By Daniel Ivey
Critical Review - Mad Max
Film Information
Cast
Director
George Miller
Producer
Byron Kennedy
Cinematographer
David Eggby
Writing credits (story)
George Miller
Byron Kennedy
Writing credits (screenplay)
James McCausland
George Miller
Music
Brian May
Editors
Cliff Hayes
Tony Paterson
Special Effects
Chris Murray
Stunt Coordinator
Steve Bisley
Production Companies
Crossroads
Kennedy Miller Productions
Mad Max Films
Crew
Mel Gibson Max Rockatansky
Joanne Samuel Jessie Rockatansky
Hugh Keays-Byrne Toecutter
Steve Bisley Jim Goose
Tim Burns Johnny the Boy
Roger Ward Fifi Macaffee
Vincent Gil Nightrider
Release Dates
Australia 1979
UK 1979
Germany 1980
USA 1980
France 1983
USA 1983 (re-release)
Mad Max was re-released to the USA cinemas three years after its completion and was welcomed.
Box Office Figures
Mad Max was quite a low budget film, with only $350,000 (1979) being spent on production. There are two interesting facts, the first being that Mel Gibson put in $15 000 of his own money for the production. This film grossed a whopping $100 million which provides the next interesting fact, Mad Max held the record for roughly twenty years in the Guinness Book of Records because of this earnings to cost ratio, in fact the movie earned 285 times what it cost to produce (now second only to the Blair Witch Project).
Bibliographical Details of Interviews
Peary, Danny, "Directing _Mad Max_ and _The Road Warrior_: An Interview with George Miller." Omni's Screen Flights/Screen Fantasies: The Future According to Science Fiction Cinema. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1984,
No author, "Max Impact" Ralph magazine, August edition 2003, pp90-94.
Bibliographical Details of Reviews
New York Times (registration req'd)
film.de - Der ganze Film im Internet
Apollo Movie Guide [Jamie Gillies]
Brian Koller, filmsgraded.com
Brandon Curtis, epinions.com
And You Call Yourself a Scientist!
Cine Fantastico: Mad Max, Salvajes de Autopista
Cold Fusion Video Reviews
Cult Cuts
digitallyOBSESSED! DVD Reviews
Divine Movie Reviews
DVD-CENTER (german)
DVDAnswers.com region 4 review
Doug Pratt's DVD Review
Doug Pratt's Laserdisc Review
DVD Movie Guide [Colin Jacobson]
DVD Movie Central
DVDTown [John J. Puccio]
DVD Verdict
Movie Reviews UK
filmcritic.com rolls with Mad Max
The Cavalcade Of Schlock [Brian J Wright]
JackassCritics.com [Jackass Jon]
LeisureSuit.net
modamag.com - On-line Entertainment Magazine
The SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
Moviemix (Swedish)
OZ Cinema - review
Prison Flicks Review
Entertain us
Reel.com DVD review [Tor Thorsen]
At-A-Glance Film Reviews
Rotten Tomatoes - Reviews from the Nation's Top Critics
Scifilm Review
The Sci-Fi Movie Page
The Onion A.V. Club [Keith Phipps]
TV Guide
Varied Celluloid Review [Sebastian]
(Courtesy of imdb.com)
Online Presence
The online presence for Mad Max is phenomenal, this cult classic is still running hot through the blood of its fans, and with the coming of Mad Max 4 the online presence is only increasing.
MGM Studios (us) EZ-film.com
Mad Maxed - The Mad Max Saga Fansite
NightRider's Mad Max Page
Mug's Mad Max Page
Coming Soon! plot summary
DVDwolf
Kirby Dog's Mad Max Page
Tribute page
Dan Man vs. Mad Max
Analysis of Mad Max
Hollywood Teen Movies
Mad Max FAQ
The Mad Max Memorabilia Website
More - Pictures, Short Review (German)
Filmorama.de & MovieManiaxx.de
MovieMeter (Dutch)
SoundtrackCollector - Soundtrack Information
Directory site with information and multimedia content.
www.zelluloid.de infos: Mad Max
Mad Max Chronology
Method of Collection
Being a multimedia student the first place I began looking for information on Mad Max for this assignment was the internet, 'Google' to be precise. My first search produced over 11 000 hits so I was not without texts, however the webpage at the top of the page imdb.com provided me with every detail about Mad Max I could possibly wont, which is where most of the information above came from.
