MAD MAX (1979)
Updated: May 9
A Contemporary Review of the Low-Budget Classic that Launched a Franchise
Grade: A-
The Mad Max franchise takes place in a postapocalyptic Australia and centers on a former cop named Max Rockatansky who roams the wastelands and reluctantly helps various people being preyed upon by warlords and tyrants. The latter three movies in the series-The Road Warrior (1981), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)- are known for their production value and high-octane automobile chases. Moviegoers already acquainted with these films may be surprised to find that the first Mad Max, released in 1979, is nothing like that at all; it is shocking, horrific, realistic, and vivid in its depiction of violence and evil, leaving the audience with dread and despair. Tone-wise, it is more akin to the exploitation films that were common in the 1970s than the escapist entertainment of the sequels, and the villains depicted in the film are not sophisticated, like Aunty Entity in Thunderdome, or comic-book-like, like the Humungus in The Road Warrior; they are psychotic monsters.
Set “a few years from now,” according to some opening text, the Australia in the original film is not quite the wasteland presented in the later films. Society has not yet collapsed, no nuclear bombs have fallen, and life is going on pretty much as normal-except for the rise of insane gangs taking over the highways. Max (Mel Gibson) and the other members of Australia's Main Force Patrol constantly have their hands full dealing with these gangs. The film’s opening implies that it will be the type of adrenaline-fueled action movie its sequels are as three MFP vehicles embark on a high-speed chase after a cackling criminal who calls himself the Night Rider.
The chase passes through a heavily populated area, where the three MFP vehicles crash in spectacular fashion. Then Max joins in the chase, breaks the Night Rider’s nerve, and causes him to crash and burn. Later things get dark when a motorcycle gang, led by a man known as the Toecutter, enters the picture. It turns out the Night Rider was one of them, and now they are out for blood.
These bikers are insane and savage, preying on almost everyone they cross paths with. Their acts of atrocity are so realistic and terrifying, I don’t even want to mention them here. You immediately get the sense that they have no morals and no honor; they go after just about anybody, male and female, young and old.
The bikers make Mad Max look almost like a horror film. Director George Miller crafts moments of terrible suspense when it’s clear that the bikers are present. The suspense reaches its peak in the second act when Max’s wife, Jessie, is stalked through the woods by them. Ultimately, Jessie and her young son Sprog are fatally wounded when the gang goes after them on their bikes. Max, who had already been shaken by the death of his friend Goose at the hands of the gang, finally snaps, steals a “Pursuit Special” vehicle from his precinct, and sets out for revenge.
As Max hunts down the bikers, the screenplay seems to have been crafted to numb the audience to the shocking acts he commits against them, so great were the heinous crimes committed by the Toecutter. But the deaths Max inflicts on them seem tame compared to the fate that awaits mentally impaired gang member Johnny the Boy. I won’t divulge it here, but let’s just say that, by this time, Max has finally become the “terminal crazy” he always feared he was turning into. And when he drives away at the film’s conclusion, he is completely hollow and dead inside.
Mad Max was produced on a meager budget of $350,000. While not a huge success, its popularity grew after its sequel, The Road Warrior, became a smash hit. To see it now is to see a film that is unique among its series. It is a well-directed, amazingly acted revenge saga that proves a movie doesn’t have to be expensive to be effective. Make no mistake: it will leave an impact on you, if for no other reason than the sheer evil of the antagonists and the grief of the hero.
Director: George Miller
Producer: Byron Kennedy
Screenplay: James McCausland, George Miller
Cast: Mel Gibson (Max Rockatansky), Joanne Samuel (Jessie Rockatansky), Hugh Keays-Byrne (Toecutter), Steve Bisley (Jim "Goose" Burns)
Rated: R
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