Mad Max is one of Australia’s few long-running blockbuster franchises. Starting with George Miller’s first foray into the post-apocalyptic wasteland in 1979, we’re now up to Mad Max 5 with the release of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
Here’s what you should know about the new Mad Max movie and how it differs from all the others.
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What’s the release date in Australia for Furiosa?
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga hit Australian cinemas and IMAX as of Thursday, May 23. Check your local cinema listings to find tickets.
Furiosa: Streaming release date
The at-home release date for Furiosa has not yet been announced, but it will reportedly hit VOD services in the U.S. on June 24, so keep an eye out for a similar release in Australia.
As for streaming, we’ll be waiting a while. Warner Bros’ other major release from this year, Dune: Part Two, is still yet to hit streaming services so expect at least a 3-6 month wait for Furiosa to land on streaming services. When it does it will likely end up on Binge or Netflix, which is where other recent WB releases like Barbie and Blue Beetle are streaming.
If you want to continue the journey after watching Furiosa, you’ll find Mad Max: Fury Road streaming on Netflix.
Furiosa: Behind the Scenes
With Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga out now, we had a chat with one of the movie’s VFX Supervisors, Josh Simmonds at Framestore, to find out some behind-the-scenes secrets from the film.
Simmonds helped to create three key sequences in Furiosa, that being the opening bike chase scene across the sand dunes featuring Charlee Fraser, another sandy scene at the end of the film focusing on Furiosa’s car, Cranky Black, and a confrontation between Immortan Joe and Dementus in the throne room. Here are some things you may not have known about those sequences:
The sand was a problem
Mad Max: Fury Road’s shoot was famously supposed to occur in Australia, but was derailed after intense rainfall turned the desert they were filming on into a green oasis. While that didn’t happen the same this time, the rain did cause some issues that needed to be amended with visual effects, particularly the texture of the sand.
“A lot of our sequences were actually shot south of Sydney in Kurnell on a big piece of vacant land down there, and they had dressed it with quite a bit of sand on the ground,” Simmonds explained. “But, of course, they had terrible thunderstorms the whole time that they were trying to shoot that. All of the sand was wet and the clouds were overcast the whole time, so it wasn’t really that conducive to looking like the desert. So I think, in a lot of cases, there were lights that were brought in to artificially light it and make it actually seem bright enough to be the desert. And that presents its own challenge too, because then you’re trying to match something that’s been practically lit with the end result, needing to be a really bright sunshine.”
The colour palette
Both Fury Road and Furiosa make use of unnaturally contrasted colours to great effect, none of which would be possible without visual effects. Simmonds explained that Miller uses the colours to help direct the viewer’s attention to certain aspects.
“I think [in] Furiosa, the choice was made quite early on to go for a really strong colour palette,” he said. “I think the saturation levels, the colour, it’s a much more stylised look in Furiosa… Certainly being privy to some of those sessions where the colourist is actually working on it, we’re providing them with a whole bunch of maps for each of our elements. So, he has control to actually change the colour at a very granular level. You know, you might be able to change one car so it’s more contrasted versus the desert, which you then desaturate.”
“I think George’s approach is very much to use colour, and in fact, use every technique he can to draw the viewer’s eye to where he wants it to be. So, often, that will be using the colour and the saturation of that colour to make sure that the audience knows what they’re meant to be looking at.”
Creating the Throne Room
The Throne Room in Immortan Joe’s Citadel is an iconic location, particularly in Furiosa, which sees a dramatic stand off take place between Team Dementus and Team Joe. This scene was filmed on a sound stage but allowed Simmonds and his team plenty of creativity to fill in the gaps.
“We had reference of the previous Fury Road throne room [but] obviously, Fury Road happens 20 years later. We’re basically using that as a base, because there’s big water pumps and gardens and everything going off in the background and, while we did reference the Fury Road throne room, they did give us a fair bit of latitude to actually change the design of it,” Simmonds said.
Pay attention next time you watch that scene!
