Home Entertainment Reactions to first test screening of MAD MAX: FURY ROAD mostly positive. Plus, new synopsis

Reactions to first test screening of MAD MAX: FURY ROAD mostly positive. Plus, new synopsis

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This may be a tad hyperbolic, but I’m pretty sure that Mad Max: Fury Road  has been in production since before my people were legally allowed to vote. After numerous reshoots and budget over-runs etc, George Miller’s fourth Mad Max tale – with Tom Hardy now stepping into Mel Gibson’s post apocalyptic shoes – wrapped principal photography last year already, and still we have nothing more than a couple dusty set pics to show for it.

However, last night the first test screening of the film was aired to some studio execs and LA industry workers on the WB lot, and surprisingly, some of them have been allowed to talk about it. Although there are a few detractors, the response has been largely positive. Now it bears mentioning that this is a very early cut of the film with tons of VFX work, sound bytes, etc still missing from it. Miller also still has to run this through the editing process depending on what the response is like, but going by some of the responses (via Film Stage), he could probably just leave it as is.

Randy from Action Figure Times was very positive:

“This IS the kind of Mad Max II/The Road Warrior on steroids, go-big-or-go-home, bug-nuts crazy, toss-you-in-the-deep-end mythology and put-it-all-out-there-in-case-we-never-make-another-one Mad Max Fury Road…”

“This movie feels like thirty years of Miller holding in passion for a world that he built so long ago, exploding on the screen. You, remember the third act of The Road Warrior, the bad-ass truck chase that is still hailed as a masterpiece of filmmaking? You do? Good.

Because that’s what this whole movie pretty much is-and it works! A chase that goes long and deep into the heart of Miller’s post-apocalyptic world, trying to get out of the Wasteland. It opens up and hardly slows down.”

Kevin Craig West on Facebook:

“just came from a year in advance screening of “Mad Max Fury Road”. Weird to not see Gibson as Max but Tom Hardy holds it down just fine. Great action sequences and amazing post apocalyptic vehicles and costuming with awesome makeup.”

Some folks on Twitter also shared their views, with @Antiochian2010 saying that “you are in for a treat”, while @Breeza says that she “can’t see anyone not liking it”, that “Nicholas Hoult was fantastic too” and that the flick was “very action intense”. She does  mentions that Tom Hardy’s accent was “very hard to explain” as it was’t American or British, or sounding like any of the other Australian accents.

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Not everybody was impressed though, as this speech mannerism – among many other things – also bothered one of Collider’s readers:

“Just saw a Mad Max advance screening. I can’t say much about it but let’s just hope they do tons of re-shoots before it’s released next year, or start again from scratch. Also Tom Hardy can’t stop doing the Bane voice.  So annoying.”

Now I have to point out that these are not reviews, these are not the opinions of established film critics and this cut of the film is more than likely not the exact one we’ll eventually be seeing when it releases, but it does provide some hope that Miller is on the right track to a worthy sequel/prequel (the verdict is still out) and hasn’t just been faffing around for the last few years.

Along with these early impressions, a new synopsis for the film has also been released, which also sheds far more light on the story, and also lends a smidgen of veracity to the recent rumour that Fury Road would be filling the in the gaps between the original Mad Max and Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD is the fourth film of George Miller‘s Road Warrior/Mad Max franchise co-written and directed by Miller. The post-apocalyptic action film is set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life.

Within this world of fire and blood exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order… There’s Max (played by TOM HARDY from The Dark Knight Rises), a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos.

And… Furiosa (played by CHARLIZE THERON from Prometheus), a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland.

Mad Max: Fury Road stars Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Zoe Kravitz, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Nathan Jones and Riley Keough*, and is scheduled for release on May 15, 2015.

*Fun fact: Riley Keough is actually Elvis Presley’s granddaughter.

Last Updated: May 2, 2014

One Comment

  1. Axon1988

    May 6, 2014 at 13:37

    I think Tom Hardy is a excellent replacement for old Mel. He has superb acting talent. So here I am, hoping for the best.

    Reply

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