Product: Mad Max (1979)
Rating: 5.0
Finally, the way it was meant to be seen and heard!
I won't go into details about the movie. Fans of Mad Max already know the plight of Max Rockatansky and how he became the Road Warrior. Instead, I will go into how this DVD is better than the original released in the United States.First off, get this DVD. If all you have ever seen is the USA version with the awful dubbed American voices, then you have not seen the true Mad Max movie.Let me say something about dubbing: it normally doesn't come off well, especially when you redub English with English, as is the case with Mad Max. You lose ALL the emotions that the actors had originally portrayed in the movie. With Mad Max, this is entirely true. In fact, the actors that did the dubbed voices completely carried their emotions over the edge to the point of campiness. In no WAY did they portray the real emotions of the characters and it ruined the movie. It actually made excellent actors look bad and made the entire movie campy, which it isn't. It has it's moments of humor that actually fill in nicely with the Aussie voices, but is pushed over the edge in campiness with the American dubbing. It really is that bad, especially now that I've seen it with the Aussie voices.Once I saw this movie with the original Aussie voices, my opinion changed. I may be so bold as to say that this movie is possibly better than Mad Max 2 - The Road Warrior (and let's get that changed to Mad Max 2 now since everyone knows about Mad Max). What really upset me was that in the American version, they even ADDED dialogue that was SO unnecessary! I didn't realise this until I saw the Aussie version.This is not only a great action movie, but a wonderful drama as well. It has so many elements from different genres: action, suspense, horror, drama. George Miller put together an excellent movie on such a low budget.A lot of the elements were lost due to the dubbing but have now been brought back to life with this DVD release. One case is when Mel is talking to Jessie after Goose buys the farm. In the American dubbed version, Max doesn't seem that broken up about it. However, hearing Mel's voice, you can hear how Max is near tears, upset and sad that his best friend is dead. It really brings you closer to the characters to the point that you feel for them as real people. This was driven home to me even more during the scene when Jessie and Sprog are about to be mowed down by the Toecutter and his band of seedy thugs. When Jessie was running away, my mood turned to sadness, knowing what was about to happen. Once it happened, that sadness turned to extreme anger. When Max finally extracts his revenge, I was cheering. That NEVER happened with the American dubbed version.The DVD has two excellent documentories: one on how the movie was made and the other about Mel Gibson's rise to fame. There are also trailers, TV spots and posters available as well as the original American dubbed (mono) track, a commentary track, and a trivia track that pops up cool trivia bits while you watch the movie.At the price they have listed, this is a steal!...No true Mad Max fan would be without this movie. It was SO excellent that I watched it twice the day I bought it.Get it or else, it's time to send the MFP after you!