4 out of 5

Director: George Miller

Despite its brash opening, ‘Mad Max’ essentially boils down to some typical horror / thriller templates – the vacation gone wrong; the revenge rampage.  The way the flick reroutes into campy dramatics in its middle third threatens to dismiss some of the interesting concepts George Miller plays with in the background of his script, but it all ends up being worth it to show us the road to Max Rockatansky becoming a vengeful badass.  And by the time we’re there, the swelling music stings and genre tropes become a necessity, part of the appeal of the extra-real world of Max.  Through it all, Miller shows himself to be a daring and expert craftsmen – for every stock cheesy shot there are several of thrilling creativity, and for a low budget film, the director – perhaps questionably forgoing safety concerns to capture some stunts – commits awesome action to the screen.  So: through a brilliant lack of voiceover and/or exposition (take THAT modern cinema), we come to understand that in the near future, resources are scarce, the police force is thin, and ‘common’ criminals are become more dangerous, unhinged, and powerful.  One such criminal is racing down the road before being driven off-course – and to his demise – by officer Max.  Which triggers a sequence of events that leads to that criminal’s gang seeking revenge, and then, when pushed to the edge… Max returning the favor.  Structurally, Mad Max is a little shaky.  Our lead is supposed to already be a badass, but we aren’t really shown too much to justify that, and Gibson plays him with nice guy charm for most of the flick.  There’s an initial obsession with cars that doesn’t really play out (except to justify the reappearance of one later on) and Max and wife take a vacation in the middle of the movie that almost feels wholly separate from the rest of the world.  Perhaps purposeful, but sort of jarringly plain against the leather and bike background of the rest of the movie.  And things do lurch from violence to peace to anger very quickly, but again, once Miller lets Max drop the other shoe, all of this heavy-handedness ends up being appealing overkill to underline our satisfyingly bleak ending.  ‘Mad Max’ turns out to be a classic cult flick that not only stands up to its reputation as inventive and gritty, but still works as an exciting flick after thirty years.

Update 02.05.17: Having just partaken in a blu-ray viewing, the transfer is excellent – well worth the upgrade – and the commentary from Art Director Jon Dowding, Director Of Photography David Eggby, Special Effects Artist Chris Murray and Mad Max enthusiast Tim Ridge is pretty fascinating through and through, sharing tidbits on camera setup and lighting that’s touched on in other specials, but not as well detailed as it is here.  It’s also amusing how no one listens to Tim Ridge, although his commentary might’ve been recorded separately.