As a Max Max: Fury Road superfan, I would have read any version of this book. How fortunate for me that it is such a great one. Finally! An oral film history as compelling as the subject.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC!

Fury Road is one of my favorite movies, and this was an incredible look at the wild two-decade ride of the making of it.
Thank you very much to William Morrow and Custom House and NetGalley for the ARC!

Mad Max Fury Road is one of the absolute best movies I have ever seen and is one that has boggled my mind for ages. As time has passed since the movie's release I found found the production side of this movie absolutely fascinating as stories have emerged from the set. Through an intense series of interviews and compiling information from other sources, Kyle Buchanan provides an absolutely fascinating account of this movie that almost never was. The fact that almost all the effects in this movie were real and complicated dynamics between cast members will never cease to amaze me. This book has given me a greater appreciation for a movie I already loved.

I loved the movie Max Max: Fury Road and was fascinated by this insight into the making of the film. I was somewhat familiar with the drama that took place on set, having read accounts online, but I had no idea what really went on until I read Blood, Sweat & Chrome. If you enjoyed the film or are curious what went on behind the scenes, then I highly recommend this book!

Like many, I've been basically obsessed with Fury Road since it first came out. With it's cinematography and editing, with the feminism and despair and hope, with the community that was created for the film. So I jumped at the chance to read an advance copy of this oral history of the making of the movie.

Though I remember hearing about some of the obstacles, I had no idea of the true immensity of challenges that would have completely destroyed many other films' chances, had they experienced the same. I had no idea that this story had been in George Miller's head, in various iterations, for nearly 20 years by the time it was finally finished. It was enlightening and awe-inspiring to read about.

On the technical side, the scale and scope of this book is similarly astounding. Kyle Buchanan has done a masterful job of cobbling together what had to have been disparate and scattered interviews across 130 interviewees into a cohesive and collected story. A shout out is also deserved for Kyle's editor, because whew, what an undertaking. From the long road to development, to casting, to building the vehicles, to acting exercises, false starts, storyboarding, stunts, the filming of it. It truly covers everything and is so well organized. It's far reaching and seems to include pretty unprecedented and unvarnished access.

One of my favourite unexpected takeaways is that George Miller brought Eve Ensler on board to really help The Wives develop their characters, and talk about the misogyny and patriarchal system of Fury Road's world, and how it relates to those things that we see in everyday life now. Amazing.

I'm so glad that this exists, as I 100% agree that Fury Road's longevity is unbounded, and it will continue to have an impact on society and pop culture for years to come.

My wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary in 2015 with dinner out and a double-feature. We each picked one movie. She picked PITCH PERFECT 2, and I picked MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. We saw my film first, and while PP2 was a cute, enjoyable film, the experience was dampened a little by my inability to stop thinking about what I had just witnessed a few hours ago. Very rarely do you walk out of a film thinking that you just saw one of the greatest motion pictures ever made....but that was exactly how I felt. Certainly the best ACTION film of all time, but also a gorgeous, well thought out, perfectly made cinematic experience. Did other people feel the same way...?

The intervening years have shown me that, yes, a great many filmgoers and critics did feel the same way. The movie, and the stories about the making of the movie, have become legendary. And Kyle Buchanan's new book, BLOOD, SWEAT & CHROME: THE WILD AND TRUE STORY OF MAD MAX: FURY ROAD has come along to set the record straight.

First off, I'm a HUGE fan of Mel Gibson, both as an actor and a filmmaker, and I was really devastated when I found out he would not be playing Max again. I was happy to finally get the straight scoop about why he wasn't in the film, as well as how he reacted to the finished product. (On the other hand, this book does confirm that Gibson is nuts.)

