FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA (2024) (WBDHE 4K Ultra HD Review)

FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA (2024)

4K Ultra HD + Digital 

Label: WBDHE

Region Code: Region-Free

Rating: R

Duration: 148 Minutes

Audio: English Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1) with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: Dolby Vision (HDR10) 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen 

Director: George Miller

Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Alyla Browne, Tom Burke

When it was first-announced that their would be a prequel to George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) telling the origin story of the one-armed road queen Furiosa I was a bit skeptical to be honest. Then I thought, hmmm, it's still George Miller directing, he's rarely let me down, and once they announced Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch) being cast in the role I think I fully onboard. 

It starts off with a young Furiosa (played by the quite talented Alyla Browne, Sting) being snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers by wasteland bikers who take her back to their Biker Horde, lead by the warlord Dementus, played with demented camp by a neverpbetter IMO Chris Hemsworth (Thor: Ragnarok) wearing a comically large prosthetic nose and with an odd nasally voice, and while it took me a bit to get used to it I quite liked Hemsworth as Dementus, and I love that name as well. As the Biker Horde sweeps through the Wasteland conquering and assimilating small bands of survivors, they come across an head-wounded War Boy who points them in the direction of the Citadel. There they clash with the Immortan Joe and his army of War Boys, with Joe this time played by Lachy Hulme (Three Thousand Years of Longing) under the now-iconic mask. It's from here that the two post-apocalyptic wasteland tyrants war over dominance, and while the Biker Horde is defeated and expelled from the Citadel they do manage to take over Citadel partner Gastown thanks to a Trojan Horse tactic. Later while negotiating with the Citadel for a seat of power Dementus relinquishes Furiosa to Immortan Joe, who imprisons her as one of his wives. She manages to escape and hides among the War Boys, working her way up the ladder undetected, with the intention of stowing away on Immortan Joe's newly built War Rig, which was prominent feature of Fury Road, and escaping back to the Green Place. However, her plan is is derailed by an attack on the War Rig by one of Dementus's lieutenants, and in the ensuing road battle she and the truck's driver Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke, Mank), a sort of Mad Max stand-in in this film, sees her for the asset she is an recruits her to his team after thwarting her escape, with Furiosa eventually becoming his second-in-command, and eventually promoted to a Praetorian herself. Over time she and Jack develop a tightknit bond, and plan to escape together, but life in the wasteland is fraught with peril and things rarely go as planned. 

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga sets itself apart from Mad Max: Fury Road in that it is not the non-stop road battle of the previous film, and I am glad it's not, we've been there and done that, this is it's own animal, and it's better for it. I will say that the reliance on digital VFX this time around as opposed to the more practical effects of Fury Road is pretty obvious and does slightly lessen it, that change affects the visceral impact a bit, but even still, this is a monumental action flick with loads of eye-popping set-pieces, including a wild finale at the Bullet Farm. Of course we also get the origins of Furiosa's metal-arm, which is a harrowing scenario, and all of it is told in a visually breathless way, as only George Miller could deliver.  

We do get characters returning, or perhaps more accurately, who later appear in Fury Road, by way of The People Eater (John Howard, Razorback), The Organic Mechanic (Angus Sampson, Insidious), and Immortan Joe's son Rictus (Nathan Jones, Troy), as well as new characters like Immortan Joe's other son, the hilariously named Scrotus (Josh Helman, X-Men: Days of Future Past), as well as Dementus's The History Man, who serves double-duty as the films narrator and Furiosa's mother Mary (Charlee Fraser, Anyone But You), who ends up being crucified by Dementus in front of a young Furiosa. 

There;s some incremental world building happening here as well, I love seeing the peel of this apocalyptic onion being pulled back little by little, seeing the glimpses of the tunnel-dwelling cannibals living near the Citadel, more peeks into the inner workings of Bullet Farm and Gastown, the early scenes the fertile oasis that is the Green Place, just little add-ons to the world Miller has created here. Truly, I think that this franchise has been, and still is, one of the best and most entertaining of all the film franchises we have, all of them under the direction of George Miller who continues to dazzle. I hear people saying that Furiosa is not on the level of Fury Road, which admittedly is a hard act to follow, and I wouldn't litigate anyones opinion on it, but for me this is just another masterclass of post-apocalyptic, gas-guzzling, action cinema from a master of the form, who has brought us another breathtaking entry in the Mad Max saga, even without the tituar Max, it was pretty fucking awesome. 

I look forward to revisiting this one again later in the year when Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga gets its own Black & Chrome Edition with the color removed in favor of a black a chrome aesthetic, no release date yet, but it's coming! 

Audio/Video: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) arrives on 4K Ultra HD from WBDHE presented in Dolby Vision (HDR10) enhanced 2160p UHD framed in 2.39:1 widescreen. Like Fury Road I think this is a stunning UHD presentation, the image is highly stylized, deeply saturated with color, there are scene digitally tinted shades of blue and red that look stunning with well-saturated colors and deep inky blacks. The image is lush with crisp detail and textures, close-ups are always pleasing, and wide shots offers stunning vistas with nice depth and clarity. Audio comes by way of an immersive Dolby Atmos track that never disappoints, the roar and rumble of gas-powered apocalypse vehicles, the ominous voice of Immortan Joe, the sound of War Boys battle cries and explosive suicide bombing all tickle the eardrums with finesse and aplomb.  

Extras include the 57-min Highway to Valhalla: In Pursuit of Furiosa, the 11-min Stowaway to Nowhere; the 15-min Metal Beasts & Holy Motors; 10-min Darkest Angel: Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa; and the 10-min Motorbike Messiah: Chris Hemsworth as Dementus. The best of the bunch is the nearly hour-long Highway to Valhalla: In Pursuit of Furiosa which dives into the making of the film in-depth, offering a behind-the scenes look at the making of the film as well as looks at rehearsals, concept art, VFX. The four other featurettes are in the 10-15 range, those focus on the characters portrayed by Taylor-Joy and Hemsworth, the post-apocalyptic fleet of vehicles, and dissecting the "Stowaway" action sequence. All in all this is a terrific set of extras that compliant the feature quite nicely. 

The single-disc 4K UHD arrives in a black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork, the first-pressing includes a Slipcover (First-Pressing Only) with the key artwork, and inside there is a Redemption Code for a 4K Digital Copy of the film, redeemable at MOvie Anywhere or Fandango at Home (formerly VUDU).  

Special Features: 
- Highway to Valhalla: In Pursuit of Furiosa (57:00) 
- Stowaway to Nowhere (11:13) 
- Metal Beasts & Holy Motors (14:42) 
- Darkest Angel: Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa (10:02) 
- Motorbike Messiah: Chris Hemsworth as Dementus (10:22) 

Buy it!

Amazon - 4K 

AMazon - Blu-ray