𝒍𝙞𝙖.’s review published on Letterboxd:
now listen here letterboxd, i did not buy the mad max: fury road black & chrome two-disc limited edition steelbook (featuring a special introduction by george miller) just for you to have removed the black & chrome edition from your site.
sure, mad max: fury road is most notable for its grandeur, accomplished by (alongside its action) its scenery and consideration of colour. but the black & chrome edition represents mad max: fury road at its core: depicting what happens when we reduce something to its simplest form. (here, humanity's greed has returned us to the solitary purpose our ancestors had. survival.)
the lifeless essence of black and white imagery transforms fury road from epic to intimate. by removing colour from the surface of our screens, we instead witness [me!] the incandescent colour hiding beneath every character, echoing why the five wives hoped to escape in the first place—"we are not things." the events within this film denote how we should not limit this to the context of the story, but how we should recognise these characters as more than things used to present the action everybody comes for.
george miller himself described the black-and-white version as "more elemental, abstract, and 'authentic'." furiosa reuniting with the vuvalini, angharad falling from the war rig, nux’s realisation before his sacrifice, these momentary scenes are shot up-close with significance invested in one character instead of their surroundings, juxtaposed to the wide-ranging view the film gives us for the action set pieces. except omitting the original’s saturated and imposing colour palette leaves no room for distraction; what’s left is simply the audience and the central figure on screen. these specified moments become intimate; the lack of colour helps characterize fury road’s universe as abandoned, cold and depraved, yet these characters (regarded as 'lacking depth' in the original) symbolise that even in tragedy there is hope; that after losing everything, there is still more to you than your base instincts. those lost are not forgotten. they are immortalised, not through a glorious death, however, but in the memories of people who cherish them.
that’s what mad max: fury road is truly about, and like george miller, i prefer black & chrome. although, i feel each version is artistically distinct enough to substantiate being separate films. so, if you only care about the action sequences and vibrant, high-octane visuals, then watch the original. if you want an attentive and personal experience, the black & chrome edition is beyond compare.
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