Before "Mad Max 4: Fury Road" became popular, the IP "Mad Max" did not attract much attention, but now that the fourth part has become popular and a prequel has been filmed, this IP has become more popular. There are already five works, this IP should be worthy of attention.
Now, let’s talk about the development history of the IP “Mad Max”.
First of all, "Mad Max" is a typical auteur movie, everything is tied to director and screenwriter George Miller. Without him, this series wouldn't exist.
George Miller, born on March 3, 1945 in Queensland, Australia, is a member of Hollywood's "Aussie Gang". As a less prolific director, the 79-year-old George Miller does not have many movies on his resume. His most important work is the "Mad Max" series.
In 1979, 34-year-old George Miller launched his debut film "Mad Max ", starring Mel Gibson, who was only 23 years old at the time. This was also his big-screen debut.
Now look at "Mad Max". One of the more interesting points is that you can see the influence of the "hippie movement" and "punk spirit" on the film. Including the later movies, you can see the impact of social trends at that time on film and television culture, which is quite interesting. Movies are a testimony, to be sure.
"Mad Max" was released in 1979. At that time, the "hippie movement" had reached its end, but the afterglow was still there, and the 34-year-old George Miller had not yet escaped. In fact, even now, Miller, with his long hair, still exudes the hippie spirit.
The "hippie movement" is an ultra-left movement that emerged in the cultural field in the United States during the rapid economic development of the 1950s and 1960s. Rapid economic development requires order, and from the Korean War to the Vietnam War to the rise of the Cold War, the United States has never been idle in the field of war. The military also needs order. And this kind of order has formed a kind of constraint for thought and culture. The generation of young people who grew up after the war have unprecedentedly active thinking and are extremely disgusted with the sense of order. They are a rebellious generation. Wherever there is oppression, there is resistance. " The "hippie movement" was on the rise.
The "hippie movement" emphasizes counter-mainstream, appreciates "rule by inaction", and believes that only a simple society and simple life can guarantee the dignity and freedom of individual citizens. Therefore, they strongly opposed war, both against the Korean War and the Vietnam War. They also opposed the constraints of national order on personal life. They strongly pursued starting from life and setting off a "revolution of life" to resist the mainstream, elite, and technological , material society. They generally grow their hair long and wear clothes that highlight their individuality. They advocate wandering, advocating "being on the road" and advocating walking into the wilderness. Many hippies come from wealthy white families, but in order to pursue the "freedom" they want, they choose to abandon wealth to feel and praise poverty and experience a simple and casual life.
Specifically in the field of movies, it coincides with the heyday of American western films, because the American West, in the early period of great development, just meant lack of order, willfulness, and barbaric growth. Western cowboys symbolized the spirit of freedom. . The "The Good and the Bad Trilogy" starring Clint Eastwood and directed by Sergio Leone ("Red Dead Redemption", "The Last Day" and "") has become a typical representative.
The "hippie movement" itself originated from rock music, so hippies often took guitars, rode motorcycles, and rushed to the streets and fields.
Of course, the "hippie movement" is also dividing. For example, when Clinton was young, he had big waves, carried a guitar, and participated in the hippie movement. Later, he returned to the mainstream and became the president step by step.
(Young Clinton and Hillary)
With the end of the Vietnam War and the growth of a generation, the hippie movement slowly declined, but it did not disappear. Those who inherited and developed the hippie movement became the later "punk culture".
"Punk culture", or "punk spirit", focuses on "rebellion".In the eyes of punk, rock and roll still has a score, still requires skills, and is still part of the old order. However, punk does not need skills, just play it. The important thing is catharsis. As long as it can express emotions, as for whether it is noise, it doesn't matter at all. not give a damn about. Therefore, punk is often associated with heavy metal and alternative rock. At the same time, mohawk hairstyles, colorful hair accessories, fancy tattoos, earrings and nose rings, various metallic jackets, and the will-o'-the-wisp boy emerged as the times require. They are all products of punk's pursuit of freedom and spontaneity.
Back to "Mad Max", although there is no film that does not play punk to the extreme, it shows the flavor of the integration and change of "hippies" and "punk", which is still very strong. George Miller also absorbed elements of Western movies. The name "Mad Max" is obviously a tribute to another classic character "Dirty" played by Clint Eastwood, the "Western Cowboy". "Dirty Harry" (Dirty Harry), even the character is also a policeman responsible for maintaining social order. In order to maintain law and order, Harry will use any means, even dirty and illegal ones, so his "dirty" is a means rather than an appearance.
