History Heartwarming / MadMaxFuryRoad

--> '''"Feels like hope."'''
!!Meta
* After Quentin Kenihan passed away, his Youtube videos were flooded with comments from fans saying that he is riding eternal, shiny and chrome on the highways of Valhalla.

** Nux abruptly giving Capable a little kiss on the cheek.

--> '''"Feels like hope."'''

** When the film begins, Nux, and the rest of the War Boys, look like straight-up ''monsters'', which is presumably just how they like it. As the coloring wears off throughout the film, however, and he shows emotions besides crazed rage and glee, we begin to see the human he was never allowed to become. [[spoiler: In the end, he dies not as a subhuman savage, but as a man.]]
** Towards the end [[spoiler: as Nux prepares for his HeroicSacrifice he looks straight at Capable and calmly says "Witness me," the shot makes it clear that she doesn't look away.]]
*** Capable [[spoiler:"witnessing" Nux by clasping her outstretched hand and pulling it towards her heart--a gesture established earlier in the film as a mourning gesture of the Vuvalini. After an entire film of trying to be "witnessed" in the world of Joe and the War Boys, Nux finally gets his recognition in the new world he helped create.]]
*** Making it better is the track playing during this scene. [[spoiler: ''Walhalla Awaits.'' Some take this as confirmation that Nux actually ''did'' make it to Valhalla, his soul shiny and chrome.]]

* Nux repeatedly tries to [[DeathSeeker get himself killed]] to get to "Valhalla", which is wanting glory in death for himself. [[spoiler: He's successful in his fourth attempt because, to misquote another controversial movie, he's not fighting what he hates: he's saving what he loves. Heartwarmingly, in ancient Nordic tradition, dying in a HeroicSacrifice makes you one of the Worthy Dead to go to Valhalla.]]

* A subtle one, but when [[spoiler: Nux does his HeelFaceTurn]] to help them out of the mud, Toast, the Dag, and Furiosa are all understandably suspicious of him at first. But when Capable defends him, they all ''immediately'' trust in him and accept him as one of their own. Keep in mind, Furiosa tried to kill Max on sight earlier, but when Capable says that Nux's all right, she quickly allows [[spoiler: Nux]] to join them. If one of her girls trusts him, then he can't possibly be all that bad.
** Really, the way that the movie subtly drives home the point that what makes the heroes truly good is not their badassery or their ability to kill countless mooks, but their compassion. Max turning against his own survival instincts, Furiosa leaving behind one of the most powerful positions in Citadel to do what's right, [[spoiler: Nux joining the people he was desperate to kill earlier]] and the wives accepting an enemy as one of their own. ''That's'' what makes them heroes, and separates them from the rest of the madmen, scavengers, bandits, and brutes in the [[CrapsackWorld wasteland]]--and what makes their story so elementally compelling.
* During the chase in the Rock Riders' canyon, Rictus pins Max's hand to the steering wheel with a harpoon, crushing his finger in the metal. Immediately, Splendid Angharad rushes out of the Rig to cut the harpoon chain and risks getting hit by a boulder, just to save Max. Even better, Max immediately turns around to check on her, and sees that Angharad is still clinging to the Rig. Not only does she stop to give him a smile, Max even returns the favor with a small thumbs up and smile, the first time he shows concern for another human in the film. [[spoiler:It's then immediately followed by some potent MoodWhiplash when she gets killed not but a few seconds later.]]

* When Max comes back from [[spoiler: killing the Bullet Farmer]], Toast immediately notices he's covered in blood and asks if he's hurt. Considering she's the least trusting of the Wives and he was ready to leave her and her sisters in the desert less than twenty-four hours ago, this is a big about-face. Look at Furiosa's face when she says, "That's not his blood." Her smile is bordering on smug, as if saying, "Yeah, he's a badass like me."