Apart from this information upon Mad Max, I found it very useful to cross-reference between the Oz Film Database, imdb.com and my essay. This was particularly helpful when finding out information about past and present Australian cinema and what the actors had been up to after the filming of this epic movie. I also found record of an interview with George Miller in an article in a Ralph magazine, and since my friend I knew had a subscription to Ralph I was able to track it down.
Critical Review of Mad Max and its Literature
Plot
The film is set only years from what it was made (1979) and shows the landscape of a desolated world, where population is sparse and ruffians are plenty. Mad Max begins with a very memorable car chase involving two police squad cars, Mel Gibson in his Interceptor and Nightrider (Vincent Gil) in a stolen police V8. There are a number of crashes and spinouts involved in this thrilling car chase, the final involved a toddler, trailer and a telephone booth before there are but two warriors left to fight the battle, Mad Max and the Nightrider. These two rev heads push their roaring beasts to the limit but as the usual straight roads that are characteristic to rural Australian lead to a bend, Nightrider fails to brake in time for a broken down Road Train and spins out of control and bursts into flaming heap.
After the death of this gang member Max hears rumours that revenge is in the air but he takes no heed of this warning. Max soon finds himself once again face to face with a member of the same gang when they begin causing havoc in a small town. The gang, lead by Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne) are there to pickup the body of the Nightrider, but when a young couple get frightened on the noise and destruction the motorcycle gang is causing and try and flee they are set upon by dozens of the bandits. They are swiped off the road by Hugh Keays-Byrne with an axe (which he still owns today). Their car is "chewed up and spat out" (Bubba Zanetti quoted from Mad Max, 1979) and the pair are violated and humiliated.
Max and his partner Jim Goose are the first on scene as they happened to be driving past this road and not only find the two victims but Johnny the Boy who is one of the gang members who had passed out near bye after smoking too much marijuana. However the Bronze cannot hold Johnny the Boy as none of the tows folk showed up for the trial due to fear of retribution from the outlaw gang, causing hysteria in Jim Goose and fuelling the spite between the gang and the Bronze.
Jim Goose is the first of the duo targeted as his motorcycle is sabotaged under the cover of night by Johnny the Boy himself. Jim Goose is flung off the road as his bike looses grip around a fast corner but managed to survive, but again the gang targets him knocking his now Ute down a cliff. He once again manages to survive but it seems three times is not lucky for this police officer as his car which is now leaking gasoline is set on fire leaving him unrecognisably burned and left on life support.
Max gets worried and quits the force, but once again he runs into the motorcycle gang, this time resulting in the death of his wife and infant son Sprog causing blind rage and hatred on the part of the suitable named 'Mad Max'. Bent on revenge Max drives the 600 horsepower nitro burning black Interceptor he was recently offered as a bribe to stay on the force out of the police station and onto the roads to hunt his foe. Several scene chases later which result in the death of all gang members but one Johnny the Boy, who is found by Max syphoning the fuel out of a crash victim's car. Max lets Johnny have the same fiery death that he bestowed upon Goose except giving him one escape option, saw through his leg before the gasoline reached the lighter.
