Mad Max (1979)

Genre

Action

Director

George Miller

Country

Australia

Cast

Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Steve Bisley, Tim Burns, Roger Ward, Lisa Aldenhoven, David Bracks, Bertrand Cadart, David Cameron, Stephen Clark, Robina Chaffey, Jerry Day, Howard Eynon, Max Fairchild, John Farndale, Sheila Florence, Nic Gazzana, Paul Johnstone, Vincent Gil, Steve Millichamp, John Ley, George Novak, Reg Evans, Nico Lathouris

Storyline

In an Australian dystopia of decaying order and violent highways, patrolman Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) cruises the squalid back road that has become the breeding ground of criminals foraging for gasoline and scraps. When his wife (Joanne Samuel) and child meet a grisly end at the hands of a motorcycle gang, Max sets out across the barren wastelands in search of revenge.

Opinion

Before watching the highly acclaimed "Mad Max: Fury Road" I thought it'd be fair watching the original Mad Max films. Seems like the franchise didn't start off too well.

Paced too fast, especially in the action sequences, Mad Max is mostly bland and surprisingly manages to be tedious.

The major problem is that the film seems like it's never going to begin. Most of the plot seems like an introduction to the real story, that basically occurs in the last thirty minutes or so of the film. 

Also, I wouldn't go too far and call it a 'revenge movie' or a 'post-apocalyptic movie' because the revenge doesn't start until that last part I've mentioned before, and dusty rural roads are not enough to convince me it's a post-apocalyptic Australia or a science fiction film for that matter.

However, I have to admit that the action sequences, despite the fast pacing, are quite exciting, especially Max's revenge sequence, and quite good considering the time's standards. 

In one of his earliest performances, Mel Gibson did a quite good job with his character, even though he has to wait around for most of the film, and the writers didn't bother writing an interesting character you can care about. Aside from Gibson, everyone else seems to put on some amateurish performances. 

If flat plot, lack of decent dialogue, explosions, car wrecks and motorcycle crashes are your thing, I'm quite sure you'll enjoy this film.