mad max 1979 movie review

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1979, Action/Adventure, 1h 33m

What to know

Critics Consensus

Staging the improbable car stunts and crashes to perfection, director George Miller succeeds completely in bringing the violent, post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max to visceral life. Read critic reviews

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Mad max   photos.

In a not-too-distant dystopian future, when man's most precious resource -- oil -- has been depleted and the world plunged into war, famine and financial chaos, the last vestiges of the law in Australia attempt to restrain a vicious biker gang. Max (Mel Gibson), an officer with the Main Force Patrol, launches a personal vendetta against the gang when his wife (Joanne Samuel) and son are hunted down and murdered, leaving him with nothing but the instincts for survival and retribution.

Genre: Action, Adventure

Original Language: English

Director: George Miller

Producer: Byron Kennedy

Writer: James McCausland , George Miller

Release Date (Theaters): Jun 13, 1980  wide

Release Date (Streaming): Aug 24, 2016

Runtime: 1h 33m

Distributor: American International Pictures

Production Co: Kennedy Miller Productions, Mad Max Films, Crossroads

Sound Mix: Mono

Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

Cast & Crew

"Mad" Max Rockatansky

Joanne Samuel

Jessie Rockatansky

Hugh Keays-Byrne

Steve Bisley

Fifi Macaffee

Vincent Gil

Crawford "Nightrider" Montizano

Johnny the Boy

Geoff Parry

Bubba Zanetti

Paul Johnstone

MFP Officer Charlie

Jonathan Hardy

Police Commissioner Labatouche

Sheila Florance

May Swaisey

George Miller

James McCausland

Byron Kennedy

Bill Miller

Associate Producer

Original Music

David Eggby

Cinematographer

Cliff Hayes

Film Editing

Tony Paterson

Mitch Matthews

Jon Dowding

Production Design

Art Director

Clare Griffin

Costume Design

Vivien Mepham

Makeup Artist

Hair Stylist

Steve Connard

Second Assistant Director

Ian Goddard

First Assistant Director

Sound Effects

Gary Wilkins

Sound Recordist

News & Interviews for Mad Max

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Critic Reviews for Mad Max

Audience reviews for mad max.

I didn't enjoy this film as much as I wanted to, I found the story to be predictable and dull, The acting wasn't great, The villains were just a a typical crazy biker gang and didn't seem a threat to anyone other than women and children, It did have some good car chase scenes and some cool stunts but it felt too dull and the ending was pretty tame compared to what I thought it would be like, It's not a terrible film more of a let down.

There is a reason why Mad Max remains a cult classic, George Miller created a violent apocalyptic world where fuels are now scarce and violent gangs terrorise people. Mel Gibson was the star of this film in his very early film career, he truly did a marvellous job playing the titular character. Overall, Mad Max has enough car stunts to satisfy action buffs, even if the acting was not the greatest.

A very good debut for a great franchise. Mad Max has a great storyline, cool stunts and an amazing performance by Mel Gibson. It does get boring in some segments and isn't as action packed as later installments but this film does work great as a revenge thriller.

More grindhouse than post-Apocalypse wheelhouse, this drive-in adrenaline rush established a blockbuster brand and put Mel Gibson on the map. It was shot mostly on the cheap, but you wouldn't know it. Staging Fast & Furious-level hot-rod blockbusting on a Two-Lane Blacktop budget, this origin tale exhibits a biting - albeit offbeat - sense of humor and balletic violence that rightly earned it an instant cult status. Indeed, Mad Max isn't for everybody. It's more dialogue driven and stagy than the superior follow-up, The Road Warrior, and shares only basic DNA with Fury Road, but it sets a winning grindhouse cinema tone that carries through to this day in top shelf form. In this R-rated thriller, a vengeful Australian policeman (Gibson) sets out to stop a violent motorcycle gang in a self-destructing post-apocalyptic world. George Miller and Mel Gibson seem to be planning this road trip as it goes. Driven but cagier than in future stories, the titular anti-hero gets played more as a feral vigilante here. In the next two superior installments, Gibson's Mad Max assumes the mantle of lone wolf-turned-reluctant hero. For now, however, this less assured young actor exhibits definite chops but still exudes lethal weapons-grade charisma. You can't turn away, even if this iteration of Max lacks the steely cool machismo of Road Warrior. More of a cornered animal striking out, his magnetism keeps us vested, as does Miller's H'Wood-level stunt spectaculars. Bottom line: The Passion of the Crikey

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Common sense media reviewers.

Outlandish post-apocalyptic action is brutal; has sexism.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Evil threatens to overwhelm good, and justice feel

Max is a decent role model, if you can overlook th

All characters are White, as are the director, wri

Extreme, over-the-top violence is slightly tempere

Two instances of nude male butts. Nude female brea

Language includes one "f--k" and two instances of

Max enjoys a small glass of beer at home. Characte

Parents need to know that Mad Max, the first movie in the Mad Max franchise, stars a then-unknown (Mel Gibson) as a leather-clad police officer who takes down a violent motorcycle gang in a dystopian Australia. It's a celebration and an onslaught of intense violence, including car chases, guns, and…

Positive Messages

Evil threatens to overwhelm good, and justice feels like a pipe dream in a future where resources are scarce and law enforcement has lost funding. Standing up to crime and injustice is dangerous, sometimes fatal, but necessary to protect strangers and loved ones alike.

Positive Role Models

Max is a decent role model, if you can overlook the fact that his job requires high-speed chases, guns, and a great deal of violence. At home, he's very loving with his wife and child, and when things get tough, his first thought is to protect them. Unfortunately, without his family, he becomes just as sadistic and violent as the criminals he was pursuing. Other members of law enforcement are less admirable: For every cop who puts himself in harm's way to help someone, there's an on-duty cop spying on two people having sex. It's a bleak world, and they're portrayed as doing what they can, while they can.

