Released: 1985
Starring: Mel Gibson, Tina Turner, Bruce Spence, Angelo Rossitto, Frank Thring
Director: George Miller, George Ogilvie
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
“A lone warrior searching for his destiny…a tribe of lost children waiting for a hero…in a world battling to survive, they face a woman determined to rule. Hold out for Mad Max. This is his greatest adventure.”
Mad Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) returns to the dreadful wasteland in search of his beloved gas guzzler, but the lone antihero makes a deal with the devil and winds up fighting to the death in the THUNDERDOME! (“Two men enter, one man leaves!” “Two men enter, one man leaves!”)
There is no shortage of post-apocalyptic fiction these days, but the template commonly used came from one man; George Miller. An ambulance medic with a vision and a talent for directing crazy stunts, savage and cruel wastelands, cars, guns, and gore! Which all pretty much take a back seat because the nihilism of the seventies is gone and it’s 1985 so family friendly iterations are all the rage. So, why not take the meanest guy you know and make him a reluctant sentinel of truth and justice?
Mad Max and it’s sequel Mad Max 2 (or The Road Warrior if you live in the USA and probably thought The Road Warrior was the first outing) is a much-beloved property and it is very clear to see why it was a film that did a lot with a little. The original had to do a lot with literally nothing nada, zilch, no dinero, The first Mad Max released in Australia and Europe had a starting budget of 200,000 Aussie dollars, which was gone almost immediately. Most of the cast were paid in lager and stunts weren’t done by professionals, but usually by the actors who expectedly broke many bones and attained quite a medical history during their performance.
So why is any of this relevant to the third entry? Well to put it simply, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, in comparison to its previous entries, does a little with a lot. The film opens with Max (Mel Gibson; Lethal Weapon, Braveheart) wandering the desert before coming across Bartertown, a metropolis in comparison to the rest of the wastes. Max, eagerly searching for his vehicle, winds up cutting a deal with Auntie Entity (Tina Turner; Last Action Hero, Tommy) to assassinate the current power holder in Bartertown, Master Blaster (Angelo Rossitto; Freaks, Dracula vs. Frankenstein, & Paul Larsson; Altered States, The Kidnapping of the President), in a public way to avoid suspicion on her part. Max and Blaster are cast into the gladiatorial arena known only as THUNDERDOME! (“Two men enter, one man leaves!” “Two men enter, one man leaves!”)
While Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome has a bigger cast, budget, and world (with the overall expanse having more per square inch than the previous films), compared to its predecessors, it still lacks in certain aspects and the story has less weight to it. The plot is short and bittersweet as it does take a turn for the worst halfway through. It becomes a cringeworthy messiah story which you may love or hate depending on where you fall on the direction of the film. The action seems barely dangerous and the new style of the main character that seems more akin to that of Stallone’s Rambo, than the cunning, grounded Max.
Mel Gibson returns once again as Max, but where he was once a confident and reserved type, he is now a mouthy reluctant hero. Throwing out occasional one-liners and springing into action in a heartbeat which is a very unwelcome change. The first film had Max terrified and scared of the violent wasteland of society in collapse all around him. In the first iteration, Gibson plays the character with anxiety gripping his throat constantly throughout the film to a fever pitch. At the end of its second act, we see the quieter haunted Max that would carry over into the second outing. His leg now has a brace from an injury sustained in the first film. He wants to be left alone in Mad Max 2, but ends up helping a tribe defend against an onslaught of cruel mutated warriors that harass them non-stop for their reserves of water. Of course, he does this for mutual gain and because of the memories of what he once had.
So where does this new action hero Max come from? Max had a great character moment in all films where he assessed the situation and played to his own cunning and abilities which of course made sense. Thunderdome Max, however, seems to just punch his problems away.
Other characters, including the returning Bruce Spence as Jedediah the Pilot, haven’t had that much of a drastic change. The addition of Tina Turner as Aunty Entity is delightful as she gives a fantastic performance almost theatrical in delivery. She plays her character with multiple sides. A conniving backstabber, a ruthless ruler and a victim of oppression, she is an excellent villain but still has a vision for Bartertown and for a better tomorrow. Essentially she is the hero of her own story and these added layers to her performance are tantalizing to watch in motion as much as they are surprising.
