This
stunning, post-apocalyptic action thriller from director George Miller stars
Mel Gibson as Max Rockatansky, a motorcycle policeman in the near future who
is tired of his job. Since the apocalypse, the lengthy, desolate stretches
of highway in the Australian outback have become bloodstained battlegrounds.
Max has seen too many innocents and fellow officers murdered by the bomb's
savage offspring, bestial marauding bikers for whom killing, rape, and
looting is a way of life. He just wants to retire and spend time with his
wife and son but lets his boss talk him into taking a peaceful vacation and
starts to reconsider. Then his world is shattered as a gang led by the evil
Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne) murders his family in retaliation for the death
of one of its members. Dead inside, Max straps on his helmet and climbs into
a souped-up V-8 racing machine to seek his bloody revenge. Despite an
obviously low budget and a plot reminiscent of many spaghetti westerns, Mad
Max is tremendously exciting, thanks to some of the most spectacular road
stunts ever put on film. Cinematographer David Eggby and stunt coordinator
Grant Page did some of their best work under Miller's direction, and crafted
a gritty, gripping thrill ride which spawned two sequels, numerous
imitations, and made Mel Gibson an international star. One sequence, in
which a man is chained to a car and must cut off a limb before the machine
explodes is one of the most tense scenes of the decade. The American version
dubbed all the voices — including Gibson's — in a particularly cartoonish
manner. Trivia buffs should note that Max's car is a 1973 Ford Falcon GT
Coupe with a 300bhp 351C V-8 engine, customized with the front end of a Ford
Fairmont and other modifications.| Mel Gibson | Mad Max |
| Joanne Samuel | Jessie |
| Hugh Keays-Byme | Toecutter |
| Steve Bisley | Jim Goose |
| Roger Ward | Fifi Macaffee |
| Tim Burns | Johnny the Boy |
| Vince Gil | Nightrider |
| Lulu Pinkus | Nightrider's Girl |
| Nick Lathouris | Grease Rat |
| John Ley | Charlie |
| Sheila Florance | May Swaisey |
| Max Fairchild | Benno |
| George Novak | Scuttle |
| Neil Thompson | TV Newsreader |
| Geoff Parry | Bubba Zanetti |
| Phil Motherwell | Junior Doctor |
| Paul Young | |
| Tom Broadbridge | |
| David Cameron | Underground Mechanic |
| David Bracks | Mudguts |
| Clive Hearne | |
| John Hardy | Labatoche |
| Reg Evans | Station Master |
| Peter Ford | |
Genre/Type - Action, Science Fiction, Sci-Fi Action, Biker Film, Chase Movie
Produced by - Mad Max Proprietary / Roadshow Distributors
Running time - 93 min.
Dead End Drive-In (1986, Brian Trenchard-Smith)
Zone 39 (1996, John Tatoulis)
Anno 2020 - I gladiatori del futuro (1982, Joe D'Amato)
Battletruck (1982, Harley Cokliss)
The Ultimate Warrior (1975, Robert Clouse)
Vanishing Point (1971, Richard Sarafian)
12 Monkeys (1995, Terry Gilliam)
Deadly Reactor (1989, David Heavener)
is followed by: The Road Warrior (1981, George Miller)