The two-decade gestation of the film lends to some fascinating stories, and Buchanan's 130+ interviews with cast, crew, and interested parties shed a lot of light on what was a torturous production. The gossip about stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron is cleared up and proven to be mostly inaccurate. By all accounts, they are both very difficult people, and their acting and preparation styles were not a good fit, but the clashes, aside from one blow-up, were nowhere near as bad as initially reported. (I found it very disappointing that Theron, after publicly shaming Hardy and getting in his face in front of the cast and crew, saw fit to play the "I'm physically afraid of this mean, violent man!" card....if you're going to go nose-to-nose with a co-worker and scream in his face, don't be surprised if he screams back.)

With mastermind George Miller pushing 80, and working on a Furiosa prequel, it makes me sad to think that we'll probably never see Max have another adventure, but, thanks to Kyle Buchanan, we'll always have this incredible document of the making of one of the most exciting films of all time

"The backstory of the movie is something that campaigns usually struggle to make sound interesting and exciting and dramatic, but in the case of Fury Road, you didn't have to stretch very far." - Awards columnist Scott Feinberg

Content:
Feinberg isn't wrong - the history of this movie, from conception to release, is absolutely batshit insane. When you see quotes from cast and crew going, 'I'm shocked no one died,' they're not being dramatic. So no, you don't have to stretch very far in any direction to find a wild anecdote. But you have to give Buchanan credit for the way he strings together an absolutely masterful narrative.

I want to be very clear - I love Fury Road, but I wouldn't consider myself a huge fanatic! It's been a while since my last re-watch. That being said, this book got me excited about the story again. It made me want to go watch the movie with my friends so I could point out all the little facts and anecdotes I learned. It's not just the big near-death stunts or character decisions that Buchanan gets you with either - reading about the War Boys' cult-like induction workshops was just as interesting as reading about the camera crew's battle against weather and strange camera angles, or the building of the set pieces.

Format:
After reading the first few pages I thought, "Damn, I want to watch a documentary about this movie." A couple pages later I realized, "Hang on, that's pretty much what Buchanan has done here." You can literally see the interviews playing out in your head.

This book captures one of the best aspects of oral history (in my opinion): the diversity of lived experience and memory. He doesn't shy away from tackling controversies or clashes between the crew. The narrative stays objective and offers multiple points of view, but I also feel like it doesn't let anyone off the hook for bad behavior (Chapter 24, for example, addresses the tensions between the film's leads, Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.)

This book is also a testament to Buchanan's skill as an interviewer. He fades into the background, and you feel like you're just sitting among the crew and listening to them tell you a story.

Accessibility:
Finally, with non-fiction books, I like to comment on accessibility: is this a book anyone could pick up, or would it be more enjoyable for someone with someone with a certain level of interest/understanding in the topic. I can confidently say that you don't need to have seen all the Mad Max movies or have a deep interest in filmmaking for this book to draw you in. It touches on every aspect of production, explaining trade politics, stakes, and background where necessary. Honestly, I think it's possible that people who haven't even seen the movie could enjoy this book (though I do recommend watching the movie. Seriously, go watch it now).

Rating:
Usually I reserve my five-star reviews for books that absolutely shake my world and change my life. I wouldn't necessarily say that was Blood, Sweat & Chrome. But I've gotta say: When I was reading this book, I couldn't put it down, and when I wasn't reading this book, I was thinking about reading it. Do yourself a favor and give it some attention. 5/5

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road by Kyle Buchanan does what it says on the tin. This oral history of the years and years it took to make Mad Max: Fury Road is interesting, comprehensive, and a great read for fans of Mad Max, an movie making in general.

I knew that it had taken George Miller a very long time to get Mad Max: Fury Road made, and I knew that the movie had been storyboarded rather than scripted. I hadn’t realized how many years before shooting ever began that the story was fully formed, nor did I realize how true Miller stayed to the images in the storyboards. Even while he was making Babe: Pig in the City, Happy Feet and Happy Feet Two, he and a team were working on Fury Road.

