Review of Mad Max (1979) by Will H — 08 May 2012

Ah, Mel Gibson. What a cultural trainwreck the man has become, through his racist remarks, alcoholism, and general public irresponsibility. It's hard to remember the Mel Gibson who directed and starred in Braveheart, let alone the Mel Gibson who nabbed his first lead role in the Australian dystopian action thriller Mad Max.

However, recent Gibson issues aside, Mad Max holds up extremely well, and feels like a bridge between the crime-oriented, chase-heavy, realistic, and gritty action of the 1960s and 1970s (See: The French Connection, Dirty Harry, Bullitt) and the balls-to-the-wall, over-the-top, often sci-fi tinged, blow-em-up action of the 1980s and 1990s (See: Die Hard, RoboCop, T2).

Director/Co-Writer George Miller, making his very own debut as a filmmaker, shows a strong penchant for action and chase sequences, and also writes (along with producer Byron Kennedy and co-writer James McCausland) a nail-biting and sad tale of justice, violence, and eventually loss and vengeance.

Despite what many say, however, Mad Max is not a post-apocalyptic film. Instead, it shows a society on the brink of destruction, as law and order begins to give way to gang control and the proverbial "rule by the strong".

At the center of this is disgruntled cop Max Rockatansky, who wishes to simply give up the badge before the dystopian future leads him to enjoy the violence, and settle down for a nice family life with his wife Jessie, and his young boy Sprog.

Eventually, some run-ins with a ruthless biker gang led by the sadistic Toecutter leads to the severe injury of Max's friend and coworker Goose, and eventually the warping and hardening of Max's heart and soul, creating the eponymous "Mad Max".

And the young Mel Gibson truly nails every aspect of the character, from his tough-guy cop persona, to his nice family man side, and eventually, his rage-filled insane transformation. Hugh Keays-Byrne also deserves recognition for his wonderfully eccentric and undeniably creepy performance as Toecutter, as does Joanne Samuel for clearly establishing why Jessie and Sprog are what keeps Max grounded, and why they must go for him to truly survive in this new, cruel world.

Steve Bisley and Roger Ward make for fun side characters as Max's buddy cop and boss, respectively and Tim Burns supplies Max with his final transformation as the skeezy Johnny the Boy. Brian May's score is old-school, and appropriately toned to the changes in the characters and story, David Eggby's camera work is kept real and gritty, and the editing cuts the movie down to a lean, mean 93 minutes, where not a second of screentime is wasted.

Mad Max is definitely a strong start for both Miller and Gibson, and redefined the meaning of dystopian and post-apocalyptic storytelling.