As Max drives away from the crash scene an explosion is seen in the distance, leaving the audience wondering whether or not Johnny the Boy, the last of Toecutter's outlaw motorcycle gang lived or died·
Even today the original Mad Max is a true cult classic around the world which shows just how universally appealing George Miller created this film. The film was privately funded which meant Miller had to make sacrifices in certain area's but boosted the career of three before unknown Australian talents Mel Gibson, Hugh Keays-Byrne and Steve Bisley. Although there was a somewhat simple plot the dialogue written for this movie was excellently put together in my opinion, but what interested me the most was the fact that the first Mad Max VHS I owned was the dubbed American version. It wasn't until the DVD was released that I heard the true Australian 'ocker' accent which further increased the acting and dialogue appeal to me, however these dubbed American vocals did add to the 'western' type of film that Mad Max shared so many characteristics with.
A large inspiration for this western feel was the great scenery and cinematography David Eggby encapsulated, it seemed as if some of those roads would go on forever. However it was Miller who first envisioned these straight long barren country roads that took the world by storm. Also to be noted apart from the great open landscape Eggby managed to portray to the world, was the great sound work especially the roaring grunt of the V8's and to accompany the great sound effects was the music itself created by David May.
Critical Uptake
In the year of its release Mad Max did extremely well inside Australia, with six AFI award nominations hurtling the crew into line light and managing to pick up three of these 'Best Achievement in Editing', 'Best Achievement in Sound' and 'Best Original Music Score'. It was an obvious sensation in the box office, but critics were also very forthcoming with praise.
Even though Mad Max grossed $100 million in the US and got similar positive reviews it won no awards. In fact it wasn't until 1983 with the re-release of Mad Max to the American audience (including the American dubbed voices the original 1980 release contained) that its international stardom began to increase. George Miller was in fact so pessimistic about Mad Max's global interest he named the sequel 'The Road Warrior' instead of Mad Max 2. However the global demand for Mad Max continued to grow and even a third to the saga was created, and this cult status that Mad Max installed in people is why a forth 'Mad Max 4 - Fury Road' is currently under construction under the watching eye of once again George Miller.
Circumstances of Production
As mentioned earlier Mad Max cost $350 000 to produce ($15 000 was Mel Gibson's) and did unbelievably well at the box office bringing in over $100 million. This privately funded film was desperately in need of funds and many sacrifices had to be made, roughly '20% of the chase scenes scheduled were not shot due to lack of money' (imdb.com), all but Max's street leathers were made of Vinyl. This lack of funding meant the film could not be as epic as Miller had hoped but ways were found to cut corners, only sparing elements where the continuity of the film was put at risk. In fact 'financial consultant Noel Harman got 35 small-time investors' (Ralph magazine) to help raise the funds necessary to produce Mad Max.
Work in Relation to the Film
George Miller created his first film 'Violence In the Cinema' in 1971 with the aid of producer Byron Kennedy, the duo coming together eight years later to create Mad Max. . After this release Miller helped produce a film of the same genre type 'The Chain Reaction' (1980) which depicted a dangerous leak at a nuclear waste storage facility in a rural outback town. Miller decided to keep to the same type of film due to the success of Mad Max, and dually noted this film contained two cast still riding the Mad Max phenomenon Steve Bisley and Hugh Keays-Byrne. With more money in the wallet Miller kept many key elements that worked in Mad Max such as an ocker Australian attitude towards life (but not striking), great cinematography and sound scapes such as the roaring grunt of the V8 cars, not the mention the action, explosion and car chases.
A final note to this film was the cameo role Mel Gibson played as a mechanic, maybe a choice by him to try and assure the public that Mad Max was still alive and well after the lead role he played in the romantic cheap budget Australian film 'Tim' (1980). After Gibson's role as a soft hearted yet slow minded man in Tim he once again showed how versatile his acting career could be by staring in the Australian war classic 'Gallipoli' (1981) which brought him back into the Australian spotlight. There is one key ingredient all Mel Gibson's early work has in common however, they all contain elements of a drama genre film.
