Mad Max

Peter Jackson was able to take a story about a mythical place and somehow turn it into a tourism commercial for New Zealand. Every single Australian movie I've ever seen starts out with the premise: You know what would be awful? Being in Australia.

The most boring car chases I've ever seen, and characters that don't really seem worth caring about. It's basically a western except they have bikes instead of horses, and instead of a simple story you've got a steaming pile of BS that meanders aimlessly for 90 minutes. A lot of the time it isn't even clear what's going on or why people are acting so weird. Not a good film.

Has a nice 70s exploitation feel, although some of the direction and execution give it a lift above the normal B"-movie standard . I hadn't realised that the BR I was watching also had the original Aussie dialogue; I watched the dodgy American dub by mistake. Overall, it's a bit bleak, and takes some time to get going, but is good, grimy entertainment. It also has Lizzie from Prisoner: Cell Block H in it, which pleased me no end.

The plot is primitive, the filming is B-grade, and the acting is sloppy. However, that adds to the potency of this film, which is a direct product of 1970s revenge action/horror films being mashed together. The machismo and homoeroticism in Mad Max is also rather fascinating, with its leather-bound policemen looking like borderline gay porn stars (handlebar mustache, really?) and the overall palpable sexual tension between the predominantly male cast. Also, Mel Gibson is a total babe in this...

It takes a while to build up to its impressive action sequences (excepting, of course, the opening Night Rider sequence) , which would be fine except the characterization in these early scenes is not very effective or interesting. The second half is pretty thrilling, though.