The other characters with little screen time are also great. Truly soaking in the post-apocalyptic vibe even as far as using their own slang terms and dialects. Unfortunately, as far as well rounded characters with interesting plot lines go, Max and Aunty Entity are it. Which is where the film falls on its face.
Much of the wasteland and events in the first two Mad Max films were left up to the viewer. For instance, where does Max attain fuel to drive hundreds of thousands of miles around the wastes? Well, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome has an answer for that. In fact, Thunderdome has more story in its props and environments than it has in its script. From the word go we see the wastes in a new light. Everything that was destroyed is rebuilding. Garbage and detritus from the fall of mankind has been repurposed and reused in some form or another.
Here in Bartertown, we can see humanity emerging back from the brink a mass pile of sheet metal and scrap to form a covered city. This new city has infrastructure and sustainability, security, a working economic system, a slave trade and even a justice system akin to the beginnings of the Roman Empire. The actual functionality of the world is amazing when you look at the film a little closer. At its base, there is a valuable resource controlled by Master (a small midget) Blaster (a hulking giant), combing brains and raw power. The resource itself is methane, or to be more specific, pig shit. Controlling the pigs and their subsequent refuse means making methane, which means making fuel. Essentially, aside from water, this is the most valuable resource in the wastes. To see all of this development done so well becomes disappointing with the more George Lucas-esque vibe to the overall story.
Another amazing part of Beyond Thunderdome is the underrated soundtrack. I don’t mean Tina Turner’s We Don’t Need Another Hero song (that part hasn’t aged well at all), but rather the original soundtrack which uses eighties beats only with instruments found on screen. A lot of the percussion is made from sheets of metal clanging or thumping off one another, pistons firing, etc. A saxophone is introduced in one scene (as it had been included in the original Mad Max in the same style) and from that moment on it is incorporated into the score. The film is always giving the feeling that all the sounds and beats your hearing are just off camera and are happening in the film.
A final genius maneuver in the soundtrack’s direction is when Max travels the wastes away from Thunderdome to the tribal and lush jungle. At this point, you hear a tribal drum pounding and stones clinking along with more flowing stringed instruments again giving you that feeling the music is coming from that area but is yet unseen.
I think this has been a staple of Miller’s world from the original film when Max is at home and the saxophone begins playing, letting you believe it’s the soundtrack of the film only for the camera to pan right to reveal Max’s wife playing it. We see it all the way up to Mad Max: Fury Road, when a pumping score begins and a guitar is heard, only for a group of cars to separate and reveal a band of Warboys beating drums and one playing a flame-throwing guitar. Yes, that is the most metal thing ever, and it was created by a 72-year-old man. A man who wore a leather jacket in the South African deserts, while directing a film with barely any dialogue and more car explosions than a 13-year-old playing Grand Theft Auto. Yes, George Miller is just simply that metal. The diegesis of this brings the Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome soundtrack and film together as one. Making the world more vibrant and real.
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome’s plot is utterly disappointing, though. There isn’t any denying it. The lack of the real insanity of the raiders, the absence of the car and vehicle-based stunts, the nice, 80’s friendly personality of the world are indeed a betrayal of what the series is. Perhaps Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was an Army of Darkness affair. Trying to separate itself from the monkeys on it’s back. Who knows what was going through Millers’ head at the time? But, where it has its failures, the seeds of the future Mad Max: Fury Road were beginning to grow. As a fan, or just some Friday night light viewing, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome will rock where it rocks and suck where it sucks and that’s ok because the world created here has inspired pretty much everything that came after it. From the comic book Old Man Logan to the classic Bethesda/Interplay series Fallout. That kind of influence you won’t get anywhere else.
Rating:
Thomas C:
Definitely worth watching if you want to sit back and just turn your brain off. The lack of anything concrete in plot and story is indeed disappointing, but all in all, it is a watchable film.
Jack Savage:
As part of the series, this is the worst movie of the bunch. As a stand-alone movie, it is not bad, but could be better. The first half feels rushed. Then the second half feels like a totally different movie. The story is a bit unfulfilling, and the action feels tame, focusing on large movements, quick fights, and comedic results. However, the world that is built in this film is fantastic and makes you wish it was explored more.
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