and not actions of mercy or violence. Each of these tempers, when understood from a Biblical perspective, are important to surrender up to God’s approval before going forward with them. For instance, it is good, from a Biblical perspective, to be “merciful” to your spouse by making love to them when they need it, thus keeping them out of the world’s temptation. It is not merciful, however, to make love to anyone else, so that their sexual urges are quelled. It is wrong. See all »
Luke, age 32 (USA)
Negative—Being a Mad Max fan, I guess now that I am older, my views as a Christian have become more mature. I had intended on seeing this movie, but after hearing about what was in it, I decided not to and urge people to avoid it you can. Most people know these movies are R-rated because the are set in a post-apocalyptic world of insanity. Religion, so to speak, isn’t around. Just violence, sex and survival.

One particular scene a friend told me about made me not want to see it for sure. I knew already in the movie woman are slaves, they are also kept as “breeders”. But one scene shows a heavy chested woman being “milked” by a machine. And the men drink this milk later on. If that is not bad enough, you see people’s faces half blown off. Limbs taken off. There’s a scene where bodies are hung from a ceiling, as they spew blood everywhere. Some bodies are half eaten, which implies cannibalism. In a very disturbing scene, a baby is cut out from a mother off-screen. Then the baby, when dead, is seen being tossed away like garbage as someone else plays with the umbilical cord like it’s a toy.

…Like I said, I used to love this series, but I really feel compelled to warn others this movie is full of vile disgust, and, as a Christian, it’s probably best to avoid this one.
Matt S, age 33 (USA)
Negative—I can’t understand how any “Christian” would watch a movie such as this, even for pure entertainment. Would you feel comfortable if Jesus was sitting next to you in the theater watching movies like this? Christians nowadays scarcely resemble the ones from New Testament times.
Andre Wallace, age 39 (USA)