SPOILER WARNING: The following article gives away multiple key scenes from Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. If you have not yet seen the film, buckle up and be careful as you sift you these moments.
It was disappointing to see the lackluster box office results for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which actually mirrored the fate of its Oscar-winning predecessor(, and one of the greatest action movies ever made, 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road. Those who skipped out on the post-apocalyptic movie prequel starring Anya-Taylor Joy in the title role missed out on seeing some of the coolest action sequences we have ever seen from the Mad Max movies.
Then again, the high-octane excitement and visual astonishment that these scenes offer is sure to make an epic impression on the viewer no matter what the size of the screen. Therefore, with the film being available to purchase on digital as of June 25th, we have compiled our picks for the most badass moments from Furiosa that make co-writer and director George Miller’s long-awaited return to the Wasteland one of the best movies of 2024 so far.
Mary Takes Out Dementus’ Biker Horde
As originally played by Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road, Imperator Furiosa instantly became one of the greatest female action movie characters of all time with her fierce warrior instincts. As we learn in the opening scene of the prequel, young Furiosa (Alyla Browne) learned those skills from her own mother, Mary (Charlee Fraser), who single-handedly goes after the raiders who capture her daughter, wanting to make sure that no outside witnesses of “The Green Place” survive.
While the rescue mission ultimately fails — leaving her badly injured and brutally sacrificed, and Furiosa under the care of Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) — Mary’s sharp-shooting aim, intense fighting skills and indomitable will immediately earned her a spot among the Mad Max’s franchise’s most honorable heroes.
Furiosa Disguises Herself As A Male
Furiosa’s defeminization (particularly her shaved head) has always been important in subtly explaining how she managed to survive being a working denizen of Immortan Joe’s (Lachy Hulme) Citadel, and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga shows us the origin of that characteristic.
Our young title hero (still played by Browne here) uses a razor blade to chip off her own hair to create a wig, which, literally, helps her escape the clutches of a perverted Rictus Erectus (Nathan Jones) and the vault holding Joe’s wives. From that point on, she manages to maintain the guise that she is just another male mechanic, learning the tricks of the trade and building up her stamina as a road warrior.
Air Assault On The War Rig
Anya Taylor-Joy’s first action sequence in Furiosa — which took 78 days to shoot and was later nicknamed “Stairway to Nowhere” — was Furiosa’s attempt to stow herself onto the War Rig (driven by Tom Burke’s Praetorian Jack) and escape on a motorbike, but is thwarted by an aerial attack by the Octoboss’ goons.
The stunning scene nearly rivals any of the most memorable and badass moments from Fury Road, with high energy choreography that sees Furiosa manipulate almost all of the rig’s bells and whistles to take out their enemies. The scene is capped off beautifully with the the ingenious design of the Bommy Knocker — a mechanism involving spinning flails which takes out the remaining Mortifyers in an explosive final defeat.
Dementus’ Bullet Farm Ambush
The War Rig chase could be the top action sequence in Furiosa, but there are arguments for why that spot should be reserved for the moment Furiosa and Jack discover that the Bullet Farm has been seized by Dementus.
The scene is literally on fire with the immersive cinematography, ground-rumbling chases on foot and on wheels, captivating silent interaction between our two heroes, and breathtaking imagery, such as when a flood of bullet casings rushing down a ramp nearly sends Dementus falling to his death. Speaking of great imagery, the moment Furiosa uses the Bullet Farm’s main gate to shield herself from a flamethrower alone is one of the most striking shots in the entire franchise.
Dementus Learns Furiosa Has Escaped
The Bullet Farm sequence, unfortunately, does result in Dementus capturing Furiosa and Jack — the latter of whom is chained and dragged around the dirt as dogs eat him alive, while she is hung by an arm that is just barely attached to her elbow after an accident from moments earlier.
Dementus later discovers just a bloody forearm dangling from the chain where Furiosa was hanging, at which point the mystery of how she lost her arm is also revealed. However, we are left to wonder if her arm broke off by accident or if our hero had to sever the limb herself.
Furiosa Talks Down To Immortan Joe
When the now one-armed Furiosa manages to find her way back to the Citadel, she finds her way into Immortan Joe’s quarters, alerting him and his aides about Dementus assuming control of the Bullet Farm and working with them to form a retaliation strategy.
What makes this scene that is mostly a dialogue-driven bridge between action sequences so memorable, however, is the moment Furiosa tries ensures her revenge by saying to Joe, “If you find him, he's mine." No one else would have had the boldness to, essentially, give an order such as that to a powerful warlord like him.
Furiosa’s Revenge On Dementus Is Revealed
When Furiosa does find the man who stole her life away from her, she spends several moments taunting Dementus before finally serving up vengeance that is teased with multiple outcomes by the narrator (George Shevtsov, who also plays The History Man).
Yet, he reveals that Furiosa told him personally she never actually killed Dementus, but kept him alive and used him as human soil to plant a peach tree behind the Citadel with the seed her mother gave her before she died. Rarely have we seen have a brutal and insufferable form of retaliation on screen, easily making Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga one of cinema’s greatest revenge stories yet.
With all of these incredible moments to witness, we certainly hope that Furiosa can return to the big screen one day. Even another Mad Max movie of some sort would be more than welcome. Either way, at least you can still remember her at home when you buy Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on Amazon.
