Andrew Sears: 0:13

hello and thank you for joining us for another episode of I freaking love that movie. I'm andrew, joined by my buddy, rob, as we dive into another movie we freaking love. This isn't a podcast for those quippy cynics, just love for movies and the people who make them. We are back in the desert again, so grab your guzzling, hop aboard the war rig and let's try to evade those roving hordes of bandits. Robert, what movie are we talking about this?

Rob Fike: 0:43

week. In Furiosa, a Mad Max saga, the origins of the fearless warrior are revealed as she battles her way through the unforgiving wastelands, forging her path to survival, introducing Dementus as a ruthless warlord, this high-octane prequel explores the brutal journey that shapes Furiosa into the Imperator she will become.

Andrew Sears: 1:06

Bum, bum, pa-pa-pa-bum, bum, pa-pa-pa-bum, bum, pa-pa-pa-bum. Very Star Wars-esque there, yeah maybe that was the wrong truth. But you know Desert Planet, you got me there.

Rob Fike: 1:21

We've been in the desert a lot this season so far, right from the jump with Dune and then Indiana Jones and now here with Furiosa. We really wanted to jump in and cover this movie early. Most of the films that we've been covering have been out for a good long time, other than Dune Part 2. So we were talking about, you know, films we wanted to talk through and gush about and freaking love, and this, uh, is one of those that came up because it's sequel, technically mad max fury road. We've already covered on the podcast and we loved it so much, both really excited when this one got announced a really long time ago, right, and we were both a little worried about it for a while there, and then it finally come out and it's.

Andrew Sears: 2:13

It's so great to say that a movie that took a long time to make was worth the wait, because we freaking love this movie yeah, and it's funny if you go back and listen to some of the old rebooted or I freaking love that movie you hear us talk about, like Furiosa, and we're always like, well, we're worried, stuck in development hell. But you know, like yeah, it's, it's just funny Cause I'm like we've been talking about it for a long time and it finally came out this year and it was every bit amazing and everything we wanted to be.

Rob Fike: 2:45

It really every bit amazing and everything we wanted to be it really was. And you know, normally we'll we'll sit down and we'll talk and we'll have a discussion about like points of nostalgia which we don't have because this movie came out, uh, this past spring.

Andrew Sears: 2:55

But I remember 22 an old year.

Rob Fike: 3:00

We were waiting for it, um, but really I think some of this nostalgia just goes back to seeing fury road for the first time and this film being not only a great prequel or backstory for furiosa as a character, because she was so compelling in that film, but it's also just very reminiscent and reflective of the, the, I guess the genre. It's almost like george miller's mad max films are like a genre unto themselves at this point, but it very much plays into that bad genre, the mad max universe. It doesn't like completely go off script. Um, the themes are all still there. It's still within the post-apocalyptic uh, fury road, uh themes, um, and visuals. It's still just a visually impressive movie and high octane action. So it's not.

Andrew Sears: 3:54

They didn't change the genre, to go back to do this prequel right and it also felt like it had this nice like it started out, you know, post apocalypse, post wasteland, just like the other movie.

Andrew Sears: 4:08

But like you know, it was obviously years before, because the character furios, who was a child and and you and you kind of like, learned in the first film a little bit about, like where she came from and this green land that she, this land that she wanted to come back to, that wasn't really a good clear indication in that movie. Like why she, this land that she wanted to come back to, that wasn't really a good clear indication in that movie. Like why she left or what she left from or things like that. And it was really kind of it was cool to see it in this. They, they really spent a lot of time to build up her story where she came from, you know, and there's because there was a good chunk of the movie where it was the, the, the other younger actress playing furiosa, where you know, and they build the whole time as anya taylor joy playing furiosa and so you're a third way in the movie.

