Total Film - May 2015

[blackmocco]

Well, I dunno. I liked the Fast and Furious movies as well - yes, they're completely stupid and mindless but that's part of the appeal for me - and I'm safely on the 'older' end of the spectrum. In saying that, you can all rest easy: Fury Road has nothing in common with those movies in style, content, tone or fake CGI stuntwork.

[Artemis Flow]

I wish ppl would STFU about the CGI , I'm over it , I think the storm scene is visually beautiful and looks like it was inspired by that mad volcanic storm years back in fucj knows where

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At least it is more believable that shit like the tank scene in the A Team which was total Hollywood BS , Fury Road is not a documentary get over it and live a little FFS

[MWFV8]

I don't understand why some of you are so precious over Fury Road. Religiously defending the Cgi is just as inane as passionately detesting it. The viewer is either going to be happy with what they see or they aren't, there's no getting around that. Until then we can only judge based on what we're shown.

Let's show the world what a mature decent community we can be by not resorting to exasperated expletives and wishing people would shut the f**k up simply because they feel differently than us. Let's not demand members are banned because their opinion differs and let's certainly not suggest anybody who dares criticise what they see be deemed as not being fans of the franchise. Quite frankly it feels like some of you are very much caught up in the hype machine at the moment.

And here's another thing. We don't have to consider Fury Road as simply a movie, we can consider it as so much more with huge teams of people all contributing their piece. There's no doubt that, based on what we've seen thus far, the art department and stunts team have done a remarkable job on Fury Road and will most likely go into filmmaking history for their efforts. No amount of post-production cgi, regardless of how it makes things look, can ever detract from that. We have seen that Miller has been incredibly passionate about having real stunts and fought for the budget to make that a reality, there is no criticising his vision here, he is one of us. Also whomever created those environmental cgi landscapes should be applauded, they are cgi working at its best.

Now, if the enjoyment is compromised for some in other areas of the finished product. So be it. It may be that a department, an executive, an individual, hasn't been able to deliver. Someone pointing that out does not detract from the efforts of others in any way at all. A poor script does not mean the costumes are bad, poor cinematography does not mean the acting is wooden, and poor post-production does not mean the stunts are unrealistic. If anything, pointing out that cgi detracts from the realism of the stunts is doing those that performed them justice, it is actually sympathising with those who've tried so hard to entertain us.

It addition to this, I'll point at that applauding aspects of Fury Road on the basis they aren't as bad as some other movies, or at best fit in with a common practice, is in not a strong defense at all. We can criticise something while still enjoying it, we can dislike something while still respecting it. We can feel a certain way without lashing out at others who feel a different way. And let's not forget, we here are all united by our love of Mad Max, that's makes us a special group of friends of all ages from across the globe.

[seriz]

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[DetritusMaximus]

Well, I dunno. I liked the Fast and Furious movies as well - yes, they're completely stupid and mindless but that's part of the appeal for me - and I'm safely on the 'older' end of the spectrum. In saying that, you can all rest easy: Fury Road has nothing in common with those movies in style, content, tone or fake CGI stuntwork.

Forgot to add the standard 'no statement is absolute' disclaimer. There are some movies that benefit from cgi. I loved the look of TRON Legacy. The Lord of the Rings for example, couldn't have been done well without it. The scale of the story itself is just too epic to be done practical. My opinion on the age split is that to most older people cgi (most of it is mediocre at best) looks like a cartoon and 'most' older people, 45 and up, don't like cartoons and definitely don't get 'anime'. Compositing, greenscreen and cgi allow points of view and camera work that would have been impossible otherwise, which only increases the disconnect with what is 'believable'. The younger crowd are used to that sort of stuff, so it's no big deal.
The appeal to me of Mad Max is that it looks real. And so it seems to be with George Miller and his desire to do things 'real', storm aside.

