Ok this is a rather epic review for one of my favourite action film and one of the most insane and influential action films ever made. Mel Gibson returns to the dirt roads for a sequel that most people have called the purest example of action cinema ever filmed. I give you THE ROAD WARRIOR...
“On the roads it was a white line nightmare. Only those mobile enough to scavenge, brutal enough to pillage would survive. The gangs took over the highways, ready to wage war for a tank of juice. And in this maelstrom of decay, ordinary men were battered and smashed. Men like Max. The warrior Max. In the roar of an engine, he lost everything. And became a shell of a man, a burnt out, desolate man, a man haunted by the demons of his past, a man who wandered out into the wasteland. And it was here, in this blighted place, that he learned to live again... “
And so begins Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, A film so devoid of any form of health and saftey and an almost prophetic paragraph of what may still come. Will we, in the post apocalyptic wasteland fight and battle over the precious Guzzoline or will we all just give up, for me though I won't be fighting because I can't drive, but if I did, you'd see me tearing up the tarmac in a suped up V8 turbo charged Baracuda, wandering the waste land, a loner, a bad ass, a dude with a dog (I prefer cats though) and a cool as ice streak of grey in my hair. Who am I kidding, id be one of the first to die, but how fucking cool would it be to hit the two lane black top in a suped up 'cuda. I can but dream.
Anyways, this a review and not my fuel injected wet dreams about me being Mad Pete: the Road Warrior, this is about George Miller's follow up to his 1979 break out film Mad Max and this one ups the carnage in epic style.
Due to the first film flopping in the U.S due to the yanks not being able to decipher an Aussie accent (makes more sense that an american accent) so they dubbed it, producers decided to drop the 'MAD MAX' from the title and released in the U.S as just The Road Warrior which fortunately for the producers, paid off as the film became a massive success and quite rightfully so, The Road Warrior is the most relentlessly paced action film ever filmed. From the open chase on the dusty roads of the out back to the 11 minute tanker chase at the end of the film, It doesn't let up when it comes to vehicular stunt work. And it's never been matched, sure there have been action film that have fantastic car chases but that just it, car chases, the stunt work in this involves buggys, motor bikes, various muscle cars, a giro-copter and the afformentioned tanker. It's just a beautiful sight to see a muscle car get flipped on these desolate open roads.
Anyway the plot is simple, Max, after avenging the death of his wife at the hands of the biker gang from the first film, wander's the wasteland searching for the precious gasoline, the reason? To just keep on driving. He's become a nomade, drifting from place to place and getting dragged into helping people, much like Kevin Costner's The Postman and Patrick Swayze's Steel Dawn. Max comes across the Giro-Captain who to save his own life tells Max where he can get a shit load of fuel. They find a refinary out in the desert that is being attacked by the Lord Humungus, a cross between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jason Vorhees. Max agree's to get them a truck to haul the gasoline away from the refinary to travel 2000 miles. After he returns with the truck he gets his car, The last of the intercepters, and leave the refinery with a shit ton of guzzoline. Unfortunately he get's chased by the bandits and run of the road, totally trashing his bitching ride but he is able, with the help of a well placed explosive, to blow the shit out of his car killing the two men attempting to cyphen the fuel he has. He's rescued by the Giro-Captain and taken back to the refinery where he agree's to drive the truck. What follows this is one of the most amazingly choreographed 11 minutes of car stunt work i've even seen.
Being made in 1981, the cast were unknown to cinema viewers, of course these days Mel Gibson is better known for his extra-caricular activities that include rascism and spousle abuse (allegedly), and not for being an Oscar winning Director of BraveHeart or as Martin Riggs in Lethal Weapon or even as the bad ass porter from Payback which is a shame because I love Mel Gibson, sure he has some flaws, he makes an ass of him self sometimes but so does everyone now and then, Oliver Reed probably made some remarks about something or other at one point while being wrecked but because of the era in which we live, the internet, greedy journolists and leaked phone calls, anyone who is a celebrity is unsafe, but fuck it, it's Mel Gibson, I don't see him as a wife beater or as an alcoholic anti-semite, I see Gibson and Mad Max, as Porter and as Martin Fucking Riggs.
