Mad Max

After being blown away by Mad Max: Fury Road, it seemed about time I saw how George Miller's series began in 1979 with Mad Max starring a young Mel Gibson. The film was made on a shoestring budget and, unlike Fury Road, is set in an alternative version of 70s Australia with only the accents to go by.

I remember when I was much younger seeing reviews of this in the TV guide, hearing about its violent scenes and looking at a leather-clad Gibson with a sawn-off shotgun. Naturally I then expected something along the lines of car chases in a baron wasteland but with that gritty 70s film look. I certainly got the latter.

What surprised me is how normal and average the setting appears at the start. Miller had apparently been influenced by oil thieves at the time in Australia, so the idea of creating a post-apocalyptic world hadn't arrived just yet. The film begins with Max as a police officer hunting down the leader of a gang before ending in a car crash. He and his team then continue working before the gang come back for revenge, and then Max's world soon starts to fall apart.

The film is simple in its premise and execution, but I did find there to be a slight lull midway through which might not to be to the liking of first time viewers coming straight off of Fury Road. This is a very different action film from the types we see today in terms of pacing but it compliments the gritty, darker aspects that soon follow.

Without spoilers, the third act of Mad Max is certainly the strongest and most engaging where Miller truly shines. Mel Gibson is also fantastic as the honest policeman trying to keep everything together before we meet the Max everyone expects to see. Supporting cast members including Hugh Keays-Byrne from Fury Road is also great to watch as Toecutter, a very different villain compared to when we last saw him as Immortan Joe chasing Tom Hardy.

For newcomers, Mad Max will take a little getting used to with its differences in what fans expect from the series with much of the iconography coming from the sequel. Nonetheless, this is certainly a very tense, dark and exciting film that any fan of the Tom Hardy version should check out.