Friday, June 24, 2022

Book Review: Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road by Kyle Buchanan


 

Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road  by Kyle Buchanan

Hardcover, 384 pages
Published February 22nd 2022 by William Morrow & Company

 

As a huge fan of the Mad Max movies, I followed every step of the 15 years of development of this movie hoping it would happen. I admit there were times I never thought we would see it as I am sure most of the people making it felt the same. As someone who reads making of books listens to commentary tracks and understands what goes into making movies I understood how crazy Fury Road is. As a movie, it is an insane updating of Road Warrior. A movie without a script, written in storyboards, and almost all action is not what you think of when you think of a feminist masterpiece but that is part of the magic of Fury Road.

Told through quotes Kyle Buchanan didn’t have to do a ton of writing but did a wonderful job of piecing together TONS of interviews with nearly everyone involved with the movie, critics, other directors, and more. That was the hard work. Plus organizing the statements and putting them together.  It is an amazing book don’t get me wrong. This is a really impressive book.

Fury Road is a movie I already loved deeply, but this makes clear the insane amount of work that went into it, and how unlikely it was. In each stage, development, filming, post-production to the surprise award season. I know this is a short review but non-fiction is not my bread and butter.
Blood, Sweat, and Chrome is a must-read for film nerds, those interested in the history of film, the filmmaking process, or just fans of the movie.

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