#just a Chat

[stormclawponyrises]

I watched Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior tonight, continuing my rewatch and commentary on the Mad Max franchise. What follows will primarily be a stream of consciousness with some edits as more was revealed. I already know a bit about the franchise and the production but it's been at least a decade since I last watched this film so I'm gonna be going in effectively almost blind.

This is a sort of long and rambling post

The opening monologue reminds me of the apparently commonly understood lore that the 3 sequel Mad Max films are not perfect canon- instead being retellings of an oral history of the outback, of this man called Max. It's a good way of approaching them all, if you assume them to be imperfect stories of his exploits, passed down throughout history, and it also explains the massive differences that occur between the films (especially in the case of Fury Road). The feral kid being revealed as the narrator means the details of The Road Warrior are likely fairly accurate, other than what may have been altered by a child's perception or the changing of memory. Presenting a story as a retelling of events or an oral history leaves extra room for suspension of disbelief.

The first "proper" scene already shows quite a big difference from the first film, while still starting with a carchase just like last time. The region is more desolate and brown, the clothing and vehicles more rundown and cruddily put together, Max has a dog, and some greying hair. It feels much further from civilization from the previous film and you can really feel that something has happened in the time since the first.

The detail of Max having a leg brace due to his injury in the previous film is a nice touch (and later when someone oils it up for him in the corner of the frame). The guys on the motorbike just sorta watching him while he grabs some gas is very unusual though. The practical effects when it comes to corpses at close range can be pretty laughable, the detail is good but the eyes always look pretty fake. I guess they just had to work with what they got, especially for low budget films like the first few.

Trying to grab a live snake is dumb as hell but the very fucked circumstances mean any kind of risk to get what you need is fair. Using the dog to form a kill-switch is hilarious. Imagine having your life directly in the paws of a dog's attention span.

Just 20 minutes in and this film already has so much more detail than the first. The layouts of each scene, the way the characters dress and act, the vehicles, the fact that Max casually eats dog food cos it's all he's got. There's also a bit more dialogue than I remember while still being predominantly show-not-tell (other than the exposition given by the pilot character and the opening monologue).

There's long quiet moments where we see and hear what the characters do, building mystery and suspense, and making the moments feel natural.

This film also feels more comedic than the first, especially with the scenes with Wez and the feral child.

All these people in BDSM gear...and police gear. The latter is honestly more suspicious to me haha

Max seems to be portrayed as a man who does things almost purely for self-preservation, which fits the apocalyptic setting and the setup of him becoming cold and heartless in the first film. Dog protects him, he uses the pilot and his copter for personal gain, it's possible he was nice to the feral kid because of a genuine need to ingratiate himself because that kid would probably be very happy with punting a boomerang straight into his brainbox at the smallest off step, but it's also possible it was part of his fatherly instinct. He did have a son once, after all. It's honestly a bit surprising that he actually goes through with stealing the tanker for the community, but given he needed fuel for himself and he knew where to find it, there's a pretty high chance he was just going to try and steal it regardless. There's clearly some compassion still within him, but it's tiny and well guarded. Perhaps he even tries to repress it, so he doesn't feel the same pain he felt after his family died.

I love the message passing scene between the engineer and the town leader. It's no game of telephone but the delivery feels a bit intentionally silly.

How the fuck did he survive the V8 crash. He a fucking supersoldier or something. Max is simply BUILT DIFFERENT I guess. But even in real life the body's capacity to survive and push further is often under appreciated. He's incredibly lucky the pilot was willing to rescue him, and did so in time. In my mind there's not much he did to deserve that, other than I guess being a useful resource for the community (the pilot did mention that he has insane reflexes, which supports this). For an apocalyptic setting that makes enough sense to me.

This film has far more dialogue than I remember it having, which is nice.

The car-chase climax of this film is far more exciting and involved than the first film. There's a lot going on and a lot more arcs that need to be addressed. It's not just Max anymore, its Wez and Humungus and the feral kid and all the community people and the pilot. It can feel a bit drawn out, but I am someone who's never been that interested in car chases or racing so it's probably an issue of taste for me- it's a major focus for the film franchise after all. It's still enjoyable though.

Fun(?) facts that may or may not be true because my memory is terrible:

Wez's butt would turn purple in the cold and most of the footage was filmed during the colder months, so they had to do workouts and extra takes to make sure his butt was pink whenever he was on screen.

Apparently the original intent was for Humungus to be Goose I believe (his fucked up head and covered face meant to imply a man who was badly burnt), and the high amount of police gear and police vehicles in his crew was because many of the raiders were meant to originally have been policemen who became cold and heartless just as Max had feared for himself.

