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Lazy George Miller Making Mad Max 4 as Anime Instead

by Alex Billington
March 5, 2009
Source: MTV

So here's how the career of Australian director George Miller goes. He starts out in 1979 directing Mad Max, follows it up with Mad Max 2 in 1981, follows that up with Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in 1985, then starts his downhill trend and directs The Witches of Eastwick, then in 1998 he reaches his all-time low, Babe: Pig in the City, and for his most recent film, he goes animated with Happy Feet. With all the trouble he had getting Justice League off the ground, you'd think he'd try and do something to prove himself again, but nope. Well, he did decide to make Mad Max 4, but there's a catch - it's going to be animated.

Specifically, Miller is going to make Mad Max 4 as a 3D anime. "I see myself as someone who is very curious about storytelling and all its various media," Miller told MTV. "I've always loved anime, in particular the Japanese sensibility. It's something I’ve always wanted to do." Miller is going all out, not only is he ditching the franchise's star Mel Gibson - "we'll probably go a different route" - but he's even making a video game for it at the same time. The plot is supposedly being borrowed from the original Mad Max 4 script that was written for production in 2003, but that version never happened and thus got scrapped.

"The anime is an opportunity for me to shift a little bit about what anime is doing because anime is ripe for an adjustment or sea of change," Miller attempts to explain. "It's coming in games and I believe it’s the same in anime. There's going to be a hybrid anime where it shifts more towards Western sensibilities. Akira Kurosawa was able to bridge that gap between the Japanese sensibilities and the West and make those definitive films." I don't think he has any idea what he's talking about. Okay, Kurosawa did bridge that gap beacuse he's a genius, but there is no "sea of change" coming in the anime world, as far as I know.

I don't know what everyone else thinks, but this sounds like a really lazy idea to me. It just seems like George Miller didn't, or couldn't, get any live-action project made, so he decided to not only go back to his roots, but make the next sequel animated instead. Apparently this Mad Max 4 is supposedly going to be very R-rated, which doesn't exactly change my mind. Okay, maybe I'm being a bit too harsh on Miller, but I really don't like the guy or any of recent ideas. I even really disliked Happy Feet, but that's a discussion for another day. But really, does anyone want to see Mad Max 4 as a 3D anime? Anyone?

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S

No more Mad Max.
Jeremy

AHHH NOOOO, Don't ruin it with an anime. We all know these things ultimately FAIL with the true followers of the original. It always ends up BAD. And really....leaving out Mel, the original character...stupid, stupid, stupid! Sure, the kids now won't know the difference, BUT the older crowd will, the ones who grew up watching the originals. PLEASE make this live action!
Janny

i'm not sure about 3D anime but how bad could it be... i liked highlander search for vengeance and R rated animes like ninja scroll, ghost in the shell, vampire hunter D are all classics lets all go the zen route and say "we'll see"
YK

Oh my god, Hugely disappointing. That being said, don't diss the babe. Babe and Babe 2 are two of the best movies ever made. Seriously.
Scott McHenry

wow this is worse news than the animated clone wars crap, at least we saw that coming
Stacia

america needs to stop touching/making anime. They've always failed, and they always will. They just don't GET it. Please, god, too, let there not be a Japanese opening song or something like in Teen Titans....it's just...ridiculous. I know THIS film wont, but America anime just draws more idiotic baby children to Japan and ruins it for all the serious students. ugh.
Kail

The sea of change for anime has already come and passed and now we're stuck in a huge puddle. Anime was good back when it was Gundam, Akira, Dragon Ball, Ninja Scroll, Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, but the recent wave of western fandom for anime has caught the japanese's eye and now a lot of the anime they're producing is more tailored to westerners, by which I mean they focus more on what americans always stereotyped anime as, and that's a damn shame. 80's 90's anime was killer, recent anime just sucks.
Darrin

im happy it anime, watch what happen with most 4th movies that was live action (indian jones 4).
Tumblebones

Anime is anything but lazy.
SS

By saying they are going in a different direction, it doesn't necessarily mean they cannot make the character in the likeness of the young Mel Gibson. And agree with #9. Doing things animated is NOT lazy. You are forced to make every molecule by hand or by computer replication of a handmade work, whereas in live action there are some things already handed to you by location. Not Lazy. Adventurous maybe. Whether it is bad or good we have yet to see.
Huh

