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Mad Max

Starring: Mel Gibson
Director: George Miller
Genre: Action
Year: 1979
Rating: 2 / 5

A little less than fifteen years ago, I had my first exposure to an up-and-coming young actor named Mel Gibson, and, I am ashamed to admit, that exposure came via Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Little did I know at the time that that peculiar film had actually arisen from two more well-known entries, the first of which was Mad Max. Years later, when I finally saw Mad Max and its awesome sequel The Road Warrior, I wondered how I could ever respect the third film, especially with rocker-turned-actor Tina Turner as the primary villain. Regardless, it all began years before in the Australian outback. It was there that a loving father and husband became the wandering nomad known as Mad Max...

The actual year is not important, but Mad Max opens in the near future, some years after a devastating war has wrecked havoc upon the world. From the rubble has sprung a new order, built upon fear and terror. The road is ruled by roving gangs of bikers, raping and pillaging the countryside in their unending quest for "juice," or the gas necessary to power their beat-up motorcycles and cars. The only people standing between these gangs and total anarchy are Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) and his fellow police officers. Driving high-powered Interceptors, the peacekeepers roam the highways in search of crime, hoping to maintain some sense of sanity in an otherwise insane world.

The chief gang of malcontents is headed by Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne, looking an awful lot like the lead singer in a death metal outfit), a man whose driving motivation seems to be revenge against "The Bronze," his affectionate term for officers of the law. He achieves his revenge with the death of Max's partner, Jim Goose (Steve Bisley). Shaken to the core, Max gathers his wife (Joanne Samuel) and young child and heads off to the country, leaving his career in law enforcement behind him. Things are never quite so easy in this apocalyptic wasteland, and Max soon realizes that he and his family cannot run from Toecutter and his men.

Director George Miller paints a compelling portrait of a broken world, and this image is maintained throughout each of his three films in the series. Dozens of knockoffs have been produced over the years (see Waterworld), but none have ever been able to capture the grim, desolate setting Miller creates in Mad Max. Unfortunately, though, Miller's vision and some exciting action sequences are all the keep this film afloat. Mel Gibson does not come into his own until the series' second installment, or, at the very earliest, the final moments of this entry. The buildup in Mad Max takes the majority of the 88-minute runtime, leaving mere moments for Gibson's character's eventual vengeful rampage. To see it all come together, one need merely take a stroll to the local video store and pick out a film classic called The Road Warrior...

Cast:

Certification: Rated R for violence and brief nudity.
Running Time: 88 minutes.

Additional Info: Internet Movie Database
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