Andrew Sears: 4:49

You're like you still hadn't seen anya joy at that point and you're like so is it? Is this other actress playing furiosa the whole time? I mean, it wasn't bad it was, it was very it was. It was like there was so much time spent with uh, you know, as Chris Hemsworth called her little D, but it felt well paced and it was like the merging into her story as she started to grow up was very smooth and it wasn't like you lost a beat or anything with it.

Andrew Sears: 5:15

They actually spent quite a bit of time early on to explain the story of her mother and where she came from and stuff like that. Where she came from and stuff like that, and something where I I actually thought they would have breezed past that and just told the story of her becoming impurator furiosa. And it was funny if you listen to our I think it was. It was either rebooted or it was in our original freaking love movie I talked about like where did her name impurator come from? Because that was something in the roman legions that was given to someone who had, like, won a great battle or whatever. And in this movie you get to see the great battle that she wins effectively, and so that was kind of cool too that they did actually show you that and lean into that.

Rob Fike: 5:53

Yeah, it's good that you mentioned that about the, the child actress playing Furiosa, because I think a lot of times when you do origin stories, when they're making those kinds of films, it's like you show like one scene of them as a kid and then suddenly it's like okay, we're going to time jump and that was that. We just see her that one time as a kid. But they really do stretch it out, they give a lot of her formative years a little bit more time to breathe and it. It was kind of interesting because as you're watching it you're like where's Anya Taylor joy? This is, this is a little strange that I have. Right, she was like top billing here. Um, but then she, when she does finally show up, you get to understand and appreciate all the experiences that they showed as a kid to show and represent, like how grizzled and like gritty she had become.

Andrew Sears: 6:44

She had been formed as a kid by all these traumatic experiences and now that had equipped her to be like a great warrior, right you know, I think one thing that I thought was so incredible in the movie was and I really don't want to spoil, I'm trying to be very careful not to give any spoilers for the end, because this movie is so recent and it is so good. But at one point on the tale of joy comes across, uh, chris hemsworth, who throughout the movie he calls her little d.

Andrew Sears: 7:10

He knows her as his basically his slave and then he thinks she's lost or whatever, and or killed or lost or so on and so forth, and but then he gets to know her instead, then as this driver that that goes between the different lands, you know, because he takes over one of the, the citadels, and he gets to know where is that, and when he finally confronts her and they get into their big battle, their first big battle really, he's seeing her as the driver that he knows and then only later does he realize that she is one of the same, as you know, little D, yeah, as he had been calling her when he had her as a slave. I just think that's so well done that, like you almost don't even realize it as a viewer that, oh yeah, he knew her as two different people essentially. And it was also kind of that that neat break, because when he knew her as Little D, it was the other actress.

Rob Fike: 8:11

And then when he knew her as the the driver, it was onion taylor joy. It was really really well done. Also, it's like when she's a child he's kind of like up and coming and scrappy right and like he's a problem for for morton joe, and then he kind of like morton joe is able to kind of like put him in his, into a space where he has a little bit more power over him wait this may yeah, like once they realize oh, these guys are crazy.

Rob Fike: 8:32

And there's like a cult of guys spraying chrome on their mouths, which apparently is a tiktok trend right now.

Rob Fike: 8:38

I've I've come to learn among teenagers it's called chroming and kids don't do that okay, unless it's the food spray paint they actually use you can do the food spray paint that they did in the film, that in the film they did not do actual chrome spray paint, they used an edible spray. So please, kids, don't do that. Just don't do it. Don't do it right. I know it's fun, these movies are great and amazing, but please don't use actual spray paint. It's dangerous.

Andrew Sears: 9:10

Go back to the Tide Pods.

Rob Fike: 9:13

Don't go back to the Tide Pods either. Stop putting dangerous chemicals in your mouth.

Andrew Sears: 9:18

Stop eating chemicals. There's enough microplastics in our food.