* Furiosa's [[spoiler:reunion with her clan, the Vuvalini. Throughout the movie, we've only seen Furiosa showing grim expressions and an overall serious personality. The moment she reunites with her clan is possibly the first time in ''decades'' that she's ever been ''happy''.]]
** Furiosa's [[spoiler: reunion with Valkyrie specifically deserves a mention. Valkyrie recognizes her '''immediately''' after over 7000 days apart (that's over 19 years!), and quickly runs to embrace her.]]
** One mixed with TearJerker is Furiosa telling [[spoiler:the Vuvalini that her mother died. They all make a quick gesture, and she makes it with them. It's unlikely that her mother got any [[DueToTheDead respect or proper rites]] when she died, or that Furiosa was allowed to mourn, so even that small gesture clearly means a lot to Furiosa.]]
*** On the note of the mourning gesture for [[spoiler: her mother,]] her face almost reads as though she's remembering this small piece of her heritage and culture after so long; [[spoiler: a simple salute for a fallen comrade.]]
* Max finally deciding to give Furiosa and the Wives a hand ''willingly'' [[spoiler:and encouraging them to take the Citadel by cutting through Immortan Joe's pursuit force.]]

* Cheedo effortlessly [[spoiler: tricks Rictus so she can help Furiosa onto Joe's car, and Max runs over the length of the rig to get to them. When Rictus turns on Cheedo and Furiosa, Max attacks him to draw his attention away from them. It's a sign of how far Max has come that even the merest threat of danger towards Furiosa and the wives send him running. Cheedo's little smile when she sees him cements it.]]

* Nearing the end, [[spoiler: Furiosa is saved by Max via blood transfusion]].

** Subsequently, [[spoiler:"...Max. My name is Max. Mm-hm. That's my name."]] When he says this [[spoiler: to Furiosa while he's performing the blood transfusion to save her from her near-mortal stab wound, it's a powerful moment as Max realizes that ever since the death of his family and the fall of civilization, he's never really mentioned or gone by his name at all, and in fact, after Furiosa earlier asked what to call him, claimed his name didn't even ''matter''.]]
** [[spoiler: The sweetest part is the way he talks to her, telling her that everything is going to be fine. This is a guy who only a few days ago was grunting angrily at everyone. Further driving home that deep down, Max is still the dutiful MFP officer who tried to help people.]]
** [[spoiler: This actually goes even deeper; when we first hear Max tell us his name--listen to how he says it, he's broken--there's little left to the man. When he says his name again, to Furiosa, there's a vastly different feel to his voice and just looking at his expression while he says it; the time spent with this group, with this woman in particular, has ''brought him back'', and helped him find some redemption for himself. ]]
** [[spoiler: It's also an echo of his earlier lines in the film. When he's first strapped to the front of Nux's car, he bellows "That's my car!" or "That's my head!" or "That's ''my jacket.''" He's all about the immediate reclamation of ''his stuff''. In the end, he realizes, and recovers, the one thing he never even noticed he'd lost: his identity as a human being. And he does it while ''giving away'' one of the most important things he has: his own blood.]]
** [[spoiler: Also, in that moment, he is both literally and figuratively opening his heart to her.]]
** The very fact that the after all the death and destruction, the film's FinalBattle concludes not with the brutal death of the BigBad, but with [[spoiler: a life being ''saved''.]]
* [[spoiler: When it's all over, Furiosa quickly realizes Max is no longer on the lift with the rest of the group - when she spots him and realizes what [[ButNowIMustGo he's about to do]], they share a look of acknowledgement; with him nodding in approval and her smiling warmly before he vanishes into the crowd. That brief moment between the two says it all.]]
* The relationship shared by the Wives. They all clearly care for and support one another and can often be seen showing affection for each other. And when Angharad [[spoiler: dies, they're all devastated, and are understandably angry with Max when he refuses to go back for her.]] More than co-wives--they're more like sisters.
* At the end, Furiosa [[spoiler:puts a comforting arm around one of the Wives after they return.]]
* Blink and you miss it, but when [[spoiler: the water turns on at the ending, the women who throw the switch are the women breast milk was harvested from. They've put on clothes and they're all smiling or looking outside in awe. In fact, they are the only ones to wear unconditional, broad smiles in the entire film.]]

