What makes a movie a classic?
Here’s my perspective:
The first and obvious answer is that said movie will have to be impervious to time – it will have to be timeless. It is a quality that most movies released do not and cannot possess. What is great now will be discarded tomorrow as a relic of the past.
Secondly, being ‘great’ isn’t enough. Quality alone will not be enough for a film to battle time and come out victorious. Except in exceedingly rare cases, that quality will have to be aided by popularity.
And this one’s deeply personal – but it has to have a high rewatchability quotient.
Contenders - Skyfall, La La Land, Wolf of Wall Street
But having said all of that, I believe some movies rise. Some movies have everything in their arsenal to fight time. Some movies endure.
I wholeheartedly believe Mad Max: Fury Road is going to be one of those movies.
Why do I say that?
Well, to begin with, I believe Fury Road is as good an action movie the world has ever seen. And even if it isn’t the very best, it is most certainly in the conversation.
Relentlessly paced and marvelously executed, Fury Road is the grand culmination of George Miller’s single-minded vision – it is an action extraordinaire for the ages. It is a movie that assaults all the senses of its audience through its raw and visceral action set-pieces.
The movie is in perpetual motion, and aside from the sensational action, it is also a masterclass in visual storytelling.
Nothing is ‘told’ to the audience – there are no exposition dumps, no long monologues and the occasional break between set-pieces is inhabited with the sparsest of exchanges.
And it is gorgeous to behold. The Wasteland – a damned place that only deals in fire and blood – is a hauntingly beautiful location.
Aside from its obvious quality, Fury Road has the popularity as well. It is a cinematic unicorn – a mainstream movie that both fans and critics almost universally applaud, adore and revere.
Towards the end of 2019, when the ‘Best of The Decade’ lists started pouring out, Fury Road was a regular fixture on almost all of them, and deservedly so.
Because George Miller and company have accomplished something truly remarkable with Fury Road:
It is immaculately made, it is propulsive in the best possible way, it is shot with such finesse, it has believable characters, it has next to no flab, it is rewatchable, it has ridiculously high-octane set pieces and about 27 other great things.
Mad Max: Fury Road is outstanding. And it is going to be a classic, whichever way one defines the word.
Image source Wikipedia
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