Review of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) by Brandon R — 03 Nov 2015

It seem like there was a concerted effort here to eliminate graphic violence without sacrificing action scenes. Throughout the film I could only confirm three fatalities and those were pretty tame. What's more surprising is how well it's all managed, I thought this was the most exciting and entertaining film in the trilogy and it accomplishes this with a PG-13 rating.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome continues to expand the scope of Max's broken world with beautiful wide shots and an army of extras. Bartertown is a fully realized version of the gas outpost from The Road Warrior and hammers home the post-apocalyptic aesthetic better than any of the other films. We see relics of our own world (cities, airplanes) lying dead and unused, the first time items of this scale have been presented.

In typical Mad Max fashion the story here is simple but moves along smoothly, introducing new characters and settings regularly. Our new villain, Tina Turner as Auntie Entity, isn't particularly effective and occupies very little screen time. This didn't bother me though, a good villain isn't needed here. The film isn't much interested in good v. evil, it focuses instead on the various human clans struggling to survive in the wastes.

After concluding this film trilogy I'm surprisingly pleased with what I've seen. Each installment was more entertaining than what preceded it and George Miller stopped making them before the whole deal became stale (which was probably one sequel away). They possess adequate continuity without leaning on it for support and each sequel has its own unique feel.

I won't confuse the Mad Max saga with those great films that inspired it (mostly westerns) but these pictures are certainly a worthy addition to our pop culture cannon.