[leadcounsel]

Ambient enhancements, like adding dust, removing stunt safety equipment and adjusting color, is fine. The problem with using cgi is that once a director/producer goes down that path things start to get silly. They begin stretching the believability of the action, it's just too easy to go for 'a little bit more'. The appeal of Mad Max was the gritty realism of that world. The wrong application of cgi and that realism is lost and it just becomes a cartoon. Look how Fast and Furious has to keep trying to top themselves with each movie. It started off silly and just got worse.
I would be willing to bet that the two sides of the cgi argument (in general, not necessarily this film) can probably be divided along age related lines. The older crowd knows it's fake and it detracts, the younger has been raised on cgi movies, anime and incredibly detailed video games so they don't see a problem. In fact, maybe they don't see a distinction any more, it's just all the same.

Nailed it.

I'm not opposed to the idea of CGI to literally "enhance" the feeling/mood etc. But as DM eloquently stated, CGI opens the door to things ala Matrix where people are running up walls, and breaking every other physical laws. And then it just needlessly eliminates the raw power of the film. The best work to describe it is "grit."

Grit doesn't happen when cars are parachuting out of the back of C130s with the characters mocking and joking around like it's a big game. Grit doesn't happen when characters are bending this way and that dodging bullets, running up walls, and levitating 4' off the ground during their roundhouse kicks.

We all have a natural sense of the laws of physics in a movie. No need to embellish the MM world with needless CGI. While I don't know what happens to the guy jumping full spread between the two vehicles, from the back of the tanker to the front of the car, arms spread open, high rate of speed, etc, if it's anything but horrific death then that's a strike against the film because in the real world that person just committed suicide and suffers a mangling horrific immediate death.

While I've not seen the film, I remain cautiously pessimistic about it, and the claims about "all real stunts." Exhibit A. Clearly the guy jumping from the truck to the car is NOT a real stunt, in that he didn't actually do that. So, that's a half-truth or lie. My guess is that was done on a green screen and inserted. Or there were other safety wires and harnesses, slower speed, etc. Again, cheating. Not a stunt, as they are intended.

Folks here are critical of ME personally, lobbing personal attacks rather than addressing the ISSUE raised. That's a common thing for people who cannot debate an ISSUE. Most people here have not seen the film, and nobody has seen the final version. So we're all entitled to have our own, relatively uninformed, opinions. For those that attack me as being too harsh, have you considered that you're just a fanboy lapdog eager to drink whatever is poured down your gullet without a discerning or thoughtful eye to quality. I'd much rather have NO sequel, than a poorly done sequel. And most would agree there is plenty to question in this one (notably the 30 years delay, the over-production and total costs, location choices, cast including Tom Hardy, the voiceovers, the BOB return and destruction, the changes in character background needlessly, and a host of other issues)...

Some folks here remind me of a product fan who will buy anything a company puts out no matter the quality or reviews, like the people that line up for the newest $600 Apple Iphone just to have it. To each their own, but that is some level of "fandom" that is irrational...

Many here seem so eager for a movie, they don't care about the QUALITY. But my well-formed fear of the overuse of CGI is based on the fact that the number of movies with actual good CGI are very few. The overwhelming number of films - those that are amazing and stand the test of time - which is what I hope for in MM4 - there are very few actually great FILMS that rely or use CGI. I can't think of many. Heck, Star Wars and many other franchises were ruined by CGI.

[leadcounsel]

I don't understand why some of you are so precious over Fury Road. Religiously defending the Cgi is just as inane as passionately detesting it. The viewer is either going to be happy with what they see or they aren't, there's no getting around that. Until then we can only judge based on what we're shown.

Let's show the world what a mature decent community we can be by not resorting to exasperated expletives and wishing people would shut the f**k up simply because they feel differently than us. Let's not demand members are banned because their opinion differs and let's certainly not suggest anybody who dares criticise what they see be deemed as not being fans of the franchise. Quite frankly it feels like some of you are very much caught up in the hype machine at the moment.

