Apparently a big hit in Italy, considering the number of knock-offs and rip-offs that followed after its release, MAD MAX 2 is one of the grand daddies of the post-apocalypse genre, especially in a visual sense with the desert locations, bizarrely-dressed villains, tattered heroes, modified bikes and cars and raw action. This is a solid and well-paced little movie, my personal favourite of the MAD MAX trilogy, with better action than the first and not as silly as the third one. Although the budget isn't the highest, the film contains some phenomenal scenes of action and stunts, especially the finale which involves about a dozen assorted cars and bikes chasing an oil ranker through a 2000-mile desert. The bleak Australian desert conditions can't be bettered, and the thumping music - from Queen's Brian May, of all people - really gets the adrenaline pumping.
At heart, this is still a pretty dark movie, with a large body count, brutal violence, and characters being killed off in scenes that you wouldn't see in a Hollywood movie. Most of the good guys end up being brutally killed and even Max hardly makes it out alive at the end, a battered and scarred victim. Mel Gibson essays the role of Max once more and makes the hard-edged loner with an honest heart his own, and with only a little dialogue he creates a strong screen presence that not many actors could so assuredly achieve. Being an Australian movie of the '80s, there are plenty of weird and bizarre characters, the most-remembered of which is the Feral Kid, who uses a razor-sharp boomerang to cut of people's fingers and the like. The bad guys are dressed in outrageous costumes of chains and leather and led by the hilarious Humungus, a huge bald muscular bloke with a Jason mask.
Vernon Wells (later to play the chief baddie in Arnie's COMMANDO) has a ball as Wez, a permanently psychotic biker with a mohawk who goes over the edge when his girlfriend is slaughtered by the Feral Kid, and his overacting is something to behold. Although the cast is comprised of unknowns, Bruce Spence really makes an impression as the "Gyro Captain", a desert mechanic/eccentric who flies a bizarre contraption and supplies some of the film's intermittent comic relief. The vehicle and costume design is imaginative, and combined with the locations gives the film a realistic look so that you really think that you're in a futuristic world. All this and more is topped off by the excellent car chases, which are truly pulse-pounding and some of the best put on screen. MAD MAX 2: an odd - and unique - masterpiece, as only the Australians could have made.
At heart, this is still a pretty dark movie, with a large body count, brutal violence, and characters being killed off in scenes that you wouldn't see in a Hollywood movie. Most of the good guys end up being brutally killed and even Max hardly makes it out alive at the end, a battered and scarred victim. Mel Gibson essays the role of Max once more and makes the hard-edged loner with an honest heart his own, and with only a little dialogue he creates a strong screen presence that not many actors could so assuredly achieve. Being an Australian movie of the '80s, there are plenty of weird and bizarre characters, the most-remembered of which is the Feral Kid, who uses a razor-sharp boomerang to cut of people's fingers and the like. The bad guys are dressed in outrageous costumes of chains and leather and led by the hilarious Humungus, a huge bald muscular bloke with a Jason mask.
Vernon Wells (later to play the chief baddie in Arnie's COMMANDO) has a ball as Wez, a permanently psychotic biker with a mohawk who goes over the edge when his girlfriend is slaughtered by the Feral Kid, and his overacting is something to behold. Although the cast is comprised of unknowns, Bruce Spence really makes an impression as the "Gyro Captain", a desert mechanic/eccentric who flies a bizarre contraption and supplies some of the film's intermittent comic relief. The vehicle and costume design is imaginative, and combined with the locations gives the film a realistic look so that you really think that you're in a futuristic world. All this and more is topped off by the excellent car chases, which are truly pulse-pounding and some of the best put on screen. MAD MAX 2: an odd - and unique - masterpiece, as only the Australians could have made.