Cheap Mad Max (Special Edition) (DVD) (Mel Gibson) (George Miller (II)) Price

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Customer Reviews of Mad Max (Special Edition)

It's not that it's _bad_. It's just that it consists mostly of an hour and a half of atmosphere. Another film would have had this entire plot take place in the first half-hour and gone on from there.

The idea -- a postapocalyptic mood piece set in the Australian Outback -- is wonderful, and naturally enough the scenery is gorgeous. And considering the shoestring the movie must have been made on, it's very good. It's just not much fun to watch twice, because it takes so bleedin' long for anything to _happen_.

The best thing about it is the young Mel Gibson, who perfected the likeable-handsome-lug persona a generation ahead of George Clooney and who plays Max with just the right combination of rogueish charm and leonine ferocity. When he finally _does_ go 'mad', his puckish humor evaporates and he burns like a slow and deadly fire.

The rest of the cast does well too -- and having previously owned this film on VHS, I'm glad that the DVD special edition includes the original voices. The thick Strine may be a little hard for U.S. audiences to follow at first, but once you pick up the wavelength you won't have any trouble. (Besides, the old U.S. dubbed version is available as an option.)

Anyway, as a longtime SF geek and an avid devourer of postapocalytpic films and novels, I really like the atmosphere and the concept of this movie. I just have a hard time watching it too many times close together. For that, I prefer the two sequels.

But this one is still worth watching, and owning, for the story it tells -- the mythical tale of the birth of one of modern cinematography's great heroes/antiheroes.

An Outlaw Biker's Worst Nightmare
Mad Max is a very imaginative, wild, and satisfying film. It's sequel The Road Warrior is a bit more thrilling, but Mad Max delivers the goods. The film is set in the post apocolyptic Australia, where savage biker gangs and outlaw drivers rule the roads. The film begins with policeman Max Rockantsky(Mel Gibson) who engages in a thrilling highway chase between him and a crazy driver called Nightrider. When Nightrider is killed in a firey crash, his psychopathic friend, Toecutter, is enraged, and wants revenge in blood, Rockantsky blood. Toecutter and his vicious biker gang are known for terrorizing towns, tying people to speeding motorcycles, and much worse (as seen in the film). For a while in the film, they stalk Max, his wife Jessie, and his infant son in very weird, creepy scenes. Then when Toecutter and the gang run Jessie and her baby down on their motorbikes, Max is beyond enraged, thus becoming the title character, Mad Max. The end of the film is a sensationalized thrillfest as Max dawns his leather road outfit, two guns, and hunts down the gang in his new Police Interceptor, running some down, shooting one, and I won't mention what happens to Toecutter. Mad Max is very bizarre, very brutal, and very very entertaining. The stunts are quite impressive, the villains are very well cast (particularly Toecutter and Johnny)and Mel Gibson is the ultimate Mad Max. The only snag: the film goes at a snail's pace. Otherwise, go rent this movie, make some popcorn, and get ready to hit the road.

Give the master some respect for early work too...
Come on people... If you liked the Lethal Weapon Series, you will enjoy the Mad Max Series. Remember that this film had almost no budget or high profile actors(at the time), so the point is what a great film to launch a career with. Gibson rode the tail of these movies to being one of the most sought- after action stars of the era and used it to become a force in hollywood by making films he wanted and his way with few compromises. Watch and enjoy a great actor come into his own.