Anya Taylor - Joy in Furiosa : A Mad Max SagaWarner Bros. / Warner Bros.
Australian director George Miller is one of the bully cinematic visionaries of his multiplication . Once a medical student taking moving picture classes on the side , Miller turned his morbid captivation with car accident into a cult - classic action movie , which in spell chip in parturition to one of film ’s most exciting and intriguing worlds .
Not contented to make tumid postapocalyptic pursuit motion-picture show perpetually , Miller then tried his hand at raunchy comedy , dour grownup play , and wholesome family entertainment in both live action and animation . When he returned to his chrome - plated world of gas - guzzle road warrior , he delivered one of the greatest action mechanism films of all clock time .
He is a unique and electrifying ocular styler , a technical innovator , and just as importantly , a impudent and attentive storyteller who proves that dash and message need never be reciprocally undivided . But has he ever made a clunker ? Your fuel consumption rate may motley , but here ’s how we think his filmography stacks up .
10. Happy Feet Two (2011)
Like its Oscar - winning predecessor , Happy Feet Twoendeavors to narrate a capricious tale about Antarctic wildlife that ’s packed with both familiar soda water songs and challenging existentialist philosopher and environmentalist themes . This time around , however , the style and the stakes just do n’t run along up , and the result is a George Miller ’s one and only forgettable pic .
Still , its content about the grandness of each and every little part of our interconnect world beam through , and the coda ( arrange to Bowie and Queen’sUnder Pressure ) is an undeniable tear - jerker . Even on his worst day , Miller knows how to push our button .
9. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
The third chapter in the Mad Max saga may have more Hollywood polish than its predecessors , but that extra production note value comes at the price of its handmade indie charm . Beyond Thunderdomeexpands the canvas of the Mad Max postapocalypse , as tiny young civilisation begin to crop up in the wasteland with their own rule , ritual , economies , and beliefs . Pop star Tina Turneris totally upstanding in her rare playing turn as the villainous Aunty Entity , and there ’s a charming specificity to her fiefdom of Barter Town ( and of line , the titular gladiatorial arena ) . But on the whole , insane Max Beyond Thunderdomefeels oddly like a generic adventure celluloid — at times , even afamilyadventure film , totally at betting odds with the rest of the serial publication . fault the waken mark or the number of precocious child in the cast , but absent nostalgia for witness of a certain years , this one does n’t have a lot cash in one’s chips for it .
8. Mad Max (1979)
guess against his former works , supported by studio and informed by yr of professional experience , the originalMad Maxlooks pretty rough . Its story is a bit thin , its themes are a little muddled , and its performances are amateurish , even by pulpy B - movie standards . But for a debut characteristic from a aesculapian doctor with a bare minimum of conventional education or on - set experience ?
dependable golly , does it cook . Mad Maxis remarkable for the sheer temerity of Miller and his producing mate Byron Kennedy , who aspired to the silent motion-picture show efficiency of Buster Keaton and the begrimed spectacle of Ozploitation , all while figuring it out as they buy the farm .
7. The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
A decennary into his calling as a director , George Miller had three successful features under his belt , all of which were Mad Max films . Rather than go to back to the well once again , Miller took on what was probably the last project anyone would look — a goofy sexuality comedy about magic .
Its blending of drollery , fantasy , and horror is n’t always harmonious , but it ’s hard to go awry with a kooky love story starring Cher , Michelle Pfeiffer , Susan Sarandon , and Jack Nicholson all at the height of their powers . If nothing else , The Witches of Eastwickkicked off a string of wildly diverging projects for Miller , who after a decade in the waste was no longer interested in repeating himself . At least , not for a while .
6. Happy Feet (2006)
Unsurprisingly for George Miller , this revivify nickelodeon musical about a misfit emperor butterfly penguin has a lot lead on under the surface . The basic child moving-picture show allegory about how it ’s o.k. to be different is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg , as the journey of the spigot - terpsichore flightless bird Mumble ( Elijah Wood ) becomes an urgent call to action at law to preserve the perilous ecosystems of our flimsy planet .
The Sung mashups and long dancing Book of Numbers can get tiresome , but they also get out of the agency duringHappy Feet ’s most sincere and compelling moments . Its animated models may look dated , but the motion - capture execution and practical cinematography hold up swimmingly .
5. Babe: Pig in the City (1998)
The sequel to one of the most improbable Best Picture nominees of all clock time , Pig in the Citysaw Miller take over the helm from former collaborationist Chris Noonan and spin a new storybook yarn about Babe , a short Sus scrofa with a big heart .
Though it received barely a lick of its harbinger ’s vital success and was a loser at the box place , Pig in the Cityis a tender , paying attention , and shockingly compelling story about the top executive of relentless kindness in the side of a cruel world . wholly occasional and yet never at a loss for momentum , Pig in the Cityis hands down George Miller ’s good family endeavor .
4. Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)
MGM did n’t quite know what to make of Miller ’s horny and heartbreaking illusion star Tilda Swinton as a lonely academic who unintentionally release hunky djinn Idris Elba from millennia of captivity . Filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic and released without a right marketing push , Three Thousand Years of Longingrecouped barely a third of its production budget at the box part .
That ’s a wicked shame , as3KYLis one of the most emotionally complex and visually striking works in George Miller ’s filmography . It ’s a truly adult poof narrative , not only due to its intimate depicted object but because it centers around the adult anxiety around end and the death of wonder . Can magic pull round in our modern world ? If not , what hope does love have ?
3. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
Though the 1979 original kicked off the saga of Max Rockatansky , that film takes place in a recognizable world with restaurants , gas post , fuzz and robbers . In the postapocalypse ofThe Road Warrior , only the robber remain . This loose continuation toMad Maxdoubles down on George Miller ’s “ silent movie with sound ” doctrine , tell a simple story through salient images and choreographed automotive activeness . ( There is dialog , but you do n’t involve it . )
Though there ’s arguably nothing here that Miller would n’t improve upon tenner by and by , The Road Warrioris sound on a primordial level , a tale about adhere to mankind under inhumane conditions .
2. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
Nine years after the colossal critical and commercial-grade success ofFury Road , Miller brave another payoff misstep to the Wasteland , this clip presenting the backstory behind that film ’s breakout character . Furiosais a decennary - spanning revenge epic that ’s grander in compass than any previous sick Max moving-picture show , and still has no shortage of prominent vehicular violence .
It ’s neither as groundbreaking nor as emotionally herculean asFury Road , but it ’s thematically resonant with Miller ’s work as a whole , another story of someone who is dropped into a low world that rewards selfishness but who still chooses to care about other people . Above all , Furiosademonstrates that the world of Mad Max is ripe with story electric potential and does n’t necessarily depend on any one fibre to flourish .
1. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
If the original commission ofMad Maxwas to recapture the joy and clockwork perfection of Buster Keaton , soak it in petrol , and fructify it on fire , thenFury Roadis where the burn trail of fuel reaches the fireworks mill . If all that sound and Eumenides had signified nothing , ifFury Roadwere just a absolutely constructed 90 - minute auto pursuit that labour the boundaries of practical photography in the digital eld , that alone would make it one of the raddest film ever made .
Miraculously , Fury Roadhas substance to match its spectacle . Through the sensitive of a unrelentingly step action chef-d’oeuvre , Miller deliver a tantalize cry across genders to fight against patriarchal and oligarchic oppression , not only devote audience an iconic heroine to rally behind but also the story of a shattered , apathetic gentleman who find new hope and purpose in that heroine ’s seeking for exemption . IfMad Max : Fury Roaddoesn’t make you desire to ramp against the machine , then you ’re probably the machine .
