Don’t fret, Fury Road may focus on rocky and sandy desert locales, but it’s by no means a one trick combat vehicle. We get plenty of scenes set in Immortan Joe’s home base The Citadel, where water still exists in ample supply. The movie shows off blue-dominated interior sets here, as it does later on in the story when night sets in. Max and company then find themselves struggling to survive in surreal, hellish landscapes awash with creepy creatures and gun-happy lunatics. What a world! Naturally, not only does all this add to the great story, it also looks spectacular.
Fog, light to dark contrast, and ominous birds proliferate in these sequences. You’ll cheer as searchlights burst through the murk, putting your display’s peak brightness specs to the test. No wonder this movie has become a TV and projector showroom favorite, it’s just too easy to point out differences compared to non-4K and non-HDR versions.
The tone mapping gets a complete workout once day returns and the frenetic action resumes. Our protagonists must face hostile forces in hot pursuit, resulting in even more dramatic images of heavily armored cars flying all over the place to great cinematic effect.
There’s just so much here for image buffs. The desert-sky contrast, night and day, fiery combustion, gorgeous characters. The list goes on. We even get startling greenery here and there, showing us that life persists among the desolation. When green makes an appearance you know because the superlative image quality leaves little room for doubt. The greenery stands out in Fury Road’s arid world like a true 4K picture in a crowd of 720p displays.