Big things have small beginnings. If there is cinematic proof to that statement, then one could go no further than Mad Max. Consider the most recent incarnation of the character played by Tom Hardy in the adrenaline fueled Fury Road. That film is a poetic feast of visual movement, as well as a graphic novel come to life. With Fury Road, it seemed like director George Miller had accomplished what he set out to do when he made the original back in 1979. The original film feels less like a Hollywood blockbuster, and more like a cheap grindhouse drive-in movie, albeit one that was still well crafted with a unique vision.
The first Mad Max takes place “a few years from now” in a dystopian Australia, where society is on the brink of collapse. Roads and highways are now infested with out of control car and motorbike gangs who wreak carnage, and violence wherever they go. The main force to stop them is an elite team of Patrol officers who ride their high octane vehicles in pursuit of the perpetrators in order to run them down.
“The beauty of the Mad Max films is how effective they are as stripped down action films.”
The top man on the job is of course Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson), who is given a near mythic introduction when he’s called in to take down a vile roadster known as Knight Rider, who alludes everyone else. Max makes short order of the lunatic driver and his girlfriend, in a rollicking chase which causes them to die in a blazing fiery wreckage. However, it becomes apparent that Knight Rider has friends, a gang lead by the crazed Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne), and they want revenge on the people responsible for his demise.
Max on the other hand is conflicted with his life on the road, chasing gangs, afraid that he’s liking it too much. He does have solace, and a promise of a normal life in the form of his wife and child. When Toecutter and his gang catch up with Max’s partner and best friend Goose (Steve Bisley) to exact revenge, they burn him in a car wreck leaving him charred and unrecognisable. Instead of retaliating, Max decides to retire, and heads out on the road with his family. However Toecutter and his cronies aren’t too far behind, and once tragedy strikes again, it may become too much for Max to handle.
The beauty of the Mad Max films is how effective they are as stripped down action films. George Miller has a way of weaving in complex ideas visually without much dialogue or prologue. The set up is simple, and we know all we need to know through the actions of the characters which creates realistic motivations and room for growth.
“The original film seems like the only one that is actually about Max himself.”
This is also a stunning piece of well-constructed film making. Although Miller was constrained with practically a non-existent budget, his visual flair is unmistakable, and he creates a very vivid and lived in space for his spectacular, and exciting brand of action. Vehicles are torn to shreds, lit on fire, and destroyed by other cars making for an explosive experience. Miller would only top this with the later sequels, changing the aesthetic with those film into post-apocalyptic landscapes, and making the characters even more flamboyant and over the top.
Yet the original film seems like the only one that is actually about Max himself. Although brilliant, the later films mostly use Max as a conduit for the action. He’s usually seen as a damaged man of few words who tries to find his last ounce of humanity in order to rescue or help people in need. This was perhaps most prominent in Fury Road where some people thought Max was a supporting player in his own film, whereas Charlize Theron’s Furiosa had the main arc. This was not accidental, and you would find it consistent with both the first sequel The Road Warrior, and then again in Beyond Thunderdome.
But in this film we are dealing with a different Max, one who doesn’t become mad till the very end. He’s seen as an ordinary guy with a loving family, but driven to the edge. Miller frames it like a hero’s journey, however due to tragedy, we are left more with an anti-hero’s journey. It almost feels like Miller is teasing us with the birth of a true blue hero, which is echoed in the lamentations of Max’s boss Captain Macafee (Roger Ward), when he says “we’re gonna given em back their heroes”.
“It also was a wonderful debut for George Miller, a man who I feel doesn’t get enough credit.”
By the end of the film, Max is too disillusioned to be a hero, and the world is too far gone to believe in those types anymore. The damage is done, and although we get a cathartic revenge played out, we realize it comes at a great price.
It’s easy to dismiss the first Mad Max as an exploitation picture with no real value, but it deserves more credit. It introduced us to one of the most fascinating, and imaginative worlds in all of action cinema. It also was a wonderful debut for George Miller, a man who I feel doesn’t get enough credit, and hasn’t been able to get enough of his visionary films off the ground. Like Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead, James Cameron’s The Terminator, and even George Lucas’ Star Wars, Miller has taken a very pulpy b-movie idea with a small budget and turned it into high art, one that is still beloved today and has only grown in stature.
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