The same is true for Max, the protagonist in "Mad Max". As a policeman, he looks serious, but his heart is full of madness and has a strong punk spirit. The villains in the film, as the opposite of Max, are even more unscrupulous. From top to bottom, from inside to outside, they are all punk hippies, with motorcycles, metal coats, mohawk hairstyles, and big waves intertwined in them. Along the way, he behaves erratically, is lawless, and does whatever he wants, which has a huge impact on the protagonist and the film.
At the end of the film, Max lost his wife and son and directly became a wanderer and a hippie participant under a serious coat, which coincided with George Miller's own pursuit. The next few films all followed the hippie + punk spiritual route.
However, there are too many hippie elements, which makes "Mad Max" not good to watch. The plot is scattered, the acting skills are average, a bit confusing, and the score is not high. If the current audience goes back to watch it, most people will not be able to watch it at all. . From a capital perspective, such a film will not be followed by a sequel.
However, this is an author's film. The author has his own strong creative impulse. As long as he is willing to promote it, a sequel is possible.
So, " Mad Max 2" is still released. Moreover, it looks much better than its predecessor.
"Mad Max 2" is also the best-performing one among the first three films, with a relatively high degree of appreciation and a clear and easy-to-understand story line.
"Mad Max" is a direct participant in modern American culture. In "Mad Max 2"
it began to become science fiction and began to make assumptions, reflecting the extreme consequences of the Cold War.
Yes, "Mad Max" released in 1979 reflects the hippie punk trend. It tells the story of the collapse of social order and the transformation of good people into homeless people. By the time "Mad Max 2" was released in 1981, it had become a reflection on the Cold War. It assumed that the two camps of the United States and the Soviet Union would completely break apart, turn from the Cold War to a hot war, and eventually fight, causing destruction to the earth. , directly entering the end of the world, the human order is completely disordered and needs to be redesigned.
The post-apocalyptic wasteland style of the "Mad Max" series was born.
From "Mad Max 2", we can already see the shadow of the later "Fury Road" and "Fury Goddess".
"Mad Max 2" is about Max who started to live a wandering life at the end of the first film. After the complete collapse of society, he drove a V8 car (V8 is also the only character that runs through all five movies) , came to a place that could produce oil. There is a small society organized by a group of villagers. People gather together because of oil. They live a comfortable and self-sufficient life by extracting oil and trading with foreign countries. This is obviously the spontaneous social state that hippies yearn for.
This oil town is obviously the prototype of the oil town in "Fury Road" and "Fury Goddess", which is quite interesting.
Besides this ideal oil town, there are motorcycle gangs. They make a living by robbery and have always coveted the oil town, hoping to grab it and dominate the industry. This is also in line with the settings in the later "Fury Road" and "Frenzy Goddess".
Max came to the oil town. He originally just wanted some oil, and then he left and continued to wander. However, he met robbers outside the town and came to rob him.
For the residents of the oil town, should they take Max in?
For Max, the question is, should he stay and help the residents here?
This story routine is clearly the routine of "Red Dead Redemption" or " Yojimbo ". Yes, early American westerns and Japanese sword and halberd films learned from each other, with similar story patterns, and even westerns learned more from Akira Kurosawa.
A western cowboy/wandering samurai came to a certain town and encountered a vicious villain. In order to maintain local peace, the forbearing western cowboy/wandering samurai chose to take action, kill the bad guys, and then left quietly to continue his journey. of wandering.
This story routine can be copied infinitely. " Zatoichi " is such a model. The wandering master can reach countless small towns, meet countless bad guys, and interpret the story of doing justice to the sky over and over again. This also allows us to see the creative ideas of "Mad Max 5".
In "Mad Max 4: Fury Road", Max, played by Tom Hardy, helped Furiosa and overthrew the brutal rule of Immortal Joe in the fortress. In the end, seeing Furiosa becoming a new generation of castle lord, Max chose to leave quietly. At the next stop, you will arrive at a brand new town and start a new legend.
