History Film / MadMaxFuryRoad

''Mad Max: Fury Road'' is the fourth film in the ''Film/MadMax'' film series; it was released in 2015 after spending some thirty years in DevelopmentHell, and its (standalone) story takes place some time after that of the original ''Mad Max''. Series creator Creator/GeorgeMiller returned to the driver's seat of his creation, serving as producer, director and writer once more.

* PracticalEffects: The vast majority of the film is done through real props, actual stunts and working cars. That includes the guitar guy playing their anthem, all the jumps from vehicle to vehicle, flamethrowers, people on bending poles, etc. Most of the CGI is digital composition putting these races into narrow canyons, set extentions, the dust storm scene, and the internal mechanisms of Furiosa's replacement arm. This makes it look and feel very similar to the first three films, which were made before the CGI era.

** One mook who leaps aboard the War Rig during the climactic battle has a triangular "GIVE WAY" road sign for a shield strapped to his arm, like the one Roop blasts in the opening chase of the first movie.

* FailedAttemptAtDrama: Immortan Joe gives Nux another chance to prove himself, saying that if Nux can shoot Furiosa with Immortan Joe's own personal revolver, he'll personally lead Nux to Valhalla himself. Nux is inspired, epic villainous music plays as Nux leaps heroically onto the War Rig, he charges... and then trips over his own chain, falls flat on his face, and drops the gun off of the War Rig.
-->'''Immortan Joe:''' Mediocre!

** One mook who leaps aboard the War Rig during the climactic battle has a triangular "GIVE WAY" road sign for a shield strapped to his arm.

* CoolBike: The Rock Riders and the Vuvalini use these as their main form of transportation, in addition to the War Boys fielding a large number of them as well.
* CoolCar: There's an entire fleet of those: not only does the Pursuit Special return, but there are no fewer than three different massive tankers (one of them having an entire [=1980s=] Mercedes-Benz limo for a cab), a Chrysler Valiant coupe on tank treads, a beaten up Perentti (a rare Australian kit car) and a monster truck with a body made from two thirds of a 1959 Cadillac put on top of another 1959 Cadillac.
* CoolVsAwesome: Max's brawl with Furiosa. One exhausted, beat-up, dehydrated, and barely conscious or [[SanitySlippage sane]] but extremely strong and determined road warrior vs a smaller, lighter, one-armed but otherwise healthy vicious imperator, with a very enthusiastic War Boy (physically chained to the road warrior) and five unarmed but brave wives as backup for each side, respectively.

* CrapsackWorld: So, so much. Especially jarring as Furiosa's group was attacked [[spoiler: within ''sight'' of the Citadel.]] Immortan Joe's little fiefdom may not be a paradise, but stepping out of his domain by so much as a mile will have a traveler attacked by all sorts of opportunistic scum. Note the [[spoiler: Buzzard attack was seen from the Citadel, meaning they don't even control what they can see.]] The world outside of the reach of the Immortan and his pals somehow comes off as ''worse.''

--->'''George Miller:''' The fact that now we have suicide bombers and terrorists doing the same thing is just proof that history always repeats itself. There have always been people who do bad things. Fury Road deals with themes that are timeless, really: Dominance, hierarchy, tyrants.

** In the FinalBattle, the People Eater gets shot through the eye by friendly fire.

** When Max is captured, the War Boys use him as a "Blood Bag", which allows them to perform a blood transfusion on a War Boy if one of them is injured badly enough, or anemic due to medical conditions, like Nux.

* LosingAShoeInTheStruggle: Warboy Slit grips one of Max's shoes and take it with him just as he's thrown out of the car. He later brandishes the shoe as if it were a worthy trophy.

* NeverBringAGunToAKnifeFight: The Bullet Farmer has a shitload of guns, Max has only a kukri. [[spoiler: One explosion and an offscreen battle later, Max comes back unharmed, dragging the Bullet Farmer's loot and covered in blood that's explicitly stated to [[NotHisBlood not be his.]]]]

* NitroBoost: During the final chase Nux and Max literally spit an unidentified fluid into the War Rig's engine to temporarily boost its speed. Given the reaction it's most likely meant to be nitrous oxide. Slit does the same thing to his own vehicle to try and overtake them.

* NobodyHereButUsBirds: Apparently, Valkyrie uses a bird call to communicate with her peers when pulling off her WoundedGazelleGambit.

* NotHisBlood: When Max returns from [[KilledOffscreen killing the Bullet Farmer offscreen]], his face is covered in blood. One of the Wives asks if he is hurt because he's bleeding but Furiosa answer for Max in an admiring voice "That's not his blood."

* SigilSpam: The Citadel's skull insignia is everywhere: on a cliff face, on the backs of the Wives' necks, on their vehicles (including the roof of Furiosa's War Rig), etc.

** The whole blood transfusion process. Blood type O is only a universal donor for modern medical procedures. A transfusion as shown in the film would kill anyone who does not share the donor's exact blood type.[[note]]To be precise, O- is the universal donor for blood ''cells'' while AB+ is the universal donor for blood ''plasma'' -- getting both cells and plasma from the same donor, as in the film, will only work if you have the same blood type.[[/note]] Then again, it's an act of desperation and Furiosa's going to die if they don't do it anyway.