VFX vs Practical
Some criticisms have been lobbied at Furiosa for allegedly using more CGI effects than its predecessor (despite Fury Road having its fair share of VFX work as well). It’s a narrative that is often misconstrued that practical effects trump visual ones, and its something Simmonds wanted to speak to.
“People are always talking about the vehicles looking fake or whatever. You [then] look at the comment sections on the trailer, and they’re talking about shots where the vehicles are 100% real. I kind of feel like sometimes [VFX] can be the scapegoat for when the shot doesn’t quite look 100% photographic and, oftentimes, that is from a conscious choice to stylise something,” he said.
“…You might be surprised at the things that are real and the things that aren’t,” he added. “When people are saying the vehicles don’t look real, it might actually be that they’re responding to the fact that the vehicles in the environment weren’t shot together or something like that, but at the end of the day, it’s still practical.”
Is Furiosa Mad Max 5?
As its title suggests, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a continuation of the Mad Max franchise. It is technically Mad Max 5 as it is the fifth movie in the franchise; however, this film is different from the others as it focuses on the story of Furiosa rather than Max.
Also, while it is the fifth Mad Max movie, Furiosa is actually a prequel to Fury Road, telling the story right up until the start of Miller’s 2015 film. If you’re wondering what order to watch the Mad Max films in, this is how they sit chronologically on the timeline (there’s also a video game, but we haven’t included that one):
- Mad Max (1979)
- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
- Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
- Furiosa – A Mad Max Saga (2024)
- Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Cast of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Because Furiosa and Mad Max: Fury Road are so closely intertwined, there are a number of returning cast members from the 2015 film, but on the flip side, there are also a number of new cast members who appear either as brand new characters or to play the younger versions of characters we already know.
The main example of this is Anya Taylor-Joy who leads the film as Furiosa, a role previously established in Fury Road by Charlize Theron. Alyla Browne also stars in the movie as an even younger version of Furiosa.
Chris Hemsworth ditches his superhero suit to play the villain of the film, Dr. Dementus. Although also returning is Fury Road villain Immortan Joe, who is this time played by Lachy Hulme following the passing of Hugh Keays-Byrne.
Other returning cast members include Angus Sampson (The Organic Mechanic), John Howard (The People Eater) and Nathan Jones (Rictus) and some new characters are portrayed by Charlee Fraser, Tom Burke, Matuse, David Collins, Spencer Connelly and Goran D. Kleit.
The movie is once again directed by Australian mastermind George Miller.
What’s the plot of the new Mad Max movie?
Furiosa is a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, this time telling the origin story of the woman who would go on to become the Imperator Furiosa. The synopsis is as follows:
As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.
Trailer for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Following the phenomenal success of Mad Max: Fury Road (which won six Academy Awards), expectations were high for Furiosa. The trailers certainly set the bar high for another visual spectacle with plenty of high-octane action.
Where was Mad Max 5 filmed?
The entire Mad Max saga has been proudly filmed in Australia, using our outback landscape as the setting for the post-apocalyptic wasteland. However, due to an excess of rain, Mad Max: Fury Road had to move locations to Namibia in order to preserve that desert look.
Now Mad Max 5, brings things back home with the entire movie filmed in New South Wales, primarily in the towns of Hay and Silverton, as well as on soundstages at Disney Studios in Sydney.
Is Mad Max an Australian film?
As mentioned, Mad Max is one of Australia’s few long-running blockbuster franchises. Each and every film (with the exception of parts of Fury Road) has been filmed in Australia and is made by a predominantly Australian cast and crew. The stories are also set in a dystopian Australia with the majority of the characters keeping their natural Australian accents.
Is Furiosa worth seeing?
With Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga finally in cinemas we have reports from both critics and audiences. All in all it’s pretty positive with an 90% positive approval rate on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and an 89% audience score. Most of the criticisms are aimed at the film’s pacing, which lacks the same energy as Mad Max: Fury Road, but otherwise there’s plenty of praise for the action, performances and George Miller’s vision!
You can read Lifehacker Australia’s review of the film here.
This article has been updated since its original publish date.
Lead Image Credit: Warner Bros.
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