Some years ago I went with my mother and brother on an outback road trip during the summer so my brother could get some hours up for his driver's license. We drove up to Silverton, a small village near one of Mad Max 2's filming locations and had a look around. There's a Mad Max 2 museum there which was fun to check out. They even had their own Blue Heeler, just like Dog. The flatland outside of town where the filming was done is so massive and so flat in places you can see the curvature of the Earth if you stand at a distance, it was breathtaking. The Silverton Hotel was also one of the filming locations of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which my mum had named her 4WD after. While in an isolated area, if you're ever traveling through New South Wales I recommend stopping by and taking a look around.

[wo-verine]

Who the fuck is making these. I just want to have a chat.

[loki-is-tired]

you fucking jumpscared me- /nm/lh

sorry i jus forgot you had tumblr

When I received this notification, I thought you were answering an ask with this content and was going to send in an ask stating “I would like to submit the same statement as the previous asker”. But no, I suppose I am but a fool. Lmao.

And yes, I do in fact still have tumblr. It’s the safest space on the internet for me, honestly. Other than perhaps ToyHouse.

No death threats, no corrective… y’know threats, no harassment, just gay people posting memes and misinformation, as it should be.

[uglypastels]

Raly interesting to see people writing all these michael/hoard fics and then backpaddle when they found out what kind of character he is

All i will say is, i applaud people who can make up a fic based on minimum source material, but i think it is necessary to keep that same material in mind and consider the question if it really should be used in that way before you know more about it

[piastrinorris]

hey gang. work is really, REALLY testing my FUCKING limits tonight so i would appreciate some love pls n thank <3

[insomnaticwriter]

Like Edvin, I am scared of spiders, like elephants and want to go into Psychology and/or philosophy. I feel like we would have a nice chat.

[soleilhour]

how was everyones day🥺

[laketaj24]

I low key missed writing more than I thought— consistently sooo pardon the upcoming drabble spam that’s gonna flood your dash this week. ❤️ I’m gonna throw in some smut— not much nasty ass smut, because

Until this Saturday. 😂 Geralt, Ubbe and Colson smut will be unhinged come Saturday.

Anyway. How are y’all doing? 👀

[thehangeddemon]

Lawrence held his breath, despite having answers. He wanted no excuse for Xavier to knock on his door after tonight. No matter what conversation he might have wanted, this was about Gina and Ariel. Promises had been made; they had to mean as much as universal fate. He would pay his tab, and rather than go home, he would walk to the oldest neighborhood in Edenton. To Felicia Rummage and her many silver rings.

Xavier nodded one final greeting to Lawrence before leaving the bar and, after a brief look around, disappearing into the night.

He would refrain from reaching out to Lawrence but he wouldn’t stop watching him. Nor would he erase Lawrence’s number from his phone. If the man ever wanted to contact him, he’d be waiting.

[stormclawponyrises]

felt like rewatching the mad max series of films, given its been like 10 years since i watched the first 3, and several years since the 4th. While I was a bit too young to really understand everything that was happening when I first watched the first 3 they're a big source of nostalgia to me.

Something about the production and the way its so familiar in its aussieness, even though it was made decades before i was born.

So here's some thoughts on the first Mad Max film (1979) (obviously the film's like 40+ years old I'm gonna spoil it I don't care):

The film's got a good hook to start us off, a simple car-chase to get the ball rolling, and a good avenue for some character and plot setup. It's interesting to me how Max is set up as a character- he's not properly introduced until 9 minutes in, he's presented in a more mysterious light to the other characters (before being introduced his identity is obscured, setting up that he's important without even telling us who he is), and when Nightrider realises Max is after him, his entire tone of being the cool Nightrider having fun and escaping prison completely shifts to a man who knows death is coming for him.

Still, for the first half of the film there's very little focus on Max specifically, other than a scene or two with his wife. Most of the focus ends up being on Goose, who is even set up as an incredibly important character. We finally get more focus on Max after Goose's accident: he's in tune with his mental health for one (surprised me a lot if I'll be honest), scared to be like the men who ruined his friend's future. This serves as great setup for him becoming "Mad" Max, which was interesting to see!

The scenes with his wife Jessie throughout the film show them as a couple who truly love and adore each other- they enjoy being together and talking. Their feelings are genuine. They even try signing their feelings to each other which is such a cute and silly detail, even if the signs aren't proper ASL or Auslan (based on my research at least- I do not know either sign language).

So when Jessie and their son die, it hits that much harder. Because we've seen over and over a true depiction of love and kinship between these people in such a short time, and its completely torn apart. We don't even see them get hit, just the implication. So the suspense when Max runs up and we get even the tiniest glimpse of the body and the music builds up, we get that emotional intensity that establishes Max's madness developing in the next few scenes.

