In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, Imperator Furiosa tries to smuggle the warlord Immortan Joe's wives to freedom. Max Rockatansky, a captive who has gone feral, becomes her unlikely ally. It's a 2-hour chase film, and it's also one of the most precisely edited action films ever made.
Mad Max: Fury Road is a 2015 action, adventure and science fiction film directed by George Miller. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (1 cinematography, 1 editing and 2 narrative), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Whiplash uses several of the same techniques.
Staging large-scale destruction for real with actual structures, explosions and extras, and using no digital simulation. The chaos on screen has real weight and scale.
How this film uses it
Miller built and destroyed real vehicles in Namibia. The fireballs are real and the crashes involve real metal. The War Boys are real stunt performers doing truly dangerous work. The film looks authentic, with a sense that everything has a physical consequence, and that comes directly from shooting it for real.
Where to see it
The Doof Warrior's war party truck. His guitar is fully functional, flamethrower included, so the fire you see is real.
Timing the cuts to the rhythm of the action or the music. The fast, precise editing gives a scene momentum you can almost feel physically.
How this film uses it
Editor Margaret Sixel (Miller's wife, with no prior action film experience) cut Fury Road with 2,700 shots in 120 minutes. The speed has a purpose. Each cut is placed so your eye moves naturally from the point of interest in 1 shot to the point of interest in the next. You get an action film where you always know where you are while feeling constantly in motion.
Where to see it
The final pursuit sequence. The rhythm of the editing keeps the space clear while the physical urgency keeps rising.
Opening the film with a long stretch that has no dialogue. Images, sound and performance alone set up the characters, their world and what is at stake.
How this film uses it
Max's capture and the introduction of the Citadel rely on very little dialogue. The film sets up this world's hierarchy, religion and economy through quick visual cues: the War Boys, the blood bags, the half-life boys and the water distribution. Miller shows you a complete social system in minutes and explains little of it.
Where to see it
The Citadel introduction. The waterfall, the crowd and the hierarchy are all shown in images before much is explained.
Putting women at the center as leads, leaders and villains, and letting their choices drive every major plot turn. The story treats this as normal and never makes their gender the subject.
How this film uses it
Furiosa plans the escape, drives the truck, fights the battles and makes most of the decisions that matter. Max follows her lead for most of the film. The film never points this out as unusual. It simply builds its structure around Furiosa's choices. I feel like the lack of explanation is the argument.
Where to see it
The decision to turn back to the Citadel. Max proposes the plan, and Furiosa chooses to lead it. Her choice defines her as the film's true protagonist.
Questions
Mad Max: Fury Road: quick answers
What filmmaking techniques does Mad Max: Fury Road use?
CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): Practical Destruction, Kinetic Editing, Dialogue-Free Opening Act and Female Agency as Structural Default.
Who directed Mad Max: Fury Road?
George Miller directed Mad Max: Fury Road, released in 2015. CineCode also covers Happy Feet (2006).
What films are similar to Mad Max: Fury Road?
Films that share techniques with Mad Max: Fury Road include Whiplash (2014), The Dark Knight (2008), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), WALL-E (2008).