Rob Fike: 9:21

Yes, you're getting enough. So you have that first part, you have Dementus as a younger scrappy guy, and then his and then little D, who's almost like a reflection of that, just scrappy and in punching up above her weight, and then you have this later version where she has kind of risen in power as he is slowly losing a grip on his, on his power, and so their dynamic is different. And you really only appreciate that at the end, when she's like it's revealed and he understands that they're one in the same and he can see how like it's all falling apart for him.

Andrew Sears: 10:07

And it was wild when I watched it for the first time, because you know you sit down and the movie starts and you know you're, you're, you're waiting for a morton joe, right, and you know chris hemsworth pops on the screen with a big fake nose and a big old belly, and uh, I was funny. And and you're, you're just like, wait, is he gonna turn into a morton joe? And then you're really riding with him for a long time, as he's like, he's got his like chariot of motorcycles which, by the way, was boss and you're going like, okay, so he's going to become a Morton Joe.

Andrew Sears: 10:40

He's going to become a Morton Joe and then all of a sudden, he comes across the Citadel and like, oh no, no, a Morton Joe is already established and and has some fanatical.

Rob Fike: 10:52

I had the same thought. I was like, oh is more. When I saw the trailers, because they didn't show Morten Joe, I was like, oh, is he? Like there's going to be this turn where Furiosa is becoming herself and, like Dementus, this guy is going to become Immortan Joe.

Andrew Sears: 11:11

And then you're watching the film and there's like that definite turning point where they get to the Citadel and he's threatening Immortan Joe and you're like, oh, this isn't going to go well for him, right, because they're all just kind of staring at him like we're going to do some stuff now and then when I was saying not to get too spoiler here and I don't think this is a spoiler, but the fact but when he goes and threatens Immortan Joe and Immortan Joe's like just like, yeah, pick any one of my war boys, and you know he does, and he thinks it's gonna be like some, like they're gonna fight like Achilles style or something, and the guy instead jumps off and blows himself up.

Andrew Sears: 11:53

It was just like that. My, I knew, like I knew in the back of my head that probably could have happened, but my jaw dropped in the movie theater. I was just like, oh snap, and I like I will. So much about this movie. Like I said, there was expectations you set up like like dement Dementors becoming a Morton Joe, like a Morton Joe you know really being this outrightly evil person, but in this you almost rooted for him as these rebels were rebelling against him, which was wild, that you're like I don't want to root for this guy, whatever.

Andrew Sears: 12:22

So much about this movie and I'm good with thoughts and foreseeing things that are happening. There were things that literally surprised me in this movie. Or I was like where is this going? And I didn't go where I thought it was going to like. Then there's a part where I'm really not going to spoil, but when um Furiosa and her fellow driver are doing stuff to to go try to stop Dementors and whatnot. There are moments in there where I did not think it was going to happen the way it happened. It was so refreshing to have a movie that felt fresh to me in 2024, when, like I said, I feel like so many plots are so retreaded or I can see anything that's going to happen from a mile off. So it was so refreshing having things that legitimately surprised me in the movie theater.

Rob Fike: 13:09

There's the expectation you have with, like an origin story, origin stories and prequels to already established universes, where you you go, okay, well, they're just, they have to connect to established characters. So it's just like the Hemsworth, you know, dementus, oh, he's going to become a Morton Joe because he, like it, has to connect, and there's a lot of stuff like that where it's like no, it's, this is a long-standing story and you can have things that don't go according to what's already come before, and so it makes it more novel and open for anything to happen, like you're saying, where, where you thought, oh well, you know the war boy like exploding himself for Immortan Joe, it's like, oh, I could see that as a possibility, but we also hadn't really seen one do that in that kind of way.

Andrew Sears: 14:02

They always did it in combat or whatever you know, to see this kind of fanatical loyalty was surprising.