Pretty consistently, even while mad and interrogating, Max is a fairly soft-spoken and calm man. He's cold - one of the things he said he was afraid of becoming after Goose's accident. You can see rage on his face in multiple scenes, but he's still so quiet and blunt. It makes him far more unsettling and intense as a character.

The only thing I don't like that much about the film is how suddenly it ends, because Max's rampage feels so short. A lot of the bikers were dealt with offscreen or forgotten about, so it feels like there's something missing. At the very least though, the film answers its own question. Max is mad. Why? This is why. It's a good film and a fun taste of 70s Aus but I feel like if it didn't have any sequels it wouldn't have lasted that long in people's memory. With the abrupt ending I'm glad there's something more in the series I can watch.

Fun things about the film that I've heard (truth may vary) or that I just happened to find personally interesting:

The scene where Max ties a man to a car spilling gasoline with handcuffs and tells him to saw off his leg (or he'll explode) apparently inspired the Saw franchise.

V8s have always been pretty big in Australia. V8s are popular long-distance vehicles, which some see as a necessity in Australia, especially with the long distances (not so bad now in the 2020s, but Australia is still bloody fucking big!!!!!!!). I remember my dad watching the V8 Supercars racing on the weekends, he's also attended races throughout the years and even did some racing when he was younger, so hearing that the Pursuit Special (the car Nightrider was driving and that Max takes after Jessie and the child die) was a V8 perked my ears right up.

Jessie actually has some sense of self-preservation! Even though she dies she still actually tries to survive when she's put in danger. The only really stupid thing she seemed to do was trying to run right before she got hit, and that can easily be put down to panic causing intelligence to go out the window- and the fact that there wasn't really a clear way for her to survive there (so you can't really blame her for trying, even if I feel staying with the van would've had better results).

The son isn't named. "Sprog" is slang. No I don't know why and I haven't heard people use it personally. But it's not his name.

I know very little about the actual production of Mad Max, other than that it was filmed in a lot of locations I've been to. It obviously looks different now though! If you're interested in the production there are documentaries for the Mad Max films and some reviews I've seen from Mr Sunday Movies' "Caravan of Garbage" youtube series on the films that go into some detail about the production. I'm sure there's plenty others too.

[zpointy]

Somthin

Cyalm: Hey ixol, where did you place the gun?

Ixol: I wont tell you.

Cyalm: WHY?!

Ixol: Cause, ... Yeah i dont know why.

Cyalm: Screw y-

Ploque: -Le walk in-

Ploque: Hm?

Cyalm: -Le runs out of the room-

Ixol: There he goes...

[hawkeyedflame]

WHOEVER NAMED THIS ROAD, I JUST WANNA TALK

[lundgaard]

half the races so far, the car or the team has screwed up for lando. just one more and im rollerblading to mtc to have A Chat

[eluhasmyheart]

Just A Chat From Me!

Hey guys!! So, I’m back! It’s crazy the amount of time I’ve been away and I just want to thank you all CRAZY amounts for the support you’ve all given. Even though I wasn’t writing, I still checked in on tumblr every now and then and it truly warmed my heart to know that people were still reading and enjoying what I’m writing even though I’m an awful, unreliable person yet 400 of you still follow me?! It’s been a really tough few months I’m not going to lie and I just want to say how grateful I am for your patience and kindness, knowing some people cared is one of the only things keeping me going. I know it’s a bit soppy and I don’t know any of you really, but I feel like I have some true friends on the platform and I just want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. It would mean the world to me if some of you would send me a message, whether that’s on private message or just on anonymous, so I can get to know you all and just thank you personally. I would love to know more about you all because I don’t know why, but you’re all still following me haha! Anyway, sorry for that loooooong chat but I just want to say I love you all and writing fics is truly one of the only times I’m really myself, at peace and truly happy and you’re the reason I feel like I can still do that, so thank you🥰🥰🥰🥰

[coulphilson]

We all knew that Mysterio was gonna be bad bUT THAT WAS NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING WHAT THE FUCKETH

[nathanunversed-blog]

Im still finishing all the picture ao.for right now...

STORY TIME

So its less of a story but it doeant matter. Anyway so over the weekend i when to my aunt's for a barbeque (luckily it didnt get too bad outside even though it rained like hell it stopped later) and i hung out with my twin cousins. My male cousin introduced me to a song called "Bismarck" by "Sabaron". I desided to listed to it later that day and I did.

Its great. It's fucking beautiful. Then I saw that theyve been around since 2010. But so far I only listened to "Bismark" and "Fields of Verdun". Both are absolutly, purly amasing. Sabaton is either rock or metal I dont know the difference. But I highly suggest them.

Thank you for reading this and I'll talk later.