* Nux repeatedly tries to [[DeathSeeker get himself killed]] to get to "Valhalla", which is wanting glory in death for himself. [[spoiler: He's successful in his fourth attempt because he's not killing himself for his own glory, but doing it to save someone he cares for. Heartwarmingly, in ancient Nordic tradition, dying in a HeroicSacrifice makes you one of the Worthy Dead to go to Valhalla.]]

** The [[ActionFilmQuietDramaScene quiet part]] where we see Max, Furiosa, the Wives and Nux all in the cabin of the War Rig together, with Nux and the Wives enjoying some hard-earned rest together, snuggling together in the back seat. It just shows how quickly they've all [[FireForgedFriends grown close together]], and what decent people they all really are at heart. It's very sweet to see how their shared suffering has led them to form a close-knit family unit, of sorts, with Max and Furiosa as the long-suffering parents, the Wives as their daughters and Nux like a son-in-law. It's also particularly satisfying to see [[TheWoobie Woobies]] Max and Furiosa enjoying some well-deserved ''rest''.
*** The [[ShipTease cutest]] part in this scene has to be when Max wakes up in the passenger seat of the War Rig after his OffscreenMomentOfAwesome (and what appears to be a doozy of a nightmare), and Furiosa gently tells him it's okay to sleep and "Get some rest." This from a woman who tried to kill Max with a pair of pliers the first time she saw him. Sweeter still, he stays awake so he can be there to help her out.

* Watch the way Furiosa asks Max to come with her across the salt flats. It's almost like she's asking him out on [[ShipTease a date]].
* During the chase in the Rock Riders' canyon, Rictus pins Max's hand to the steering wheel with a harpoon, crushing his finger in the metal. Immediately, Splendid Angharad rushes out of the Rig to cut the harpoon chain and risks getting hit by a boulder, just to save Max. Even better, Max immediately turns around to check on her, and sees that Angharad is still clinging to the Rig. Not only does she stop to give him a smile, Max even returns the favor with a small thumbs up and smile, the first time he shows concern for another human in the film. [[spoiler:It's then immediately followed by some potent MoodWhiplash when she gets killed not but a few seconds later.]]
* Furiosa's [[spoiler:reunion with her clan, the Vuvalini. Throughout the movie, we've only seen Furiosa showing grim expressions and an overall serious personality. The moment she reunites with her clan is possibly the first time in ''decades'' that she's ever been ''happy''.]]
** Furiosa's [[spoiler: reunion with Valkyrie specifically deserves a mention. Valkyrie recognizes her '''immediately''' after over 7000 days apart (that's over 19 years!), and quickly runs to embrace her.]]
** One mixed with TearJerker is Furiosa telling [[spoiler:the Vuvalini that her mother died. They all make a quick gesture, and she makes it with them. It's unlikely that her mother got any [[DueToTheDead respect or proper rites]] when she died, or that Furiosa was allowed to mourn, so even that small gesture clearly means a lot to Furiosa.]]
*** On the note of the mourning gesture for [[spoiler: her mother,]] her face almost reads as though she's remembering this small piece of her heritage and culture after so long; [[spoiler: a simple salute for a fallen comrade.]]

