Dom Holder’s review published on Letterboxd:
Having spent all of yesterday at a Lord of the Rings marathon I have a few reviews to catch up on.
Please remember that these reviews are primarily for me, diary notes that I can look back on and see what I thought of films. I've always said I never expect follows, likes and comments, all of that is just an added and rather lovely bonus and I am very grateful to anyone who actually reads this continuous waffle, and even more if they click a like or leave a comment. This isn't a numbers game for me, it's purely a record of what I've watched and what I thought.
Anyway, I don't claim to be the world's biggest Mad Max aficionado (more of the same will follow in Lord of the Rings reviews). I watched Fury Road on its release back in 2015 and thought it was a fun action thriller. I never imagined at the time that it would go on to garner the award interest that it ultimately did. I didn't particularly have any burning desire to watch it again, but a good time was had.
Whether this is due to the release of Furiosa (which I haven't seen yet) or the fact that I managed to get this on Blu-Ray from Music Magpie for about £3 (incl postage) I thought I would give it another spin.
The first thing to note is that (I will also say this a lot with my Lord of the Rings reviews) it is a simply astonishing-looking film. I mean quite breathtakingly beautiful. If your favourite thing about the recent Dune films is the visuals then I would say Mad Max Fury Road (which I can't help thinking must have inspired Villeneuve) are as good if not better. The second half of the film in particular is one of the finest adverts for physical media I can personally offer, and bear in mind this was Blu-ray, not 4k. I can't afford to start again so Blu-ray is what it is for me.
Secondly, and here's the selling point, the action. It is relentless, exciting, nerve shredding and Exhibit A is to why the Academy need to get an Academy Award for stunt performers. The practical stunt effects are as good as anything I have seen, and complement the harsh environment and steampunk industrialisation of the World. This would be half the film with green screen CGI-led stunt work (I'm aware there is a little bit used).
I listen to a lot of film podcasts, and one of them is the Matt Neglia-hosted Next Best Picture, you can follow Matt on Letterboxd here
Matt claims that Mad Max Fury Road is the greatest action film of the 21st Century. Before this rewatch I would have thrown Mission Impossible Fallout, Captain America The Winter Soldier, and maybe even The Raid into the mix. Having revisted this one, I think he may have a point.
