Mad Max: High Octane Collection (1979-2015) / Mad Max: Fury Road in B&W (2015)

[steve_dave]

Sadly, unlike Blade Runner or the Alien films, the Mad Max films are not under the same house. Scream tried to do an amazing edition for Mad Max while Warner finally included a new documentary for The Road Warrior. There was supposed to be a new documentary for Beyond Thunderdome but that never happened.

And Warner did license The Madness of Max documentary which does cover Mad Max but they don't own this so its stuck in the standard definition wasteland.

[Scarface32]

What I hate is that WB cheapened out and included a DVD in the set. The documentary "The Madness of Max" is on a DVD, bloody hell!
Would it have killed them to put in on a Blu-ray Disc?

[AngelGraves13]

The first Mad Max film hasn't aged well, but it's still a gem.

Also, why would anyone want to watch Fury Road in B&W? Why would anyone want to watch any film in B&W unless it was shot that way? I'll never know...

[Scarface32]

Originally Posted by HDvision

The Madness of Max is shot in SD obviously, so giving it it's own DVD make sense. Some of those interviews looks to be recorded with a 1999 cellphone.

DVDs don't have a scratch resistant coating. For the amount of money this set costs, it should be on a Blu-ray Disc to protect your investment.

[Scarface32]

Just finished Mad Max 2, it was good. Much better than the first.

So yesterday I saw Mad Max and today Mad Max 2. Tomorrow I'll rewatch Mad Max 3 since it's been more than 20 years since I've last seen it. And on Tuesday I'll finish up with Mad Max 4 in B&W (since I saw the color version as recent as last year).

[StingingVelvet]

I prefer the original. I get why a certain type of person would call it "boring" but we're all different folks, obviously. My wife called The Godfather boring, so there ya go.

[GasmaskAvenger]

Mad Max is a pretty good movie, but a totally different animal from the rest of the series.

A much better animal than Beyond Thunderdome, which is also a different kind of animal in its own right, but a far inferior one.

[StingingVelvet]

I love Thunderdome as an 80s family blockbuster. That's a movie that is only shit on because of Franchise Expectation Syndrome, which I am pretty immune to in general.

[The Fallen Deity]

The great thing about this franchise is that every film is completely different yet they're all equally awesome.

[Scarface32]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I prefer the original. I get why a certain type of person would call it "boring" but we're all different folks, obviously. My wife called The Godfather boring, so there ya go.

The difference being that Godfather has a story you can follow, you don't really get a story for the first movie until the second; during the opening narration. The second movie had a clear story it was telling. There was a struggle for survival and people were trying to get oil/gas. The first one was just cars smashing into each other and explosions.

I'm sure on a second viewing, now that I know what the movie is supposed to be about, I might appreciate it more. But for first time viewers, without seeing the second, there's hardly any context to follow.

Then again, the intro narration of the second film that explains the first is a bit contradictory. Judging by what is said in the narration, the town in the first movie shouldn't have been as lively as it was.

And it's not just a lack of dialogue, I've seen films without any and it made complete sense from start to finish. I've even directed a film* with no dialogue and still had a story the audience could follow.


*one of my assignments in college was to make a silent film, without text of any kind (no intertitles). Telling a story with just visuals, no audio cues.

[Bourne1886]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I prefer the original. I get why a certain type of person would call it "boring" but we're all different folks, obviously. My wife called The Godfather boring, so there ya go.

I'm afraid I have to agree with your wife. I didn't see what all the fuss was about. I bought the remastered 4 disc box set on Bluray for £12.00 from Sainsbury in the UK, watched them all and sold the set straight away. Didn't do anything for me. So I guess it's just a preference thing all said and done. Personally I like the first Mad Max film more than 2 or 3.

[GasmaskAvenger]

The first half of Thunderdome is great, but the second half suffers from a severe watering down of the subject matter.

Plus Tina Turner is easily the least interesting antagonist of the entire series.

[levcore]

Thunderdome is amazing and I actually prefer the second half to the first as it has pretty much all of my favourite stuff:

The lost tribe of kids
The Captain Walker stuff
The crack of the earth location
the big chase
the ending (best movie ending ever!)

[bud_brigman]

Originally Posted by levcore

Thunderdome is amazing and I actually prefer the second half to the first as it has pretty much all of my favourite stuff:

The lost tribe of kids
The Captain Walker stuff
The crack of the earth location
the big chase
the ending (best movie ending ever!)

Thunderdome is the most narrative-driven of the movies (which makes sense, since it was really another story smooshed into a Mad Max film), and--as we have discussed--was really the point of Peak Mel.

I will always love it, even while recognizing its flaws.

Road Warrior is still the best, IMO. (Fury Road is awesome, but is really an updated Road Warrior.)

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by bud_brigman

Thunderdome is the most narrative-driven of the movies (which makes sense, since it was really another story smooshed into a Mad Max film), and--as we have discussed--was really the point of Peak Mel.

I will always love it, even while recognizing its flaws.

Road Warrior is still the best, IMO. (Fury Road is awesome, but is really an updated Road Warrior.)

Right on the money.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by GasmaskAvenger

The first half of Thunderdome is great, but the second half suffers from a severe watering down of the subject matter.

Like I said last page though, you're judging it on expectations. If you watch Thunderdome as a family action adventure movie from the 80s it's really a great flick. People just hate it because they wanted another Road Warrior.

[MechaGodzilla]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Like I said last page though, you're judging it on expectations. If you watch Thunderdome as a family action adventure movie from the 80s it's really a great flick. People just hate it because they wanted another Road Warrior.

It's very similar to what happened with the Alien franchise, except the films are pretty much opposites in terms of tone. In the case of Alien, Aliens had significantly lightened things up and added guns, explosions, child characters and jokes after the grim horror of the original, and people wanted more of that. Instead they got a bleak, nihilistic sequel that didn't even have the optimistic feelgood "heroine saves the cute kitty and kills the monster" ending of the original. With Mad Max, they got a lighthearted adventure follow-up to a gritty, violent action film and that wasn't what they wanted.

Me, I love both Alien 3 and Beyond Thunderdome, and many other sequels that change genre/tone from their predecessor(s). The way I see it, that kind of thing helps keep a film series fresh.

[UniSol GR77]

Originally Posted by The Fallen Deity

The great thing about this franchise is that every film is completely different yet they're all equally awesome.

Universal truth. You're one of the few to understand this.

[Scarface32]

Watched Beyond Thunderdome today, just as good as I remember. I don't know why people hate on this movie?

[UniSol GR77]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

Watched Beyond Thunderdome today, just as good as I remember. I don't know why people hate on this movie?

One of the biggest Internet mysteries. I've been fighting this since 2000 or so. Wow, 17 years ago. How time flies.

Thunderdome is the most visionary and fascinating movie of the Eighties. It's just epic.