Explain to me how this is, somehow, lazy. Sure, it's dissapointing that it's not going to be live action, but this sounds so much more ambitious. Also, generally I've recently been making "Happy Feet" my water-test for taste. And, don't even get me started about "Babe: Pig In the City." I mean, it's your words against almost every other critic who didn't shun it because of its' "violent content." I mean, it's an almost undisputed modern masterpiece; sure, it bombed at the box office, but so did a great many films.
Huh

Also, I love that the image that comes to mind when Miller talks about "Westernizing" the anime is Teen Titans, of all things. Come on, posters. Work with me, here.
Jamie

I used to think the Miller was one of our (Australia's) greatest director's. They really don't make movies here in Australia like they used too. I am really pissed of with the way Miller has done things of late, but then again he has not made a great film since Mad Max 2 aka. The Road Warrior,. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome sucked. They tried to Americanize it by putting Tina Turner in it and making it PG-13 instead of an R Rating. Fuck Miller.
Rapiez

>Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome sucked. They tried to Americanize it by putting Tina Turner in it and making it PG-13 instead of an R Rating. Fuck Miller. I didn't know PG-13 was somehow essentially American. Tina Turner, she came to him - through her agent, so they say. Beyond that, it's probably the most explicitly "Australian" of the films, with the children being based off of Aborigines in design, in belief structure - (dream-time, etc.), and on and on. The reason for the PG-13 rating Miller's never really gave, but it's always been acknowledged that there were numerous scenes cut out of the theatrical cut that would've bumped it up. Miller says as much in the various interviews for Starlog and etc., he gave at the time. Even then, it's not detrimental to the film in any way, as those things aren't at all the focus - which should've been obvious from the outset. >but then again he has not made a great film since Mad Max 2 aka. The Road Warrior,. Lorenzo's Oil? Babe: Pig In the City? Even Happy Feet? Wha-wha...
Film Fan

"Babe: Pig in the City", an all-time low!? Uh, no. Sorry. Although darker than it predecessor, it was still a very sweet well made movie. And the late great Gene Siskel picked it as his favorite film of 1998.
Rapiez

Also, not forgetting his documentary, "40,000 Years of Dreaming," and his various TV miniseries which were and are still some of the best to come out of Australian television in - well, ever. It does seem funny to still bitch about the R rating, when it seems obvious that this is probably going to be rated R.
Gunny

It sure was a weird downword spiral Miller had, what with the film coming directly after being "Lorenzo's Oil" which garnered him an Oscar nomination, and after that "Babe: Pig In the City" which is still now hailed as one of the best films of the nineties, bar none. And, then there was "Happy Feet," which won him an Oscar, among various other award nominations. Whew. And, "Beyond Thunderdome" was the 2nd best film in the trilogy, and far better than the first film. So there.
Al

i was fine with it anime, but 3D anime. Im up for an animated mad max film, as i believe it could be as badass as the O Ren Ishi origin chapter from kill bill, but i dont wanna see the type of Happy Feet animation in this. WILL NOT WORK.
Luke

This sucks. I've always been hoping for a fourth Mad Max or a remake, but not an animated one. Especially if it's 3D.
Gunny

At #18 - I don't know. Nothing in "Happy Feet" was cartoonishly exaggerated. That was kind of the point, really. Still, that would kind of defeat the purpose of doing an animated Mad Max film, I think.
harrison

there is no word in any language of the world to effectively describe what a blatently idiotic move this is on his part, hats off to him hes truely finished, please dont ruin mad max and its not really mad max 2, its the road warrior
chris

The 2x Appleseed and Vexille movies show how face meltingly awesome the 3d anime style can be. If done right that is. Could be great, probably be shite
Gunny

>and its not really mad max 2, its the road warrior No, the original title to the film was, in fact, "Mad Max 2." While I do prefer the title, that's why it sticks out among the other two. Mad Max, THE ROAD WARRIOR, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. What's the variable, here?
Chris

Making an animated film is lazy?
?????

