We’re Getting That Black And White Version Of MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, After All
A while back, Mad Max: Fury Road director George Miller mentioned that the best version of the film would be a black and white one, which led to news both good and bad. On the good side, you had fans petitioning Warner Bros. to include a black and white version of the film on the film's Blu-ray release. On the not-so-good side, you had someone - crucially: someone who was not George Miller - uploading their own black and white version of the film to the internet (if you respect George Miller, you rejected this version on basic principle).
Well, as many of you already know, Warner Bros. did not end up including a black and white version of Mad Max: Fury Road on the film's Blu-ray release. This was a bummer, to be sure, but the even bigger bummer was the lack of supplemental features on that disc. No feature-length behind the scenes doc? No in-depth look into the stanger corners of the Mad Max universe? No director's commentary? We let this bare-bones nonsense slide because we were thrilled Mad Max: Fury Road turned out to be such a masterpiece, but the reality is that Miller's film deserved a stacked Blu-ray release, something fans could really sink their teeth into.
And guess what? It sounds like we're finally going to get one. According to a new interview with Miller at the L.A. Times:
The best version of Road Warrior was what we called a "slash dupe," a cheap, black-and-white version of the movie for the composer. Something about it seemed more authentic and elemental. So I asked Eric Whipp, the [Fury Road] colorist, "Can I see some scenes in black and white with quite a bit of contrast?" They looked great. So I said to the guys at Warners, "Can we put a black-and-white version on the DVD?" There wasn't enough room. [It'll end up] on another version with commentary and other features.
Perhaps Warner Bros. is prepping a balls-out special edition on the off-chance that Mad Max: Fury Road cleans house at the Oscars next month. It's possible, of course, that "We're doing another version" is just what the studio tells Miller whenever the subject gets brought up (perhaps in the same way that a parent might explain the sudden disappearance of a pet by describing an unexpected trip to "the farm"), but my gut tells me that a special edition of Fury Road is more likely than not.
Mad Max: Fury Road owners: are you prepared to double-dip? I know I will.