Diverse Representations

All characters are White, as are the director, writers, and producer. Young female characters are portrayed as sex objects with few (if any) lines. The hero's wife has a reasonable amount of screen time and is smart at identifying and escaping from threats, but she's also sexualized when she's doing this (wearing a bikini, beach cover-up, oversized men's shirt with no pants, etc.). A woman's death is used as motivation for the hero.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Extreme, over-the-top violence is slightly tempered by several scenes of Max's blissful home life. But the violent sequences include many explosive crashes, chases, guns, severed limbs, bloody wounds, and mangled corpses. A toddler is nearly run over by speeding cars. A man is tied to a motorcycle and dragged through town. A couple is attacked and pulled from their vehicle; rape is implied, though not shown. The woman is found by police alive but chained up and traumatized. A supporting character is burned alive inside a car -- viewers see his distress beforehand and his severely burnt hand after. A woman is stalked, threatened, and run over by motorcycles (no gore or close-up shots of body). Pet dog is killed off-screen; his mangled body is shown. In what looks like a failed attempt at a stunt, a moving motorcycle actually smacks a man in the head. Hero's violent revenge spree is portrayed as morally justified.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Two instances of nude male butts. Nude female breast and butt in profile. A naked couple has sex, watched from a distance through the filter of a rifle scope. A married couple kisses and cuddles while the husband is either shirtless or draped with a towel. A young couple wakes up in the backseat of a car, half-dressed (sensitive parts covered). They're attacked, and rape is implied (see "Violence & Scariness" section). Villains undress a store mannequin then pretend to make love to it.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language includes one "f--k" and two instances of "s--t." Also, "a--hole," "bitch," "bastard," "hell," and derogatory Australian slang "scag." "God," "Christ," and "Jesus Christ" are used as exclamations. The hero doesn't swear.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Max enjoys a small glass of beer at home. Characters are briefly seen smoking and drinking in a cabaret.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Mad Max, the first movie in the Mad Max franchise , stars a then-unknown ( Mel Gibson ) as a leather-clad police officer who takes down a violent motorcycle gang in a dystopian Australia. It's a celebration and an onslaught of intense violence, including car chases, guns, and dismemberment, though not a huge amount of blood and gore. The hero, Mad Max (Gibson) is a loving husband and father, but he's outnumbered by evil, sadistic people in this more or less hopeless vision of the future. Characters are raped or burned alive, and there's a strong theme of revenge. There's brief nudity, and sexual content is implied or shown from afar. Language includes at least one use each of "f--k" and "s--t," plus "a--hole," "bitch," and more. Some characters drink briefly and smoke in a bar. The film falls very short on diversity and has subpar, sexualized portrayals of women. It was followed by two sequels, The Road Warrior and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and rebooted in 2015 with Mad Max: Fury Road . To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (7)
• Kids say (28)

Based on 7 parent reviews

Mad Max is a lot of violence and crashes

What's the story.

In MAD MAX, a deranged criminal called "Nightrider" (Vincent Gil) steals a cop car and leads several futuristic law enforcement agents on a high-speed chase through rural Australia. He's finally brought down by top cop Max ( Mel Gibson ). Nightrider's death enrages his gang of sadistic motorcycle riders, led by Toecutter ( Hugh Keays-Byrne ), who vow revenge against Max. Max takes his wife ( Joanne Samuel ) and young son (Brendan Heath) to hide on the coast, but the villainous gang pursues them. Max will have to face them if he wants peace for his family.

Is It Any Good?

This memorable, groundbreaking low-budget exploitation hit established a certain set of rules for action movies and inspired many sequels and knock-offs. But today, Mad Max is perhaps more interesting historically than it is aesthetically. Certain sequences still dazzle, and director George Miller 's close-to-the-street cinematography captures the thrill of speed in a highly effective way. But the film doesn't really establish the rules of its post-apocalyptic future, and it's too uneven in tone; the scenes of cartoonish violence are a lot more interesting than the idyllic home life images of Max and his family.

It's the least of the original trilogy; the sequel, The Road Warrior , is darker and more streamlined, with a more sustained atmosphere, and the third film, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome , is more imaginative and fantasy-based.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the over-the-top violence in Mad Max . How does the movie try to justify the violence used by Max and the other members of Main Force Patrol? How did the use of violence affect Max?

If you've seen any of the other Mad Max movies, how do they compare to this original? What elements of the original Mad Max do you see in Mad Max: Fury Road ? How has the franchise evolved over time?

Are there any acts of kindness in the film? How are they received?

How do the car chases in this movie compare to car chases in more modern movies, like in the Fast & Furious franchise ? Do you prefer realistic car chases, like in Mad Max, using real cars with professional stunt drivers, or more fantastical car chases enhanced with computer-generated effects?

Why do you think the filmmakers chose to include sexual content? Did it serve a narrative purpose?

Movie Details

• In theaters : May 9, 1979
• On DVD or streaming : December 4, 2007
• Cast : Hugh Keays-Byrne , Joanne Samuel , Mel Gibson
• Director : George Miller
• Studio : MGM/UA
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Run time : 93 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : violence, language, and brief nudity
• Last updated : March 31, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

MAD MAX Redux: A Retrospective Review of George Miller's 1979 Film, MAD MAX

Meet Max, mild-mannered maverick of the Main Force Patrol, a ragtag bunch of lawmen trying to defend the roads of the Australian Outback from a roving, violent motorcycle gang. They fail, but they do it with spectacular style.

In 1979, the cinematic world was smack in the middle of resurgence of Australian films, a time period that would come to be known as Australian New Wave. Riding the crest of this movement was  Mad Max , debut feature director George Miller's leather-clad, blacktop-melting road epic that launched  Mel Gibson's career as an international movie star. Cobbled together for less than half-a-million dollars,  Mad Max went on to gross $100 million worldwide and launched a franchise that continues to this day with Mad Max: Fury Road .

And yet, the safe bet in 1979 would have been that this film would simply crash and burn. First-time feature director Miller was, up until this point, an emergency room doctor exposed to all sorts of violent injuries and deaths. It was through his interest in film that Miller met up with amateur filmmaker Byron Kennedy at a summer film school, where they formed a partnership that would lead to massive success with  Mad Max. Teaming up with first-time screenwriter James McCausland , Miller and Kennedy then turned to casting their film with fresh-faced actors relatively new to the cinematic scene. With all that green talent both behind and in front of the camera,  Mad Max had every reason to fail. So how did it become the most profitable film for decades to come?

The films of Australian New Wave were characterized by a few traits: a relatively fresh vitality that was absent in films before this era, a penchant for capturing vast open spaces within the frame, the suddenness of violence, scenes of intimate sexuality, and a straight-ahead narrative style of storytelling.  Mad Max  exhibits all of these. Organic energy infuses both the law-enforcing members of the Main Force Patrol and the chaotic agents of the scavenging Acolytes, unfettered by stilted dialogue or claustrophobic sets. Miller's vision and cinematographer  David Eggby's camerawork captured the vast, arid landscape of the Australian highways, a setting that proved perfect for the post-apocalyptic dystopian story. While the scenes of tender sexuality are outnumbered by those that are voyeuristic or downright violent, it's the portrayal of the world's worst instances of road rage that really set Mad Max apart.

