{"id":261241,"date":"2025-07-13T09:36:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T09:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/261241\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T09:36:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T09:36:17","slug":"the-new-york-times-said-this-was-the-best-action-film-of-the-21st-century-and-now-you-can-watch-it-on-netflix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/261241\/","title":{"rendered":"The New York Times Said This Was the Best Action Film of the 21st Century, and Now, You Can Watch It on Netflix"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Times recently released a list<\/a> of the Top 100 Films of the 21st century that includes titles from a multitude of genres, but only a few action movies made the cut, like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon<\/strong>,<\/a> The Hurt Locker<\/strong>, and Inception<\/strong>. It should come as no surprise that the highest-ranked action film, coming in at number 11 on the list, is Mad Max: Fury Road<\/strong><\/a>. The fourth installment of George Miller<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s Mad Max <\/strong>franchise, Mad Max: Fury Road is remembered for its meticulously choreographed, high-octane action sequences and is often considered one of the best action films ever made<\/a>, and for good reason. Set in a desolate post-apocalyptic society<\/a> overseen by a ruthless warlord who hoards the earth\u2019s precious resources, the film is much more than its pulse-pounding action and has become even more relevant in the ten years since its release. Nominated for ten Oscars and winning six, Mad Max: Fury Road was a huge undertaking that took over a decade to actually complete, but the end result is an epic masterpiece.<\/p>\n

‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Is the Best Action Film of the Past 25 Years<\/p>\n

Director Steven Soderbergh<\/strong><\/a> summed up Mad Max: Fury Road best when he said<\/a>, \u201cI don\u2019t understand how they\u2019re not still shooting that film and I don\u2019t understand how hundreds of people aren\u2019t dead.\u201d Defined by its spectacular action sequences, Mad Max: Fury Road operates with near-relentless intensity. Though it would certainly help contextualize the film and understand the lore, Mad Max: Fury Road doesn\u2019t require you to have seen the previous three films in the franchise<\/a>, throwing you straight into this bizarre post-apocalyptic wasteland and trusting you to keep up. Going in blind may actually enhance the experience and leave you walking away with an even greater feeling of \u201cWTF did I just watch?\u201d The sheer scale of the production of Mad Max: Fury Road is impressive enough on its own, utilizing over 150 stunt performers<\/a> and mostly practical effects to create an immersive, action-packed experience. There\u2019s an entire book dedicated to the making of the film<\/a> published in 2022, called Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n

\"Best-Action-Movies-of-the-Last-25-Years\"<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tThe 10 Best Action Movies of the Last 25 Years, Ranked
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Which action movie deserves the number one spot? <\/p>\n

Mad Max: Fury Road is led by Tom Hardy<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>as Max Rockatansky and Charlize Theron<\/strong><\/a> as Imperator Furiosa. Max is held captive by Immortan Joe<\/a>\u2019s (Hugh Keays-Byrne<\/strong>) War Boys because of his universal blood type, while Furiosa serves as one of Joe\u2019s officers, tasked with driving the War Rig to trade water, breast milk, and produce for gasoline and bullets with two of Joe\u2019s allies. A number of War Boys, with Max in tow, accompany her on her trip, but Furiosa soon goes rogue and changes course, and it\u2019s revealed that she\u2019s secretly smuggled Immortan Joe\u2019s five wives out of the Citadel with her to escape slavery. Max and Furiosa reluctantly team up along the way, both having been exploited by Immortan Joe. Though Hardy and Theron reportedly didn\u2019t get along on set<\/a>, Max and Furiosa\u2019s dynamic anchors the film, forgoing romance and instead defined by mutual respect for the other\u2019s tenacity and survival instinct.<\/strong><\/p>\n

‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Is So Much More Than Its Action Sequences<\/p>\n

Mad Max: Fury Road didn\u2019t place so high up on The New York Times list simply because of its incredible action sequences. There is considerable depth to its largely straightforward narrative about survival and collective resistance<\/a> to capitalist, patriarchal oppression.<\/strong> The aging Immortan Joe hoards the earth\u2019s scarce resources for himself and his family to keep the people under his thumb, encouraging them not to become \u201caddicted to water.\u201d The horrific consequences of ecological collapse lead to large-scale exploitation at the hands of Immortan Joe. He serves as a cult leader<\/a>, chasing eternal life and promising to lead his devoted War Boys to Valhalla, who willingly and enthusiastically sacrifice themselves for him. People are treated as expendable objects – Max is often referred to as a \u201cblood bag,\u201d while the women are nothing but breeders and milk machines in Immortan Joe\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n

Not every action movie with a female lead<\/a> is automatically a feminist action movie, but Mad Max: Fury Road <\/strong>has very clear feminist themes<\/a>. <\/strong>Furiosa is a badass protagonist to be sure, but also vulnerable and even hopeful, yearning to return to the matriarchal society she was raised in before she was kidnapped and taken to the Citadel. Tired of being used as sex slaves, Immortan Joe\u2019s wives, led by The Splendid Angharad (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley<\/strong>), stage their revolt against him and liberate themselves with Furiosa\u2019s help. The film highlights the importance of solidarity among women<\/a> in a society that treats them as commodities to be bought, sold, and used as breeding stock. And for a film full of brutality, violence, and death, the value of empathy and simple human kindness is at the heart of <\/strong>Mad Max: Fury Road<\/strong>, showing how people joining together can reclaim their humanity and topple authoritarian regimes.<\/p>\n

Mad Max: Fury Road is now streaming on Netflix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Times recently released a list of the Top 100 Films of the 21st century that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3935],"tags":[77,3943,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-261241","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114845252624623039","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}