Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Do not adjust your TV set.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III October 24, 2025

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NOTICE: This title can currently only be obtained in the US as part of the Mad Max 5-Film Collection.

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Nearly a decade after the game-changing spectacle of Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller and his incredibly brave crew returned with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga to give the previous film's one-armed heroine a complete origin story. Originally issued on home video as separate 4K and Blu-ray editions as well as a Steelbook combo pack, a new challenger arrives with this more recent "Black & Chrome Edition". It's largely similar to the same-named variant of Fury Road, presenting die-hard fans with an alternate visual experience that's more than simply "turn the color all the way down". There are a few differences to Miller's approach this time around, all covered in the "Video Quality" section of this review.

If you're familiar with Furiosa's plot already, feel free to skip the synopsis below.

Despite their similar visuals and shared universes, Furiosa and Fury Road are substantially different from a narrative perspective. This is not a start to finish thrill ride; instead, as the title implies, it's presented more like a dramatic saga and takes place over a 16-year period right before the opening scene of Fury Road. We're first introduced to younger Furiosa (Alyla Browne) living in relative comfort within the Green Place of Many Mothers; it's been decades since the apocalypse, and theirs is one of the only small paradises left in an otherwise barren desert. When invaders are found nearby, young Furiosa tries to sabotage their bikes and is taken as a souvenir for the horde's leader, Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), but most of Furiosa's captors are killed by her mother Mary (Charlee Fraser) on the journey back. She's soon captured too and, as the young girl is forced to watch, Dementus crucifies Mary in a similarly brutal manner to his own family's senseless death years earlier. Needless to say, the cycle of violence has begun again.

Living in servitude as Dementus' adopted daughter, Furiosa sheds her skin and spends the next several years Mulan style, posing as a mute boy within the ever-growing horde as Dementus and his men try to overthrow several nearby territories including the Citadel, run by Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme, taking over the mask for Hugh Keays-Byrne after his 2020 death). As she grows into adulthood (now portrayed by Anya-Taylor Joy, doing a respectable Charlize Theron vocal impression), Furiosa finally plans her escape on the newly-built War Rig driven by Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), a trusted commander within the Citadel who she will later find to be a sympathetic soul. Together on the road towards freedom, the pair will face no shortage of obstacles as they travel through unforgivably hostile territory.

Few fans of Mad Max will be able to say that Furiosa is the superior film compared to Fury Road, to which it will be forever linked and compared. Furiosa does less with more, and this includes an expanded running time that could've been trimmed by at least 10-15 minutes with no major losses. However, it clearly makes a case for existence due to the strong narrative commitment and technical achievements put forth by Miller and company: this includes not only the gung-ho crew but the cast, all of whom do good to great things with their characters. Anya Taylor-Joy brings the required stoic ruthlessness to Furiosa even if she doesn't quite look the part, and Chris Hemsworth adds a surprisingly sympathetic sheen to the charismatic, ruthless Dementus. (The only major character who doesn't leave an especially strong impression is Praetorian Jack, who seems to only exist as a lukewarm Max stand-in when Furiosa was doing pretty damn well on her own.) Yet its subtle to substantial changes -- not to mention Furiosa's expanded narrative structure, which is presented as five linked chapters -- mostly work well within an otherwise near-identical universe, one that fits in almost seamlessly with Fury Road despite the vastly different years and filming locations.

Peppered with absolutely incredible action scenes, including a particularly impressive one known as "the Stowaway", Furiosa doesn't miss a beat when it comes to kinetic thrills and tightly-composed action sequences... even while it's clear that the use of CGI effects here is much greater than the almost entirely practical Fury Road. But even though pieces of Furiosa's narrative lightly threaten its overall momentum, the overwhelming majority of this film should more than satisfy thirsty Mad Max fans who have been desperately waiting for water to be poured from above.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: These screenshots are sourced directly from the 4K disc but have been downsampled to 1080p/SDR and thus should not be considered an accurate representation of quality in terms of brightness level, color, and detail.

For starters, it should be noted that the bulk of this 4K Black & Chrome Edition of Furiosa shares a lot of base-level similarities to its full-color counterpart in terms of raw image detail, textures, and disc encoding. However, small tweaks to contrast, shadow details, and highlights are apparent here, and it also appears as if additional grain has either been added or become more visible as a result of these tweaks. This also extends to the Dolby Vision HDR grading, which shows perhaps incrementally stronger highs and lows when compared to the full-color 4K version.