The film itself provides next to no exposition for audiences, choosing instead to frame the story with only the following words: "A few years from now..." From this point on, audiences are pretty much left to sort things out on their own. Personally, I rather enjoy this slow-burn approach to storytelling which allows the plot to play out in its own time. That being said, modern audiences might find its pacing too slow and the film's lack of exposition disorienting. The details of the post-apocalyptic world of  Mad Max may be lost on those who only view the first film in the series, but I like to think that the classic tale of a lawman out for vengeance against those who murdered his friends and family is easily grasped by viewers, no matter the year they view it.

Before we ever meet the title character, audiences are introduced to the film's two opposing forces: the lawmen of the Main Force Patrol and the lawless members of the Acolytes. One such brigand, nicknamed the Nightrider, has killed a rookie officer while escaping police custody. Having stolen the officer's Pursuit Special, Nightrider and his main squeeze lead the other officers on a high-speed chase. Things are looking grim for the MFP until they call in their best driver, Max Rockatansky (Gibson). The white-knuckle ride soon ends in a fireball that kills the Nightrider and his girl. It's not just a fantastic introduction to the world of  Mad Max , it also serves as a catalyst for the conflict that slowly boils between the MFP and Acolytes for the next 90 minutes of high-octane action.

But  Mad Max is not without a sense of humor, a twisted and often black humor for sure, but humor nonetheless. There are strange throwaway moments scattered throughout the film: Max's wife Jessie randomly playing the saxophone, their young child Sprog playing with Max's revolver, Charlie's mechanical voice box, and the Acolytes' spontaneous dance moves to name a few. Without these moments of levity and downright strangeness, the film easily could have devolved into a bleak and hopeless slog. However, many critics of the time received it this way, and not without good reason.

Much of the film follows the MFP using their scant resources to lock up the Acolytes, but a shortage of courage on the part of the victims allow the villains to walk free, even when the law has them squarely in hand. When the last vestiges of justice eventually fail the MFP, Captain "Fifi" Maccaffee (who likely served as the stylistic forebear of the rest of the series' leather daddies and S&M getups) tells his officers to do whatever they must to bring the gang down, as long as the paperwork is clean. But when Max's partner on the force gets torched alive, the MFP's best driver retires before he can meet a similar fate.

Max may have put some distance between himself and the violence of the MFP's responsibilities in order to spend more time with his family, but the roads have become increasingly lawless, the same violence spreading out across the country. The Acolytes manage to find Max by an awful twist of fate, a happenstance that ends with the motorcycle gang riding down Jessie and Sprog, permanently disfiguring and disabling the former, and killing the latter. It's this soul-breaking moment that drives Max over the edge. His thirst for vengeance consumes him, costing him a shattered leg and a broken arm, but Max soon dismantles the Acolytes and oversees the deaths of Toecutter and Johnny the Boy.

But to what end? What are we to take away from the conclusion of  Mad Max except that lawlessness is the default nature of mankind? If tragedy is able to reduce the most honorable of us to our most primitive state, then what hope is there for rebuilding civilization after the fall? While it's easy to criticize  Mad Max for this bleak outlook espoused by the film's final act, it's much more encouraging to know that successive films explore this dual nature of man. Is Max broken beyond the point of redemption, or is he still able to form meaningful relationships and become whole once more? I suppose we'll find out when we revisit Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior  on Thursday.

Be sure to check out all of our Mad Max: Fury Road coverage, and see Miller's latest film in theaters starting May 15th.

InReview: Reviews, Commentary and More

A Classic Dystopian Film | “Mad Max” (1979) Movie Review

This is truly a strange film to watch for the first time in 2020, in which I draw odd parallels to the world we live in today. Like the present day, “Mad Max” paints a world on the brink of collapse. For fans of the series that were generally aware of the series, but only started watching after “Fury Road” like me, it serves as a sort of origin story for “Mad” Max Rockatansky and his world before apocalypse would break out, throwing it into anarchy. 

Max (Mel Gibson) is a member of the Main Force Patrol (MFP), Australia’s Highway Patrol, in a not-so distant future to 1979. The world has been racked by war caused by an oil draught, and order has started to break down in Australia in the form of a vicious berserk biker gang that terrorizes the population through vandalism, theft and rape. Max comes into direct conflict with them when he kills a member of theirs, Crawford “Nightrider” Montazano (Vincent Gil). 

Lead by Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne), the gang kills Max’s partner, Jim “Goose” Rains (Steve Bisley), as well as his wife, Jesse (Joanne Samuel), and son, Sprog (Brendan Heath), which throws him into his titular madness. 

The Australian government and MFP are portrayed as extremely ineffective and incompetant, and no one seems to take the biker gang seriously. They’re pretty much allowed to do whatever they want. There’s this strange casualness to everyone in this film, as while the seeds of what is yet to come are clearly planted in this film with the start of the breakdown of social order represented by Toecutter’s biker gang, nobody pays it much heed. 

Roger Ward plays Fred “Fifi” Macaffee, Max’s police chief and commanding officer, and I quite enjoyed his character, though I wish there was more of him in this film. Apparently there’s a deleted scene that depicts his death, but it would have really helped if it were in the film, not only to symbolize the complete breakdown of authority in Max’s world, but to also break his character of the last character that keeps him grounded. 

I think it’s also fair to criticize how Director George Miller portrayed Max’s madness, as it’s less of a smooth descent and more of a lightswitch. One second he’s a law abiding former MFP officer, another he’s a vigilante keen on destroying Toecutter and his gang, making them pay for what they did. Max’s trauma would be better developed in later films, and given this film was relatively low budget and also from 1979, there’s a lot I can forgive. 

My biggest problem with the film is that it’s boring and poorly paced. It’s a film that takes its time, but I can see why it became a cult classic. “Mad Max” was Miller’s first feature film, and it’s the bud of much better works that would come after it. 

Throughout viewing this, I couldn’t help but think what fun it would be to explore the world of Mad Max 1 through a video game, especially considering how well “Alien: Isolation” captured the world of the original Ridley Scott “Alien” movies. Indeed, all of the Mad Max films probably would work reimagined as AAA games. 

