![]() But thank goodness the company did, because Fury Road is action movie perfection. Modern cinematic dystopias fall into one of two categories: Blade Runner or Mad Maxīut even if you haven't seen a Mad Max movie, you've seen a movie influenced by a Mad Max movie - whether you know it or not. At the end of a recent screening of the film, director Edgar Wright (of Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim fame) opined that modern cinematic dystopias fall into one of two categories: Blade Runner or Mad Max.Īnd it's hard to see how Wright could be wrong. The original Max (Mel Gibson) walks the post-apocalyptic wasteland in The Road Warrior. The Mad Max franchise is a throwback to the action heroes of the 1970s and '80s, where, often, the only continuing element between films was the protagonist. (Think of the Indiana Jones films, for instance.) And all four films are at least very good. This is one of the most consistent franchises in movie history. "Mad" Max Rockatansky, played in the original trilogy by Mel Gibson and in Fury Road by Tom Hardy, is a drifter in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, emerging from the desert to visit the small communities where human civilization clings to life as fiercely as possible. The character and the Australian outback are the only throughlines that span all four films. Related I went to the 29-hour Marvel Movie Marathon in high spirits. Mad Max (1979): Max is a police officer and dedicated family man in a world that is technically mid-apocalyptic. ![]() Max even has time to go on vacation in the middle of the movie.Įnergy shortages are causing some desperation, but society is mostly chugging along. What really drives the action are the car chases, which are fast, furious, and frequent. The film was produced on a minuscule budget in Australia, and it's a lean little thriller about cops in pursuit of the gangs who control the highways and one man pushed to his limit. Halfway through the film, Max experiences a horrific tragedy that haunts him throughout the rest of the franchise, and his behavior in the final third earns him the nickname "Mad Max." Official Vox rating: 4 out of 5. Mad Max 2 (1981): Also known as The Road Warrior (the title I'll refer to for the rest of this story), this film is a nearly perfect action movie. The energy crisis has worsened to the point where fuel has become a precious, hard-to-find resource. Max, hardened by his experiences in the first film, comes upon a band of settlers and ends up helping them survive attacks by a gang led by someone known as "the Humungus." The film follows more of a Western plot structure, and there are some phenomenal chase scenes peppered throughout. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985): The most divisive film in the series and the final to star Gibson, Thunderdome takes place several years after Road Warrior, with fuel almost completely gone and the growing desert (caused by an unspecified nuclear apocalypse) consuming everything. Max comes upon a place called Bartertown, where he's conscripted by leader Aunty Entity ( Tina Turner) to destroy a threat to her rule. His later adventures lead him to a group of children who speak in a kind of deformed English (possibly influenced by the great novel Riddley Walker) and into one final, climactic chase. It's a bit misshapen as a movie, but it possesses great imagination. These films were all wildly profitable, but they didn't make so much money that a fourth film was inevitable. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): Max is now played by Tom Hardy, and his backstory is established in a quick prologue before he sets off on a lengthy chase that consumes nearly the entire movie - with his new pal the Imperator Furiosa ( Charlize Theron) by his side. Wild and imaginative and stocked with impressive thematic ideas, it's hard to imagine this summer producing a better popcorn movie than Fury Road.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |