![]() ![]() With The Blaster gone, Aunty Entity will have free reign. Because he provides the energy that keeps Bartertown running, The Master is a challenge to Aunty Entity's supremacy. She has a deal for him: in return for a full compliment of supplies, he must engage in a duel to the death with The Blaster (Paul Larsson), the muscular guardian of The Master (Angelo Rossitto), an imp who runs the underground. He is brought for an audience with Auntie Entity (Tina Turner), who governs the place. Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome has our hero entering the crude village of Bartertown. Action films always work best when the central character seems made of flesh and blood rather than sterner superhero material. He's a real character who changes during the course of the trilogy. More importantly, Max isn't a Stallone or Schwarzenegger icon (he preceded both, anyway). It's an old formula, but here it's accomplished with style and energy. ![]() That assumption underlies Mad Max, where the strong prey on the weak, and Max steps in to be the equalizer. It's pretty much assumed throughout art and literature that the collapse of civilization will result in the rise of barbarism. (Anyone remember Planet of the Apes? The Omega Man? The list of titles goes on…) In Mad Max and its sequels, it is effectively applied, and the wastelands of the Australian desert provide a compelling setting. The distilled scenario isn't original in fact, it's a popular conceit for B-grade science fiction. There's not a lot the police can do to protect the innocent against the human pack animals, and most individuals are not prepared to protect themselves. Law, order, and most of civilization is gone. Other countries, including Australia (where the movies take place), became involved. The backstory is sketchy, but apparently the Cold War ended in a nuclear exchange with the U.S. The Mad Max stories are set a post apocalyptic near future. He hasn't regained his family, but he has regained his soul. By the end of the third film, Max has almost come full circle. Once again, he's championing the underdogs, but this time he's doing it with minimal reluctance. In Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, Max is a little more relaxed and tends toward being a traditional hero. Think Han Solo in a post-apocalyptic desert setting. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior is a more traditional story, with Max as a mysterious figure who arrives to play the reluctant savior. The ending is stark, and there's not much catharsis to be had when Max achieves his aim. What begins as a fairly typical action/adventure movie turns into a revenge tale. Mad Max is the bleakest of the three, as it pulls Max through a character arc that sees everything he holds dear taken away from him. Gibson moved on the other things: the Lethal Weapon movies, Braveheart, and - perhaps most famously (or infamously, depending on your point of view) - The Passion of the Christ. The third Mad Max movie represents the end of the saga, although Miller has occasionally voiced interest in producing a fourth film. When it came time to make a third Max movie, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, Warner Brothers put up enough cash so that Miller (joined in this outing by co-director George Ogilvie) could go wild. cult hero to a mainstream figure, and Mel Gibson's place in the firmament was secured. Overnight, Mad Max went from being a U.S. When Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior arrived two years later, with a bigger budget and higher aspirations, Warner Brothers spent some money on the advertising campaign and opened it wide. It had a limited American run before disappearing. The film starred an as-yet unknown Mel Gibson in the title role and received minor U.S. Mad Max was made in 1979 by Miller on a shoestring budget. There's a sense of spontaneity to each action set piece, and we're never sure exactly how things will turn out. Perhaps the most surprising thing about the Mad Max movies (I credit director George Miller for this) is that, despite a certain amount of repetition, the films never threaten to become routine. The films' appeal is strictly visceral one can pretty much shut down the higher functioning areas of the brain. The essential formula is straightforward, and involves a lot of fights and chases. The Mad Max trilogy is pure adrenaline - a quality that was not lost when the franchise received an injection of American money for its third installment.
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