Read my review of MAD MAX here
Read my review of MAX MAX 2: THE ROAD WARRIOR here
Read my review of MAD MAX: FURY ROAD here
I don't get people's fascination for the collapse of society. The way we live now isn't perfect, but it sure beats living in a hopeless wasteland with desperate people and cannibals. The only post-apocalyptic franchise I ever really cared about was Mad Max and Mel Gibson's glorious mullet might have a thing or two to do with that. It's a strange series because the Mad Max movies are barely movies. More than half of them are just fun excuses for futuristic car chases, but there is one movie that stands tall above the other. One that defined the mythos of Mad Max to his fans and I'm talking here of the immortal Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. It's by far my favorite in the franchise and it should be yours too.
So Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) is once again minding his own business when a rogue plane pilot (Bruce Spencer) highjacks his vehicle and leaves him to die in the desert. Fortunately, Max soon finds Bartertown where he is ushered into a conflict between its ruler Aunty Entity (Tina Turner, rocking a mullet even more glorious than Mel's) and Master Blaster (Angelo Rossitto and Paul Larsson) running the pig feces factory the city depends on. Max has a deal with Aunty to get his car back refueled and restocked if he gets rid of Master Blaster for her. It's easy to forget Max once was a cop, but he doesn't. He never does.
Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome holds a sacred place in the hearts of the fans for many reasons. Notably, it features an arena where men are tied to giant elastics and fight to the death with weapons scattered around. It was the UFC before the UFC for its testosterone-fueled audience and the fact they're using chainsaws and cartoonishly big hammers gives it an edge reality will never be able to match (or so I hope). The reality in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome seems chaotic and dangerous whether in civilized areas or not and far enough removed from our universe that it doesn't feel threatening. Probably nothing in Mad Max will happen in our lifetimes, so its enjoyment is karma free.
That hair is still oddly sexy to me.
Social justice champions clamored the merits of Mad Max: Fury Road's feminist themes, but it's nothing new to the series. It's always been at the center of George Miller's writing. Sure, Aunty Entity wear a ridiculous, hypersexualized desert amazon outfit but the character was revolutionary for its time. Aunty is a leader of men and a power broker. She has vision, nerves and most important: a heart. Several feminist archetypes built by men are women who are good at and passionate with what men do, but rare are female characters who rise above men with feminine attribute such as psychology and persuasion. It doesn't mean one can't be a champion boxer and a fine negotiator, but Aunty's a great character because she's a woman being a woman getting the upper hand on men HER OWN WAY instead of trying to best every man at what they do. That is why I believe she is the most important female character in the series.
Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome is timeless. It might've aged a little, but I suspect it looks as silly and pseudo-futuristic now as it did back in 1985. It's a crazy, sprawling adventure movie about a loner with a vague sense of justice wasting time in the dunes and therefore it is a weird metaphor for life on the internet today, which could explain why people (self included) are so still goddamn fond of this piece of cinema. Mad Max was a franchise that definitely deserved a generational reboot and do yourself a favor and give Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome another viewing if you ever start to doubt that. Let's appreciate the art of George Miller while we still got him.