To me, the story of the Mad Max franchise is strikingly similar to that of another 1980s franchise, The Evil Dead. Both began with impressive, low budget filmmaking debuts by obviously talented directors: Mad Max (1979) – George Miller, The Evil Dead (1981) – Sam Raimi. Both peaked creatively a few years later with second chapters, even though they were basically variations of the first, except with bigger budgets: The Road Warrior (1981), Evil Dead II (1987). Then, both went off the rails with awful third chapters that ended the franchises: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Army of Darkness (1992).
I’m sure that last sentence is going to be controversial; a lot of people like Army of Darkness. However, I don’t suspect very many people will argue that Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome isn’t a great movie. In many ways, it’s the quintessential 80s summer movie, bursting with excess, complete with popular music theme song, and overall marketing package shinier than its contents. More about that soon enough… With the arrival 30 years later of a new movie in the franchise, it’s time to take a fresh look at the original trilogy.
Mad Max
If you watch the original 1979 movie today, Max is not exactly as mad as you’d remember. Neither is the movie itself. At the time, I’m sure it was innovative with its kinetic energy and stunts, but it is now sadly dated, its crashes and explosions like a Saturday night stock car race gone wrong. I’m not saying it’s a bad movie, it’s just primitive. And if you have in your mind that Mad Max is full of non-stop action, you are wrong. There are basically two big vehicle chases that bookend a sometimes dull story, void of much suspense.
It’s “a few years from now;” that is “from 1979,” I guess. So… 1985? I jest because Mad Max also does not take place in the post-apocalyptic setting that you’d recall. There’s no explanation for the state of their locale, but there are still buildings and shops and a police force. For all you know, it could be just a particularly desolate area of Australia, where the film was made. Max drives a car called the “Interceptor,” and is called in when the regular highway patrol (“MFP Pursuit”) cannot slow down an unruly driver named “Night Rider.”
Mad Max is really an origin story that depicts how Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) became the man we remember in the next two movies. He’s not in road warrior mode until the last few scenes in the movie. For the bulk of it, he’s actually on holiday with his wife and child, enjoying long stares into their eyes. When Night Rider’s crew hunts him down and threatens his family, he cuts loose. But even his rampage of revenge is cut short. The movie ends with him driving toward us with an explosion in the background that doesn’t even involve the big bad. It’s abrupt, stopping just as it’s starting to get good.
The Road Warrior (Mad Max II)
The Road Warrior is probably the movie you remember when you think of Mad Max. I still wouldn’t call it non-stop action; however, it stands the test of time a little better than its predecessor. There’s obviously a huge increase in the budget, and the film looks great. But if you think of either movie as one long highway chase/battle, you’ll be disappointed. Here, Max is in the familiar post-apocalyptic wasteland and its evolvement is explained in opening narration:
“2 mighty warrior tribes went to war… Their leaders talked and talked and talked… Cities crumbled… Gangs took over the highways… Max became a shell of a man, a burnt out desolate man who wandered out into the wasteland… It was here in this blighted place that he learned to live again…”
Early in the story, Max is captured and taken to the fort-like refinery where a group of survivors guards an oil supply. He eventually bargains for his release by promising to retrieve a vehicle large enough to haul their rare commodity to another location. Between here and there, though, sits The Humungous and his violent gang that would just as soon have the oil for itself. The final race out of the refinery is a truly exciting extended climax. It ends with a twist that’s satisfying for the many, but sort of an FU to the one. Max is a reluctant hero, but things never seem to work out for him in the end.
I guess now’s as good a time as any to talk about Mel Gibson. It’s hard to watch him, knowing what we do about him now. Here is a true movie star, nearly unrecognizable at the ages of 23 (Mad Max) and 25 (The Road Warrior), and showing such promise… so much ahead of him. He ages fast and hard by the time he goes beyond Thunderdome, though. At 29, he suddenly looks much older. This was during his “rising star” era where he was gathering critical praise for movies like The Year of Living Dangerously and Mrs. Soffel. Thunderdome would usher in the Lethal Weapon era of superstardom.
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
The summer of ’85. What a year… I was freshly graduated from college, living on my own for the first time and having the time of my life. A View to a Kill, Fletch, Cocoon, St. Elmo’s Fire, Silverado, Day of the Dead, Fright Night, Teen Wolf, my favorite movie ever, Back to the Future, and… Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. It’s little wonder that I remembered nothing about Thunderdome until I recently rewatched it. Well, nothing except Tina Turner, of course. In Bartertown, Aunty Entity (Turner) rules, spouting hilarious dialogue like, “One day cock of the walk, the next a feather duster.”
She employs Max to kill the Blaster part of a giant/dwarf team called Master Blaster, who controls the underworld where the town gets its energy. It’s a methane production facility. Methane comes from pig excrement. Let the “shoveling shit” puns fly. I’m not really sure why Aunty Entity wants him dead so badly, except for the fact the he somehow stands in her way of complete control. Max orchestrates events that pit him against Blaster inside Thunderdome where, as the citizens of Bartertown chant, “two men enter, one man leaves.” The fight is an exciting little scene and we’re off to a great start.
Then the whole endeavor falls apart. When Max violates the rules of Thunderdome, he spins a wheel for his punishment: banishment to the desert. (“Bust a deal, face the wheel.”) He’s eventually rescued and taken to the hideaway of a bunch of children survivors who mistake him for Captain Walker, a man storied to one day take them home. It’s now a new movie… what I consider a kid’s movie. There are kids sliding down sand dunes while rousing music blasts on the soundtrack. There are failed attempts at humor such as the old gag of our hero running around the corner chasing an adversary, then running back toward us followed by many adversaries. It’s bad.
Eventually, we get to the expected road chase/battle. This time it occurs on and along a train track, so it’s familiar, yet fresh. Any joy, though, is squandered with multiple shots of children hitting the bad guys in the head with frying pans. It’s bad. Maybe Thunderdome was intended for a younger audience. Or maybe a major studio’s involvement for the first time screwed up the story. But it’s a very different movie from Mad Max or The Road Warrior. The best part about it is when halfway through, someone finally gives Max a haircut so he can lose the horrible wig he’s been wearing.
Mad Music
I want to tie up this little retrospective by talking about the music of the Mad Max movies, because music plays such an important part in action movies. In Mad Max, it’s just awful. I read that Brian May “rates highly as one of the best film music composers in the history of Australian cinema.” I’m afraid that doesn’t say much for Australian music composers! It’s a horrible mix of ’60s TV, bad porn and saxophone. Instead of contributing to the excitement, it distracts.
May returns for The Road Warrior, and while the score itself is better, the use of it is terribly out of synch. It’s overbearing, marching along when nothing is happening on screen and silent during some of the most exciting scenes. Who do you blame for that? Maurice Jarre takes over on Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, which seems like an odd choice; I don’t think of him as an action score composer. But in Thunderdome, it’s not about the score, it’s about the theme song.
I also end talking about the music because I’ve seen Mad Max: Fury Road and the original music by Junkie XL is amazing! It’s everything an action score should be, actually part what’s happening on screen and a seamless extension into its own auditory experience. My colleague at Boom Howdy, Kelly Shea, actually reviewed Fury Road for us, and she mentioned this as her very first point.
And you could say something similar about the movie, too: Fury Road is everything a Mad Max movie should be. It’s a rare example of demonstrating why a beloved franchise should be resurrected three decades later in a sequel or a reboot. It’s everything Mad Max, The Road Warrior and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome are not, even though that’s how we remember them.