However, Furiosa's character was too charming, so before "Mad Max 5", " Mad Max: Goddess of Fury" was released, which told a Mad Max prequel without Max and expanded it. film universe.
Back to "Mad Max 2", because the subsequent story settings can be found in this film, it is still worth watching this film that laid the foundation. Unruly hairstyles, strange masks, modified motorcycles, furious speeds, and wanton car chases can all be found here.
After the movie review of "Goddess of Fury", some readers pointed out that the setting of the oil town in the film is ridiculous, because it is obviously contrary to reality, because the future is a world of new energy, but in the movie, it is still fighting for Fighting for oil seems very funny.
This is the result of not knowing anything about the previous work. After all, "Mad Max" as an IP is a series, and subsequent works must echo the settings in previous works and must be self-contained. Just like " Star Wars ", "Star Trek", "Alien", etc., the settings are consistent and cannot be jumped. The setting of Oil Town was already in "Mad Max 2" in 1981. You can't ask George Miller at that time to think of elements such as drones and new energy vehicles. Moreover, the Mad Max series tells that after the end of the world, the social order of mankind needs to be rebuilt. Humanity has entered a state similar to primitive society. Human civilization is regressive, and more advanced civilization naturally does not exist.
"Mad Max 2" was also high-energy and explosive when it was released, and it still feels good to watch it now. However, by the time " Mad Max 3" was released in 1985, the score dropped again, and the setting of the film began to become a bit ridiculous and began to become childish.
But in terms of setting the world view, it is still the same.The hidden hippie spirit in George Miller's heart continues to play a role. In "Mad Max 3", he continues to wonder whether human beings should return to primitive society and then rebuild after the social order completely collapses.
In "Mad Max 3", Max first came to the town of Dabaton, and as a result, he became a star in the town by virtue of his own abilities. Then, he was expelled by the jealous bad guys and continued to wander, arriving at a primitive paradise dominated by children. For the sake of the children's future, Max leads them back to Dabaton Town to rebuild order here.
Look, the story in "Mad Max 3" is already similar to that in "Mad Max 4". They both escape from the rule of a totalitarian tyranny, and then fight back to overthrow the tyranny and rebuild a new order.
"Mad Max" began to exile itself, "Mad Max 2" arrived in the oil town, "Mad Max 3" arrived in Dabaton Town, "Mad Max 4" arrived in the fortress, this series can be copied Sex is visible to the naked eye.
However, after "Mad Max 3" lost both reputation and box office, George Miller temporarily gave up on continuing to develop this IP, but turned around and opened up a new path. That is, there are not enough children's elements in "Mad Max 3".
So, next George Miller directed two children's works: "Little Piggy" and "Little Piggy 2: Piggy Goes to Town", as well as " Happy Feet " and " Happy" Bigfoot 2" two animated films, and also won the Oscar for Best Animated Film for "Happy Feet". "Piggy" was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture.
It is hard to imagine that a crazy director with a wasteland punk style can have such a clean and pure childlike world. In fact, the ratings of these children's works are better than George Miller's ordinary works. If he continues to work in this field, he is likely to achieve greater results. But he was just playing.
Waiting for the time to come in 2015, George Miller, who had had enough fun, finally reached the peak of his career at the age of 70. The sequel "Mad Max 4" was released 30 years after the release of "Mad Max 3" "Fury Road" shocked the world as soon as it was released, shocking all movie fans and shocking the world.
The ultimate apocalyptic plot, the ultimate wasteland punk, the ultimate motorcycle racing, the ultimate ideal feelings, and the ultimate personality charm have all made this work full of unconstrained imagination become the favorite of the audience and become the most popular movie of the year. Hot item.
From the direct presentation of the hippie trend in the first part, to the thinking of the Cold War order in the second part, to the reorganization of social order in the third part, to the hidden hope in the apocalyptic world in the fourth part, as well as spin-off works With his imagination of the apocalyptic world, George Miller gave the highly personal and charming IP "Mad Max" a unique charm that is unforgettable.
Moreover, it is very rare that Mel Gibson, the soul figure in the first three movies, can continue his glory after his role was changed.
Of course, going back to the beginning, of the first three parts of this series, only the second part is more enjoyable and worth watching. If you don’t have feelings for the other two parts, you don’t have to watch it.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-