Bruce Spence is an odd one, he's made stuff that is so random, from Mad Max to Dark City to Finding Nemo. But he's pretty cool as The Gyro Captain. And it's cool they actually give him a name in the third film. If The Road Warrior was to be remade, Rhys Ifans would definitely be the one to play him.
The we have the character of the psychotic Wez, played by Commando's chainmail Freddy Mercury, Vernon Wells, he's an absolute psychopath in this and spend the entire movie in butt-less chaps, I guess material is hard to come by in the wasteland.
I was explaining to a colleague that i'd watched the film on blu-ray and they asked who actually directed the film, I said it was George Miller and they then asked, What else has he done ? Well when I explained to them what else he had made they were in shock, you see, not many people might know this but not only did Miller direct all three Mad Max films but also family favourites Babe (the one about the pig) and the animated singing penguin film Happy Feet, that's right, the director the ultimate action film also directed a film, a very successful and awarding film, about singing penguins, very random, but also pretty cool that Miller didn't stick to one genre, unlike Michael Bay or even fellow Aussie Brian Trenchard Smith, who should also be acknowlaged as an insane stunt film director. Miller handles the film unbelievably and his second unit succeeded on an epic level when it came to the stunt work.
Not only do we have exceptional work from miller and his second unit but the film looks fantastic due to Director Of Photography Dean Semler, who gets everything right, the lighting works, the desolate wasteland looks deadly and with the blu-ray remaster even the sky looks fantastic. Anyone unfamiliar with Semler's name would have definitely seen his work as he has been DOP on everything from Razorback, City Slickers, Waterworld and 2012. As a film reviewer and genuine film obsessive my self, i'd never taken notice of the work the DOP does, that's going to change, im going to pay more attention to the works of these men, because in the end, you ain't got a film unless you have a DOP.
Finally, the last part of my review. The film is awesome, but all films need a score, What would Star Wars be like if it didn't have John Williams behind the music, what would the training montage's be like if Vince Dicola wasn't pulling the strings in Rocky 4 or what would Once Upon a Time in The West sound like if Ennio Morricone hadn't come up with the Harmonica Theme, Films need music, and The Road Warrior has a superb score courtesy of Brian May (not the one from Queen). Every piece of music in the film fits the scene it's accompanying. Unfortunately Brian May isn't held in the same regard as Jonh Williams or Jerry Goldsmith but has done some brilliant scores for some excellent cult films such as RoadGames, Patrick, Turkey Shoot and Steel Dawn.
As I said I watched this on Blu-ray and I have to tell you it looks stunning, my only problem, picture wise was that certain scenes set at night are very grainy but the daytime scenes are vivid, very detailed and you can litteraly see every bit of dust, every bit of gravel and every drop of sweat. Stunning. The Sound is phenomenal too, unfortunately due to my low income, im watching films usng only the speakers on my TV but if I had the right equipment I can imagine every rev of an engine kicking major audio ass. Extras wise, there is an audio commentary from George Miller and Dean Semler that is a Blu-ray Exclusive, An introduction by Film critic and expert Leonard Maltin and the theatrical trailer. Im unsure but I do believe that the U.K release from Warner Bros is presented at the full uncut version which includes extended scenes. Im unsure on and will have to research this.
If you are looking for a perfect version of the film, this is the one to go with, but the dvd is still a great disc if you don't have blu-ray.
SO PETE WHAT IS YOU'RE FINAL VERDICT?
What can I say that hasn't already been said in this review. The Road Warrior is, for me the ultimate action film, fuel injected, adrenaline fueled and stunt packed action, that doesn't stop from the word go. I love the first film, the opening chase scene is brilliant, the Nightrider, verses the interceptors is just crazy and that was the reason I put that film on my car chase list, but looking back, The Road Warrior is head and shoulder's above that film, Where as the first is more a revenge movie, this one is more a survival movie. The Road Warrior is also extremely influential. It spawned a lot of post-apocalyptic action films, mostly from the Philipines and Italy and also was influential in the making of Neil Marshall's Doomsday, the final car chase is ripped almost verbatim from this film.
This is just an amazing film, almost flawless and extremely entertaining and it's no wonder Mel Gibson became a massive star after this.
Now im off to dream about taking the wheel of my Suped up baracuda while tearing up the tarmac in the wasteland.
Oh here's a picture of a V8 Baracuda just incase you were wondering.
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