Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (5/10): Almost worth it for the Dome sequence alone.

“Now, when men get to fighting, it happens here! And it finishes here! Two men enter; one man leaves.”

Everything I loved about the first Mad Max sequel is what is missing in this third installment, Beyond Thunderdome, which is the weakest entry of the trilogy. I was surprised to discover that this film was so warmly received by critics in 1985 when it came out because I felt like they changed the entire structure of the series and the Max character. Whereas Mel Gibson played Max as a quiet and antisocial character in The Road Warrior, here he seems to enjoy chatting with others and transforms himself into a completely different person. Beyond Thunderdome also lacks some of the spectacular choreographed vehicle chases that the previous films had and which made the franchise such a hit. It isn’t until the final 20 minutes of the film that we actually get these spectacular chases and by that time I really didn’t care too much for the characters. It’s unfortunate because George Miller’s vision of this post-apocalyptic world is intelligently designed, but somehow the characters and the story arch take some absurd turns. The film itself seems like it’s divided into two separate movies. In the first half we are introduced to Bartertown, a civilization that is being built in the middle of the dessert, and then the second half takes place in the middle of an oasis where a group of young teenagers and children are patiently waiting for a savior to lead them home. These two stories didn’t feel like they belonged in a same movie together and the film takes an incoherent turn from what it was doing in the previous Mad Max movies. This seems to be a much more family friendly film and somehow the producers convinced Miller to include the Max character so they could bank on the success of the franchise, but it feels like a completely different story.

Beyond Thunderdome begins with Max (Mel Gibson) traveling through the dessert having his vehicle towed by a group of camels when all of a sudden a plane flies so close to him that it knocks him off the road. In a matter of seconds the pilot, Jedediah (Bruce Spence), jumps off the plane and steals his vehicle while his son flies the plane back home. Max is left with nothing in the middle of the vast wasteland. Fortunately he discovers that there is a nearby city called Bartertown where travelers exchange goods. The city is ruled by Aunty (Tina Turner) who is trying to bring back civilization after a nuclear war has nearly wiped out the entire population of the world. Of course in order to build this civilized city she governs the place by controlling the population with soldiers and slaves. She can’t run the city on her own however, because the city needs energy which is powered by Master Blaster who is using pig manure to produce methane. Master Blaster is actually two characters, Master (Angelo Rossitto), a midget who rides on a giant’s back named Blaster (Paul Larsson). Master is the brains, while Blaster is the brute force. Auntie wants Blaster out of the picture so she can control Master along with the rest of the city on her own. That is where Max comes in handy because she soon discovers that he is a talented warrior who might just be able to defeat the monster. He promises Max vehicle and gasoline if he accepts to face off Blaster in a death duel inside the Thunderdome, the place where all problems are settled and justice is served. The film takes some unexpected turns along the way leading Max through the dessert once again where he is saved by a group of tribal children who seem to confuse him for Captain Walker, a man who supposedly promised to lead them back to civilization. 

The film suffers an extremely rare tonal shift once Max arrives at the oasis where the tribal children live, but it never ceases to entertain. The Thunderdome scene is by far the best action sequence of the movie and the film is almost worth recommending just for that. It’s an inventive fight scene that is expertly choreographed and shot through some great camera angles. The final twenty minutes of the film are action packed, but it comes a bit too late. It’s in these action scenes that George Miller’s direction seems to excel, but the narrative structure and character development does suffer as the film tries to bring all these different archs together in an unconvincing and none-cohesive manner. The sequel seemed to have lost the heart and soul of Miller’s previous visionary post-apocalyptic world, but I’ll still give the film credit for trying to do something completely different from the previous sequel. Unfortunately that inventiveness didn’t pay off and I would’ve preferred Miller stick closer to the world he had envisioned in The Road Warrior. I didn’t care too much for the villains in this film either and that is why I found this to be the weakest entry of the series. 

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (9/10): A sequel that builds and improves on their predecessor.

“I remember a time of chaos, ruined dreams, this wasted land. But most of all, I remember The Road Warrior. The man we called Max.”

After having enjoyed Mad Max, I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with its sequel, but The Road Warrior actually blew me away and I found it to be a much better film than its predecessor. I had thought that Mad Max had already established the post-apocalyptic world in the Australian wastelands, but in Mad Max 2 the world has become much more chaotic and there is no room for civilization whatsoever. It’s still a low budget film, but director George Miller had more room to work with here and establish his vision of this crazy world. There is also more character development and despite not being entirely convinced by Mel Gibson’s performance in the first film, I found him much more charismatic here and I can now understand why he became such a bankable actor during the following decades. There is actually a better story in The Road Warrior which plays out like a Western. Mel Gibson plays the loner Max who doesn’t say much and seems to only care for himself. He arrives at an encampment where the few surviving members are trying their best to keep things civilized despite being surrounded by a group of violent bikers led by Lord Humungus (Kjell Nilsson) who are in need of their fuel refinery. Max makes a deal with the leader of the camp, Pappagallo (Michael Preston) to bring a truck back to the camp that will allow them to haul the tanker in exchange for all the gas he can take with him. Max is their only hope and he exits the compound while trying to escape Humungus and his men. That is how in a way the film follows the basic Western genre conventions with this mysterious man showing up as the only hope for the somewhat defenseless campers against a threatening enemy. However, Miller changes the horses for fast paced vehicles and guns for crossbows and sharp boomerangs. There aren’t any cowboys or indians here, but rather all sort of wacky and crazy characters using whatever objects they’ve found in the wasteland as their wardrobe in this post-apocalyptic world.

Mel Gibson has very few lines in this film and he appears to be interested in himself, but his charm easily wins us over. He is in a way an anti-hero, but since he shares the same enemy in common with the campers he ends up finding people he can relate to. Max has suffered a lot and lost many loved ones so he prefers to be a loner and not make new friends. In this sequel he faces a much more menacing enemy with Humungus and his gang. One particular stand out in the villain role is Wez (Vernon Wells) who is probably the craziest character in the film. Max finds two misfit allies in the Gyro Captain (Bruce Spence), who at first tried to steal from him and then became Max’s prisoner, and in a young brave boy known as the Feral Kid (Emil Minty) whose weapon of choice is a star boomerang. The performances in this film are all solid and the action scenes are incredibly exciting and intense. The final twenty minutes of the film had me at the edge of my seat and the car chases were extremely well shot. The score of the film does feel a bit heavy handed and manipulative, but considering this was filmed in 1981 I have to give it a lot of credit. I had an incredible time with this film and am even more excited for the upcoming Mad Max sequel. It will be hard to top this, but I won’t complain if it’s at least half as good as Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.

This is one of those rare sequels that builds and improves on their predecesor. The vision of this post-apocalyptic world is much better realized here and despite all the crazy characters the film still takes itself seriously. It is violent and there is actually a lot at stake, which is uncommon in action films these days. It is over the top in many ways, but it works extremely well in this world and I can’t think of better chase sequences than there are here. The film has non-stop crazy action and it’s a very entertaining experience. I absolutely recommend this!