Product: Mad Max (1979)
Rating: 4.0
First of the Mad Max Trilogy
This is the first of the Mad Max trilogy and was widely touted as one of the early Australian films that came anywhere near contending with Hollywood at the box office. It is worth watching, even in the concededly awful dubbed over version, just to get the background to the later (and far superior) _Road Warrior_.In fact, _Mad Max_ is so overshadowed by the second film in the series that it is sometimes difficult to see it as more than a prequel.This film does, however, stand by itself. The villains are actually far more sinister and psychotic than those in _The Road Warrior_, and the disintegration of society is more appalling. Here, Max is still striving to uphold law and order but is pushed into vigilantism as a part of the same inexorable decay.The final scene/encounter is a classic, and a great segue to the next film.Editing and continuity are just a bit off, and the dub over is distracting. But see this before moving on to _The Road Warrior_.