A World Without Mel: Mad Max Fury Road

Full disclosure - I love Mel Gibson. No, I don't love love him, and I wouldn't say I even had a man crush on him. My love for Mel is purely based on an appreciation for his talent. Talent might even be too strong a word for it. What I appreciate most about him is his presence. Whether you consider him in his heyday as a young, charismatic leading man (sans mullet), or in his later years as an acclaimed director, you have to admit, the man has presence.

Now, obviously there's the private life of Mel that we're all aware of - his drinking, his relationships, his religion. To be honest, I generally avoid the tabloids and what celebrities do outside of their work. Fact is, some of my 'heroes' have been highly flawed individuals with questionable ideals. J. D. Salinger, for instance. Or Philip K Dick. Want to knock someone of the pedestal you've put them on? Read their biography.

Anyone who's had a quick look at this blog will undoubtedly notice numerous references to the Mad Max films (particularly Beyond Thunderdome, my favourite). So, when shooting began on Fury Road, I was excited to see where George Miller would take our eponymous hero. Since it's release, I've watched it repeatedly - and there are very few movies released this decade that I could say the same thing for. Fury Road is an extremely well made, highly watchable film, but it isn't perfect. Even on the first viewing, I knew something was off. Sure, the throwbacks to the previous films were often off-putting. The lack of screen time for Tom Hardy's Max was somewhat baffling. But my biggest issue with the film was the complete lack of disregard for the timeline.

George Miller has never been one to pander to the desires of the fans. Once you've seen Bruce Spence play a pilot in the second film and a completely different pilot in the third, it becomes pretty clear that Miller isn't fazed by a need to retain perfect continuity between films.

Bruce Spence: Gyro Captain/Jedediah the Pilot.

The society and structure of the world of Fury Road is so different to the previous films, so extreme, it would make sense to call this a comic book style reboot. Except you can't, because the prelude graphic novel released after the film tells us the first three movies are cannon. 

Sentimentality, Patriotism And Kevin Costner's The Postman

When people think of bloated, critically panned, post-apocalyptical Kevin Costner films, most would invariably recall 1995's Waterworld. The vast majority of film goers would fail to even mention The Postman, its far superior (and undeniably forgettable) successor. Released only two years after the theatrical failure of Waterworld, The Postman is widely regarded as signifying the end of Kevin Costner's box office appeal.

The year is 2013. After the collapse of civilisation, humanity has regressed to an 18^th Century style subsistence, banding together to form small communities where towns are walled and governed by olde timey sheriffs. Opposition comes in the form of General Bethlehem, the despotic leader of a militia that raids towns and kidnaps young men to build his army. Costner plays Reluctant Hero #6, a travelling entertainer who becomes entangled in Bethlehem's army. When Costner finally escapes their evil clutches, he finds a postman's uniform and plays the part of civil servant in order to receive sanctuary in Pine View, a nearby town. His postman charade inadvertently snowballs into an institution, with others taking up the mantle of postman and connecting towns across the US with the power of pen and paper based communication. The film theorises that it's the 'little people', the postmen and sanitation workers and parking inspectors, who are the cornerstones of infrastructure and the linchpins of civilisation. Spoiler alert – thanks to the Postman and others like him, in as little as thirty years, modern day society is restored in all its pastel wearing glory.

Unlike Waterworld, Costner doused The Postman in arching white hot streams of sentimentality and patriotism. Regardless of its lavish cinematography and guilty pleasure appeal, it's this sentimentality, ratcheted up by James Newton Howard's bombastic score, that doomed The Postman to failure and made it impossible to watch without cringing. So, for your reading pleasure, here are the Top 5 Most Cringe Worthy, Eye Rolling Scenes in The Postman: