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Other Title: The Road Warrior (1982)
Tell a Friend The Road Warrior
Ahhh, the classic post-apocolyptic thriller that sets the standard for post-apocolyptic thrillers. One tagline reads 'In the future, cities will become deserts, roads will become battlefields and the hope of mankind will appear as a stranger'. I remember skipping school in the early 80's to stay home and watch this one on cable, Such a great movie that has lost none of it's appeal even after 20 plus years. This is the story of a man, once an officer of the law, who now roams the highways of post-apocolyptic Australia searching for gasoline and maybe a reason to exist. In this time, gasoline is the most valuable commodity, so much so men kill for it. Mel Gibson plays Max, in the role that made him known worldwide. During his travels, he comes across a small settlement that is actually producing petroleum. This settlement is besieged by a group of motorized, murdering, mauraders who want all the fuel. Knowing that the fuel is life, the people in the settlement defend the fuel, but their strength and ability to hold out against this powerful force is becoming less and less each day. Max strikes a deal with them for all the fuel he can carry provided he can get a truck for them so they can haul their tanker of gas out of the wasteland and find a better life in a fabled coastal land. Max fufills his end of the bargin, and leaves the settlement with his fuel, but is attacked and left for dead. Having lost his car, he decides to drive the tanker. This sets up one of the most amazing highway battles ever filmed, as the settlers have turned the tanker into a moving fortess, and the marauders will stop at nothing to stop the tanker and get the gas. This movie is what I would call a nearly pefect example of excellent casting, story, dialogue, plot, script, wardrobe, etc. to make up a near perfect movie. Everything in the movie works so well that your entire attention is focused on the screen, even after multiple viewings. This is actually the second in a trilogy, Mad Max being the first and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome being the third, but, in my opinion, this one is the best. It's raw, gritty, sometimes humourous and competely enthralling. On a side note, what's up with Warner Brothers and their crummy cardboard packaging? It just seems so flimsy and cheap. And don't look for a lot of extras with this release, just the full and widescreen versions and some production notes.
This just in...I heard George Miller and Mel Gibson are bringing Max back one more time in 2004 in Mad Max: Fury Road......
This movie, the second in the Mad Max trilogy, is easily the best of the three. Visually, it's very distinctive. The first movie showed a society breaking down in the post apocalyptic world. By this movie, it's broken down. The first movie showed the immediate aftermath. There were still working phones, power lines, people trying to go on with their normal lives, etc. There was even a police force, of which Max was a member, trying to maintain order. Now, society has descended into complete anarchy. Civilization's infrastructure has broken down completely. In the first movie you saw shops, service stations, hospitals. Now you see people scavenging in a wrecked world. Max's car is no longer a gleaming black vehicle, but a delapidated, dirty old beater, its engine still in top shape, but its interior stripped, and its body covered in dust, battered and old. Max's leather police uniform is no longer immaculate, but torn and patched. Visually, this movie set a new standard, and like "Star Wars" and "Blade Runner", changed the way movies in its genre were made. Even the setting works in telling the story. Where the first film featured country with trees and green grass, this movie is set in a blasted desert, further accentuating the sense of collapse.
And this movie's quality doesn't end with the visuals. It has a great, exciting story, very reminiscent of the pulp adventures of old. It's hero, a wanderer, a uniquely skilled and deadly loner, is a mythic archetype. The actors are all perfectly cast. Mel Gibson, with only a few lines of dialogue, turns in a compelling, emotional performance, showing the transformation from the happy, loving husband and father of the first film, to the wounded, burnt out shell of a man seen here. In this film, Max is a tough, fang-scarred old wolf, who has absolutely nothing to live for, but whose survival instinct, combined with his toughness and resourcefulness, just won't let him quit.
The other characters in this movie are also unique and memorable. Bruce Spence's gyro captain is a likeable opportunist. Mike Preston's Papagallo is the determined, idealistic leader, in over his head, but trying his best. Vernon Wells makes a great, flamboyant villain. And Kjell Nilsson is the Humungus, whose face we never see; leader of a vicious band of trash, whose hulking physique, and savage followers seem at odds with his articulate speech, and ostensibly conciliatory manner. The story and characters elevate this movie over the host of low budget imitators that followed. But the film is not short on action either. And George Miller was a gifted director who put to film what remain the best car chase scenes ever shot, right down to this day. Action lovers will find plenty of excitement with this movie. It's a terrible shame the third film wasn't very good, as it killed the prospects of a long running series. This is sad because Max, wandering lone wolf that he is, is a character who, like James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, or the Conan of the old pulp magazines is eminently suitable to a series of adventures.
this is THE ONE,the movie that made mel gibson a world star and forever changed the action movie landscape forever. it also started the post-apocolyptic movie craze in the 80's with its tale of former cop,now wandering nomad named max. in the first movie of this three movie cycle max lost his family to thugs as the world tore it's self apart. max savagely hunted down and killed all of the thugs and rode off into the wasteland,which is were we find him as the movie opens. this max is cold and very much a lone wolf who has almost no human feelings left in him.what he and everyone else wants is fuel,which is getting harder to find.after a funny bit with a gyro-chopter pilot max finds a group of people hold up at a oil dump and after some intresting fights helps the people leave the dump with the gas as a horde of outlaws lay siege to the camp! the final chase one of the greatest car chases in movie history and takesthis movie into the area of legend! many movies have tried but none have matched the energy of this one of a kind action adventure. the stunts are beyond anything you have ever seen. check this one out!!!!!!!
