Aside from sitting at an impressive 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, there is another reason that truck drivers on home time should treat themselves to a couple of hours in the theater with George Miller’s eye-popping “Mad Max: Fury Road”: Trucks and the men and women who drive them are the stars of the show.
1. Mutant trucks aren’t only fun to watch — they fuel the imagination about the future of trucking.
The “War Rig” that dominates the screen for much of the film is a six-wheel-drive Tatra semi powered by two supercharged V-8s with a cab that seems to have been extended by a late 1940’s Chevy sedan and a VW Beetle and Track cabin welded onto the hull. Easily one of the toughest vehicles to ever rumble across the screen, this mutated truck begins the film as a gas transport vehicle but becomes an almost unstoppable war tool. The War Rig is in nearly every scene in the film, making it an indispensable character.
An even more imagination-stretching vehicle? The “Doof Wagon.” A supercharged V8 engine powers a mobile stage, wall of speakers, and air conditioning ducts to amplify the battle cry of the drummers in back and the flame-throwing guitar-shredding blind band leader. You kind of need to see it to believe it.
Also interesting to note? In the post-apocalyptic future, fully functioning robotic arms are a thing, but trucks still need drivers.
2. Real drivers performed every single one of the film’s insane 303 stunts.
The epic truck battle scenes look like nothing you’ve ever seen before — partly because no one films action movies the old-school way anymore. Instead of relying on CGI, the movie makers assembled a team of 150 stunt drivers, performers, and riggers to shoot all of the film’s 303 stunt sequences, giving stunt driving legends like Mike Ryan of “Furious Seven” a chance to show the world their skills. The real life demolition derby gives audiences a more honest feel for the power of a big rig — and more respect for the talented drivers who made the scenes happen.
Charlize Theron, as the deadly but beautiful one-armed warrior Imperator Furiosa is probably not the first person who comes to mind when you think about a truck driver, but the Academy Award-winning actress actually drove the massive War Rig.
3. The movie exposes the truth — that trucks are power.
In “Mad Max: Fury Road”, the survival of what is left of humankind depends on trucks and the supplies that they bring — just like they are in the real world. As outrageous as it is, it’s a movie that shows audiences what being a truck driver is really about. It’s the relationship between you and your truck. It’s about the risks you take every day by going out on the road. It’s the simple truth that your driving skills, the toughness of your rig, and the steeliness of your nerve are weapons that you have to use to stay alive out on the road every day.
Sources:
Car and Driver Magazine
Wired
Bloomberg
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