REVIEW — “Mad Max: Fury Road” Black & Chrome Edition Blu-ray is a Glorious Ride to Valhalla

Endlessly rewatchable and visually stunning, Mad Max: Fury Road is arguably the best action film of the last decade and successfully rebooted the original post-apocalypse franchise that began with 1979’s Mad Max.

The 2015 masterpiece from visionary director George Miller stars Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky and Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa. It is a rare film that, once started, is hard to stop watching because of its rapid pace and gloriously rich visuals.

However, it was always the director’s dream to strip away the color and present his dystopian world in pure black and white.

“Something about black and white makes it more iconic.”

George Miller’s original vision is now available on Blu-ray with Mad Max: Fury Road “Black & Chrome Edition”, a two film collection including the theatrical version of the film, a surreal black and white version, and a special introduction by Miller describing his intended vision.

The edition is also part of the Mad Max High Octane Collection. Both Blu-ray and DVD versions of the collection include all four Mad Max films and five hours of bonus content, including Mad Max: Fury Road “Black & Chrome” Edition. The Blu-ray collection will also include a 4K-Ultra HD version and a UV Digital Copy of Mad Max: Fury Road.

In the brief introduction by George Miller that precedes the “Black & Chrome” Edition, director reveals that his idea for a black and white version came to him during pre-production on Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.

The best version of Road Warrior I ever saw was when the composer Brian May was on the soundstage conducting the orchestra. In those days, in the recording studio, they used what they called a “black and white dupe.” It was a very, very crude, cheap version of the color print. And I remember walking in there for the first time, and see the first ever black and white dupe of Road Warrior and I thought, “Oh my god, that’s how the movie should’ve been.”

Although some of the visceral beauty of Fury Road are lost with the removal of color (such as the flame-throwing guitar), Mad Max: Fury Road “Black & Chrome Edition” is overall the most artistic version of the film.

The stark contrast of black and white removes all of the colorful distractions from the film and presents the bleakness of Fury Road as a more distilled and abstract landscape – a realization of the filmmaker’s vision that makes the oncoming destructive chaos all the more moving.

Do yourself or someone you know a favor this holiday season and gift the Mad Max High Octane Collection, available now on Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD.
High Octane Collection Special Features and Additions:

• NEW! *Fury Road “Black & Chrome” Edition – Witness the surreal black and white version of mastermind George Miller’s Fury Road.
• NEW! *George Miller Introduction to the Mad Max Fury Road: Black and Chrome Edition – Special introductory piece by George Miller describing his vision.
• NEW! Road War – In 1982, the world was blindsided by George Miller’s masterpiece of apocalyptic destruction: The Road Warrior.  For the first time ever George Miller, Terry Hayes and star Mel Gibson tell the story of the car-crushing production that redefined action cinema forever.
• Madness of Max – The previously released Mad Max (1979) documentary is a feature-length documentary on the making of arguably the most influential movie of the past thirty years. With over forty cast-and-crew interviews, hundreds of behind-the-scenes photographs and never-before-seen film footage of the shoot, this is, without a doubt, the last word on Mad Max (1979). Interviews include: George Miller, Byron Kennedy, Mel Gibson, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Steve Bisley, Roger Ward, Joanne Samuel, David Eggby, Jon Dowding and many more. From the Producers to the Bike Designers to the Traffic Stoppers, this is the story of how Mad Max was made.

Mad Max: Fury Road Two Film Collection

Special Features and Additions:

• NEW! *George Miller Introduction to the Mad Max Fury Road: Black and Chrome Edition – Special introductory piece by George Miller describing his vision.

About Mad Max: Fury Road:
Haunted by his turbulent past, Mad Max (Tom Hardy) believes the best way to survive is to wander alone. Nevertheless, he becomes swept up with a group fleeing across the Wasteland in a War Rig driven by an elite Imperator, Furiosa (Charlize Theron). They are escaping a Citadel tyrannized by the Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), from whom something irreplaceable has been taken. Enraged, the Warlord marshals all his gangs and pursues the rebels ruthlessly in the high-octane Road War that follows.