Any news at all on MM4?

[Mitch]

Regarding the Stuart/Australian connection, I was asking since during WWII the US shipped a lot of the M-3 Stuart light tanks over to the Pacific theater, including to our Aussie allies. Since the Japanese didn't have as developed an armor force and the terrain didn't lend itself well to heavy armor, the little M-3's did fine.


Being a second string leftover, the tanks weren't kept in inventory for long after the war. Many were stripped of guns and sold for scrap or as tractors. A surprising number still exist in Australia and Brazil. Everybody wants the Shermans, but I like the small size and classic thirties/forties feel of the M-3.


Back on topic, the movie sounds like it's contingent on getting Miller's script and official sanction. I don't see this happening, but who knows? I see a fan based movie as much more feasible a project. Not nearly as ambitious, but certainly more realistic. The Star Wars movies achieve varying levels of professionalism, but some of them approach mainstream quality. Perhaps the same could be done for the Mad Max universe.


All that's missing is the funding, of course. I understand the Miller script being the draw for investors, as it gives credibility to the project, but perhaps there are investors who would bite on the project based on the cult status of the trilogy and your credentials. I seem to remember a Battlestar Galactica revival film done on spec to promote interest in a full length movie. So maybe do a teaser reel to drum up interest?


Just an idea...


Mitch

[lord humungus]

well i saw the trailer for happy feet today with my son when we went to see that ant bully movie. happy feet looks watchable for adults nto just kids,thought you know i'll be scanign every frame for a mad max reference or two. point is it means happy feet is wrappign up and geroge miller pormiced us he would start "fury road" with our without mel....hopefuly this arrest and stuff will give mel time to really think about his fan base and how we could use mm 4 if the story stays true and good.


cause i liek the orginal idea i had heard years back form miller himself where max meets up with auntie enity ,the ferral kid and possibly goose..cause in a way you want to find out was barter town rebuilt or did it all crumb to chaos (not that auntie looked worried that the little man got away when she leaves max in the desert in the end of the movie.) it would be cool to see if he made his desert journey like in the end of thunderdome (conisidering he has no water with him.) all in all it would just be kidna cool to get a little more closer as max is never really finaly home.

[Mitch]

See, this is why we end up talking about M-3 Stuarts.


I guess no indy film is gonna be produced either. Always a lot of smoke and noise, but then it fades off into nothing...


Stu, you out there?


I wonder if George Miller ever reads any of this forum? Does he even know it exists? Doesn't Warner have enough execudrones to monitor interest in their properties?


If there ever is another big budget Mad Max film, it will most likely be a finale with Mel Gibson (much aged) or a prequel with a "near enough" lookalike. I've been trying to imagine how that would play out, especially since I've been seeing Butch and Sundance: The Early Years pop up on TV lately. It has a young William Katt and Tom Berenger playing the Robert Redford and Paul Newman roles. Surprisingly effective. Ewan McGregor did a spot-on young Alec Guinness/Obi-Wan Kenobi.


So maybe there's hope for a movie without Mel. The big hanging point is re-creating the period look and vehicles. In order to fit into the Mad Max continuum, it has to look like it was made in the late 70's/early 80's. A period piece if you will.


So, anybody in OZ found me a Stuart reasonably priced yet?


Mitch (the "dude")

[AbbyShot.com]

I have an idea, don't know if it would fly with the fans or not, but I'll toss it out there for everyone to chew on. What if a medium to low budget film were made, set in the same universe as Mad Max, but with different characters and events? I mean the fall of society that is scripted out over the three movies is supposed to be world wide right? Therefore there should be tonnes of stories out there that theoretically happened during the same time as the mad max events.


While Max is fighting Toecutter and Co. what's happening in other nations? The fall of social intrastructures are not complete at that point, but definitely ragged around the edges with nationwide controls gone, and most services (water & sewer, electricity, etc.) gone or on their way out. You still have things like hospitals, radio stations and police forces though, as curtailed as their influence may now be. Definitely the time when civilization is falling, but not fallen


Perhaps the time period during the struggles between Mad Max and Humungus are more to your liking? This is at the heights of the anarchy when everything is violence and chaos, roving gangs brutalizing the countryside, innocent people huddling in fear wherever they can. Who can protect them? Civilization has completely shattered at this point, leaving nothing but raw anger and aggression.


Or how about the time period of Max and Bartertown? Gangs are larger now and social structures are mostly shrunken down to citystates with territorial warlords battling each other over scarce resources. Things are beginning to form into new societies with gangland rules as their core. It's far from safe, but it's no longer the total madness from the roadwarrior time period. You aren't likely to rule by physical strength and personal violence alone anymore, a ruler will need to be able to control groups of people with more subtle and pervasive means while still being willing to be savagely ruthless when necessary. There's definitely more opportunities for organized activities to occur now rather than lone warriors. Resources are scarcer than ever though and most higher levels of technology are quickly becoming forgotten in favour of more primitive mechanical solutions. We're seeing the pre-emergence of the rebirth of society here and it's still very savage and delicate at the same time. It can become stronger or it can fall back into roadwarrior era anarchy.


Or afterwards? What would rise out of this gang-heavy and resource-poor heritage? What technologies would be reinvented, which would be forever lost, and what new solutions would replace our current methods? What would the fledgling societies become? This option is perhaps the hardest to do and would have the least direct connection with the Mad Max movies due to the time span required. We're talking at least two or three generations after Mad Max himself here, and likely more than that.


Any of these four time periods would make for extremely interesting backdrops for original stories. There is literally room for hundreds of stories here, none of which need mention any copywritten details like "Mad Max", "Main Force Patrol", "Border Town", etc.


Like I said, just an idea here, but from what I'm witnessing through my dealings with the Mad Max community in developing our Mad Max jacket, the Max Max fans are really a close-knit group. Info passes very quickly among them. Not just online either, they all seem to get together at various events like fan conventions and car shows and trade info back and forth. With this much of a well-connected group, I would think that if someone were to make a serious and well thought out attempt at making a "set in the world of Mad Max" movie that had a good plot and some depth put into it, that news of this would spread quickly throughout the fanbase and support and interest would quickly follow. Such a film could then be distributed in the traditional DVD methods, but also made available online and at places where fans gather. (conventions, car shows, etc.) I see no reason why a movie made to appeal to Mad Max fans would necessarily have to be "Mad Max 4". Speaking personally as a casual Mad Max fan, I would certainly enjoy such a film set in any of the four "eras" I outlined above.

[Chase Bansi]

I agree with Adam's idea, but I think the key is defining what is the Mad Max universe. Without some thread to tie into one of the original films, it could quickly become just another post apocalyptic movie. But if there is a touch that fans will recognize that's all it would take. Perhaps in the MM era there is a red Ford tow truck that still has it's full cab, maybe even see the accident when the roof comes off. Or a yellow patrol car seen in the background of a scene that has nothing to do with the story. A story arc that is parallel to the original could stand as an independent idea while small threads that refer to the original elements or events would assure fans that yes, this is still Mad Max even though it has nothing to do with Max.