I was struck over and over that it took the singlemindedness of so many people to get this movie made. Nothing about it was easy. It was in some form of preproduction for over a decade, the shoot was long, dangerous, and grueling. Even while filming was underway, there was no guarantee the funding wouldn’t be pulled. The studio did pull the plug, leaving the film without a beginning or end. Though I have watched the final product mane times, it was stressful reading about the pressure and uncertainty. The fights with the studio lasted until a few months before the film opened.

Sometimes reading the accounts of so many people made it hard to follow the events and the short bursts of text from so many people challenged my ability to keep who did what straight. Where the oral history format really worked was in talking about the relationships between people. The War Boys built a cult. The Wives built a Sisterhood, and Theron and Hardy were sort of on the periphery of those groups without a lot of support.

There are a lot of reasons Mad Max: Fury Road is important to me. Purely as a movie, it is a visceral theater experience that I shared several times with friends. Charlize Theron’s Furiosa was the character I’d been waiting for since Sigorney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley in Aliens (1986). My dad’s reaction to the movie (“too many girls”), made me realize he wasn’t capable of having the relationship I would have liked us to have.

If you are looking for deep philosophical thoughts about Mad Max, this isn’t that book. I’d actually like to read that book someday, or listen to the podcast. I watched Fury Road right before I started reading Blood, Sweat & Chrome and again while I was writing the review. That’s the most movie watching I’ve done since February 2020. It isn’t a perfect movie, but it is amazing. I don’t know that any other director would have gotten this movie made, and it took the committed insanity of hundreds of people to get it done.

I received this as an advance reader copy from NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

A really fascinating and thorough look at the making of Mad Max: Fury Road. I knew beforehand the production was fairly tumultuous, but didn't realize quite how insane things were. It is truly a wonder that this beautiful film was made at all.

The book covers all aspects of the production, with interviews with actors, stuntpeople, producers, crew, writers, critics, and more for a really full look of the decades it took to bring Fury Road to the screen (and the many, many stumbling blocks along the way).

If I have one quibble, it's that much is made of the Tom Hardy/Charlize Theron tensions on set, and I noticed in skimming the sources that I don't think Hardy was interviewed for the book, instead his side of it is all archival interviews. That did change my opinion on how he comes across in sections of the book, and I wish that had been made more obvious.

Still, a very fascinating read and if you enjoyed the film at all, there are so many amazing stories about the making of George Miller's masterpiece.

I received this as a e-galley from NetGalley.

This oral history was super readable and full of oh!shit! they really did that?! It made me want to rewatch Mad Max Fury Road 5 more times.

Mad Max: Fury Road was a movie over 20 years in the making, and this book covers all the ups and downs the filmmakers had to go through to get it to the big screen. Even knowing that the film eventually becomes a beloved hit movie with multiple Oscar nominations (and a few wins) didn't keep me from being gripped by the story of the many stops and starts that almost killed this long gestating sequel. This is an oral history, so it's told by multiple POVs and it keeps the story moving fast. I'd recommend this for anyone interested in Hollywood movie making.

If you're a die-hard Mad Max fan, curious about the aura surrounding Mad Max: Fury Road, or want a peek behind the Hollywood curtain, I highly recommend you check this out.

It's a linear history about the Mad Max franchise and the kindhearted genius who created it told through interview snippets from the crew, cast, journalists, and major Hollywood players who are die-hard fans. As a Fury Road lover who admittedly hasn't seen the previous four films, it was a fascinating, educational read.

It clears up some misconceptions (the notorious bad blood between Theron and Hardy was largely because Hardy's deep commitment to method acting strained his relationship with the entire cast and crew. not because Theron was difficult to work with - she was the opposite, actually), intriguing trivia (Eminem was briefly considered to play Max, and the short list also included Jeremy Renner and Armie Hammer!), and insight into the 10+ years that went into pre-production alone.

It's a wild ride of a book and a smooth, well organized and enjoyable read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication date: February 22, 2022

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5