“Mad Max” is a classic film. It’s not perfect by any means and it is severely limited by its budget and production (it was filmed in six weeks), but it was the breakout hit Miller needed to make much better films (for a time, it was the most profitable film of all time). 

I will opt not to assign this film a score. Some films stand as important milestones in cinema, and I feel like the scoring/star system is inadequate to assess them. “Mad Max” 1979 is certainly one of them. 

Whether it be to see an important piece of film history or to see the origin story of Mad Max, “Mad Max” 1979 is certainly worth a watch. 

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2 thoughts on “ a classic dystopian film | “mad max” (1979) movie review ”.

Feel like I’m living through this film right now; the second is a real ground-breaker, but the action is certainly raw and impressive. Never played the PS4 game, but heard it was quite repetitive stuff..

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Eye For Film >> Movies >> Mad Max (1979) Film Review

Reviewed by: Jennie Kermode

Made in 1979, Mad Max set the tone for Eighties action films with its futuristic setting, its vivid violence, and its lone hero trying to hold the world at bay. Gone were the Seventies science fiction heroes standing up against an autocratic society. In Mad Max, society scarcely existed any more. Though no single, definable apocalyptic event appeared to have occurred, lawlessness was rife and people struggled desperately over precious fuel. The hero, a policeman determined to restore order yet gradually losing all sense of order in his own life, stood for a generation.

The future happens fast. Everywhere, fuel prices are rising. Australia just had its first murder over water shortages. Perhaps it's time to take a look at this iconic film again.

Mad Max tells a simple story. It's not particularly well acted, though Mel Gibson's intense performance was to make him a star. Its characters are largely cartoonish and its dialogue crude. Yet it remains a powerful experience simply because it is, otherwise, so well made. The vast emptiness of the outback creates the sense that even the towns there are isolated and as vulnerable to violence as individuals. It's no time to be a family man. From the moment we see Max's wife and child we have a creeping sense of the fate which awaits them. This doesn't need to be sophisticated to make an impression - it's the very crudity of it, the simple brutality, the ordinariness, which makes it affecting. Despite the futuristic setting, nothing happens in Mad Max which couldn't happen today.

In its day, Mad Max was heavily criticised for its stark portrayal of violence (particularly because this is violence of the easily-imitated kind). It still seems pretty brutal by today's standards, which means it hasn't lost its edge. Yet none of this comes across as gratuitous. It is very much a film about violence, and about the psychological as well as physical damage that violence does. By the end, Max is no longer a traditional hero - he has become something liminal, compromised, both more and less human. He represents a turning point for the development of the hero in 20th century cinema.

Despite the passage of time and despite its several flaws, Mad Max remains essential viewing for any student of film, and an intense, exciting experience for everyone else.

Director: George Miller

Writer: George Miller, Byron Kennedy

Starring: Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Steve Bisley, Tim Burns, Roger Ward, Mathew Constantine

Runtime: 93 minutes

Country: Australia

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Time Out says

George Miller's film is an outrageous exploiter drawing intelligently on everything from Death Race 2000 to Straw Dogs for its JG Ballard-ish story about a future where cops and Hell's Angels stage protracted guerrilla warfare around what's left of a hapless civilian population. The tone sometimes wavers into self-parody, and there are occasional crude patches, but overall this edge-of-seat revenge movie marks the most exciting debut from an Australian director since Peter Weir.

Release Details

• Duration: 100 mins

Cast and crew

• Director: George Miller
• Screenwriter: James McCausland, George Miller
• Joanne Samuel
• Hugh Keays-Byrne
• Steve Bisley

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Classic Review: Mad Max (1979)

By: Daniel Chadwick-Shubat

Mad Max  is one of the best revenge flicks ever made. While its plot is simple and the acting is okay, what makes this movie amazing is the practical effects and stunts, that put most action movies today to shame.

George Miller has created a masterpiece that will live on in history as one of the best action movies of all time. Oh and Mel Gibson is bloody spectacular as Max Rockatansky, the protagonist…

Well he’s not really a protagonist. He’s an anti hero out for revenge against Toecutter and his crazy gang of bikers, who wreak havoc all over the Australian post apocalyptic wasteland. And they killed his wife and baby. There’s a fine line between heroes and villains and Max crosses that line multiple times.

Director George Miller not only gives us a fantastic action movie, but a film that dives deep into the human psyche and shows the blurred lines of right and wrong.  Mad Max brings forth some of the greatest action sequences ever witnessed on the big screen…

When Mad Max opened in the U.S., it came out of nowhere, taking the country and movie world by storm. It immediately became a cult item, putting on the forefront the reputation of Mel Gibson as one of the hottest (and coolest) stars.

It was a new type of film, an uncompromisingly brutal, post-apocalyptic action thriller from an unknown director at the time, George Miller.

Gibson plays Max Rockatansky, a policeman in the near future, which looks like one big desolate spot in the Australian outback, a sort of a war-zone battleground. Max has seen innocents and fellow officers murdered by primitive, bestial marauding bikers for whom killing, rape, and looting is a “routine” way of life.

Early on, Max says he plans to retire and spend time with his wife and son, and his boss suggests a peaceful vacation. Max’s world and value system are shattered, when a gang led by Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Burns) murders his family in retaliation for the death of one of its members.

Emotionally numb, Max straps on his helmet and rides his souped-up V8 racing machine, seek bloody revenge.

So in the last 20 minutes of the movie ( Mad Max ’s running time was a mere 90 minutes) Max goes off the rails destroying everything in his path. He’s gone really psychotic. Firstly he takes out a big group of the gang, making use of the nitrous oxide in his car.

Mad Max  is like a Fast and Furious movie but realistic and brutally honest.

Hugh Keays-Byrne puts in a unique performance as The Toecutter, leaving me wanting more from his character. His eerie and eccentric performance as the villain of the movie creates a memorable villain, one that you want to understand and learn more about.

The “execution of the mannequin” was Mad Max’s most memorable scene. As Max chases Toecutter with his V8, they approach a truck. By the time the Toecutter sees the truck it’s too late creating a scene of absolute carnage. The thing that makes this scene phenomenal is that it was all practical effects, with Hugh Keays-Byrne being replaced by a mannequin as the truck hits the bike. A scene put together masterfully.

