"You and me, Max, we're gonna give them back their heroes!" - Roger Ward--------------------
Max is a cop in an undetermined future, where law and order approaches its breaking point and the world is starting to become overrun by violent, anarchic gangs. Max becomes mad when these gangs harass him and push him to the edge. When the madness takes over, Max will not stop until he runs down all his enemies.
Right from the start, Mad Max establishes itself as a thrilling new breed of dystopian sci-fi with a frenetic highs-speed car chase. Car chases is the big draw that would persist through the whole film and in its famous sequels. In the case of this film, the chases are pretty simple, but they are well-filmed to emphasize speed, destruction, and violence. The vehicular carnage is often awe-inspiring, but in between the action, the film continues to captivate with its hard-edged portrayal of crazy villains and tormented heroes. The film's last half exudes suspense as the villains hone in on Max and his family, before the film wraps up with a wicked sense of justice.
To be honest, the film never was completely enthralling to me personally. At first glance, the film felt rather slow, drab, and disconnected. Only on repeat viewings would I find the film so engaging; the film's appeal ultimately hinges on how well you can relate to the characters, the crumbling world they live in, and the film's style. In time, I found myself becoming more and more enamored by the characters and the film overall.
The film embodies the structure and form of a typical American western, and the characters fulfill familiar archetypes of various heroes and villains. As such, the story is made to be pretty straightforward, but it implicitly carries themes of social decay, and the conflict between civility and barbarism. These themes fit into the setting perfectly; it's a bizarre post-modern world where things appear to be in shambles, but the last vestiges of society linger. In this world, the film is ultimately all about a man gradually losing his humanity, until he crosses a certain threshold and becomes the very monster he always feared. The film's first half tends to be rather unfocused, but the events of the second half become much more engaging; it builds up to the compelling transformation of "Mad Max," so filled with tragedy and rage.
The film captures this tale with very superb photography. Camera angles are really great, and the film is very concisely-edited. Max was Mel Gibson's breakout role, and he pulled it off really well, becoming a hero who looks cool but also elicits empathy. I developed quite the soft spot for Joanne Samuel's performance, which is tenderly-emotional but still well-grounded. Aside from her, everybody's performances (even Mel's) tends to get pretty nutty and over-the-top at times, but it fits in with the film's anarchic view of the near-future. Writing gets the job done. This production didn't have much of a budget, so many of the props and costumes were done on the cheap. Can't say I'm a fan of the police car designs, or how some scenes seemed to be cluttered with modern-looking items. Fortunately, the film's budgetary limitations rarely show, as the film makes apt use of real locations and real materials to bring its scappy view of the future to life. Brian May's music score is really decent.
Even though future Mad Max films would improve on budget and ambition, this original film kicked it all off with a simple, but emotional and powerful tale, of a man succumbing to chaos. Even though I found the movie a bit dull at first glance, I wound up loving it, especially in the way it crafts its story with a few simple images that gives it am emotional punch. Among those images, the scene with a single shoe bouncing on the open road as the bikers roar by is still one that exudes tragedy and desperation, and it's one of those scenes that hits me the hardest. For all those well-crafted moments, the film is worth seeing at least once.
4/5 (Experience: Good | Content: Good | Film: Very Good)
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