Rob Fike: 14:11

And it was less about him like hurting the enemy, as it was like a statement right right of like a morton joe's hold on the war boys and it showed dementis that like it was going to take a different approach than what he had done he had been doing for years across the the wasteland. So I thought that was cool. That brings me to one of the things I freaking love about this film, which is Chris Hemsworth as Dementus, because it took me completely by surprise him playing this like narcissistic big nose, like you're talking about the prosthetic. He has this huge nose and a and a strange voice Like he does this completely different accent From the moment. Even when I saw the trailer of the film it took me a minute to be like oh, that's Chris Hemsworth because he is playing so against type in it.

Rob Fike: 15:00

I was pleasantly surprised by Dementus as a character because it wasn't just copy and paste of Morton Joe. It was a completely different type of villain. They didn't just just copy and paste the morton joe. It was a completely different type of villain. They didn't just like harken back to the morton joe like deity figure. It was like this guy is a motorcycle gang, rebellious, hyper violent, but also like trying to be more kind of guy that costuming was so good, I mean it.

Andrew Sears: 15:29

It was like Colin Farrell as the penguin. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, or um uh, Tom Cruise in tropic thunder Like although that one, even that one, once you knew it was like pretty obvious, but like still something when these characters look so different and act so unlike any role you've seen them in, you're just like it's Gary Oldman or Philip Seymour Hoffman. Level commitment to role.

Rob Fike: 15:55

I also liked Dementus as a character because he started out as like it was like an equality thing. The guys in his gang were kind of equal with him. But you could see it slowly start. It started to deteriorate, the story of like he just cracked down and it became less about him being in charge or he like used other gang members as like a bullet shield or just like expendable, and so then other members of his gang like would leave him.

Andrew Sears: 16:29

Right. It was a weird relationship in that movie between the viewer and Chris Hemsworth, because there were times you couldn't stand him and there were times where you kind of rooted for him. It was the same thing with Morton Joe in that movie. There were times where you were like you're like, wait, this is this evil guy from Fury Road. But then when he goes to war you're like rooting for his side to win, like yeah, get Dementus and you're like, but I like Dementus but I don't like him.

Rob Fike: 16:55

it's this strange charismatic leader thing which I think was another like we talked about Dune recently, that charismatic leader and this problem with like, oh, I really I don't like what they're doing, but I also like I don't like what they're doing, but I also like I kind of like them. Yeah, very weird.

Andrew Sears: 17:12

Yeah. So, rob, do you have any other fun facts for me about this movie? Since we don't have any points of nostalgia, no points of nostalgia.

Rob Fike: 17:23

So I thought I would dig around and find some interesting trivia bits that we could talk about. So one fun fact is that thought I would dig around and find some interesting trivia bits that we could talk about. So one fun fact is that Anya Taylor Joy learned to drive on the set of the film.

Andrew Sears: 17:35

That blows my mind.

Rob Fike: 17:36

She had not actually driven in a car until this that blows my mind it's so wild.

Rob Fike: 17:42

So she was talking on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and she said that the first thing she learned to do in a car was a stunt, and it's called the juice e-lift 180. Basically it's a J turn. It's when you you reverse really fast and then spin a car so that you do a complete 180 and then drive off. And we'll be sure to post, like, a couple of these examples of this trick on our social. So make sure you go down to the show notes and check us out on her Facebook group, cause we do like to post a lot of extra behind the scenes material there for you to watch. She also told Stephen Colbert she still doesn't have her license, she's, but she says she implants to get it now that the film is finished, which I think is just hilarious. Yeah, she's done all these stunts and she, she doesn't even have a license. It's great.

Rob Fike: 18:32

So, these stunts and she, she doesn't even have a license, it's great there. So there's also, uh, the scene, the stowaway scene, where I think she's, uh, she's trying to get away on the, the war rig, um, and she's gonna like try to escape, as they're they're driving off, uh, but it took them 78 days to film just that sequence yeah, and it's funny because when I first was reading this I was like, well, it's not like she was stuck in the in the crawl space for 78 days and then I was like yeah, that's still.