Finally, the most shocking and brutal scene of the movie takes place – the death of Johhny the Boy. A crazy character who the Toecutter takes under his wing who could be to the Toecutter what Wesley is to Fisk in Daredevil.  Just a hell of a lot crazier.

Max handcuffs Johhny to a gas-leaking car and gives him a saw, and gives him two options. Die or cut off your arm. This is a scene that sticks in your mind long after the credits have rolled. This scene really questions Max’s intentions and sees him crossing the line between right and wrong, between hero and villain.

When it came to casting, Miller deliberately cast unknown actors, so they carried less associations with them. Mel Gibson had only made one previous movie and many of Toecutter’s gang were part of Australian outlaw motorcycle clubs, riding their own bikes in the movie.

Hugh Keays-Byrne, who played The Toecutter was quite well known in the Australian film community having previously starred in 4 feature length films. He also returned for the fourth instalment, Mad Max: Fury Road  as the main antagonist.

Despite low budget and a familiar revenge plot, Mad Max  is exciting due to the spectacularly staged set-pieces. Cinematographer David Eggby and stunt coordinator Grant Page do some amazing work. Much of the injuries and car crashes depicted in the movie were taken from Miller’s past experiences, having worked in a hospital before his career as a film-maker.

George Miller really demanded the attention of the film world when he made this movie. And the world answered with Mad Max  grossing $100 million worldwide (before inflation to today’s dollars) on its puny $250,000 budget.

To this day it is still one of the most profitable movies ever made. With Mad Max , Miller not only catapulted Mel Gibson’s career to super-stardom, but also changed the way nerds like me view action movies. He made a movie of humongous proportions. A cult classic.

Rating: 9/10

Is the original Mad Max the best of the series? Let us know in the comments below…

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Metacritic reviews

• 90 Newsweek Jack Kroll Newsweek Jack Kroll Junky, freaky, sadistic, masochistic, Mad Max has a perverse intelligence revving inside its pop exterior. It's a crazy collide-o-scope, a gear-stripping vision of human destiny careening toward a cosmic junkyard. [21 July 1980, p.71]
• 90 The Guardian Luke Buckmaster The Guardian Luke Buckmaster Mad Max has always radiated an otherworldly vibe, a slightly sickly sensation that something at its core is fundamentally wrong.
• 80 Empire William Thomas Empire William Thomas Simple, but effective.
• 80 Time Richard Corliss Time Richard Corliss With his instinct and craft, Miller has provided more autosuggestive violence on a $1 million budget than The Blues Brothers did with half the Chicago police force and $30 million.
• 75 ReelViews James Berardinelli ReelViews James Berardinelli It's pretty much assumed throughout art and literature that the collapse of civilization will result in the rise of barbarism. That assumption underlies Mad Max, where the strong prey on the weak, and Max steps in to be the equalizer.
• 75 TV Guide Magazine TV Guide Magazine Though the plot is that of a simple revenge western, director George Miller infuses the film with a kinetic combination of visual style, amazing stunt work, creative costume design, and eccentric, detailed characterizations that practically jump out of the screen and grab the viewer by the throat.
• 75 The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jay Scott The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jay Scott One does not expect to find references to Bertolucci in a action movie distributed by American International, but Mad Max is no ordinary action movie: it's a B-movie classic on the order of Truck Stop Women, and when its director, George Miller, steals from established filmmakers, he steals from the best. [15 April 1980]
• 70 Variety Variety The film belongs to the director, cameraman and stunt artists: it’s not an actor’s piece, though the leads are all effective.
• 63 Washington Post Washington Post Hackneyed at exposition, Miller demonstrates breakneck prowess at chase sequences and terrifying shock effects. [29 April 1980, p. B1]
• 40 The New York Times The New York Times Mad Max is ugly and incoherent, and aimed, probably accurately, at the most uncritical of moviegoers. [14 June 1980, p.13]
• See all 14 reviews on Metacritic.com
• See all external reviews for Mad Max

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1979 Directed by George Miller

The Maximum Force Of The Future

Taking place in a dystopian Australia in the near future, Mad Max tells the story of a highway patrolman cruising the squalid back roads that have become the breeding ground of criminals foraging for gasoline and scraps. After some grisly events at the hands of a motorcycle gang, Max sets out across the barren wastelands in search of revenge.

Mel Gibson Joanne Samuel Hugh Keays-Byrne Steve Bisley Tim Burns Roger Ward Vincent Gil Lulu Pinkus Lisa Aldenhoven David Bracks Bertrand Cadart David Cameron Robina Chaffey Stephen Clark Mathew Constantine Jerry Day Reg Evans Howard Eynon Max Fairchild John Farndale Peter Felmingham Sheila Florance Nic Gazzana Hunter Gibb Andrew Gilmore Jonathan Hardy Brendan Heath Paul Johnstone Nico Lathouris Show All… John Ley Steve Millichamp Phil Motherwell George Novak Geoff Parry Neil Thompson Billy Tisdall Gil Tucker Kim Sullivan John Arnold Tom Broadbridge Peter Culpan Peter Ford Clive Hearne Telford Jackson Christine Kaman Joan Letch Kerry Miller Janine Ogden Di Trelour Vernon Weaver Paul Young Brendan Young Amanda Muggleton James McCausland Lisa Dombroski Malcolm Bruce

Director Director

George Miller

Assistant Directors Asst. Directors

Ian Goddard Steve Connard

Producers Producers

Bill Miller Byron Kennedy

Writers Writers

George Miller James McCausland Byron Kennedy

Editors Editors

Cliff Hayes Tony Paterson

Cinematography Cinematography

David Eggby

Lighting Lighting

Lindsay Foote

Additional Photography Add. Photography

Harry Glynatsis Tim Smart

Art Direction Art Direction

Jon Dowding Steve Amezdroz

Special Effects Special Effects

Chris Murray

Title Design Title Design

Stunts stunts.

Grant Page Phil Brock David Bracks Chris Anderson George Novak Jerry Gibson Gerry Gauslaa Dale Bensch Michael Daniels

Composer Composer

Sound sound.

