Product: Mad Max (1979)
Rating: 5.0
This was how you did it back then.
For 1978/79, Miller's debut feature is tightly directed and highly engaging thanks almost to the constraints that had to be imposed because of the films amateuresque style. Gibson breaks out of his screen starting gate like a racehorse, the villain gang is well (and humourously) put together and the plot is as souped-up and humming with power as practically all the vehicles shown therein (remember that post-apocalyptic sci-fi thrillers only became well and truly cliched after the third installment of this series). Still, the real stars of the show in this picture are the cars themselves. Those Interceptors painted yellow and marked 'Pursuit' are the best thing to happen to a Datsun since the invention of the 454hp engine and scoop. Miller directs the road sequences with zest and conviction - so much so that the frenzy of the death highway comes out to stab the viewer in the eyeballs at times. There are a few funny bits with deaths etc. Most are well executed [except for the Edwin Nealesque (he's the guy who gets smushed under the wheels of that truck at the end of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre') demise of the ludicrously camp biker leader, 'The Toecutter'] but watch out for the sequence where Max runs the bikers off the bridge right after his wife and kid get splattered. Look for the guy in the red helmet and brown jacket (I think he's also wearing a white aviation scarf) who falls on the road (most of the bikers being catapulted over the railings). Found him? Okay, good. Now wait until you see the front wheel of the bike to the left of him smash him in the head and jerk his neck forward. That actor must have died! No way could anyone have lived through that without serious hospitalisation. Hmmm.... was George Miller trying to get too opportunistic with that? Anyway - it's a damned fine film given its unripe origins so go see it whether you're familiar with the trilogy or not. Scholastic work for sure.