Starring: Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Steve Bisley, Tim Burns Directed By: George Miller (II) Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Label: MGM (Video & DVD) Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: January 01, 2002 Running Time: 94 minutes Theatrical Release Date: 1979
Amazon.com: The Road Warrior is already a classic, sans condescending genre distinctions like "sci-fi" or "action." But the story of Mel Gibson's stately antihero begins in Mad Max, George Miller's low-budget debut in which Max is a "Bronze" (cop) in an unspecified postapocalyptic future with a buddy-partner and family. But unlike most films set in the devastated future, Mad Max is especially notable because it is poised between our industrialized world and total regression to medieval conditions. The scale tips towards disintegration when the Glory Riders burn into town on their bikes like an overamped cadre of Brando's Wild Ones. Representing the active chaos that will eventually overwhelm the dying vestiges of civil society, they take everything dear to Max, who will exact due revenge. His flight into the same wilds that created the villains artfully sets up the morally ambiguous character of the subsequent films. --Alan E. Rapp
Product Description: Setting Mel Gibson on a sure path to superstardom this highly acclaimed crazy collide-o-scope (Newsweek) of highway mayhem cinematically defined the postapocalyptic landscape (TV Guide). Featuring eye-popping stunts that are electrifying and very convincing (Variety) and an authentically nihilistic spirit (The Village Voice) Mad Max is pure cinematic poetry (Time). In the ravaged near future a savage motorcycle gang rules the road. Terrorizing innocent civilians while tearing up the streets the ruthless gang laughs in the face of a police force hell-bent on stopping them. But they underestimate one officer: Max Rockatansky (Gibson). And when the bikers brutalize Max s best friend and family they send him into a mad frenzy that leaves him with only one thing left in the world to live for -- revenge!Special Features:New Digitally Remastered Anamorphic TransferNew-To-The-U.S.! Original Australian LanguageOriginal Mono Audio Track Mel Gibson: The Birth Of A Star Documentary Mad Max: The Film Phenomenon DocumentaryTheatrical TrailersAudio Commentary With Jon Dowding David Eggby Chris Murray & Tim Ridge Road Rants Trivia & Fun Fact TrackPhoto GalleryTV SpotsAnd More!System Requirements: Running Time 94 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 027616869241 Manufacturer No: 1002726
Not mad enough This is an interesting film, which if occasionally a bit wooden, virtually created its own genre overnight, and made Mel Gibson a star.
Perhaps its most noteable feature was George Miller's use of unusual camera angles, which created one or two iconic images. Sometimes it has the feeling of an exploitation film, but it never develops in that way and by today's standards it seems rather tame.
It looks as though it was made on a pretty low budget, and I prefer the brasher sequels where a little more polish was added. It remains a film curiosity, but really not much more than that.
MEL GIBSON in MAD MAX!! Truly the best MEL GIBSON movie, MEL was only 24 when he made this movie. Australian born MEL GIBSON hits the big screen in his first full length movie. He plays a cop that loses is family to a biker gang and he's out for revenge. Before Lethal Weapon & Passion of the Christ there was MAD MAX!! I rate this movie a 9 from 1to10!!
This DVD ain't bad Yeah, I'm gonna post here to contrast what others have said. This dvd does include the original Aussie soundtrack, the first time Americans have ever seen this version in the history of the film. Pretty impressive. It is much better than the dubbed version. The special features are so-so, not a whole lot to rave about. The print is clean, it looks great with the widescreen, and the original audio is a definite plus. This is certainly a worthy purchase for being only ten dollars.
Awesome Post-Apocalyptic Setting! At this point Mad Max is simply a post apocalyptic classic film. While some people may not enjoy the movie through and through, I don't think that statement is very much contested. Don't get me wrong, it's a fairly old film from today's perspective and its filming style shows that. I think in perspective this movie was pretty on point for what people were thinking about at that time. I mean when you think about it, the Cold War was still going strong and each country was trying to out power the other in terms of military might. So the greatest concern at that time was a nuclear war and "Mad Max's" setting takes place shortly after such a catastrophic event.
It's pretty interesting to watch because it gives a pretty interesting "what if" scenario if technology and development stopped in the late 1970's. So you never had the internet boom and the age of the computer in the 90's. It's kind of cool when you try to picture this scenario. The places it's most apparently are in the hospital and the kinds of cars they are using. Despite this downfall it seems like everyone has custom vehicles and most are designed with a sports car in mind. In the hospital scenes it reminds me of the film version of "Johnny Got His Gun" because the hospital areas just seemed too archaic by today's standards.
In Mad Max the world is still trying to hold on to the small vestiges of society that it can. Lawlessness is at a whole new level and it seems that the court systems run amok similar to our current ones. Basically the main premise for the film is that Mel Gibson plays a cop named Max who is effectively terrorized by a biker gang indirectly at first, but then very directly as the movie moves on. The gang has this bizarre spiritually violent ethos, where the main member Nightrider was a key messenger of this philosophy... or at least that's how I'm interpreting his role. The police sort of have a hand in this man's death so another member of the gang, Toecutter, comes after them. Nightrider's death is what sparks the turmoil and brings the gang into town to wreak their havoc.
It's really kind of a tragic tale when you think of it as a whole, but that's kind of the point. Max is a tragic character that gets pushed to the absolute extreme on every end. However, I think during this film they didn't truly know what direction they wanted to bring Mel's character and I feel that direction was finally found in "The Road Warrior." However, "Mad Max" is still fairly essential in order to get into Max's background and why he is so angry. There is a slight discontinuity between the two films though, because at the end of this one he still has contact with some semblance of civilization and in "Road Warrior" it's all wastelands.
While "Mad Max" can seem a bit dry at times because it's mostly cars racing around on highways, it does set the stage for a very influential film (I feel at least) in the future. While authors were setting the stage for post apocalyptic worlds, "Mad Max" set the stage for a lawless and harsh reality, unlike "1984" where the war pushed society to much stricter controls. I think this is the type of movie people should at least see once, at the very least for nostalgic purposes, because it does not have nearly the same re-watch value as the sequel.
mad max ftw! weather you want action, drama, or just some awesome car scenes this is the movie for you. mel gibson delivers the performance of a lifetime.
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