Last night, Mad Max: Fury Road won a total of six Oscars at the 88th Annual Academy Awards – the most of any film nominated, and its sweep was certainly felt throughout the evening.
It won nearly all the visual and technical categories, rightly so, and while it didn’t win the two big categories it was up for – Best Picture and Director – it may have started an interesting conversation.
Typically, movies like Mad Max (or anything to do with space), win the technical awards. However, its sweep showed that people recognized its sheer, awesome power and strength as a cinematic experience (and it definitely doesn’t hurt that most of its wins went to women).
Furthermore, the fact that it was nominated at all for Best Picture and Director was great, and hopefully a sign of change within the Oscars. Most people are already saying director George Miller was snubbed (an opinion I can’t refute), which is a conversation that can go as far as the winners (just look at Brokeback Mountain).
Last year I wrote about the evolution of the Academy, from awarding big, populist blockbusters, to shutting them out entirely (or at least relegating them to technical awards and nothing more).
But now, with Mad Max’s popularity, wins, and nominations, it might pave the way for blockbusters to make a comeback at the Oscars.
It won’t happen quickly (nothing involving the Academy ever does), but provided filmmakers keep doling out original and well-made blockbusters, we could start seeing a wider breadth of films getting attention at the Oscars. After all, people get weary of “Oscar-bait” year after year.
Are you happy with Mad Max’s wins – do you think it should have won more? Less? Would you like to see more blockbusters nominated? Sound off below!
