Questions from Mad Max – Fury Road

When given the opportunity to see a late-night weekend movie with the guys, a 34 year-old father/husband must take advantage. On Saturday, I saw Mad Max Fury Road with the dudes.

The movie was pretty much a visual masterpiece. I’m sure making the film and the vehicles to go along with it was a welder’s dream. A waterless apocalyptic hell-scape couldn’t have been much more real.

Here are some random questions from the film that was action-packed, hilarious, confusing, and overall pretty rad.

What’s with the water delivery systems?

The premise of the movie is that Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) is some kind of demigod who controls the flow of water in a society. Joe gives the people just enough water to live. 

But to give them the precious water, Immortan Joe just opens up a valve on pipes that hang hundreds of feet above hoards of people. Water reigns down on people holding up metal bowls and containers, but most of it goes to waste, soaking into the dusty, not muddy ground.

Somehow, Immortan Joe and his henchmen have figured out ways to pump water from deep below the earth, made a pulley system to raise amazing vehicles, but they can’t figure out faucets or some kind of better water delivery system?

Charlize Theron – Why wasn’t she one of the breeders?

Charlize Theron’s character, Imperator Furiosa, is a woman who is somewhere in her late 20’s or, at worst, early 30’s. She’s clearly a bad-ass, since she’s earned the job of leader of the pack of fools who goes out onto the road to get gasoline and/or bullets (the two hot commodities apparently other than water).

But Furiosa works for Immortan Joe. She’s (I think?) the only woman I see in the society who isn’t just one of Joe’s wives. Why not? Maybe she’s not able to have kids? Maybe she’s from a different place, so Joe doesn’t want to make her one of his?

Whatever the answer, I don’t remember it explained.

The Guitar player and music machine is pretty mind-blowing

In the words of the Sklar Brothers (video below), here’s the Kiss tribute band on wheels.

Once Immortan Joe goes after Furiosa (who has stolen his hot wives), things really heat-up. Joe’s roving gang of warriors includes lots of really awesome vehicles, but one caught my eye. I don’t know how to describe it except to say it was a war-stage for sweet rock music that can travel as fast as any of the war vehicles.

On the front, hangs a minion who freaking shreds on a guitar that spits fire, gets used as a weapon at one point, and then sounds completely in-tune once again. On the back, are some number of drumming minions — also strapped-in — who keep the beat pumping.

Also, please notice all the brass instruments perched at the top of the speaker wall behind the guitarist. At least a few of them are actually french horns. Not sure how they’re making sounds… .

I guess I shouldn’t question something this sweet. Every time there was chaos going on around this particular vehicle, I couldn’t help but to stop and think about how great a guitar player this guy was. He had the on-stage stamina of Bruce Springstein and straight up shredded the whole time a’la Hendrix, Page, Beck, Van Halen, Eric Johnson, and Slash all at once, whilst hanging from chains in the middle of a 80 mile per hour battle that was lasting for hours and hours. I guess this isn’t so much a question as an homage.

Respect.

Dust Storms – Just the one?

If these post-nuclear dust storms are raging accross the desert, I would think there would be more than one in the few days they were out there. Nobody talked about them, or the threat of them, before they drove into one or after they drove out of it.

To be fair, Mad Max Fury Road shouldn’t have to explain anything to anyone. I suppose it made for a decent plot convention and I guess them not explaining it left more time for guitar shredding. On second thought, not explaining it was a wonderful decision.

Feminist film vs. guy movie

Not to give too much away, but this movie definitely has some feminist undertones. Guys can be feminists too, so I guess it’s not like they’re missing a target demographic, but I couldn’t help but think of the conflict between the point of the movie — which I think my wife would probably really like — conflicted with the means by which it got there. I’m not sure she’d like those means.

The combination of an underlying, easy-to-follow plot, ridiculous action sequences for 3/4 of the movie, and jarringly random additions make this movie pretty much a must-see.