Tagarchief: George Miller

Double Bill #10: Dune: Part Two & Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

The two major blockbusters of 2024 have a lot in common: They are both sequels/prequels, are epic in scope, have huge ideas, and take place (almost) completely in deserts. Storywise, they are about the hero’s journey. In Dune: Part Two, we witness how the chosen one Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) develops his powers and fulfills his destiny as savior of the Fremen on Arrakis, while in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga we see how Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) became the legendary, one-armed warrior she is in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). Furthermore, both sci-fi epics are directed by visionary directors that don’t appear to have had any studio interference. They made the films they wanted to make and both are – well there’s that word again – epic. Both movies also have fantastic villains for the heroes to stand up against. Dune: Part Two has the Harkonnens, with the psychopathic Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler) as their latest addition. Furiosa sees the return of the cult leader Immortan Joe with his memorable skull mask and breathing tubes, but also introduces a new bad boy: Dementus (played by a hard to recognize Chris Hemsworth), who’s a depraved sort of father figure for the fiery Furiosa. The henchmen are similar as well: the Harkonnen’s soldiers and the War Boys are both white, bald and loyal without questioning. The production design is in both cases absolutely stunning and must be seen on cinema screens. Highlights: I thought the first showdown between Dementus and Immortan Joe at the Citadel and the attack on the war rig are Furiosa’s most mind-blowing sequences. In Dune: Part Two, Paul’s sandworm ride, Feyd-Rautha’s memorable introduction on the Harkonnen planet of Giedi Prime, and his ritualistic knife fight with Paul are my favorite moments. And there’s good news for the fans: Both movies clearly leave a door open for another sequel. In Furiosa’s case, this would be The Wasteland, another origin story about what happened to Max before we meet him at the beginning of Mad Max: Fury Road. Director George Miller is now 79, but he might still be up for it. It is already confirmed that Denis Villeneuve will return to wrap up his Dune trilogy by adapting Frank Herbert’s book sequel ‘Dune Messiah’. In both cases I say: Bring them on!

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: George Miller, George Ogilvie
Written by: Terry Hayes, George Miller
Cast: Mel Gibson, Tina Turner, Bruce Spence, Adam Cockburn

Year / Country: 1985, Australia
Running Time: 107 mins.

Mel Gibson returns for one last turn as Max Rockatansky, although he doesn’t need his last name anymore. Bruce Spence returns as well as pilot Jedediah. New in the cast is Tina Turner who also sings the opening song. In Mad Max, society was collapsing. In Mad Max 2, we were looking at a full blown apocalypse. In Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, civilization is trying to re-establish itself. Aunty Entity (Turner) has founded Barter Town, a desert town that runs on a new energy source: methane producing pigs.

Max finds himself vehicle-less, so he walks to Barter Town where he is forced to participate in a bloody cage fight. After surviving, he is marooned in the desert where he is found by a tribe of children who believe he is a sort of Messias. They go looking for salvation in the wrong direction (Barter Town), and eventually we get the massive desert pursuit we’ve been waiting for. This time it involves a train and an airplane and it’s quite a spectacular finale.

Unfortunately, the preceding three quarters of the movie are disappointing. Visually, it is well done, but somehow I didn’t really connect with the characters. In the first two films, the character building was not that strong either, but there it was compensated with a fantastic atmosphere and amazingly shot action scenes. In Beyond Thunderdome, there is only the final chase scene, but there is not enough ‘good stuff’ in the hour and a half leading up to it.

One image I want to praise though, which is the shot of the children climbing on a deserted airplane in the desert. This feels like a very accurate vision of where the world is currently heading. Yet, what Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome also makes clear at the end is that there is always hope to be found.

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Biography: George Miller (1945) is an Australian filmmaker, best known for his Mad Max franchise. In 1971, George attended a film workshop at Melbourne University where he met Byron Kennedy, with whom he formed a friendship and production partnership, until Kennedy’s death in 1983 (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is dedicated to him). Together they made the first Mad Max movie in 1979 for a budget of 400.000 Australian dollars. It earned 100 million dollars at the box office worldwide and became the most profitable film of all time (the record was not broken until The Blair Witch Project 20 years later). Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) earned Oscar nominations for best film and director. The latest entry in the series – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – will be released in May 2024.

Filmography (a selection): Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024), Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022), Mad Max: Fury Road (12015), Happy Feet 2 (2011), Happy Feet (2006), Babe: Pig in the City (1998), Lorenzo’s Oil (1992), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983, segment), The Dismissal (1993, TV episode), Mad Max 2 (1983), Mad Max (1979), The Devil in Evening Dress (1975, short)

Biography: George Ogilvie (1931 – 2020) was born on 5 March 1931 in Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia. He was a director and actor, known mostly for Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), He died on 5 April 2020 in New South Wales, Australia.

