Mad Max: Fury Road &
Fury Road: Black & Chrome Edition [Blu-ray]
Is it possible for a movie to come full circle and end up better than when it started? That certainly seems to be the case for Mad Max. It’s not just that Fury Road has been such a success – much more than the original movies. I was a latecomer to the Mad Max franchise, but of course I knew about it. Hell, I’m a fan of Patton Oswalt’s standup and he won’t shut up about it. So I went into Fury Road with trepidation but was thoroughly impressed by the scope, concept, and look of the movie. So much so that I decided to go back to the original Mad Max movies but stopped at Mad Max 2 because honestly, those movies are pretty boring. For some reason, Fury Road is the version of Mad Max that was resonating with me.
It’s hard not to love Fury Road. The plot is deceptively simple, the characters are incredibly colorful and complex and the special effects are exquisite. Surprising considering they were mostly practical (non-CGI). On top of that, Fury Road is a stand-alone story and no knowledge of the previous Mad Max movies is required to enjoy it. Never has the post-apocalypse looked so good.
Which explains the Black & Chrome edition.
Director George Miller explains that he originally wanted to make Fury Road in black and white but the backlash and scope of the movie prevented him from doing so. Imagine a summer blockbuster in black and white and you can immediately chop off $100 million from the gross. Instead, Miller was forced to make the post-apocalypse look like a Michael bay film and thankfully, he did it right. The theatrical movie does look gorgeous. That said, the color version is not the Fury Road we were intended to see. This is the reason blu rays are the perfect way to tackle this problem.
This dual version of Mad Max Fury Road is packaged with both versions of the movie, which is in some ways two movies in one. The Black & Chrome’s saturated black and white colors do add a lot to the experience and really make it feel like more of an alien world. Do the effects come across as well? Well, who knows? That’s up to you to decide, and Miller knows that. The Black & Chrome is definitely a different take on a great movie, and time will tell if it’s the definitive version.
One thing is for sure, unless you’ve seen this version, you’re not getting the whole Fury Road experience.
