| Mad Max (1979) Cast:Mel Gibson,Joanne Samuel,Steve Bisley, Hugh Keays-Byrne Mel Gibson stars as Mad Max, a vigilante cop who fights a bunch of biker thugs who rule the roads in an urban dump of the future, in this ultimately gripping thriller which takes time getting started but emerges as quite a suspenseful actioner which gets the viewer on the edge of his seat. Mad Max is a classic. This is the movie that really started the whole "burned-out future" genre that many tried to duplicate but failed to ever do with this much energy and style. Mad Max is certainly an exciting movie but a few flaws sneak in the movie such as the slow pace that takes a tad long to establish where it wants to go, the family scenes come off as somewhat phony and we learn little about Max other then that he's fed up with being a cop, that being said though, once Mad Max gets started it never slows down and never flags. Mad Max also pounds it's message home and builds up to a satisfying conclusion that is most likely to leave the viewer drained. The sequel is even better. D. George Miller *** |