Filmography: The Dismissal (1983, TV), Bodyline (1984, TV), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985, co-dir), Short Changed (1986), The Place at the Coast (1987), The Shiralee (1987, TV-episodes), Touch the Sun: Princess Kate (1988, TV-movie), The Australians (1988, TV-episode), The Crossing (1990), The Battlers (1994, TV), The Feds: Deception (1995, TV-movie), The Feds: Seduction (1995, TV-movie), The Last of the Ryans (1997, TV-movie), The Blue Healers (2002-2006, TV-episodes)

Mad Max 2

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: George Miller
Written by: Terry Hayes, George Miller, Brian Hannant
Cast: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Vernon Wells

Year / Country: 1981, Australia
Running Time: 96 mins.

Mad Max 2 also known as The Road Warrior is the high-powered sequel to the 1979 Australian cult classic Mad Max. The apocalypse that was still taking shape in the first movie is now complete. The country has turned into a desolate wasteland in which the few survivors scavenge for food and fuel.

Lone warrior Max and his Australian cattle dog (one of the great cinema pets!) are two of these wanderers, but unlike others he’s not part of a punk gang or local community. A gyrocopter pilot (Bruce Spence) leads him to a group that has a huge amount of fuel, but they are under constant attack by a gang of outlaws led by the savage Humungus. Max, who has lost his wife and child in the first movie, is out of touch with humanity. By aiding the desert people, he eventually finds some of his human feelings again.

The second movie in the series is the most critically acclaimed of the original trilogy and justly so. The budget was clearly higher after the box office success of the first one and the filmmakers have spent this money well on kick-ass costumes and apocalyptic vehicles. It takes some time before the action gets going, but when it does – oh man – it is really great stuff. Better even than the first one in terms of insane car wreckage, stunts and brutal deaths.

The final chase in which Max attempts to drive a rig to a safe haven – what would essentially be the entire plot of Mad Max: Fury Road is a delicious, irresistible piece of action cinema.

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Biography: George Miller (1945) is an Australian filmmaker, best known for his Mad Max franchise. In 1971, George attended a film workshop at Melbourne University where he met Byron Kennedy, with whom he formed a friendship and production partnership, until Kennedy’s death in 1983 (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is dedicated to him). Together they made the first Mad Max movie in 1979 for a budget of 400.000 Australian dollars. It earned 100 million dollars at the box office worldwide and became the most profitable film of all time (the record was not broken until The Blair Witch Project 20 years later). Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) earned Oscar nominations for best film and director. The latest entry in the series – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – will be released in May 2024.

Filmography (a selection): Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024), Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022), Mad Max: Fury Road (12015), Happy Feet 2 (2011), Happy Feet (2006), Babe: Pig in the City (1998), Lorenzo’s Oil (1992), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983, segment), The Dismissal (1993, TV episode), Mad Max 2 (1983), Mad Max (1979), The Devil in Evening Dress (1975, short)

Mad Max

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: George Miller
Written by: James McCausland, George Miller, Byron Kennedy
Cast: Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne

Year / Country: 1979, Australia
Running Time: 88 mins.

With the newest entry Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga approaching fast in 2024, it was time to revisit the old trilogy.

In the first Mad Max from 1979, we find ourselves in the early stage of an apocalypse. Australia (never mentioned as such) is suffering from ecocide, lawlessness and scarcity of fuel. The poorly funded Main Force Patrol is still active and tries to bring down the bikers that terrorize the highways.

The movie starts with a bunch of patrolmen who are chasing down a couple of psychotics and we immediately get a good sense of what we’re in for: very fast cars, dangerous stunts and major car crashes. We get introduced to the cool, leather outfit and shades wearing cop Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson). Where others fail, he gets the job done. But after he dispatches the psychotic cop killer Nightrider, a gang of biker outlaws come after him and kill his wife and child. Now Max goes out for revenge and turns into a lone warrior who scavenges the barren waste land.

Prior to his film career, director George Miller served as a medical doctor in Sydney, stationed in a hospital emergency room where he encountered numerous horror-like injuries and fatalities similar to those portrayed in the film. Additionally, his upbringing in rural Queensland exposed him to numerous car accidents, and he tragically lost at least three friends to such incidents during his teenage years. So that’s clearly where his inspiration came from.

Miller is still developing his trademark style in this movie. The high speed chases, crashes and stunts are looking great considering the low budget. He employs innovative camera techniques to achieve the distinctive Mad Max look that he would refine in the sequels. It’s a highly original movie and within the carsploitation genre an absolute classic.

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Biography: George Miller (1945) is an Australian filmmaker, best known for his Mad Max franchise. In 1971, George attended a film workshop at Melbourne University where he met Byron Kennedy, with whom he formed a friendship and production partnership, until Kennedy’s death in 1983 (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is dedicated to him). Together they made the first Mad Max movie in 1979 for a budget of 400.000 Australian dollars. It earned 100 million dollars at the box office worldwide and became the most profitable film of all time (the record was not broken until The Blair Witch Project 20 years later). Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) earned Oscar nominations for best film and director. The latest entry in the series – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – will be released in May 2024.

Filmography (a selection): Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024), Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022), Mad Max: Fury Road (12015), Happy Feet 2 (2011), Happy Feet (2006), Babe: Pig in the City (1998), Lorenzo’s Oil (1992), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983, segment), The Dismissal (1993, TV episode), Mad Max 2 (1983), Mad Max (1979), The Devil in Evening Dress (1975, short)