While The Hateful Eight is bound to be on quite a few top 10 lists itself this year, there's one film in particular that caught director Quentin Tarantino's fancy. If you're a Mad Max: Fury Road junkie, then it's time to celebrate as the offbeat director celebrates this film above the rest of 2015's offerings.
Premiere caught up with the director during the French premiere of his Christmas present to the world, and when you're this close to New Year's, top 10 picks are a hot topic of discussion. Naturally, Tarantino gushed about the George Miller directed thrill ride, but he went the extra mile and included the following story:
It would have to be the Mad Max movie, Fury Road….I got a print of Mad Max on 35mm and I watched it in my house, and I had it all weekend and I ended up watching it three different times. And I resisted seeing it for a while because I was like, ‘Mad Max without Mel Gibson? Forget that!’ In a world where Mel Gibson exists, how can you cast Tom Hardy? So, I even wanted to get all defiant about it and #NotMyMax. Then I saw the movie and, ‘Okay, it’s terrific,’ and he’s pretty good in it, I have to admit, he’s pretty good.
You could see Quentin Tarantino being a Mad Max purist, seeing as he takes a similar attitude to a lot of other aspects of the film world. His loyalty to talent is matched only by his crazy storytelling techniques, and seeing as The Hateful Eight is one of his craziest stories yet, his desire for another Mad Max movie with Gibson isn't so odd. But even self professed hard cases like Tarantino have moments where they're impressed, and we're guessing somewhere between the practical car chases and the mind-tripping imagery, he really found his happy place at the movies this year.
Keep in mind, this is the same man that not only had massive issues with It Follows, but also holds Ghosts Of Girlfriend's Past as a guilty pleasure of his. So if anything, Quentin Tarantino has prove that his tastes run wide, and sometimes into unexpected territories. Though Tarantino's reaction to Mad Max: Fury Road is even further proof that just because the franchise you fell in love with as a kid is returning for a reboot or a long overdue sequel, it's not always an ill omen. It may not be an instant decision, but the moment you allow your movie loving tastes to be challenged, you might just be surprised with the result.
Frankly, all of this talk of Quentin Tarantino and George Miller has us wondering if the two could/would ever team up together – even for a future Mad Max movie with Tom Hardy, and maybe even Mel Gibson. We don't know how it would happen, but if there was a team to figure out just how to get the job done, it'd be Tarantino and Miller!
For now though, we'll just have to enjoy The Hateful Eight, when it comes to theaters on Friday. Or we could watch our copy of Mad Max: Fury Road again as a nice break from all of the Christmas movies.