* In its own way, the scene where Furiosa takes the sniper rifle from Max and uses him as a tripod to steady it before using the last bullet to take out the oncoming Bullet Farmer. It's a subtle but powerful moment where the two main heroes--equally talented as Badasses--trust each other to get the shot off.
** Even this is selling it short. She doesn't take the rifle from Max; he ''gives'' it to her. He respectfully acknowledges her talent as a sniper with just a look. They don't need words. All he needs to know is to hold still 'till it's done.
* Although it's indicative of the self-destructive War Boy culture; when Morsov is mortally wounded, Nux looks genuinely upset for his sake and encourages him to get up and go out in a blaze of glory. Everyone but Slit cheers in reverence when Morsov manages to resolve to do just that. They may be brainwashed fundamentalist berserkers but they care about each other.
** Except for Slit (who's mostly an asshole) the Warboys clearly work as a team- you can see them taking care to pull Nux safely onto the truck after he shows the wives' scarf, even though cutthroat villain logic says they should dump him for being a liability due to scrawniness/sickness.
** Morsov shortly before his HeroicSacrifice is saved by another War Boy on the War Rig from the charging Buzzard car as he and another War Boy are left on a vulnerable bike, by jumping onto the crane and swing around to grab Morsov by the hand and lift him up to the War Rig, even if that still left the other War Boy to die as there was no time.
** The prelude to Morsov's death also counts as when the War Boys notice him chroming up they all start screaming his name, one even giving a BigNo at the realization of what Morsov's about to do. Given the War Boys are practically raised as brothers it becomes very clear that they do care about each other, Slit aside. Then there's what Nux says before the "WITNESS ME!" moment, when he notices Morsov starting to get back up after seemingly dying a simple death.
--->'''Nux:''' Get up! You can do it!
** Even Slit gets his moments, [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation if you look at it the right way.]] Not wanting Nux to drive can be seen as trying to keep a sick friend resting, and his teasing about Nux shouting for Immortan Joe's attention comes across as [[VitriolicBestBuds Vitriolic Best Buds]] more than anything. This might also apply to Slit's "irreverence" towards Morsov, who showed up more prominently in early concept sketches, with him, Nux and Slit presented as a trio.
** Just the sheer ''joy'' of the Warboys seeing Morsov's epic death. Even while embroiled in a battle they take the time to stop fighting, just to cheer and honor him. In their eyes, he got the absolute ultimate in life: he died in a spectacular and incredibly effective attack that took out two Buzzards ''and'' their combat buggy, ''using only two grenspears while mortally wounded.'' This certainly got him a VIP seat in Valhalla.
* Furiosa is surprised when Max tells her that, if he doesn't return in a certain amount of time, they need to "keep moving". At that very moment, she realizes Max is not just a survivor, but a good man.

* Cheedo effortlessly [[spoiler: tricks Rictus so she can help Furiosa onto Joe's car, and Max runs over the length of the rig to get to them. When Rictus turns on Cheedo and Furiosa, Max attacks him to draw his attention away from them. It's a sign of how far Max has come that even the merest threat of danger towards Furiosa and the wives send him running. Cheedo's little smile when she sees him cements it.]]
* When Max comes back from [[spoiler: killing the Bullet Farmer]], Toast immediately notices he's covered in blood and asks if he's hurt. Considering she's the least trusting of the Wives and he was ready to leave her and her sisters in the desert less than twenty-four hours ago, this is a big about-face. Look at Furiosa's face when she says, "That's not his blood." Her smile is bordering on smug, as if saying, "Yeah, he's a badass like me."
* Furiosa leaves Max alone in the Rig with the Wives after Angharad's death, and while Toast counts bullets, The Dag and Cheedo tell Max about Angharad ("Angharad used to call [bullets] anti-seed..."). It's a short, quiet scene of the girls opening up to this man who wanted nothing to do with them a few hours before, and is the real start of the six of them becoming something of a makeshift family.
* After commandeering the People Eater's rig and snatching his gun, Max has a shot at Joe. He doesn't take it. He can't and won't, because ''Toast is in the car with the goddamn tyrant''. [[CallBack Max isn't going to make the same mistake he had with Angharad.]]

** The Vuvalini, to their credit, are not blindly misandrist. They immediately cast a suspicious eye on Nux and Max both, but once Furiosa vouches for the character of the two men, that's the end of it, and the tribe trusts them without any further question.

** While Capable is dozing off next to Nux, Nux notices a bug on her shoulder. Without waking her up, he gets it off of her onto his finger...and [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments eats it]].

* Nux repeatedly tries to [[DeathSeeker get himself killed]] to get to "Valhalla", which is wanting glory in death for himself. [[spoiler: He's successful in his fourth attempt because he's not killing himself for his own glory, but doing it to save someone he cares for.]]