Alex I agree and I also agree that Happy Feet was absolutely terrible!
Jamie

when I bloody said that Miller has not made a great film since Mad Max 2. I meant it. Then #14 comes back at me and says what about Lorenzo's Oil and Babe. What the hell man. Those movies suck. They might be for your tasting but here in Australia we like gritty kickass action films and Mad Max 2 was that. Then Little George left Australia after Mad Max Beyond Crapsville to make American films. Mad Max 2 has inspired a lot of film makers including the one's that have just finished Terminator Salvation were as Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome only inspired Mel Gibson to leave Australia to make American films because he hated making the third film and that's a fact. He had become a full blown alcoholic on that film and hated every minute making it because the story and the film sucked, and I have heard him say this.
L

#7 Fullmetal Alchemist is one of the best stories/animes to ever be produced. There are good new ones, just fewer and farther between. On the flip side, this is a horrible idea, but I have to applaud him for taking a risque step.
http://www.eatsleepgeek.com melvis316

I don't know if lazy is the first adjective I'd choose, maybe sad would weigh in at number one. It's a long way down from Mad Max 2 to Happy Feet.
bozoconnors

Fucking seriously? This is some kind of sick twisted joke right? An animated Max? Wow. I'll miss that franchise.
joe moms

Will it have a "Beowulf" feel where you can tell the likeness of the big name voice actors? That might be okay in terms of keeping the actors timeless. -Mel's gettin a little "Wrankley" and i don't think he's completely shaken the dee-wee thing either. That's just me. It'll be hit-or most likey-miss.
hawk

Anybody that makes a Road Warrior movie gets a "free"pass" for life.
Gunny

>>when I bloody said that Miller has not made a great film since Mad Max 2. I meant it. Then #14 comes back at me and says what about Lorenzo's Oil and Babe. What the hell man. Those movies suck. How so? Please, try to come up with some real criticisms, instead of "lol it wuzn't kickass, lolol" which seems to be the gist of your entire, y'know, argument here. >They might be for your tasting ...and every notable critic. Especially in the case of Babe the 2nd. When the backlash ensued over the film in America, it was mainly Australian critics who rose up to defend the film >but here in Australia we like gritty kickass action films and Mad Max 2 was that. Sigh. >Then Little George left Australia after Mad Max Beyond Crapsville to make American films. Mad Max 2 has inspired a lot of film makers including the one's that have just finished Terminator Salvation You make that sound like an endorsement, or something. While I do agree that the film deserves its' 'masterpiece' status, you can come up with a better pair of filmmakers than that, I think. >were as Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome only inspired Mel Gibson to leave Australia to make American films ...no? His first American film was two years before Beyond Thunderdome came out. >because he hated making the third film and that's a fact. sauce plx > He had become a full blown alcoholic on that film and hated every minute making it because the story and the film sucked, and I have heard him say this. What, you mean, like - personally?
Jamie

Gunny. Why don't you be a good little boy and go and watch your little pig movie. While I on the other get my copy of Mad Max 2 out and watch a real man's movie.
Fisherr

What the hell is going on with directors and there muffin and lame ideas? Come one people give it a rest and stop hassling about making,continuing and remaking good old movies...pathetic.
Gryndyl

Animated would be ok, anime, no. Anime sucks and always has. It tends to have good art but you're basically watching a slideshow with animated lips. Cheap.
Xander Cameron

I've loved Mad Max since a child. And I wasnt even born till 1987. I am a huge fan and I was not even there for the begining. I was so excited when I first heard tidbits about a Mad Max 4 but Miller has clearly gone insane. It was depressing enough to learn that Mel would not be starring in the film but I figured as impossible as it was to recast him I would survive. Then I found out they were moving backwards instead of forwards. Some plot involving the MFP from Mad Max 1 either before the original or between one and two. The last time I saw Max he was stranded in the middle of the desert with no food, water, or gasoline, not even a vehicle or weapon. I want to know what happens after Thunderdome. This last is almost unbearable. I have to be honest and I know I am in the minority but I hate Japanese style Anime. The thought of Mad Max with asian features makes my skin crawl. Its bad enough that the kids have to have their morning cartoons replaced by it I shouldnt have to see my favorite action adventure hero destroyed by it. The only Japanese Anime I have seen an been even slightly satisfied with was ADvent Children also a 3d movie. But it definitely would not befit Mad Max. I bet they wont even leave his likeness intact. I would almost place money that Miller is going to ruin him and I will be forced to watch a small built Max wielding abnormally sized weapons leaping around with slanted eyes and enormous eyebrows. Basically as much as I love Mad Max and want his story to continue, I would rather see him dead and burried than have him destroyed and humiliated. Has miller completely forgotten his fan base. Im only twenty one but I haveto be the minority. Surely fans of the original movies from the time of the original release are not going to be impressed by a Japaneese animation of their hero. Wake up Miller. You've gone soft. You made Mad Max with almost no budget. Where theres a will theres a way. Computer animation has made you soft and lazy and caused you to abandon your fans. Dont forget the people who put you where you are today. I cant believe you are going to crucify Max and turn your attention to Happy Feet Bullshit. IT brings Lucas and his animated star wars too mind.
Xander Cameron

