When it comes to ranking the greatest movies of any period of cinema, there are going to be winners and losers, arguments over which movies deserve to be higher than others, and some inclusions that are both ultimately unexpected and slightly disappointing at the same time.The New York Timeshas published a new list, voted for by some of the biggest names in Hollywood, to decide the Top 100 movies of the 21st Century, and with such a list comes one movie that just missed out on being named in the Top 10. In this case, it is a phenomenal dystopian spectacle that many would never have predicted having a shot at a place in the entire list before its release.
It took George Miller 30 years to bring his ambitious, belatedMad Maxsequel,Mad Max: Fury Road, to cinemas in 2015. Switching the lead from Mel Gibson to the popular choice ofTom Hardy, the fourth movie in theMad Maxfranchise very quickly established itself as one of the most awe-inspiring movies of the decade and beyond. Now, industry icons have determined thatMad Max: Fury Roadshould be recognized just outside the Top 10 list.
Tom Hardy Gets Engines Revving With Latest ‘Mad Max 5’ Update
Director George Miller wants to follow Mad Max across the post-apocalyptic wasteland.
The movie is pushed out of 10th position byanother Oscar-winner,The Social Network, which itself falls in behind a list of mostly deep dramas such asThere Will Be Blood, Moonlight, and the chart-toppingParasite, which narrowly beat the lateDavid Lynch’s masterpiece,Mullholland Drive, to the number one spot.
There are many reasons to be disappointed atMad Max: Fury Roadjust missing out on a Top 10 place because it stands as a rare genre action movie that pleased both the harshest critics of such graphic novel-style blockbusters, and general moviegoers just looking to be thrilled while stuffing popcorn in their faces.
It swept technical Oscars (and was nominated for both Best Director and Best Picture) and found its way onto several prestigious “best of” lists such as the AFI’s list of the decade’s best movies. Not an easy feat for a movie that is essentially watching a brutal live-action version ofWacky Racesset in a dystopian future.
Emphasizing, perhaps, just how difficult it is to make a movie likeFury Road, Miller’s subsequent prequel,Furiosa, failed to capture attention at the box office and couldn’t quite hit the same heights with critics, even if it did still score an incredibly respectful 90% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer. While there isstill talk of Miller wanting to make another movie– Mad Max: The Wasteland– it is currently unclear whether this will happen following the financial failings ofFuriosa. While there are fans of the franchise who really want to see more of Miller’s apocalyptic world, the studios also want to see some big financial rewards that theMad Maxsaga’s continuation could fail to deliver.
Source: NYT
Mad Max: Fury Road