Gary Wilkins

Costume Design Costume Design

Clare Griffin

Makeup Makeup

Vivien Mepham

Hairstyling Hairstyling

Kennedy Miller Productions Crossroads Mad Max Films American International Pictures

Australia USA

Releases by Date

Theatrical limited, 01 feb 1980, 15 feb 1980, 12 apr 1979, 08 nov 1979, 14 dec 1979, 15 dec 1979, 17 jan 1980, 08 feb 1980, 29 feb 1980, 05 mar 1980, 21 mar 1980, 24 may 1980, 26 jul 1980, 31 jul 1980, 08 oct 1980, 12 jan 1982, 11 sep 1986, 16 apr 2015, 01 oct 2019, 12 oct 2019, 01 jan 2022, 01 jan 1993, 03 apr 1997, 18 nov 1997, 03 oct 2001, 16 may 2002, 04 jul 2005, 23 jan 2008, 14 aug 2013, 04 sep 2013, 02 may 2014, 21 jun 2002, 07 jan 2005, 13 mar 2015, releases by country.

• Theatrical R 18+
• Physical 16 VHS / DVD
• Theatrical 15
• Theatrical 16
• Physical VHS
• Physical DVD
• Physical Blu-Ray
• Theatrical 12 Renewal of screen certificate
• Digital VOD
• Digital 18 Prime Video
• Theatrical 18
• Theatrical VM18
• Theatrical B-15

Netherlands

• Physical 16 DVD
• Physical 16 Blu ray

Russian Federation

South korea.

• Physical 15 DVD / Blu-ray
• Theatrical limited R Los Angeles, California
• Theatrical limited R Seguin, Texas
• Theatrical R
• Physical R GoodTimes Home Video #05-04051 [VHS] 93 minutes
• Physical R DVD

91 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Branson Reese 12

Not sure how I'd missed this for so long. It's a fun little B-movie that sort of drags but has a few pretty special things going for it:

1- It's only set a few years in the future. So it's sort of post-apocalyptic but they still have the news and shit. More post-apocalyptic media should take a page out of this book and calm down. 2- The budget is clearly so low that all of the car crashes are exciting to watch because you can tell they only had the one take to nail it. 3- I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure this is the movie that invented the 80s action movie trope of "all bad guys are…

Review by Naughty aka Juli Norwood ★★★ 5

What amazed me the most about the film was the fact that all of the car crashes had to be taken in one shot! I'm assuming this was due to the limited funds! I've seen films with considerably larger budgets that were unable to produce the spectacular vehicular carnage we witnessed in this film!

It was clear right off the bat that we were dealing with a low budget film, but we soon discovered what it lacked in frills it more than made up for it with fuel injected thrills!

A visceral assault on our senses!

Review by Mike D'Angelo ★★★ 4

What a strange film this is. Structurally, it makes little sense: The opening sequence (which is far and away the zenith) introduces Max as an iconic badass, defined by his shades, clothes, and silence; then he's immediately revealed as a perfectly ordinary family man, sensitive and conscientious (wait what?); then the movie proceeds to methodically turn him back into the iconic badass it had already established in the first few minutes. Even ignoring that circular arc, though, this feels like a very bloated origin story—an entire movie fashioned from what ought to have been the first 35 minutes or so of a much better movie. Gee, I wonder what the much better movie in question might look like? (Gonna revisit that very shortly.) A promising dry run, but I'm baffled by folks like Dan Sallitt who find actual greatness in its roughly 1:5 ratio of formally impressive mayhem to deeply awkward melodrama.

Review by siobhan ★★½ 3

if you told me this movie was completely unrelated to mad max fury road i'd probably believe you

Review by SilentDawn ★★★½ 3

A riveting and minimalist action film of bare-bone badassery and primal rage; George Miller's Mad Max is the one that started it all, and after all these years, It still remains one of the best low-fi experiences that you can have. Miller's directing, Cliff Hayes and Tony Paterson's editing, David Eggby's cinematography, and Brian May's score all comes together into a type of visual shock treatment. You can smell the gasoline radiating off of the screen, and in spite of some rough patches with the pacing and some budget constraints, Mad Max continues to be a dazzling ride.

Oh, and Mel Gibson is a badass.

Review by adambolt ★★★ 3

average day in Queensland

Review by Simon Ramshaw ★★½ 20

"I am the Nightrider! I'm a fuel injected suicide machine! I am the rocker! I am the roller! I am the out-of-controller!" - The Nightrider

Thing is, there isn't enough madness to get Mad Max into the echelons of cultdom that it supposedly deserves to be in. It begins with a phenomenal car chase that uses its meagre budget extremely effectively, and ends with an equally as thrilling crescendo of bikes and one seriously bad-ass muscle car. But in between, the only mad thing is the incoherent ramblings of the villains that threaten to derail the entire film.

Neither intimidating nor scary, they are a bunch of loons that don't provide the viewer with any visceral reaction. Then again, neither…

Review by Marcissus ★★★ 1

living in the post apocalypse and still logging movies on letterboxd for 0 likes. the grind never stops. it’s a mindset

Review by cinemacl🎃wn ★★★ 13

Presenting a fascinating vision of a world on verge of apocalypse, introducing Mel Gibson in what is his breakthrough role & having garnered a strong cult following over the years, George Miller's feature film debut may not look as impressive today as it did back in its days but it still packs in many interesting moments that'll manage to hold the attention of newcomers.

Set in the wastelands of Australia in a dystopian future, the story of Mad Max concerns Max Rockatansky; a policeman who tries to keep law n order intact in a society that's already on the verge of an imminent collapse. The plot chronicles his vengeful journey as Max attempts to find & execute all the members of an…

Review by cameron fetter ★★★★ 4

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

the people who write descriptions for movies on netflix need to be "put through a dark experience". had never seen this before and the fuckin netflix description says "a malicious gang murders Max's family". that doesnt happen until an hour and 15 minutes into the movie! theres like 20 minutes left when they kill his wife! should be illegal. how hard can it be to write a spoiler free description. "Max brings his own special brand of madness to the Australian wasteland. Nobody is safe as he takes cancel culture head on." "Cars? Check. Australia? Check. Guy named Max? Check. This post-apocalyptic landscape is about to get crazy." "Welcome to Australia. Population: Mad Max." ^ heres some freebies you fucking idiots

Review by Josh Lewis ★★★★

Fuel-injected suicide machine. The new 4K Blu-ray from Kino makes that biker truck hit at the very end pop off the screen the same way that man's eyes pop out of his skull. One of the greatest dummy hits of all time, RIP Hugh Keays-Byrne.

Full discussion on episode 108 of my podcast SLEAZOIDS .

