Bad Idea? George Miller Confirms ‘Furiosa' Black & White Version

In 2016, George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” was released in black-and-white, this was referred to as the “black and chrome” version of the film. Miller has stated, numerous times, that this was the best and firstly intended version of the film.

If it were up to Miller "black & chrome" would have been the only version released of ‘Fury Road.’ I never quite understood why. The actual colored version, the one that was released in the summer of 2015, was filled with eye-popping colors and landscapes that were perfectly captured by John Seale’s photography. Fury Road’s Western vibes fit perfectly with its sandy colors. To take away color didn’t make much sense.

In an interview with Josh Horowitz, via the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Miller confirms that “Furiosa” will also be getting black-and-white treatment. According to Miller, the version for “Furiosa” should be called the "Tinted Black and Chrome" edition:

We’ve done it already. It’s the last thing I did on this film, and I call it "Tinted Black & Chrome," or I want to call it Tinted Black & Chrome. I must say, it’s really interesting. I’m still trying to demystify why the black and white, for me, has something more elemental to it. I still can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s not because they look like old black-and-white movies, it’s something else. It’s like if we took a picture of ourselves right now, it might look a little more dramatic if it was black and white.

“Fury Road” and “Furiosa” share many similarities in terms of atmosphere, colors, and specific locations, the only difference this time around is that Seale, a master of light, retired from movies, and did not shoot “Furiosa.” He was replaced by Simon Duggan.

I haven’t noticed many people talking about Seale’s absence in “Furiosa.” The film, although well shot by Duggan, has a more artificial look to its frames. Seale’s bleak yellows, fiery reds and masterful wide shots are sorely missed in the film. There was a more cinematic feel to Seale’s photography.