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Mad Max
Release Date	April 12, 1979 (Australia)
Genre	Post-Apocalypse, Sci Fi
Director	George Miller
Screenwriter	George Miller Byron Kennedy (story) James McCausland (screenplay)
Stars	Mel Gibson Joanne Samuel Hugh Keays-Byrne Steve Bisley Tim Burns Roger Ward David Cameron
Studio	Kennedy Miller Productions Roadshow Entertainment

Mel Gibson's career got off to a notable start with Mad Max (1979), in which he starred as Max Rockatansky, set adrift in a violent post-collapse setting. George Miller, who directed this would also take the helm for two sequels. The action takes place in Australia, but in a near future in which the world has become dramatically less civilized. Although the viewer never learns specifically what has happened to change things – nuclear war, economic collapse, or possibly a global fuel shortage – it is clear from the outset that respect for authority has declined along with material wealth and that the country is on the brink of anarchy. Max is introduced as a police officer, one of a special group with high powered cars who track down the increasingly savage gangs that prey on travelers outside the cities.

When one of these gangs murders Max's family, he sets out on a personal vendetta to hunt them down, and the last connection between him and civilization is severed. After a series of impressive car chases the gang members are dealt with in spectacular fashion. Max's quarry, and perhaps Max himself, have become virtually insane, perhaps reflecting the psychological as well as physical collapse of their world.

Max returned in The Road Warrior (1981), a far superior film set at some undetermined interval following the first. Civilized society appears to have completely vanished and the road gangs and others are engaged in a violent battle for control of the remaining fuel supplies. Max inadvertently stumbles into the siege of a peaceful group by an even larger and more vicious band of villains, and after initially refusing to take sides is coerced into helping them make their escape. They do so, quite cleverly, but only after a pitched battle and an even more impressive road chase with Max leading the predators away from their victims. Bruce Spence gives a memorable performance as Max's unpredictable ally.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) proved to be generally disappointing despite some clever elements. Max encounters two separate societies this time. The first is a brutal city run by a warlord (Tina Turner) where bloody fights and death as entertainment are part of every day life. The second is a kind of cargo cult, a group of children who survived a plane crash and created their own tiny community. Once again Max can't avoid getting involved despite his intentions to remain aloof. The trilogy has been imitated several times, almost always with low budgets and little imagination. There have been persistent rumors of a planned fourth film, but nothing concrete has ever developed.

Mad Max was novelized by Terry Kate and The Road Warrior, as Mad Max II, by Carl Ruhen. The third film was twice novelized, once by Joan D. Vinge and once by Ann Mathews.

External Links

• Mad Max at IMDB

Broadcast History

• March 18, 2008, 10:40 AM (Encore Action)
• March 18, 2008, 10:00 PM (Encore Action) [

[Category:Movies written by Byron Kennedy]]