This film is great! Its a post apocalyptic story that takes place in the dessert where only the tuff and ruthless survive. People race around on bikes, a little plane, and fast spiked out cars fighting for oil. They take whatever they can and destroy anything that comes in their path.
Its got a perfect cast and script. It was made by a teriffic director George Miller, who puts heart into his movies. It was a low budget film so all the special effects were real and not computerized. You get to see Mel Gibson in his prime wearing a hot leather outfit before he became famous. The characters really are all perfect, especially the gay biker with the red mohawk and open chaps and the little kid with the mullet. The costumes are great. This film was one of the first of its kind. Many films had immitated it but none were as good.
Mad Max has everything a film could ask for- its an action packed film with humor, romance, nudity, and horror. It is one of the few films that are actually better than the first. Its got the longest chase scene in a movie that lasts 20 minutes and you never get bored! This film remains one of my favorites and will always be a classic.
The Road warrior, or to call it by its other name - Mad Max 2 is one of those very rare animals, a sequel that manages to be better than the original. Mad Max was a good film but its budgetary constraints showed. The Road Warrior takes the strengths of Mad Max and integrates them with higher production values. The result is an even better looking film than the original, packed with even more scintillating and jaw dropping stunt sequences.
In the plot of this film, civilisation has collapsed completely. Survivors scavenge for food and fuel, ruthlessly eliminating any competition by any means that they can. Mel Gibson plays Max, a former Highway Cop, now eking out an existence in his former pursuit car - a V8 Interceptor. Cruising the blighted countryside, he searches for fuel and food, so as to survive. His only companion is his dog and following the events depicted in the previous film, he has become a cold, untrusting, and withdrawn loner. He encounters a character called the Gyro Captain (amusingly played by Bruce Spence) who pilots a mini helicopter. The Gyro Captain shows Max an oil refinery under siege by an army of thugs, sporting Mohican hair cuts. This pack is led by a psychopath called Humungous who wants the refinery and its fuel for himself. Defending the refinery are a group of ordinary people who want to flee the waste lands and set up a new life in a quiet part of the country. Max falls in with this group and helps them in their battle against Humungous and his cronies.
The road sequences are stupendous and are a real white knuckle ride to sit through, especially if you have not seen the film before. There are no CGI effects in this film and what you see is all stunt work and it is brilliant. These car chases are peppered throughout the film, culminating in a massive chase involving a huge and amoured fuel tanker, pursued by scores of marauders in souped up vehicles. Great to watch in the cinema, this film is equally superb on a home cinema set up. Picture is bright, clear, and pin sharp. Sound is 5.1 and it is superb. Congatulations to Warner Brothers for a superb digital transfer from the Dolby Stereo of the original print to a superbly realised 5.1 dvd soundtrack. Just watch that incredible audio/visual opening sequence of the film itself to see what I mean.
One of Mel Gibson's best performances in a film that has become a cult in its own right. See it.
Reviewer: OzzyApu (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews Later to be known as a man of dignity, honesty, and fragility, Mel Gibson is known to most ignorant men as a pansy. However, for the select few who can actually bare the man, we always come to our senses to watch this film whenever time is on our side. Once Mel was known for his survival instincts, keen street smarts, and his signature everyman-for-himself attitude. This movie proves that in all aspects...
Max Rockatansky is the protoganist on the verge of collapse. His wife and child were murdered by a group of bikers, only later to be almost fully exacted on by Max single handedly.. He now runs life on the highway with his faithful canine and the champion Pursuit Special Interceptor. Suffering from disillusionment, society seems all to desperate in his eyes...just as desperate as he is to stay alive in search of pertroleum. What you will find throughout the movie from here will only bring you driving plot sequences and entertaining scenes that will keep you watching the whole way through. All the action never gets old, many instance come up that will make you have that tad laugh you want to let out, and the ending chase will leave you wanting to explore scene selection the next time around.
The best way to sit through this is with an open mind, so be aware of things that you might not see in a normal action film. Now since this is science fiction, there will be many skeptics upon stupidity and pointless aspects to this film, but hopefully you will understand the true concept about this movie and everything that fills it.
Anyways, this is a exemplary masterpiece in every way possible for a film. This is Mel the way he wanted to be portrayed in the beginning...raw, tough, and in your face. He makes sure you understand what kind of hell he has been through, and this movie is a veteran example of such reality. I highly recommend adding this to the library which you have forged, as it only reigns as an essential piece in film history. If you already purchased it before, give it another round. Only classics are worthy of so...
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#1. To: A K A Stone (#0)
Mad Max ROCKS, but "Braveheart" has gotta be my favorite, with "The Patriot" somewhere up there, too...MUD
Question Conventional Wisdom!!
Braveheart and Patriot are also awesome flicks. I would put them right up there with Road Warrior. It's good to see that at least you have good taste in movies.
Imho, I have good taste in just about everything, my friend...MUD
Question Conventional Wisdom!!
Road Warrior is the best, but you have to admit he's been pretty entertaining lately.
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