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Product Description: Setting Mel Gibson on a sure path to superstardom this highly acclaimed crazy collide-o-scope (Newsweek) of highway mayhem cinematically defined the postapocalyptic landscape (TV Guide). Featuring eye-popping stunts that are electrifying and very convincing (Variety) and an authentically nihilistic spirit (The Village Voice) Mad Max is pure cinematic poetry (Time). In the ravaged near future a savage motorcycle gang rules the road. Terrorizing innocent civilians while tearing up the streets the ruthless gang laughs in the face of a police force hell-bent on stopping them. But they underestimate one officer: Max Rockatansky (Gibson). And when the bikers brutalize Max s best friend and family they send him into a mad frenzy that leaves him with only one thing left in the world to live for -- revenge!Special Features:New Digitally Remastered Anamorphic TransferNew-To-The-U.S.! Original Australian LanguageOriginal Mono Audio Track Mel Gibson: The Birth Of A Star Documentary Mad Max: The Film Phenomenon DocumentaryTheatrical TrailersAudio Commentary With Jon Dowding David Eggby Chris Murray & Tim Ridge Road Rants Trivia & Fun Fact TrackPhoto GalleryTV SpotsAnd More!System Requirements: Running Time 94 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 027616869241 Manufacturer No: 1002726Amazon.com: The Road Warrior is already a classic, sans condescending genre distinctions like "sci-fi" or "action." But the story of Mel Gibson's stately antihero begins in Mad Max, George Miller's low-budget debut in which Max is a "Bronze" (cop) in an unspecified postapocalyptic future with a buddy-partner and family. But unlike most films set in the devastated future, Mad Max is especially notable because it is poised between our industrialized world and total regression to medieval conditions. The scale tips towards disintegration when the Glory Riders burn into town on their bikes like an overamped cadre of Brando's Wild Ones. Representing the active chaos that will eventually overwhelm the dying vestiges of civil society, they take everything dear to Max, who will exact due revenge. His flight into the same wilds that created the villains artfully sets up the morally ambiguous character of the subsequent films. --Alan E. Rapp
Customer Reviews:
- This DVD ain't bad: Yeah, I'm gonna post here to contrast what others have said. This dvd does include the original Aussie soundtrack, the first time Americans have ever seen this version in the history of the film. Pretty impressive. It is much better than the dubbed version. The special features are so-so, not a whole lot to rave about. The print is clean, it looks great with the widescreen, and the original audio is a definite plus. This is certainly a worthy purchase for being only ten dollars.
- Awesome Post-Apocalyptic Setting!: At this point Mad Max is simply a post apocalyptic classic film. While some people may not enjoy the movie through and through, I don't think that statement is very much contested. Don't get me wrong, it's a fairly old film from today's perspective and its filming style shows that. I think in perspective this movie was pretty on point for what people were thinking about at that time. I mean when you think about it, the Cold War was still going strong and each country was trying to out power the other in terms of military might. So the greatest concern at that time was a nuclear war and "Mad Max's" setting takes place shortly after such a catastrophic event.
It's pretty interesting to watch because it gives a pretty interesting "what if" scenario if technology and development stopped in the late 1970's. So you never had the internet boom and the age of the computer in the 90's. It's kind of cool when you try to picture this scenario. The places it's most apparently are in the hospital and the kinds of cars they are using. Despite this downfall it seems like everyone has custom vehicles and most are designed with a sports car in mind. In the hospital scenes it reminds me of the film version of "Johnny Got His Gun" because the hospital areas just seemed too archaic by today's standards.
In Mad Max the world is still trying to hold on to the small vestiges of society that it can. Lawlessness is at a whole new level and it seems that the court systems run amok similar to our current ones. Basically the main premise for the film is that Mel Gibson plays a cop named Max who is effectively terrorized by a biker gang indirectly at first, but then very directly as the movie moves on. The gang has this bizarre spiritually violent ethos, where the main member Nightrider was a key messenger of this philosophy... or at least that's how I'm interpreting his role. The police sort of have a hand in this man's death so another member of the gang, Toecutter, comes after them. Nightrider's death is what sparks the turmoil and brings the gang into town to wreak their havoc.
It's really kind of a tragic tale when you think of it as a whole, but that's kind of the point. Max is a tragic character that gets pushed to the absolute extreme on every end. However, I think during this film they didn't truly know what direction they wanted to bring Mel's character and I feel that direction was finally found in "The Road Warrior." However, "Mad Max" is still fairly essential in order to get into Max's background and why he is so angry. There is a slight discontinuity between the two films though, because at the end of this one he still has contact with some semblance of civilization and in "Road Warrior" it's all wastelands.
While "Mad Max" can seem a bit dry at times because it's mostly cars racing around on highways, it does set the stage for a very influential film (I feel at least) in the future. While authors were setting the stage for post apocalyptic worlds, "Mad Max" set the stage for a lawless and harsh reality, unlike "1984" where the war pushed society to much stricter controls. I think this is the type of movie people should at least see once, at the very least for nostalgic purposes, because it does not have nearly the same re-watch value as the sequel. - mad max ftw!: weather you want action, drama, or just some awesome car scenes this is the movie for you. mel gibson delivers the performance of a lifetime.
- The Best Post-Nuclear, Action Film Ever to Hit!: Mel Gibson is so young looking in this film, and so handsome! Wow this film is so full of action and even on a low budget you can't beat Mad Max!
WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILERS!
The film is about Austraila in the outback perhaps. It's in the Post-Nuclear future, a town is being threatened by a ruthless bicker gang lead by the infamous Toecutter. It's up to what's left of the police to stop them!
Our hero Max Rockatansky (Played brilliently by Mel Gibson), pursues the Nightrider, a member of Toecutter's gang, on a high speed chase. When Nightcutter dies, the outraged Toecutter plans his revenge on Max and the entire police elite. He starts off by picking off Jim Goose, a fellow officer and friend of Max's. Johnny, a young lacky of Toecutter's, sets a trap for Jim. Jim gets very wounded when they set him on fire. Max visits Jim in the hospital and is angered and horrified at what the evil biker gang has done to his friend. Max then does the wrong thing by resigning from the force and decides to spend some time with his wife and young son where the bikers are nowhere to be found.
But no, that doesn't stop Toecutter from wanting revenge, it wasn't enough to burn Jim, he had to pick on Max too! But this time he does something almost worst then the last time. This time these victims were innocent. He runs down Max's wife and infent son, and kills his son while his wife suffers massive injuries to her internal organs and has to have both of her legs and arms amputated. God hasn't Max suffered enough already?!
Now Max is clearly pissed off and gets out his police uniform and starts his vengence spree.
SPOILERS END HERE
This is a very good low budget movie. I love the hair styles, enough though it was made in the late 70s, the hairstyles looked 80s. Cool. If you want to see a very young Mel Gibson, then buy this movie or rent it! Mad Max is so awsome!
- The first the better ! : A true action movie with Mel Gibson as " vigilante " after the death of his wife and son by mad bikers : truly a masterpiece !
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