Andrew Sears: 19:01

That's still, you know, like 12 hours day of shooting, whatever. You know they're doing it stuck in there. You're probably, yeah, driving you crazy. But and then you know, george miller does do all this stuff. You know he does as much as he can, practically and in camera. So it's like, yeah, she is having to be constricted or whatever. I slapped her, you know, trapped to a rig, essentially as they're trying to film it. And uh, and you know, you just think about some of that too, like the way they would have had to build out that, that truck that became the war rig that would then allow them to film it in such a way that they could get the camera in there and all that. You know, not as bad as it used to be, because cameras are smaller now and they're able to be a lot more mobile, but still, like you still got people and wires and and tracks and sets and all sorts of stuff.

Rob Fike: 19:52

It's astounding that it took them 78 days, but that is just like a testament to the demands of perfection. I think that, george Miller, they do all the blocking and the camera work is amazing, and all the stunt choreography and driving stunts. And then you have Anya Taylor-Joy, who had never driven a car before, so power to her. But yeah, those were the fun facts. Some excellent fun facts for you all. Yeah, fun times.

Andrew Sears: 20:25

All right. Well, robert, did we get ourselves any listener? Questions this time, or comments. Questions or comments.

Rob Fike: 20:31

I got a listener comment. This comes from our good buddy David McGinnis. He is best known for many things, One of them being really fun on Twitter, but also he was on an episode with us talking about Fellowship of the Ring. But I asked him about Furiosa and he said that I think it's an incredible piece of myth-making. Even after Fury Road, George Miller is still bringing us images we've never seen before. Hemsworth is incredible. All caps Incredible.

Andrew Sears: 21:08

He wasn't the Incredible Hulk, he was Thor.

Rob Fike: 21:12

Dementor smash. I have to agree with David on this. Hemsworth is incredible in it, but also all the other stuff he said. It really is myth making this prequel and maybe that's why it feels so much more elevated than just like a generic oh, this is a backstory of this character. You know is that it feels like George Miller was crafting a myth about Furiosa and telling this larger than life legend about her.

Andrew Sears: 21:41

Yeah, I think it's. It's interesting too is because Fury Road left all the questions open for who was Furiosa? What did she do? Why was she important All these things? How did she get the position she got in that society?

Andrew Sears: 21:54

You know, it left those questions open and it was still a great movie without even answering them like it was, like it didn't feel the need to answer them, but it left the space for this film to exist and I think that's where it really fills in and, like you, like you and david said, makes really good. Uh, myth making right you, so you have the ability to fill in some of these holes that that didn't need to be filled in, as you had mentioned earlier, but they just enrich the world by being filled in.

Andrew Sears: 22:19

So the previous story was strong enough without the holes being filled in, and all this does is make the story better and the myth and the world building better by filling in the holes. Well, and that's the other part too right. It told the story of the land she came from and like because in Fury Road, all you get from it is that it used to be a green place and now it was destroyed and he still doesn't really explain why it was destroyed in this. But it was like you got to see it. You got to see the place she left and you know why she left and things like that and you know wasn't by choice and whatnot.

Rob Fike: 22:52

Yeah it makes me I I haven't gone back and watched Fury Road since watching Furiosa and I wonder how much more devastating that scene will be in Fury Road now, having watched Furiosa where she gets to where her land is supposed to be and it's not there. She falls to her knees in the desert and she's just weeping. It's like man, like that amazing acting by Charlize Theron in that. But also now I'm considering all that Furiosa had gone through all the way from her childhood and what she had was like the last promise of goodness in the world, right, and knowing that it was gone, but all the more powerful that she went back to the citadel to turn it into a good place, right well, I think too she got there expecting to be able to offer the wives safety and she couldn't.

Andrew Sears: 23:58

So essentially she at that point felt like not only was her home, that she had signed for and missed, gone, but she failed. She failed to bring the, the wives, to a safe place. So just just interesting, interesting, you know the way that that is.