Clearly though, the biggest difference is the what a near-total lack of color does to Furiosa, imparting a slightly more timeless as well as a more initially striking feel that, for obvious reasons, will likely give off a similar first impression to the Black & Chrome Edition of Fury Road. While neither film is totally black and white (all night sequences are tinted blue to various degrees), this time Miller also leaves in a few other subtle to bolder colors for emphasis like Sin City: examples include the apple and leaves seen in The Green Place of Many Mothers (above), the red signal flare (below), young Furiosa's hair when she meets The Five Wives, and other foreground and background elements here and there. It's not overdone and it's rarely too distracting, though part of me wishes that the stricter black/white/blue palette from Fury Road was retained instead. Either way, this attention-grabbing effect contributes to the feeling of a different film and, depending on your personal preference, this might just end up being the superior version.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Predictably, the same outstanding Dolby Atmos mix used for the full-color version of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga has returned here, so please see my linked review for more details. Simply put, it's a winner.

Likewise, optional subtitles (including English SDH) are offered during the film and all extras listed below.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Sadly, aside from a blink-and-you'll-miss-it new introduction by director/co-writer George Miller, all of the bonus features here mirror those found on full-color version of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Most of these returning extras are at least good to great, but I can't imagine fans of the film haven't seen them already.

• NEW! Introduction by George Miller (0:38) - A short and not very worthwhile intro from George Miller, who has very little to say about the "Black & Chrome Edition" except that it looks cool. Maybe go into a little detail about how it was done, or explain the reasoning behind when and where to highlight specific colors?

• Highway to Valhalla: In Pursuit of Furiosa (57:00) - I was expecting the usual 10-15 minute promotional featurette here, so this nearly hour-long piece about the film's production was a pleasant surprise indeed. Nicely produced and put together, it offers a mixture of fly-on-the-wall set footage and periodic interview segments with director George Miller, producer Doug Mitchell, first assistant director PJ Voeten, and production designer Colin Gibson, as well as cast members Anya Taylor-Joy, Lachy Hulme, Quaden Bayles, and Chris Hemsworth, among others. Along the way, we're also treated to separate looks at concept art, the visual effects, rehearsal footage, and other aspects of the filming process. Simply put, they usually don't make 'em like this anymore.

• Darkest Angel: Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa (10:19) - Returning to more predictable territory, this much shorter piece finds the actor -- as well as several other cast and crew members, including actor Charlee Fraser and hair/makeup designer Lesley Vanderwalt, discussing her character and how she prepared for the role; like the previous piece, George Miller also appears an talks about the Mad Max franchise as a whole.

• Motorbike Messiah: Chris Hemsworth as Dementus (10:02) - Another like-minded character piece with appearances by George Miller, this one obviously features Hemsworth reflecting on his participation as well as the challengers of getting into character while separating his public persona from the role.

• Furiosa: Stowaway to Nowhere (11:13) - A closer look at the challenges of developing the fifteen-minute "Stowaway" action sequence which involved 200 stunt people, 197 shots, and was filmed over an understandably difficult nine-month period, featuring comments from several unsung members of Furiosa's film crew.

• Metal Beasts & Holy Motors (14:42) - Another requisite piece on the franchise's long-standing commitment to designing, driving, and often destroying a fleet of hugely impressive post-apocalyptic vehicles, all of them built from totally repurposed parts. These are always fun to watch, even if you're not a car person.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

George Miller's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga might have underperformed at the box office in 2024, but its core strengths are about as impressive as fans could've hoped for under the circumstances. Initially planned to be shot alongside Fury Road but stuck in development hell for several years due to contract and budget disputes, its long-delayed completion showed that Miller and company were able to pick up almost right where they left off. This "Black & Chrome Edition" is a visually-tweaked version that removes most (but not all) of the color and re-grades it for a much different dynamic, so anyone who liked the similar treatment of Fury Road should take note. That said, this title's exclusivity to the Mad Max 5-Film Collection (at least in the US) is turn-off, but at least it's presented in 4K. Recommended.