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Partners
Mad Max
Mel Gibson's breakthrough feature and the first in the hugely popular series. A violent, gritty and surprisingly cheap slab of Apocalyptic Aussie cinema
Gibson turned from Australian soap star to post-apocalyptic franchise hero in the first part of Miller's futuristic trilogy (rumours of a part four are rife to this day), which delivers a full quota of thrills in spite of its staggeringly low ($15,000) budget. The film is set in a dystopian southern hemisphere, illustrated by the stark, desert backdrops (the film makes good use of the Australian outback). Gibson is Max, the ex-cop who seeks revenge after a biker gang murder his family; cue plenty of inevitably violent action involving bikes and a memorable final shot that leaves the door open for the follow-up. Oddly, though, it was only when that sequel, The Road Warrior, was released in 1981 that the film truly found an international audience; the fact that the Australian accents were overdubbed by US ones didn't help. Vocals aside, this is brutal, exciting stuff, all the more impressive for its budget constraints. |
