Mad Max : Au-delà du dôme du tonnerre

This will be silly and disjointed for those who found the second mean and rampaging. Spielberg had intervened in popular imagination, so there's a kid friendly dash of Indiana Jones along with some Lone Ranger. But from Mad Max I come away with two things, the narrative edges of world we discover and the cinematic action of the chase.

I don't take to the Bartertown portion of the film, it may be closer to Road Warrior in spirit but all I see here is rushed spectacle intended for a boorish audience, contraptions. We do see a bit more of the Max world around this place but not in any way I care for. It feels like this part was bolted on when they decided to turn a separate script into a Mad Max movie.

No, I find myself oddly captivated by the Lord of the Flies portion. There are glimmers of magic for me in the way the narrative of something that crashed from the skies one day has been preserved in the minds of kids. The way it's revealed through a screen that frames remnants of half- remembered story, the chorus of awestruck kids for whom all of this has profound meaning.

It does open up a window to a whole swathe of Max world but this time with deep feeling, as myth the kids have vowed to keep in memory and bide their time for. Sure, we are in Goonies territory and again in the end with the city, but there's hushed yearning here, an almost Biblical kind.

The rest is in the big chase, a train this time, briefer than usual and over before it really exhilarates, as if more by obligation than real affinity for it. They would eventually build a whole other film around it, extending it to an entire circus around the rig, but that would have to wait for 30 years.

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.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was a bigger production than its predecessor: Road Warrior. I still think I like Road Warrior better. The nemesis was more nemesisee and Mad Max himself was in more peril.

Beyond Thunderdome was lighter as far as mood (which the presence of children may have caused). This time the nemesis was the incomparable Tina Turner as Aunty Enmity, but I couldn't bring myself to hate her. The character wasn't a real hatemonger and... it's Tina Turner. She was the Beyonce before Beyonce.

One thing I'll give Beyond Thunderdome over Road Warrior is the theme song. It's top ten in my book. In 2002, for Spider-Man, Nickelback sang: "they say that a hero can save us, I'm not going to stand here and wait." Well, Tina Turner laid the groundwork for that in '85 when she said: "We don't need another hero." And she knocked that song out of the park.

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.

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.