Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road

by Kyle Buchanan

I also found we were encountering a story problem that absolutely was never solved, which is: This is not Max’s story. This is Furiosa’s story, and she runs into Max. At the end of the day, it is more of a cousin of the Mad Max movies than a Mad Max movie.

You don’t see any attempt from Max to fight at the beginning—it’s all flight, which is significant. There comes a point later on when he turns around and says, “I’m going to fight,” because now he has something to fight for.

iOTA (Coma, the Doof Warrior) It is the shittest guitar I’ve ever had the misfortune to have hanging in front of me.

He’s like Harkonnen in Dune, this repulsive guy who’s powerful but is physically a complete wreck. There’s something kind of Trumpy about that, in a way.

It’s a neofascist moment in this country, verging on authoritarianism, which was certainly a major theme in Mad Max. I thought we were moving away from that insane patriarchy, the worshipping of the father and the surrendering of the will to him, and to see some of these young men who follow Trump, I find it chilling.