Mel Gibson and George Miller were part of the 'Australian New Wave' of Australian Cinema that emerged in the early 1980s along with colleges Peter Weir and Judy Davis, Australian cinema was booming at this time and our talents were succeeding overseas. After working on 'Gallipoli' it was once again time for Mel to adorn his leathers and take on the legendary name of 'Mad' Max Rockatansky role, in 1981 George Miller produced 'Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior'. This sequel had a lot more action rather than the drama of the first, but there was still a very strong western style to the genre. Max finds himself in a new town and after proving himself to the people of the under siege fort he must battle the 'Indians' to escape and save his new found friends and dependants, and what western isn't complete without a great music once again created by Brian May.
The release of Mad Max 2 was a much bigger hit in America and allowed Mel Gibson to star in American films along similar drama/romantic male lead roles until 1985 when he came back to Australia to shoot 'Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome'. Once again Max is the alone drifter, passing through towns never staying, not wanting trouble but always finding it. After this film he went back to America where he secured his status in the American film industry with the comedy 'Lethal Weapon' (1987).
A last note is that Mad Max will hit the world's screens again in 2005 when George Miller releases the fourth movie staring Mel Gibson as the road warrior, Mad Max - Fury Road.
Uptake
The success of Mad Max and its sequels at the time of production and continuing into present day shows just how important the Road Warrior was to Australia. Mad Max was a key element in the development of current day Australian Cinema, and in the early 1980's was a direct link to the New Wave of Australian Cinema including other films such as Gallipoli and 'Breaker Morant' (1980). George Miller took a gamble with this low budget action film but he definitely knew the right ingredients to make a film for the ordinary Aussie bloke. And not only did Mad Max appeal to the Australian audience but globally it did exceptionally well and helped get Australia on the map. Mad Max is still loved around the world and is listed in many top 100 films of all time both in our shores and beyond.
Australian Cinema and the Western Genre
With the relatively small size of the Australian film industry compared to such overseas makers as America and Britain Australia must strive to reinvent cinema rather than sticking to set genres. Mad Max was in essence an action drama, but there was a very deep underlying western feel to it. Only three years earlier Hugh Keays-Byrne starred in a small role in the Australian produced 'Mad Dog Morgan' (1976), this film was about a bushranger and its underlying western theme was much more along the lines of the American western. Mad Dog Morgan was set in the 1850's and showed how a man's sanity was broken, much like what occurs in Mad Max, also noted is the great accompaniment of music through both these western type films.
The ocker Australian characters that have developed throughout Australian Cinema were present in Mad Max, especially through such characters and Johnny the Boy and Jim Goose and in 1986 the world was again given a taste of the characteristic Australian lifestyle with the film 'Crocodile Dundee'. However Paul Hogan's role was a lot more extravagant in terms of its Australian ocker ideology which proved to be another landmark in Australian Cinema in the world market.
Over Twenty five years later westerns like Mad Max are still being made by Australia and are being critically accepted with such recent films as 'Rabbit-Proof Fence' (2002) and the latest 'Ned Kelly' based film staring Heath Ledger in 2003 which one two AFI awards and was nominated for another seven incredibly. Rabbit-Proof Fence also went down exceptionally well with the critics taking home nominated for ten AFI awards, but only taking home two. Again in both these films the Australian landscape's beauty is a key element in the cinematography with the accompanying music cord.
References
Gillard, G. 2004, "Western", Australian Cinema Lecture Notes, Murdoch University, [online] Available: http://online.murdoch.edu.au/MED231s1/2.html
No Author. 2004, "Mad Max (1979)", Internet Movie Database, [online] Available: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079501/
No Author. 2004, "Mad Max (1979)", Rotten Tomatoes, [online] Available: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/MadMax-1012976/
No Author, "Max Impact" Ralph magazine, August edition 2003, pp90-94.
Filmography
Violence In The Cinema (1971)
Mad Dog Morgan (1976)
Mad Max (1979)
Tim (1980)
The Chain Reaction (1980)
Breaker Morant (1980)
Gallipoli (1981)
Mad Max 2 - Road Warrior (1983)
Mad Max 3 - Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
Crocodile Dundee (1986)
Lethal Weapon (1987)
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
Ned Kelly (2003)
Mad Max 4 - Fury Road (predicted 2005)