Mad Max : Au-delà du dôme du tonnerre

This movie was much maligned when it came out in 1985, but that was due to the spectacular qualities of its predecessors, "Mad Max" and "The Road Warrior." Taken out of comparison with the other two, this movie is still solid post-apocalyptic fun, but it's lighter and slightly less violent than "Road Warrior" (as is evidenced by the PG-13 rating.) The actors' performances are perfectly adequate for the action, and the chase scenes bear all the hallmarks of Miller's craftsmanship (which contemporary directors should seriously consider studying and revitalizing.) You just won't see any arrow-riddled bodies slamming into the pavement at 60 mph or watch manned motorcycles sucked under the wheels of a big-rig. This one is about the kids. Think Hook in the wasteland and that starts to approach it.

If you saw this movie in the theaters 25 years ago and walked out hating it, give it another chance. Just don't see "RW" right beforehand. No reason to hobble your experience with unrealistic expectations.

When he is attacked and robbed of his animals, Max Rockatansky follows his attackers to Bartertown – a den of deceit and violence that is made possible thanks to the methane power source from pigs kept underground. Bartertown may be ruled above ground by Aunty Entity but the real owner is Master Blaster – a team of two men who control the power supply. In exchange for his goods, Aunty offers Max a deal where he will challenge Blaster to a fight in the town's duelling arena and kill him –thus removing the muscle and putting Master under Aunty's control. Max accepts, although he rightly suspects that he will be the next to be betrayed.

At least one reviewer on this site has said that the reason people dislike this film is because it is about the start of a new world whereas the other two Mad Max films were about the end of the world as we know it. Sadly I believe he is mistaken because I think the reason people dislike this film is because it is messy, excessive, unconvincing (even within the apocalyptic situation it makes no sense) and just isn't really any good. The plot swings between an excessive violent society at the start, to a child colony in the middle to a big noisy chase scene right at the end. In terms of the narrative that connects this all, don't worry about that because it doesn't really work and just feels very episodic throughout – making it messy and uninteresting. It is unconvincing and, although I accept that the entire film is fantasy, you gotta wonder where all the excesses and such came from and how we were supposed to buy into it; hell, a fuel blockade by lorry drivers brought the UK to its knees a few years ago but yet we're suppose to believe this? The apocalyptic here lacks imagination and just feels like the sort of thing that exists in an art director's mind rather than something that convinces.

The episodic feel isn't helped by the rambling, pointless dialogue associated with the children – it tries to have a mysticism that nothing else in the film has worked to deserve; however it could be helped by developing Max better. If he was a strong lynch pin holding all these bits and pieces together then it would matter less but he isn't – he is just a grunting rock that doesn't really have a character to speak of and I had little or no interest in him at all – even when he becomes "caring and sharing" I didn't care because I had had nothing to work with up till that point. Turner is not terrible but she doesn't really act and just sort of swans around in an unconvincing manner. In that regard she is like the majority of the cast, who don't really give the performances – whether it e the clunky child actors or the grunting brutes that are just stunt fodder. The stunts are OK and the final chase provides some distraction but without really caring about the plot or the characters, I found it hard to get into any action.

Overall a disappointing film whose core failing is the lack of a convincing new world. The film feels episodic and lacks anything to hold it together. Throwing a lot of cars around at the end does provide some distraction but by then it was too late for me and the whole thing was clunky, pointless and surprisingly uninteresting.

The first half of this film -- the part with Bartertown, Thunderdome, etc -- is brilliant, not just a repeat of THE ROAD WARRIOR but a totally new concept, thoroughly fleshed out. The second half, with the lost children, isn't as good -- and, more to the point, doesn't quite mesh with the first half, despite Miller's attempts to tie it all together at the end. Still, it's well above average in a genre that has increasingly come to believe (wrongly) that special effects are more important than plot and character.

This stirring movie in comic-strip style is packed with unbelievable car stunts , thrills, chills and noisy action . Violent movie about a futuristic road-warrior cop with high-velocity action and kinetic energy . This classic is set a few years from now , a dangerous, desolate post-industrial future world where rules the strongest law . It concerns about the exploits and feats of an ex-police named Max (Mel Gibson) on the apocalyptic future world . Being stolen of his possessions by Jeddeiah (Bruce Spence) and his son while walking through the Australian outback , Max heads toward a remote city called Bartertown , a post-nuclear location full of kind of criminals and governed by Aunt Entity (Tina Turner). Bartertown runs on methane gas, which is produced from pig feces by prisoner-slaves. All methane comes from an underground cavern, Underworld . Max is forced to fight against Master Blaster on behalf of Aunt Entity in order that she gains whole control of the town . Max survives a battle-to-the-death in Roman style Thunderdome arena . But when the combat is over he is thrown back out into the solitary desert . Exiled Mad Max meets a group of orphans, the only survivors of a plane crash during the nuclear war . The group of children and teens is living as a strange commune ( similarly to ¨William Golding's Lord of flies¨) and take to Max as their Messiah named the 'Captain Walker' . Max says them that he's not Captain Walker and that civilization is gone , wiped out by the nuclear apocalypse . Later on , Mad Max along with them returns Bartertown to confront cutthroats and the revenge takes place . Max and the group wreak havoc on the city and escape from fortress but vengeance will be terrible and bands of depraved crazies thirsty for blood pursue them . They are besieged by motorized warlords and they'll have to fight against the cutthroats , a band of depraved crazies thirsty for blood and survive some battles to-the-death with lots of blood and gore, including throating-slit , beheading , impaling and blow up.

This exciting picture packs kinetic action , thrills, chills , tension and abundant violence . Spectacular stunt-work plenty of fights , motorcycle races , cars with bounds and leaps and explosions . The picture is divided in three parts : the first happens on the boisterous city of Bartertown , the second on the sunny desert with metaphysical moments and Max surrounded by children and third , the conclusion , again on Bartertown and the subsequent getaway in ¨Mad Max 2¨ style . Top-notch Mel Gibson as road warrior at one of his first main roles , he embarks a spectacular adventure against vicious murderous and with some philosophical moments . Weird roles and fantastic atmosphere combine with stunning action scenes in this remarkable action film that completes perfectly the excellent trilogy . Rumbling score fitting to action by Maurice Jarre and emotive music including chores when are developed the scenes of the children . Special and weird futuristic atmosphere created by cameraman Dean Semler who reflects splendidly the barren outdoors . The motion picture is stunningly directed by George Miller ( and George Ogilvi) , author of the excellent post-apocalypse ¨Mad Max¨ trilogy along with the writer and producer Byron Kennedy . It's followed by numerous imitations as the recent ¨Doomsday¨(2008, Neal Marshall), rip offs, and exploitations ,especially Italians products . Rating : Good, better than average , the Mad Max trilogy result to be the most successful Aussie movies of all time . This remarkable action film will appeal to Science Fiction buffs. Rating : 7 , Above average. Well worth watching.

Who could not love this movie? It's got more imagination than five average postbomb flicks, incredible visual design, enough alternate societies with enough backstory apiece for three more movies (including an aboriginal clan who look like Peter Pan's Lost Boys and speak a dialect you'll be copying for days after you see it), car chases, amazing costumes, one of the most original death-duel sequences ever, Tina Turner, *and* Mel Gibson! I mean, goddamn, what more do you want? I personally want another movie just set in Bartertown AND a movie that follows what happens to Anna Goanna and her clan, and they don't even have to have Mel Gibson in them - that's how rich I think the imaginative depth of this movie is. I like it more every time I see it. Genuinely something special.