Review by Enfant du Siècle ★ 16

I ventured to watch Mad Max mainly because of its status as a cult film, and what a surprise I've had. The problem I have with the film is that it looks and feels extremely dated, from the exaggerated music, the bad acting, the cartoon villains and the overall aesthetics that, if I didn't know it beforehand, I wouldn't have imagined it was a story set in a dystopian reality. In addition, the plot is way too simple and feels stretched out into ninety minutes film; it's incoherent, disconnected and at times even chaotic. I found the story so uninteresting, the development so tedious, and the action so scarce and unamusing that while watching the film I took the time…

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Screen Rant

Why the original mad max is so much darker than fury road.

1979's original Mad Max is a much darker, less far-fetched movie than its sequels, but there's a reason George Miller's sci-fi feels so brutal.

Although it has plenty of the franchise’s classic high-octane action, 1979’s original Mad Max is much darker than its more far-fetched 2015 sequel Fury Road and there is a good reason for this. Decades before Immortan Joe and Furiosa’s debut in 2015’s belated sequel Fury Road , director/writer George Miller made his big-screen debut with 1979’s original Mad Max . However, many viewers who loved Fury Road ’s fast-paced storytelling and larger-than-life production design might be shocked to see how sparse and dark Miller’s original Mad Max is upon a rewatch.

Shot for a mere $350,000, Mad Max went on to become a global phenomenon when the low-budget Australian movie secured a worldwide release. The simple story of the title character, a young police officer who is sent on a violent vengeance quest by a ruthless biker gang, Mad Max doesn’t feel much like 2015’s campier Fury Road . Grim, violent, and deeply depressing, the dark revenge thriller was a sleeper hit that made Mad Max ’s leading man Mel Gibson into a Hollywood star.

Related: Turkish Mad Max Is The Best (& Least Accurate) Rip-off Ever Made

Even though its body count is far lower, Mad Max i s much tonally darker than its sequels and this, along with its deliberate pacing, makes the original movie more grounded and bleaker than the rest of the franchise. The reason for this tonal discrepancy is that Miller never intended for the original Mad Max to be set in the future, with the director’s interest instead lying in depicting the breakdown of society that would be caused by fuel shortages. Miller was fascinated by the idea that Australia’s society would splinter and fragment if fuel became less accessible than water, something that can be seen in Mad Max ’s depiction of a city on the verge of succumbing to violent chaos.

Mad Max Is More Realistic Than You Remember

By its director’s own admission, Mad Max was only set in the future to justify its desolate locations. Almost everything about the original Mad Max is surprisingly realistic in comparison to its over-the-top sequels and, while both The Road Warrior and Fury Road kill off many more characters, these sequels don't have the brutal impact of Mad Max ’s straightforward story of a man being driven to madness and vengeful bloodshed by the murder of his wife and child. Even larger-than-life villains can’t make Mad Max ’s plot any more palatable, resulting in a bleaker start to the series than many viewers expect.

While Mad Max ’s original villain Toecutter returned to the franchise when his actor Hugh Keays-Byrne was hired to play Fury Road villain Immortan Joe , this supporting star is about the only connection between the fantastical world of the 2015 sequel and the grounded realism of the original movie. Mad Max ’s harsh, believable story was part of what made the original movie a huge success, with Miller’s tiny budget forcing the director to limit the project’s stunt-heavy sequences and draw out the tense, quiet build-up. Thus, viewers got an original Mad Max that pulled no punches and proved endlessly influential in the decades that followed but felt nothing like its wilder sequels upon a rewatch.

Mad Max (1979) Directed by George Miller

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Mad max (1979) review.

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Mad Max was directed by George Miller, written by Miller and James McCausland, and stars Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Tim Burns, Geoff Parry, Roger Ward, Steve Bisley, and Vincent Gil. It’s about a cop trying to maintain a system of law and order in a dying world being pushed to the edge by a biker gang.

The Plot: With the world teetering on the brink of complete collapse, Miller and McCausland created a story from the perspective of the movie’s own world. It’s got the basics, but it scrounges for more, taking elements from films the world over to make something quirky, sophisticated, and barbaric. “A few years from now” the law-abiding few rely on the Main Force Patrol, who are essentially the highwaymen of the rotting world. They catch word of Nightrider (Gil), a cop killer driving crazily on the road who’s able to avoid them, so they call on Max (Gibson), who puts the chase to a stop. Loads of world building goes on in just the first 10 minutes, with the world still barely hanging on. The grass has some green left in it, the law is still trying to keep the world straight, and the cars are still driving (Scarily accurate in its prediction). On a test ride of their new car, Max and his partner Jim (Bisley) hear from Captain Fifi (Ward) that the Acolytes, the biker gang that Nightrider was a member of, are none too pleased about Max’s keeping of order. The movie takes its time to give the audience a glimpse of the adaptive lifestyle everyone lives before introducing the antagonists, which gives the movie a singularity its imitators could never achieve. Max and Jim run into the aftermath of Toecutter (Keays-Byrne), Bubba (Parry), and Johnny (Burns) terrorizing a town whereupon they arrest Johnny. Naturally, the Acolytes don’t take kindly to the deliverance of justice and hatch a revenge plot that gets Jim gravely injured. Sporting a straightforward narrative, yet windingly presented in a variety of locations, Mad Max does have a still-novel trick up its sleeve in flipping the script into a revenge upon revenge upon revenge thriller. Max needs time away from the MFP, and goes his own way, but the Acolytes are intent on finishing the job, creating a collision course of experienced combatants to spike the final act with creative confrontations and a blistering end. To create a long lasting franchise, Miller and co-creator Byron Kennedy needed their own stamp on the revenge story. Using elements from westerns, actioners, and silent films, they did just that. The Characters: As they do with the story, Miller and McCausland acquaint the audience with the survivors of the world’s dwindling lifeforce, creating bizarre villains and relatable heroes for a roster that shouldn’t gel like it does. Max is a less-than-traditional cop trying to live a traditional life in spite of the circumstances. Always trying to do right has taken its toll on the man, with his focus being on his job at the MFP instead of on Jessie and their young son, but after Jim’s injuries reintroduce the risks of his job, he switches gears. Detailing is done by Gibson instead of the script, with his apparent love for cars, ability to juggle, and no-nonsense demeanor aiding in creating a realistic character. The relationship between him and Jessie grounds the world in realistic problems that have yet to fade into memories, like parental priorities and the cost of living. She makes for a strong companion to a stronger protagonist. Toecutter and the Acolytes, apart from sounding like an underground metal band, make for an easy to hate bunch of criminals. Toecutter himself is sadistic, taking his time to monologue to his lackeys about stylizing murder and how they should take pride in their behavior. Style is inseparable from him, as he’s made up with great hair, eyeliner, and fashion choices. Some humanity is retained in the Acolytes, as Johnny shows reservation about what he does to Jim, although he’s taken over by the gang’s brutality by movie’s end. Bubba is quiet and eager to spit on whoever he can; whether that’s because he wants the gang members to improve or just because he can is anyone’s guess. Side characters like Jim and Fifi round out the cast with likable personalities and essential roles.