Rob Fike: 24:19

But definitely adding a lot more depth there with the, with the prequel as well.

Andrew Sears: 24:26

All right. Well, thank you, david, once again for your question. We always want to say that. You know anyone, anyone who would like. We are always excited to get questions and call-ins, just like the old-fashioned radio shows. You can do that on our webpage, jammerfun that's jamrfun slash ifltm. You can submit audio or text, question or comment, and it doesn't even have to be about the movie we're talking about specifically. You know, we can always come back and mention something from a previous movie and we we do like to circle back and chat on those two. All right, rob, it's that time of the episode where I ask you Mr Robert, where does this land on your list of favorite movies?

Rob Fike: 25:19

And usually.

Andrew Sears: 25:20

I'm flabbergasted and have no idea where to put it. Uh, but you never pre-plan, I never pre-planned.

Rob Fike: 25:24

There are many times where I have pre-planned and then I talk about the movie with you and then I second guess where I was gonna put it. Uh yeah, because I I get to talking about the movies that I love and you help me see them in a different way as well, and so it helps me think more introspectively about how I feel. But all that's just a bunch of nonsense. Let's get down to the nitty-gritty. In the list, I'm going to put Furiosa of Mad Max Saga at number 14, between Pirates of the Caribbean and the Mummy on my list. Fantastic film, and I really hope I get to see a little bit more of Furiosa in the future. Absolutely yeah. So, andrew, where does this fall on your list?

Andrew Sears: 26:14

Well, Rob, as luck would have it, I am landing at number 14 on my list, which puts it after Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Ring, and before the Rocketeer. Oh, before the Rocketeer, Before the Rocketeer. I know that was, that was OG. You know kind of love for that movie and I mean I still love it, but I was, but I was thinking I was thinking to myself would I watch rocketeer, would I watch furiosa? And I think I'd sit down and watch furiosa. Um, yeah, wow, that's where that's where we're at today.

Rob Fike: 26:49

Both that, both that number, lucky 14 I know lucky 14.

Andrew Sears: 26:55

Here we are. That's fun. I like that our lists have diverged to the point where those are nowhere near the same movies around it.

Rob Fike: 27:03

None of the other movies are close to it.

Andrew Sears: 27:06

We're dinged at 14 and 14 for this episode, which is great, alright. Well, there you have it. If you'd like to see more from our movie lists, you can once again visit us at jamrfun slash ifltm to see our lists, and you're always welcome to share your list with us here at info at jamrfun or throw it up on one of our social media channels. I'll be the most active in our Facebook channel, but we're also on Instagram and I think we're putting together some YouTubing, maybe A little bit of YouTubing.

Rob Fike: 27:42

We're still on Twitter. We are. I know it's not called that, but we're going to keep calling it that.

Andrew Sears: 27:47

Almost everywhere I see it. It says X and it says formally Twitter in parentheses or whatever. So it's got a real Prince vibe these days. I love it. Yeah, I think you're okay calling it Twitter. So thank you once again for joining us in this episode. We look forward to having you guys back next week. In the meantime, please remember, we all freaking love different movies, and that's a good thing. So, as Blockbuster used to say, be kind and rewind. As always, we encourage you to share with anyone who will listen what movies you freaking love. Bye, bye, bye. Oh, you cut out there bye, you still cut out there, bye.

Andrew Sears: 28:36

You still cut out. Bye, bye, bye. Witness me. Witness me, don't, chrome yourself, don't chrome, that just sounds so bad. No chroming stop chroming yourself.

Rob Fike: 28:59

Maybe if we say it like that, they'll stop doing it. Right, because it sounds so bad. Right, you don't want to be a guy, that's cringe.

Andrew Sears: 29:06

You don't want to be a guy chroming yourself, do you? No, no, you don't. Girls don't like it when you chrome yourself. Guys, friends don't let friends chrome themselves.