** Furiosa is shown through a close-up of [[SigilSpam Joe's brand]] on the back of her neck, and all the War Boys saluting as she passes, indicating that she's both [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority highly respected]] and no less a slave to Joe than anyone else. Notably, it's not until she gets in the War Rig that we see she's both [[HandicappedBadass one-armed]] and female.

* KillEmAll:
** By the end of the movie, [[spoiler: the only high-ranking Citadel leader other than Furiosa still alive is [[DepravedDwarf Corpus Colossus]], and he's in no shape -- physically or mentally -- [[KnowWhenToFoldEm to resist her authority]], as we see when he eyes the War Pups around him nervously.]]
** Other than Furiosa, [[spoiler: only two Vuvalini who survive the final battle, one who drives Joe's car back to the Citadel and another who advises Max on what to do when Furiosa is exsanguinating.]]

* AluminumChristmasTrees:
** The grenade-tipped spears used by the Warboys are similar to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spar_torpedo spar torpedos,]] which are also bombs on sticks that were used by boats as a means to attack other boats and ships.
** The Warboys' grenade-tipped spears also resemble a weapon used by Japanese forces during WWII called a "lunge mine" or "anti-tank spear". They're basically ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-explosive_anti-tank_warhead HEAT warhead]] on the end of a long bamboo pole. The soldier was expected to lie in the foliage next to the road, waiting for an enemy tank to roll by, at which point he'd jab the hull with his spear, [[SuicideAttack blowing up both the tank and the soldier]] -- essentially, exactly the way that Morsov uses them.
*** Similar devices were also used by many armies since World War I to clear barbed-wire and minefields, they were known as Bangalore Torpedoes. Unlike the lunge mine, these were not a suicide weapon; the intent was that a soldier could push them into the obstacle from behind cover, or even throw them javelin-style, then withdraw to a safe distance and set them off using an attached detonator wire, without needing to expose himself to enemy fire to place the charge directly. (Which is in some ways the exact opposite of how the War Boys use them.)
** Yes, drummers were very important in the history of warfare to keep up charges and transmit information where words get easily garbled or drowned out by battle. However, having them on monster trucks, backed by a mute jumpsuited electric-guitar player whose guitar spews flames, is purely RuleOfCool.

* PreMortemOneLiner: At the end of the film, Furiosa says "Remember ''me?'' before she kills [[spoiler:Immortan Joe.]]

* PreMortemOneLiner: [[spoiler:Furiosa gives a savage one to Immortan Joe.]]
-->'''[[spoiler:Furiosa]]:''' ''[vehemently]'' Remember ''me?''

* AceCustom: ''Everybody'' has [[http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-12/every-killer-car-in-mad-max-fury-road-explained a unique, pimped-out ride that usually reflects their personality.]] Each car has its own name, too. Rictus Erectus' monster truck is named "Bigfoot", Nux's little coupe from the first chase is Elvis, and the massive beast that Immortan Joe drives is called ''[[AwesomeMcCoolname The Gigahorse.]]''

** The People Eater takes it UpToEleven, being chauffeured in a Mercedes limousine that is towing two massive trailers of fuel.

%%* DrivesLikeCrazy: ''[[UpToEleven EVERYONE.]]''

* HollywoodDarkness: ExaggeratedTrope. In most visual media, the "blue filter = night" trope generally works because we're used to it at this point, but [[UpToEleven like everything else in this movie]], it's played way over the top by tinting everything [[UnnaturallyBlueLighting electric blue]] (except for [[OrangeBlueContrast conspicuously orange flames]], and a spotlight on the Doof Warrior).

** [[CoolCar The Interceptor]] gets wrecked again. [[UpToEleven Twice]].

* ThePowerOfRock: Invoked (and ramped ''[[UpToEleven up to eleven THOUSAND]]'') by Immortan Joe, who has a vehicle in his war party built solely to house a team of drummers, a colossal set of speakers and a guitarist called the Doof Warrior blasting heavy metal to further psych up his War Boys.

* The first time we get a good look at the Citadel and its leaders we see Immortan Joe release some water from the outflow pipes for the crowded masses beneath, [[KickTheDog but only enough for the downtrodden to fight over.]] At the end of the film [[spoiler:when Furiosa and the remaining Wives liberate the Citadel and present Joe's corpse, the milk mothers release the water once more, this time to let everyone have their fill.]]

* AdultFear:
** In spite of the post-apocalyptic setting, time is dedicated to Furiosa's (and later Max's) fear of the Wives -- young women she (and he) feel responsible for -- being hurt, killed, or having no future in the wasteland. Furiosa's reaction to [[spoiler:Toast being pulled from the Rig while she is helpless to stop it]] drives this home; it's the second strongest emotional reaction she has in the film [[spoiler:after learning her home no longer exists.]]
** Angharad's [[spoiler:death also hits this in the worst way possible for the Wives: the random death of a sibling -- and her child.]]

** Sending a gargantuan War Rig after a relatively small force in a post apocalyptic settign where fuel, working vehicles and munition is a scarcity, proves to be a massive waste of resources, as the People Eater points out.

* DiabolusExMachina: Max's desperate attempt to escape the Citadel in the prologue is just a rapid-fire barrage of {{HopeSpot}}s, including twice when he hesitates one second too long because of hallucinations.