I've loved Mad Max since a child. And I wasnt even born till 1987. I am a huge fan and I was not even there for the begining. I was so excited when I first heard tidbits about a Mad Max 4 but Miller has clearly gone insane. It was depressing enough to learn that Mel would not be starring in the film but I figured as impossible as it was to recast him I would survive. Then I found out they were moving backwards instead of forwards. Some plot involving the MFP from Mad Max 1 either before the original or between one and two. The last time I saw Max he was stranded in the middle of the desert with no food, water, or gasoline, not even a vehicle or weapon. I want to know what happens after Thunderdome. This last is almost unbearable. I have to be honest and I know I am in the minority but I hate Japanese style Anime. The thought of Mad Max with asian features makes my skin crawl. Its bad enough that the kids have to have their morning cartoons replaced by it I shouldnt have to see my favorite action adventure hero destroyed by it. The only Japanese Anime I have seen an been even slightly satisfied with was ADvent Children also a 3d movie. But it definitely would not befit Mad Max. I bet they wont even leave his likeness intact. I would almost place money that Miller is going to ruin him and I will be forced to watch a small built Max wielding abnormally sized weapons leaping around with slanted eyes and enormous eyebrows. Basically as much as I love Mad Max and want his story to continue, I would rather see him dead and burried than have him destroyed and humiliated. Has miller completely forgotten his fan base. Im only twenty one but I haveto be the minority. Surely fans of the original movies from the time of the original release are not going to be impressed by a Japaneese animation of their hero. Wake up Miller. You've gone soft. You made Mad Max with almost no budget. Where theres a will theres a way. Computer animation has made you soft and lazy and caused you to abandon your fans. Dont forget the people who put you where you are today. I cant believe you are going to crucify Max and turn your attention to Happy Feet Bullshit. IT brings Lucas and his animated star wars too mind.
Xander Cameron

On a more outraged note. There are only two type of people who will enjoy such a film as I and several others have already posted you will lose the older crowd of fans that put you and Max on the Map. Children who are too stupid and ignorant of their own roots that they embrace JApanimation and love it no matter how crappy it is, and that rarest of breeds, the very few people who love both Anime and MAd MAx a decidedly select crowd. If this does go through I see little chance for any further Max stories with the exception of films targeted at younger audiences who are watching them because they are anime and not because they are mad max. Ignorant viewers who have most likely never even seen the Road Warrior or Thunderdome let alone the original but will run out immediately to rent the latest anime. I am disgusted.
Xander Cameron

Two more things that are bugging me. Lazy to me does not have anything to do with animation or the years it takes to 3d or the ambition or any other crap. My point is he will be sitting behind a desk in an office when so much of the feel of Mad Max is that this could have happened. All the little details will be lost. The wear and tear of time on the clothing, weapons, vehicles. You cannot convince me that these will not be lost. I am not saying they will not be drawn but they will not give the same feel of realism that makes Max the best of all post apocalyptic adventures. Also in comparison to being out their filming exploding car chase scenes and coordinating stuntmen etc. an anime Max is clearly being lazy. Making a computer film can not be as exciting or difficult as filming life since you can teach an elementary school student to do it. I dont want Max to end. But I seriously hope Miller sees his lapse in judgement and hears the plea of his true fans and returns to the original plan of live action. Knock yourself out with the videogame that would be awesome but no Anime. There is only one reason I could see for it to be animated that would be acceptable to me. If they were going to use Mels voice and could get him in no other way I would lay down my arms and accept it. I would rather have Mel doing Max's voice in anime than recasting him. Though I cant blame Mel for not wanting to have his name attached to this in any way.
DoomCanoe

wow this totally blows, Road Warrior was one of the best flicks I've ever seen. personally i think our now a day movies could learn a lot from anime especially when it comes to directing... not the other way around, where we have a bad movie director working on anime... this totally blows
Gunny

