One Of The Coolest Elements Of Furiosa Was Originally Meant For Mad Max: Fury Road [Exclusive]

This weekend brings the action-packed odyssey of "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" to theaters for all to witness and enjoy. While the movie acts as a prequel to incredible "Mad Max: Fury Road," it does differ from George Miller's fast-paced franchise revival from 2015 by spanning years, even decades, as we learn the origins of Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) and see how her quest for vengeance against the maniacal Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) becomes tied up in the legacy of Mad Max and the Wasteland's wars. 

But where "Furiosa" matches "Fury Road" is in the unbelievable, adrenaline-fueled vehicular mayhem and brutal combat between both humans and customized cars, trucks, and pretty anything with wheels. However, the prequel does enhance one particular element of the "Mad Max" franchise, and it's a detail that almost made it into "Fury Road." 

Along with the usual post-apocalyptic mash-ups of hot rods and monster trucks, as well as Dementus' amazing triple motorcycle chariot, there are some aerial vehicles and attacks that take things up a notch. So when Immortan Joe's War Rig runs into trouble, they not only have to contend with the threats on the ground, but danger from above. In vehicles like parasails tethered to ground vehicles, bikes with fanboat blades strapped to their backs, and a flying motorcycle with a massive, monster-like parachute, Furiosa and the War Rig have plenty of formidable foes to contend with looking skyward.

When our own Bill Bria spoke with director George Miller leading up to the release of "Furiosa," the filmmaker recounted how some early ideas for the seemingly endless chase in "Fury Road" informed the new 15-minute action sequence in the "Mad Max" prequel. 

While the introduction of the swaying Pole Cats from "Mad Max: Fury Road" were inspired in part by Cirque du Soleil (and terrified director George Mller), the idea for these aerial attacks, which also includes a motorized hang glider with a sand surfer hanging from it, was first broached during development for the 2015 movie. Miller recalled:

"In 'Fury Road,' we had a scene at night where there was somebody — there was a scene, a very brief scene, where someone was seen flying around on some sort of parasail sailing thing. It was storyboarded. But when we came to shooting it, or even long before we were going to shoot it, we thought, 'It's unnecessary.' But the idea was there."

Reminding Miller of that innovative enhancement to the action was one of the "Mad Max" franchise's longtime stuntmen, Guy Norris, who has been working with Miller for over 40 years, since as far back as "The Road Warrior." Miller explained:

"I remember he said, as we were devising the sequence, he said, 'How about we go back to these flying people in the air so we're not only shooting underneath the war rig, or inside the cabin of the war rig, or on top of it or the back of it, but let's have it attack from above, rather than the Pole Cats.' So that's how we started on that sequence."

The result adds a thrilling new wrinkle to the kind of action we're used to seeing from "Mad Max," and it mixes up the formula just enough to give Furiosa (and Tom Burke as Praetorian Jack) an awesome obstacle to overcome. The aerial attacks not only bring a new sense of danger to the proceedings, but they also allow for even more explosive moments, literally, especially when they get tangled up in the deadly spinning "bommy knocker."

For more of our interview with "Furiosa" director George Miller, check out the latest episode of the /Film Daily podcast below:

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