* Nux repeatedly tries to kill himself to get to "Valhalla", which is wanting glory in death for himself. [[spoiler: He's successful in his fourth attempt because he's not killing himself for his own glory, but doing it to save someone he loves.]]
** The [[ActionFilmQuietDramaScene quiet part]] where we see Max, Furiosa, the Wives and Nux all in the cabin of the war rig together, with Nux and the Wives enjoying some hard-earned rest together, snuggling together in the back seat. It just shows how quickly they've all [[FireForgedFriends grown close together]], and what decent people they all really are at heart. It's very sweet to see how their shared suffering has led them to form a close-knit family unit, of sorts, with Max and Furiosa as the long-suffering parents, the Wives as their daughters and Nux like a son-in-law. It's also particularly satisfying to see [[TheWoobie Woobies]] Max and Furiosa enjoying some well-deserved ''rest''.

* A subtle one, but when [[spoiler: Nux does his HeelFaceTurn]] to help them out of the mud, Toast, the Dag, and Furiosa are all understandably suspicious of him at first. But when Capable defends him, they all ''immediately'' trust in him and accept him as one of their own. Keep in mind, Furiosa tried to kill Max on sight earlier, but when Capable says he's all right, she quickly allows [[spoiler: Nux]] to join them. If one of her girls trusts him, then he can't possibly be all that bad.
** Really, the way that the movie subtly drives home the point that what makes the heroes truly good is not their badassery or their ability to kill countless mooks, but their compassion. Max turning against his own survival instincts, Furiosa leaving behind one of the most powerful positions in Citadel to do what's right, [[spoiler: Nux joining the people he was desperate to kill earlier]] and the wives accepting an enemy as one of their own. ''That's'' what makes them heroes, and separates them from the rest of the madmen, scavengers, bandits, and brutes in the [[CrapsackWorld wasteland]] - and what makes their story so elementally compelling.

** Even before that, there's something touching about the fact that neither Nux or Max seem to bear any actual ill will towards each other. Nux clearly likes Max well enough despite holding him captive, while for his part, Max, although he clearly views Nux as an annoyance, never kills him despite having the opportunity.

* Max finally deciding to give Furiosa and the Wives a hand ''willingly'' [[spoiler: and encouraging them to take the Citadel by cutting through Immortan Joe's pursuit force.]]

** Just before that, there's the usually very gruff Max saying "hey" to her in a tender tone he's never used for anyone else since his family died. And then there's him fidgeting while he's attaching the IV. RapidFireNo and all.
** Subsequently, [[spoiler: "Max. My name is Max. Mm-hm. That's my name."]] When he says this [[spoiler: to Furiosa while he's performing the blood transfusion to save her from her near-mortal stab wound, it's a powerful moment as Max realizes that ever since the death of his family and the fall of civilization, he's never really mentioned or gone by his name at all, and in fact, after Furiosa earlier asked what to call him, claimed his name didn't even ''matter''.]]

** [[spoiler: This actually goes even deeper; when we first hear Max tell us his name - listen to how he says it, he's broken - there's little left to the man. When he says his name again, to Furiosa, there's a vastly different feel to his voice and just looking at his expression while he says it; the time spent with this group, with this woman in particular, has ''brought him back'', and helped him find some redemption for himself. ]]
** [[spoiler: It's also an echo of his earlier lines in the film. When he's first strapped to the front of Nux's car, he bellows "That's my car!" or "That's my head!" or "That's my jacket!" He's all about the immediate reclamation of ''his stuff''. In the end, he realizes, and recovers, the one thing he never even noticed he'd lost: his identity as a human being. And he does it while ''giving away'' one of the most important things he has: his own blood.]]

* Furiosa's [[spoiler: reunion with her clan, the Vuvalini. Throughout the movie, we've only seen Furiosa showing grim expressions and an overall serious personality. The moment she reunites with her clan is possibly the first time in ''decades'' that she's ever been ''happy''.]]

* In its own way, the scene where Furiosa takes the sniper rifle from Max and uses him as a tripod to steady it before using the last bullet to take out the oncoming Bullet Farmer. It's a subtle but powerful moment where the two main heroes - equally talented as Badasses - trust each other to get the shot off.

* After commandeering the People Eater's rig and snatching his gun, Max has a shot at Joe. He doesn't take it. He can't and won't, because ''Toast is in the car with the goddamn tyrant''.