Mad Max

Not many low budget flicks age very well but Mad Max certainly has.

I watched it again recently, as I only had vague memories of watching it years ago, but I found it to hold up well. Only by reading the other user comments did I discover that it had been dubbed! What a load of crap. Why would a movie in English be dubbed in English! If you cant understand Aussie accents, you dont deserve the pleasure of seeing this movie. I cant imagine this movie having the same effect without the Australian accents.

What George Miller did with this fairly simple script is remakable. The camera angles and speeds with which this film moves along at times were thrilling, Not to mention the great stunts and even the barbaric humour (the ripped off arm!).

The car which Mel Gibson eventually gets revenge in (an Aussie Ford coupe) looked as menacing as a car could! built for the movie for A$35 Grand, a replica was used for the final crash 'n burn scenes of Mad Max 2. The original car was salvaged and is still around somewhere, appearing at car shows in the late 80's.

This classic is set a few years from now, a dangerous, desolate world of the future where rules the strongest law and useless Halls of Justice. It concerns about a police named Max (Mel Gibson), some cutthroats and revenge takes place. Max lives along with his wife (Joanne Samuel) and son. The nasties attack , rape, ravage to hapless and unfortunates. But vengeance will be terrible against some bands of depraved crazies thirsty for blood on high facility roads.

This exciting picture packs kinetic action , thrills, chills, shocks and lots of blood and violence. Spectacular stunt-wok plenty of motorcycle races with bounds and leaps and explosions . Top-notch Mel Gibson as revenger angel at one of his first main roles, he embarks a criminal vendetta against vicious murderous. Rumbling and screeching musical score by Brian May. Special and weird futuristic atmosphere created by the cameraman David Eggby. The motion picture is stunningly directed by George Miller, author of the excellent post-apocalypse ¨Mad Max¨ trilogy along with the writer and producer Byron Kennedy. It's followed by ¨Mad Max 2, the Road warrior¨ with Gibson , Bruce Spence, Vernon Welles and Mike Preston ; and ¨Mad Max beyond Thunderdome¨ with Tina Turner, George Ogilvie, Frank Thring and again Bruce Spence. In addition, numerous imitations, rip offs, and exploitations ,especially Italians products. Rating : Good, better than average, this is the most successful Aussie movie of all time.

The film is a drama with action and adventure elements. Unlike later films where the apocalyptic and ultra-violent world is already established, this one is much more "down to earth". There is a standard civilization here, however, there are violent criminals. The film shows experienced police officers facing a sinister motorcycle gang. There are a lot of cool chase scenes here, which are the highlight of the film.

The performances range from simple to some good. Highlight goes to Mel Gibson, who is charismatic and does well in the role.

The villains are detestable, and from the second to the third act we hope that Max can stop everyone in his path. The ending of the film is brutal, fun and remarkable, and certainly inspired a famous series of horror films involving a cutting saw (I think you already know what I'm talking about). If the film had a little more action in the first act, and some more interesting characters besides Mel Gibson and two or three others, I would give it a higher rating. Either way, it's a cool movie.

Dr. George Miller's low budget Mad Max franchise impacted on Australian culture and altered the perception of Australia and Australians overseas in a way that no other Australian film had done. The films explores themes such as 'man and the environment', 'fear provoking post-apocalyptic future, family', 'masculinity in crisis', 'good versus evil (Max as an iconic hero), Australian ethos and car culture; themes often featured within Australian films yet presented in a stark and dramatic way. The cinematographic impact is powerful; the human and emotional appeal is timeless.

Australia's barren deserts presented the ideal setting for a post-apocalyptic environment. The film set is more identifiable as Australia as it was filmed around the city of Melbourne. Long deserted roads feature significantly in the film and the cinematographic device of taking long distant shots of Max demonstrates how small he is in the scale of the environment that he is living. It is a relentless, unforgiving environment which demands defeat or survival and marks the characters which play upon its stage.

Just as the physical setting is stark and desolate, the time setting and its associated events create an atmosphere of fear and foreboding which plays on the minds and emotions of contemporary viewers. In this fear provoking post apocalyptic future the few survivors of the nuclear holocaust are in warfare with one another, the rebel bikers and the police.

Good versus evil is a dominant discourse in many film genres and one which embraces the Australian ethos. Max possesses some highly valued "Australian" traits; in particular, those of the underdog, the battler, the hero. External forces beyond his control stop him from "winning" completely. Contrary to the Hollywood hero, the Australian hero is a pawn in the game of others, which explains why Max can never quite "win" in absolute terms. There is little public glorification of success in Australia; heroes are remembered for their style rather than for their achievements. (Venkatasawmy, 1996) Mad Max represented a tradition hero, a hero to whom many diverse cultures are able to relate, as a story of a lone hero is a story that goes back through centuries of storytelling, and as a consequence the film achieved colossal success within Australian and around the world. The Australian cultures and lifestyles shown throughout these films give Australians an understanding of their country in the landscape, the language, and the way we treat people, life and life in exceptional circumstances.

Reference Venkatasawmy, R. (1996), Australian Film in the Reading Room: The Hybridity of Film-making in Australian National Cinema: Formulating a Cinematic Post-Diaspora. Retrieved March 14, 2005, from http://wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/rama/CHAPT4.htm

Set somewhere in the future we are privy to a world where the roads are ruled by maniac gangs with souped up cars, and bikers that literally could come from hell. Trying to stop these marauding loons are the overstretched police force who themselves ride in exceptionally fast cars. At the front of this story is Max Rockatansky, a good honest cop trying to hold his own against the chaotic world that is forming around him. After his best friend is burned and left for dead he decides enough is enough and thinks about retiring from the service, but whilst on a vacation with his wife and child things go decidedly bad and Max becomes an avenging force of fury with devastating affect.

When evaluating this film I feel it really needs to be put into perspective just how brilliant a job director George Miller did with next to no cash to work with, in fact Miller edited the film in his own bedroom just to emphasise the low-fi nature of the beast. The costumes are excellent, the cast are terrific, with Mel Gibson as Max particularly impressive, and here we have villains to truly fit the word villainous, but it's the stunts and chase sequences that makes this film a rich rewarding experience. The opening ten minutes alone are pure adrenalin pumping genius, but the film as a whole delivers a crash bang wallop punch that has often been imitated since its release, but rarely bettered, and although the heart of the film is a simple revenge story, it grabs your attention and delivers right to the corking finale, 8/10.

Footnote: Region 2 Users should note that the bargain bucket Mad Max Trilogy flip pack set still contains the foolishly dubbed version of this film, incredibly stupid move from the American distributors.