The Thrills: It’s remembered for its action, but the first Mad Max is far more dramatic thriller than action/adventure and should be talked about for its tense atmosphere and ability to wring excitement out of very little. With the first 10 minutes consisting largely of the Nightrider chase, Miller does set a standard for his action sequences, which is a high bar as the chase boasts an intense pursuit down winding roads, an MFP interceptor crashing through a van, and a dangerously close game of chicken between Max and Nightrider that illustrates Max’s devotion to the force and the stunt team’s devotion to Miller’s direction. This tier of action punctuates each appearance of the Acolytes and makes their presence felt with explosive finales, edge-of-your-seat pursuits, and relentless commitment from the gang members to their leader. Between action beats, the script offers bursts of lurid behavior from the Acolytes that’s not always violent, but it’s always unpleasant. They’re introduced as they make their way through a dusty town, taking what they want, intimidating the store owners, and scaring the townsfolk by revving their engines and dragging one off attached to a bike by a rope. Even during the quieter moments, they’re doing something odd like horsing around with a naked mannequin, taunting each other with guns, or making weird noises. Toecutter leads a gang of madmen that bring an uncomfortable air of insanity everywhere they go. Miller’s most white-knuckled series of events comes late in the game, where he brings the obsessive Toecutter into contact with the Rockatansky family who are on vacation in one of the (seemingly) last thriving natural spaces in Australia. The precedent for the gang has already been set, making their encroaching movement on an unsuspecting family headed by an unguarded Max a perfect sequence of dramatic irony for the audience. Once the gang gets their hands on the man that killed their own, the movie brings the conflict to a fever pitch, making for a jaw-dropping moment that’s perfectly handled by Miller. At times Mad Max borders on exploitation with rape and child endangerment teased throughout the runtime, occasionally lapsing into overkill. Miller keeps it mostly tasteful and tense with strong direction and memorable oddity. The Technics: Knowing the story behind the movie’s creation only makes Mad Max more of a miracle. Miller and Kennedy worked as doctors, taking as many emergency calls as they could to raise funding for their script and ending up with a meager budget to work with. Flashes of padding and unfamiliarity show themselves, but it’s impressive nonetheless. Despite this being his first feature, George Miller showed a remarkable sense of style and ingenuity, with strong cinematography by David Eggby favoring low angles to start vehicular mayhem, slow motion to accentuate the crashes, natural lighting in interiors, and scrappy technique to achieve certain effects. Style can’t make up for at times questionable decision making though, with the movie a little too deliberate in its pacing, allowing itself to sag for sections of the latter half. Sound mixing posed problems as well, with the score taking more of the soundscape up than the dialogue at times, making subtitles a crutch. Foley work is generally good, but some of the sound design is weak compared to what’s on screen, especially during violent exchanges. Through grit and determination, Mad Max became a franchise which got off to a great start with the titular first outing that, while undeniably rough around the edges, is an investing, thrilling, and occasionally overlong triumph.

Release date (US): March 21, 1980

Distributor: American International Pictures (originally) | Warner Bros. (as of writing)

Runtime: 88 minutes

MPAA rating: R

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Movie Review: Mad Max (1979)

by StevenHelmer

A review of the action movie starring Mel Gibson and Joanne Samuel.

Synopsis: An Australian police officer patrolling the highway in a dystopian future decides to quit after his partner is attacked by and severely burned by a gang of violent bikers. However, when the bikers attack his wife and son, leaving him dead and her dying in a hospital, he decides he has had enough and goes after the criminals looking to get his revenge.

Who's in it?

The movie stars Mel Gibson , Joanne Samuel , Steve Bisley , David Cameron and Stephen Clark .

My wife and I ended up watching this movie over the course of three evenings, mostly because we ended up starting it later than we wanted to and just had a hard time staying awake long enough to finish it in one sitting.

When we started watching it, I could remember seeing parts of the film when I was younger and enjoying it. However, as it turns out, when I watched this movie in its entirety for the first time in a long time, I realized it wasn’t as good as I remembered.

Gibson, I thought, did a decent job as the cop-turned-vigilante Max. I’ve seen a lot of movies like this and, most of the time, the lead actors pretty much just phone their performance in. But, he did take his role seriously and, because of that, was very believable.

And, to be fair, the movie wasn’t as predictable as I thought it would be, especially after Max puts on his uniform again and goes after the criminals. For a while, I did find myself wondering whether or not he actually wins in the end, especially when the motorcycle gang wounds him a few minutes into his chase.

My biggest complaint about this film is it is actually kind of dull for an action flick. The opening scenes are exciting, as is his final battle with the gang. However, the rest of the movie is very slow and just seems to drag on. In fact, I’m pretty sure my wife, who had never seen this movie before, was beginning to wonder why I wanted to watch this in the first place. And, to be honest, I was starting to wonder the same thing.

Final Opinion

The movie does, admittedly, have its moments and, as I said before, Gibson does a decent job. However, the majority of this movie is actually much duller than I expected it to be and, because of that, wasn’t as enjoyable as I had hoped.

My Grade: C

More By This Writer

StevenHelmer, Thank you for practical information, pretty pictures and product lines. The library system here has the three films with Mel Gibson as Mad Max and the one with Tom Hardy. I've seen them within the last five years on DVD. It'll be interesting to re-see them, since for some reason I think of them as black-and-white films.

How would you rate the Mel Gibson films in comparison to the Tom Hardy?

I was telling my wife that most of the scenes I actually remembered seeing were likely from the sequels.

I was a big fan of Mad Max when the first one came out. However, I prefer "Beyond Thunderdome" much more than the original. Perhaps it isn't as well rated now, as society has progressed so much since 1979?

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