>Gunny. Why don't you be a good little boy and go and watch your little pig movie. While I on the other get my copy of Mad Max 2 out and watch a real man's movie. See, you don't even have a response. How does that rebuke what I typed even one iota? Xander, I think a lot of your problems are coming from a misconception of anime, as a whole. You seemed to have seen a very small portion of it - which, granted, probably isn't your fault; if this were done in the same style as "Cowboy Bebop" and "Samurai Champloo," this could be sublime. And, keep in mind he was talking about Westerning the style, as befits the characters, so it's very unlikely you're going to see Max with Asian features, and giant weapons.
Gunny

Lazy to me does not have anything to do with animation or the years it takes to 3d or the ambition or any other crap. >My point is he will be sitting behind a desk in an office when so much of the feel of Mad Max is that this could have happened. He probably won't, though, if the production is anything like "Happy Feet"s. >Also in comparison to being out their filming exploding car chase scenes and coordinating stuntmen etc. an anime Max is clearly being lazy. I don't see how. It's a different technique, but to say that it requires less work than the other is just insane. >Making a computer film can not be as exciting or difficult as filming life since you can teach an elementary school student to do it. Really? Re-really?
Rosalee

But there is so much more outback in OZ for Max to wander.......... Having spent some time in the area where Thunderdome was shot, I cannot even imagine an anime format I agree........laziness in its worst Game over.
Online Poster #45

You know, still. Not one person has actually explained why it's lazy, beyond it not being in live action, and I know quite a few animators who'd take grave offense to that.
Crystal

What the fuck does Akira Kurosawa have to do with anime.. he's a live action film maker. As far as I'm concerned, anything made outside of Japan is purely classified as cartoon or animation.. it is NOT anime! FFS it pisses me off that people don't seem to get that. ITS JAPANESE.. NOT AUSTRALIAN OR AMERICAN OR EVEN KOREAN!
Gunny

(ZOOP)
fairportfan

#21: You might want to do a little fact checking (as well as learning proper English grammar and syntax) before you go correcting others: It is, indeed, "Mad Max 2" - except in the US, where audiences were so lame that the first film was virtually unknown. "The Road Warrior" was a US-only title originally, and the opening sequence with its voice over and clips from the first film was added just for the US release. (Of course, adding it created oneof the best high-impact shots in the history of action films...)
Combaticus

Slumped and sullen, the reluctant sex symbol is sitting on the set of Mad Max III, smoking incessantly and working on a six-pack smuggled in by a friend. It has not been a good day. The hot, filthy set in this shabby Sydney suburb teems with extras in antic rags and pulses with the stench of swine imported to augment the squalor. Like its predecessors Max III (directed by Mel's pal George Miller) is set in a brutal postnuclear future, and it features Gibson as a scurvy road warrior vigilante in leather and sweat. The role has called for him to trudge through blazing sand dunes into a pair of wind machines, and he is distinctly unhappy about it all. "I don't want to be doing this interview," he pouts, affecting the air of an injured adolescent. "I don't even want to be making this film. It's just a piece of shit. Don't print that." http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20089848,00.html Also, the term is "sea change," not "sea of change." Sea change: a profound transformation.
Combaticus

** "The Road Warrior" was a US-only title originally, and the opening sequence with its voice over and clips from the first film was added just for the US release. ** I've never heard that. I think you're full of baloney. Sauce, plox.
fairportfan

I said: ** "The Road Warrior" was a US-only title originally, and the opening sequence with its voice over and clips from the first film was added just for the US release. ** Combaticus said: "I've never heard that. I think you're full of baloney. Sauce, plox." Try IMDB. Second item under "Trivia": "Renamed "The Road Warrior" for North American distribution because at the time, the original Mad Max (1979) had only been released there on a limited basis, so calling it Mad Max 2 would have confused viewers." (There's a lot of other stuff in there and the "Goofs" that's interesting - did you notice the logo on the tanker?) Any number of other sources will tell you the same; most articles (at least fan-type articles) at the time of the original release talked about it; i'm guessing you're too young to remember. I really do think that the North American version - with the prolog and then the shock-cut straight into Max's blower in the chase - works very well. A gang of us were at the theatre the first day and a couple of my firends nearly somersaulted backward over their seat backs.
Combaticus

