Review of Mad Max (1979) by Johnny T — 23 May 2015

Announcing a new kind of action-thriller, this impressively shot, ultra violent post-apocalyptic saga from Australia made Mel Gibson an instant star. Australia exported this creative, original, exciting, low-budget genre landmark which gave the young Mel Gibson his first starring role. The film has been consigned to the grind houses, where audiences are responding as Miller wants them to. From there Mad Max will find its way to the film schools and revival houses, where its tough-gutted intelligence may be appreciated. Mad Max is a straight forward fusion of two B-movie genres popular in the 1970s: the car chase film and the vigilante revenge film. Despite its budget and other shortcomings, Mad Max is still worth watching and worth adding to the post-apocalyptic section of your home video collection. Staging the improbable car stunts and crashes to perfection, director George Miller succeeds completely in bringing the violent, post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max to visceral life. It generates a rumbling kind of thrill, the kind that can only be generated by real stuntmen doing what they do best, not camera tricks and post-production special effects. One of the most original and visionary post-apocalyptic adventures ever made. Mel Gibson rules the road in the original Mad Max.

VERDICT: "High-Quality Stuff" - [Positive Reaction] This is a rating to a movie I view as very entertaining and well made, and definitely worth paying the full price at a theatre to see or own on DVD. It is not perfect, but it is definitely excellent... (Films that are rated 3.5 or 4 stars).