Review of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) by Rj M — 02 Aug 2008

A disappointing final chapter in the Mad Max trilogy. The movie does contain a phenomenal fight between Max and a guy called Master Blaster inside the Thunderdome, where they fly around on bungee cords and weild weapons from sledgehammers to chainsaws.

Then there is the final chase scene that contains the great actions sequences that made the series famous. But in between those scenes is a storyline that bogs the movie down. It involves Max and a group of children that are surivors of a long ago plane crash, that see him as the pilot they believed destined to rescue them.

Then there is Tina Turner as Aunty Entity, the leader of Bartertown, where she makes the rules and decides who lives or dies. The movie is visually impressive as director George Miller delivers a fully realized world of people that have made a new world for themselves in the aftermath of nuclear holocost.

But the story softens Max up by making him a borderline father figure to this group of orphans. The middle part of the movie drags, and never reaches the heights of either Mad Max or The Road Warrior.

Still the action sequences deliver the goods, and it's a well acting and visually impressive movie.