Film Reviews: Mad Max - Fury Road (2015)

Figure 1: Mad Max - Fury Road - Film Poster

Exploitation Cinema is a category of B-Movie which focuses on a theme which runs throughout to target a specific audience. Exploitation films generally run on a Lower Budget and follow themes characteristic of B-Movie Cinema. Mad Max is the defining film series of B-Movie in the Ozploitation genre. 

Ozploitation is the exploitation of Australian film in order to appeal to a particular demographic audience. Other characteristics of the genre contain a strong trait of Anti-authoritarian subjects, anarchy reigns and there is little regard for life. Ozploitation follows the same trait of having a low budget especially in the case of Mad Max (1979), the first of the Mad Max series by George Miller and an anti-authoritarian nature, where even the main character played by Mel Gibson, admits that he feels like one of the 'crazies' and the only thing that separates him from the lunatics which he catches is a metal badge. 

Figure 2: Mad Max (1979) - Mad Max and Jim Goose Investigate

Mad Max: Fury Road is 100% an Ozploitation cinema film, it is basically Mad Max (1979) on an extended budget. The success of the series has built a franchise in this fantastical environment. The Main character played by Tom Hardy is the same character as Mel Gibson, there is an emphasis on his mental state from the outset which relates back to the previous films, and how the environment finally can impact a mind. The enemy in the first film consists of low budget leather wearing psychotic criminals who hysterically laugh at high speed riding motorbikes through the outback. In Fury Road, high budget leather wearing psychotic mutant men hysterically laughing at high speed driving rusty, ugly and brutally beautiful vehicles through the outback. The arch-enemy in Mad Max (1979) 'Toecutter' represents the exact same character traits as 'Immortan Joe' the Leader of the War Boyz (Both characters are in fact played by the same Actor Hugh Keays-Byrne)

Figure 3: Mad Max - Fury Road - Flamethrower Guitar vehicle and War Boyz Fleet

Fury Road promises the audience a non-stop car chase from start to finish, and doesn't disappoint, it exploits this theme to draw in an audience from people who enjoy car chases and non-stop adrenaline rides. Extreme violence and gore is prevalent throughout exploiting an audience from the genre of gore and violence. There is a female protagonist to bring the film more in line with a modern social outlook whilst playing on an already strong stereotype of helpless females needing to be saved. The Final theme is of Australia, using the environment of the Australian Outback as the set for an epic duel of metal and death. 
  
Illustrations:

Figure 1: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) [Film Poster] - Georgie Miller: Warner Bros. Pictures, Roadshow Pictures.

Figure 2: Mad Max (1979) [Film Still] - George Miller: Kennedy Miller Productions, Crossroads.

Figure 3: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) [Film Still] - Georgie Miller: Warner Bros. Pictures, Roadshow Pictures.