And here's another thing. We don't have to consider Fury Road as simply a movie, we can consider it as so much more with huge teams of people all contributing their piece. There's no doubt that, based on what we've seen thus far, the art department and stunts team have done a remarkable job on Fury Road and will most likely go into filmmaking history for their efforts. No amount of post-production cgi, regardless of how it makes things look, can ever detract from that. We have seen that Miller has been incredibly passionate about having real stunts and fought for the budget to make that a reality, there is no criticising his vision here, he is one of us. Also whomever created those environmental cgi landscapes should be applauded, they are cgi working at its best.

Now, if the enjoyment is compromised for some in other areas of the finished product. So be it. It may be that a department, an executive, an individual, hasn't been able to deliver. Someone pointing that out does not detract from the efforts of others in any way at all. A poor script does not mean the costumes are bad, poor cinematography does not mean the acting is wooden, and poor post-production does not mean the stunts are unrealistic. If anything, pointing out that cgi detracts from the realism of the stunts is doing those that performed them justice, it is actually sympathising with those who've tried so hard to entertain us.

It addition to this, I'll point at that applauding aspects of Fury Road on the basis they aren't as bad as some other movies, or at best fit in with a common practice, is in not a strong defense at all. We can criticise something while still enjoying it, we can dislike something while still respecting it. We can feel a certain way without lashing out at others who feel a different way. And let's not forget, we here are all united by our love of Mad Max, that's makes us a special group of friends of all ages from across the globe.

Well said, and thank you for inserting some adult rational conversation into this forum!

[Taipan]

Exhibit A. Clearly the guy jumping from the truck to the car is NOT a real stunt, in that he didn't actually do that. So, that's a half-truth or lie. My guess is that was done on a green screen and inserted. Or there were other safety wires and harnesses, slower speed, etc. Again, cheating. Not a stunt, as they are intended.

Does this look like a fake stunt to you?

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[DGSimo]

Ambient enhancements, like adding dust, removing stunt safety equipment and adjusting color, is fine. The problem with using cgi is that once a director/producer goes down that path things start to get silly. They begin stretching the believability of the action, it's just too easy to go for 'a little bit more'. The appeal of Mad Max was the gritty realism of that world. The wrong application of cgi and that realism is lost and it just becomes a cartoon. Look how Fast and Furious has to keep trying to top themselves with each movie. It started off silly and just got worse.
I would be willing to bet that the two sides of the cgi argument (in general, not necessarily this film) can probably be divided along age related lines. The older crowd knows it's fake and it detracts, the younger has been raised on cgi movies, anime and incredibly detailed video games so they don't see a problem. In fact, maybe they don't see a distinction any more, it's just all the same.

Nailed it.

I'm not opposed to the idea of CGI to literally "enhance" the feeling/mood etc. But as DM eloquently stated, CGI opens the door to things ala Matrix where people are running up walls, and breaking every other physical laws. And then it just needlessly eliminates the raw power of the film. The best work to describe it is "grit."

Grit doesn't happen when cars are parachuting out of the back of C130s with the characters mocking and joking around like it's a big game. Grit doesn't happen when characters are bending this way and that dodging bullets, running up walls, and levitating 4' off the ground during their roundhouse kicks. .

You know if you actually fucking watched The Matrix there's pretty big fucking plot point that's the reason for all that but whatever, fuck context right?

Of course why should they use CG. George Miller should of barreled across the South African desert and demanded that stunt actor jump of the moving truck without safety and commit suicide because it needed grit. I mean we all know thats how it would of been done 35 years ago right! /sarcasm.

Christ it's a parody account at this point. Moving on.

[Taipan]

Of course why should they use CG. George Miller should of barreled across the South African desert and demanded that stunt actor jump of the moving truck without safety and commit suicide because it needed grit. I mean we all know thats how it would of been done 35 years ago right! /sarcasm.

BUT THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HE DID!

oh.. wait..

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