Sorry, I meant to say "I think you're mistaken." Also, I submitted some of the goofs on the IMDb page myself. But a good reference nonetheless. Nope, not too young. I saw it in the theater when I was a teenager, and yours is the first mention of this I've ever seen. But I think you're confusing the substitution of the title "The Road Warrior" for "Mad Max 2" with the addition of more material. The opening montage was included in the original shooting script, which you can see here: http://www.scifiscripts.com/scripts/madmax2.txt (There were rumors that the pre-blower scene [Wez and his boys raiding a farm as Max drives by] was actually shot but not included, but cinematographer Dean Semler recently said that they never shot it.) The opening montage was meant to tie the sequel to the original, which many in the US (besides me, that is) had never seen. It also retconned the story somewhat. Also, while George Miller and Semler talk about the montage in their HD-DVD/Blu-ray commentary for MM2/RW, neither one mentions American "additions." There is, however, and Americanized TV version that was shown on NBC that substituted an American narrator for Harold Baigent. For all things Max, I highly recommend http://www.madmaxmovies.com. It's an Oz-based site that boasts visits from cast members. But you already knew that.
Combaticus

Aw, damn. "AN Americanized. AN."
Gunny

At #49, you're leaving out the next few paragraphs, which provide context - "Between takes with co-star Tina Turner (who plays an evil schemer called Auntie Entity), Gibson isolates himself from his confreres. Sitting on a wooden box, he spits into the sand and exudes hostility. His sporadic efforts at small talk take the form of gauche jokes. They fail miserably and he knows it. "I have a very bad habit of saying embarrassing, goofy things. The next day, I could kill myself," he will say later. "In L.A. actors and directors are very...defensive, so I try to be funny. They don't appreciate it one bit. I'm only trying to put them at ease," he says truculently, "because I'm freaking out as well."
Combaticus

@Gunny: That's why I put the link there. You want context, follow the link. That said, his was a very prophetic remark!
Engineering

George Miller, if you read this, or if one of your PR agents reads this I have this request and suggestion for you; Ironically, partly because so many of us play video games these days, I think that we are burnt out on CGI, and Green Screen. We crave live action. We begin taking up hobbies that reconnect us to the real world. Please make a live action version, preferably soon (it's time). You, yourself, discussed how Mad Max was a Live action movie on the commentary of the Road Warrior Blue Ray. I am hopeful that you will pull off an interesting movie with your Anime project, and I am glad to have a Mad Max game at last. I really think that I am not alone when I say that I am tired of CGI and Green Screen. Yes, I too have noticed the amount of post-apocalyptic type action in video games these days, but don't base your calculations for what type of audience you are aiming at on this. Judging by the G4 channel I would say that there is a misconception of this audience as being the lowest common denominator. Do not stoop to that level. You creation has become the world's, and we love it. You can do it George.
Gunny

@55 Isn't that kind of disingenuous, though?
Combaticus

Disingenuous? How so? All I was doing was passing along part of an interview. I don't see where I'm responsible to post the whole interview, particularly when I've linked it. I *should* have referred to #26, though, as that was the post that prompted me to put up the quote.
Gunny

Because you're providing it as proof that Gibson was somehow dissatisfied with the film, when the rest of the interview gives a different impression, as does that section when taken in context.
Engineering

P.S. Gun sales have been through the roof in America, ever since Obama won. He's the greatest arms seller of all time. I think you would do well to incorporate more rag tag, rugged old weapons that have survived the war and the ages, much as you already did with the double barrel, and its ammo. People have gone gun crazy, thinking it will be their last chance to purchase them, and thus public interest in arms of all kinds has spiked. It is kind of funny that you don't here anything about it in the news media, but they would have a lot of words to reverse wouldn't they. And I just thought of another plus for you! Your releases will have good timing as 2012 approaches and weighs on a good portion of the population's minds. Apocalypse now? Well, I hope you read this dribble some day. Feel free to write back, lol. I am just chock full of free ideas. Oh yeah, one last thing...I'm giving her all she's got captain.
Jeremy Steele

What do you mean, he began the downhill trend with "Witches of Eastwick"? He went off the cliff with "Beyond Thunderdumb" The Road Warrior is still my all time favorite flick. Mad Max 1 and 3 are really lame in comparision. There will never be another movie like it again, even as a few have tried to imitate it. I was hoping they'd try to revive the elements of Mad Max 2 but Anime? No Way! What a sad joke... turning Mad Max into a cartoon. Don't even bother...
Engineering

Maybe this crap is just to build up the steam needed to turn the Mad Max series back into something investors will just be drooling over, thus enabling live action. Mad Max is a live action film, and has so much potential left to be explored. It does all come down to money though doesn't it. The game should help in that area. There is a gold mine in there just waiting to be put to use. If only I had some data I could calculate some probabilities, and answer a lot of my own questions. To bad they don't post updates and stats on the projects.
Jeff

Worst possible combination for an 80's classic. Film it.
WWMMD--What Would Mad Max Do?

