Mad Max (1979) Movie Review

Mad Max (1979) Movie Review

George Miller’s iconic Mad Max franchise has become one of Hollywood’s longest and most important in cinema history. We have seen countless cinematic films try and replicate the creativity, the weirdness, and the post-apocalyptic action, but fail to reach the heights of Mad Max. With the fifth entry in the 45 years old series hitting cinemas this year ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’, George Miller’s franchise has seen a resurgence in popularity once again, with the re-release of the original 1979 film that started it all, Mad Max, finally hitting shelves on 4K Ultra HD this June!

The original film is the definition of a cult classic. It oozes George Miller’s signature style, and whilst it operates more as a gritty, small-budget, revenge action film, the groundwork had still been laid in this original instalment, for the franchise moving forward. The post-apocalypse still feels fresh, and like our hero Max, we are experiencing this world of chaos with him and navigating the bold new world. The film follows a vengeful Australian police officer Max (played by Mel Gibson) who finds himself in a self-destructing, post-apocalyptic wasteland of a world, who sets out to stop a violent motorcycle gang after killing his wife and only child.

Mad Max is an incredibly simple film, focusing on the core elements of revenge to mould Max’s character, which we will see later presented as a legend, a man of myth, a godlike figure if you will. You can see the cogs turning in Miller’s head of where he wanted to take this awesome world, but due to budgetary restraints and a limited, minimalist setting, he was unable to fully realise his vision until he helmed future sequels. Production design of the film is something I have always appreciated, and here it is one of the selling points of the 4K Ultra HD upgrade. The film looks and sounds stunning, with the colours really popping. The wasteland has never looked this good!

Something that has always remained strong with the Mad Max franchise, is Mel Gibson’s portrayal as the title hero of the franchise. His personal problems aside, Gibson really does embody Max, a grizzled former cop, navigating the wasteland, and by happenstance, finds himself involved in the stories of fellow residents, occupying the wasteland. He is suitably standoffish and remains stoic throughout his wasteland adventures, but this is perfect for this type of character, as he is really the audience surrogate for these adventures. He is never the main character in these stories, rather the character the audience can latch onto and relate to. This original film is really the only time we get to see Gibson emote, as it’s more of a personal story. This works well for the film and really does set-up one of cinema's greatest protagonists and movie characters in general.

‘Mad Max’ is one of Hollywood’s greatest film franchises. It inspired countless knockoffs that never quite reached the heights of George Miller’s original creation. As its title suggests, it really is a “Mad” world and Max is the perfect protagonist to guide us through the wasteland. Roadshow have done an amazing job with the restoration of this film. It looks stunning and makes a great addition to my mad max 4K Ultra HD collection. Be sure to shop all things Mad Max from Sanity below and be sure to pre-order your copy of ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Story on DVD, Blu-Ray or 4K Ultra HD today!

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Christopher Pattison wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here