Feb 03 2009
“Mad Max” (1979) ****
Preview
Starring: Mel Gibson, Steve Bisley, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Tim Burns, an Geoff Parry.
Directed by: George Miller.
Story:
A few years in the future in a dystopian Australia, law and order is decaying and a murderous motorcycle gang known as Armalite, led by a barbarian named Toecutter, rule the desert barren highways and roads. One of the gang’s members, Nightrider, is on the run by himself after having broke the law, leading a few police units in a high speed chase, causing mass property damage. After the other units fail, the Main Force Patrol’s (MFP) best of the best pursuit man, Max Rockatansky (Gibson) puts his driving skills to the test and duels Nightrider in a chase that results in his death.
Max and his partner Jim Goose stumble across one of the gang’s members, Johnny The Boy, at one of their crime scenes and apprehend him. But with no witnesses to show for his trial, the case is declared “no contest and Johnny is released. Sometime later, Johnny and the rest of Toecutter’s crew sabotage Goose’s motorcycle and then burn him alive. After seeing Goose’s charred body, Max becomes disillusioned with his job and is forced to take a vacation, however, he doesn’t expect to return. But his vacation has yet to begun when he and his family run into Toecutter and his gang.
Before “The Punisher”, there was “Mad Max” - An ugly and incoherent image of the future, a crazed breed of vengeance, social breakdown, murder, and high-speed chases that make “The Fast & The Furious” franchise look like it’s on ADD. The story is an unorthodox policeman tale set in the near future where a man questions his career and faces grave danger and death within his circle of partners, friends, and even his family. Running at 93 minutes, the script is very-well paced and is not anxious to jump into everything right way, rather, it has a natural flow of its own - Everything becomes well established in the first act, Max looses his partner in the middle of the second, and by the third, he begins to loose his family, leading to up to an adrenaline rush, last twenty minute ride.
Characters:
Mad Max is the ultimate bad-arse policeman and this is Mel Gibson before he was a star, before he was the crazed Martin Riggs from “Lethal Weapon”. He’s a family orientated man but somewhere deep down, he’s got his own mean streak if you press the right buttons. As a matter of fact, one could look at “Mad Max” as a precursor to his character in “Lethal Weapon” whom had already lost his family and his mind, plus he is a cop as well. His chemistry between his family and colleagues is very well written and performed by a talented cast.
Meanwhile, Max’s nemesis, Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Bryne), is a vicious force to be reckoned with that is acted very well. Mr. Keays-Bryne does an excellent portrayal of a barbaric and murderous gang leader that makes us hate him so bad that we can’t wait for the big pay off in the film’s vengeful finale. Alongside Toecutter is his protege Johnny The Boy (Tim Burns) and his number one lieutenant Bubba Zanetti (Geoff Parry).
Overall:
“Mad Max” is responsible for creating the renegade future image which many sci-fi action films followed, although it didn’t particularly reach its peak until between “Mad Max 2″ and “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome”, this popular image is still attractive to filmmakers to this day, whether it’s in 1989’s Van Damme action picture “Cyborg” or 2008’s British sci-fi venture “Doomsday”, these films borrow heavily from the “Mad Max” films whether it’s the costumes, crazed characters, vehicles, weaponry, or the barren desert settings. Like “Jaws”, “Halloween”, “Die Hard”, and many others, “Mad Max” carved its own niche in cinematic history.
Rating: ****