It might look a bit like the serial "Rebel" by Pepe Moreno that was in Heavy Metal(magazine) in the mid '80s.It(Rebel) even has the characters watching "Mad Max".Perhaps Pepe Moreno could help out G. Miller with this...
Combaticus

@60: In the Mad Max canon, technology stopped in the early 1980s. Hence few firearms and many crossbows. I'm wondering how we get the big car chase when there are no more cars or the fuel to run them. Camels, perhaps? @63: Close. The line is "Fund it."
Engineering

To WWMMD- what is Pepe Moreno doing these days anyway? I had totally forgotten about "Rebel", I'll have to try and find that graphic novel that was published. I'm kicking myself that I never read it, I only remember it's existence at the time. @65: Wow, what could be more exciting than an all out camel chase! I had a funny idea too, what about bringing back a bionic Goose- as in Goose form the first movie. Half man, half motorcycle, all action. His thirst for gas is unquenchable. He songs are strange. Actually, does anyone know what song he was singing as he was driving the pick up truck back to HQ? I can't figure it out, my brother can't figure it out, what is it?
Jeremy Steele

Since King George is gonna go Anime, why not make a Mad Max Meets Terminator or some shit? I mean, what the fuck does it matter at this point, anyway?
Combaticus

@66: When I first saw the US poster for Road Warrior, I thought (hoped?) that Goose would be back, all burned and scarred, and maybe Johnny the Boy might show up with an artificial foot. Also, apparently the song is called "My Old Banjo." See http://madmaxmovies.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8057
Daniel

No He wouldn't ruin Mad Max if it was an anime, and he's not Lazy if he's making it an anime but i agree it shouldn't be an anime! It should be Live Action but i don't think it should be made at all After Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, i don't want to see another good franchise get ruined!
Engineering

@68 Combaticus thank you for the song name by the way! The debate is finally over. To the rest- The other day I picked up a video game mag, the sheer volume of mad max style, post apoco games is astounding. Movie better hurry up catch that band wagon.
http://www.fusiongames.com Yazzyazz

Speaking of Rebel, Pepe Moreno's iconic work is about to be reissued by IDW. He was at Comicon. I think he may be doing a book tour.
steelcaress

Back in the late 80's, I would have said YES! Make it anime! Now with all the crap on the air, everything from Naruto to Teen Titans, I would have to say no. I was hoping that America would adopt anime, and that we'd see it on every day. Now that America has adopted anime, just about every one (excepting Cowboy Bebop and Avatar), that is shown today is crap. I don't like little kid voices, I don't like Japanese slapstick, and I think the moronic plots (or lack thereof) need to wither and die as well. I think producers need to be sat down and see Wings over Honneamise, Star Blazers, Robotech, Grave of the Fireflies, Galaxy Express 999, Record of Lodoss War just to name a few, and then be told "If you can't make it as good as these, don't do it at all." Something akin to that is the only way an anime Mad Max would get my vote nowadays.
pupule808

If it isn't live action, I don't wanna see it. Anime? Anime! Come on! I grew up watching the mad max movies and what made them so awesome was the real stunts, the real car chases, the body work done on the cars, and the XB GT Falcon V8 interceptor! I loved that car so much that I bought and built the car model of it from Road Warrior and I'm planning on building up a real one one of these days. I mean to me it is kind of lazy for George Miller to do it Anime style. He won't have to worry about all the stunts, the vehicles, the cast, the costumes, and what not. Yes, it is lazy! The first movie had the lowest budget to profit ratio in history (before "The Blair Witch Project") and look at all the stunts done in that movie. Sure, it took a lot of planning, preparation and hard work, but it made a hell of a movie, it's a cult classic. Of course, George Miller has his reasons as far as production costs, locations, cast, or whatever his reasons are. But don't give up and make a shity Anime movie. So, my point is that all the live action scenes, stunts, the cool vehicles, and the car chases and crashes is what made the old movies so great! In fact, I think I'm going to go and watch Mad Max right now.
jeremysteelepornstar

After watching romantic comedies I said to my gf "Let's watch my favorite move, 'The Road Warrior', and she said it was boring! WTF is wrong with her?