We Don’t Need Another Hero: Mad Max Review

In celebration of next year’s Mad Max videogame and the hopeful release of Mad Max: Fury Road, I will be taking a look back at one of my favorite cinematic trilogies of all time.

The film that started it all, Mad Max, is not indicative of what the franchise is known for when people think of the it by name. However, the film more than makes its presence known by the time you pop in the thing. Intense music and a phenomenal opening sequence set the tone for the film to follow. Police pursuit of a deranged outlaw named the Night Rider (Vincent Gil) proves unsuccessful and all the cops on the unnamed Australian town’s police force fall until there is only Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) left to take him down. And take him down he does through the use of his trust vehicle, The Interceptor.

This is the future. The very near future, as the title card in the beginning states. Although we do have to put into account this is the very near future from 1979, the year Mad Max was released. Anyway, this is a future overrun by dangerous biker gangs and a very tenuously held law and order maintained by the Main Force Patrol, of which Max is a member. He is about near the end of his rope too as we discover following the opening chase sequence. He wants to retire from the force and spend time with his wife, Jessie (Joanne Samuel), and his child.

Needless to say, events materialize in the form of the Night Rider’s old gang, led by the sadistic Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne). Soon, Max’s entire life is in ruins and there is nothing left for him to do but to get mad.

I used to think this movie was too slow. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it a lot, but it just felt like it took its time too often. This is especially true when compared to its immediate sequel. Looking at it now, I find the movie’s pace perfectly fits the kind of life Max has, wants to break away from, and ultimately is forced back into by the time the movie ends. The opening sequence deals with the kind of day-in day-out life Max has. It’s violent and unpredictable just as the near post-apocalyptic world is at large. Max doesn’t want this anymore, he desires for a life of peace and quiet. This desire is ripped away from him, revealing Michael Corleone’s “just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in” line from The Godfather Part III to be quite apt.

The movie ends in a blaze of violence and vengeance that ties up all loose ends and provides for a thrilling ride in all respects. The best, however, was yet to come as this film leaves Max riding off into the outback and straight into the next adventure of the Mad Max saga.

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