140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW
What was a bold, unique action film may now seem very tame and slow, but the original film is still crucial in understanding the character.
Spoiler-free Movie Review of Mad Max:
Even though I’ve seen the sequels many times, this is actually only my third or fourth time watching the original Mad Max. I know it’s a classic and everything, but there really is no going back after The Road Warrior. If I saw this first I know it would have been so much more meaningful.
I vividly the first time I saw Mad Max. A bunch of us were at our friend Dave’s house – where we played RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons and Call of Cthulhu, listened to tons of heavy metal and watched dozens of oddball sci-fi pictures. It was where I first saw Bad Taste, Highlander and bootlegged copies of movies like the Dolph Lundgren Punisher that wouldn’t get released in the States. In some ways, Mad Max was just another in a long line of quirky foreign films.
Mad Max is a good movie right up until the moment you see The Road Warrior. After that, there’s really no point watching the original, save for possible nostalgia.
It’s a brutal, 1970’s style film. Simultaneously, it’s a low budget picture and feels like it. Mad Max is more of a good idea for a movie than a movie in of itself. It’s like a demo; unique and possessing qualities the finished product doesn’t have, but still clearly undercooked.
As revenge pictures go, it’s not much of one, though I realize it’s 1979. Still, this is hardly Peckinpah material. Max doesn’t actually pursue anyone in revenge until 15 minutes before the end of the film and frankly, his payback is neither grisly or particularly scary. In point of fact, the most engaged he gets with a criminal is at the climax of the film, and it isn’t even with the leader of the gang. In other words, the main villain isn’t the main villain…
The suspense level is pretty high for so little actual action, which isn’t really a bad thing, just surprising seeing where these films would shortly go.
Visually the film is fabulous – truly unique. It’s as bleak and desolate as the future the story depicts. I love that all they needed to do to depict a world bereft of law, order and hope was go to a remote area in Australia. I find that terribly amusing…
In regards to the acting, the best you can say is that it’s easy to understand why Mel Gibson would soon be a star. He is charismatic.
The music is truly awful – so melodramatic.
Mad Max is a good movie. I don’t wish it to seem as though I don’t like it. It’s a great start to what would prove to be a franchise, and it is utterly remarkable what director George Miller & producer Byron Kennedy were able to achieve with so little resources. The fact that Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior would shortly make the original Mad Max seem underdone by comparison shouldn’t reflect negatively on a very good, original film. (It sort of does, though…)
Poster:
Trailer:
Bechdel Test:
Fail
The Representation Test Score: D (1 pt)
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
[schema type=”movie” url=”http://www.madmaxonline.com/” name=”Mad Max” description=”In a self-destructing world, a vengeful Australian policeman sets out to stop a violent motorcycle gang.” director=”George Miller” producer=”Byron Kennedy” actor_1=”Mel Gibson” ]
| Main Cast | Mel Gibson Max Joanne Samuel Jessie Hugh Keays-Byrne Toecutter Steve Bisley Jim Goose |
| Rating | R |
| Release Date | Thu 12 Apr 1979 UTC |
| Director | George Miller |
| Genres | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller |
| Plot | In a self-destructing world, a vengeful Australian policeman sets out to stop a violent motorcycle gang. |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 93 |
| Tagline | He rules the roads. |
| Writers | James McCausland (screenplay) &, George Miller (screenplay) |
| Year | 1979 |