I saw this with my Father at a drive in in Ohio in 1982, I was 16. I never saw anything like it. The extended tanker chase at the end was the first thing I ever saw to rival Star Wars in being completely epic. Made me a fan for life.
Nobody, in the history of the ever, had seen anything quite like this. At the time. You were quite fortunate. But then again, so was all the ages of cinema. Gone with the wind. Cleopatra. Max Max. Lord of the rings. Avengers End Game. All very different. Alll very magnificient. What else? Who knows? I'll be exited to see.
"And the Road Warrior? That was the last we ever saw of him. He lives now... only in my memories." Fun Fact: The costume department assembled the costumes by raiding junk shops, second hand clothing stores, sporting outlets, and S&M shops. Liability Waved Fact: The tanker roll stunt at the end of the chase was deemed so dangerous that the stunt driver was not allowed to eat any food twelve hours before they shot, in the likely event that he could be rushed into surgery. Shocking Backstory Fact: Humungus was originally supposed to be Max's partner Jim Goose. The production decided against this, but left a few hints, such as horrible burns behind Humungus' goalie mask, the use of police vehicles by the raiders, and his own use of a similar weapon to the MFP's standard sidearm. K-9 Enthusiast Fact: The dog used in the film, named simply Dog, was obtained from a local dog pound and trained to perform in the film. Because the sound of the engines upset him (and in one incident, caused him to relieve himself in the car), he was fitted with special earplugs. After filming was complete, he was adopted by one of the camera operators.
I just saw a video about Dog a few weeks ago: The cameraman ended up giving Dog back to the trainer & her husband, and he lived out his life with them. Fun fact, the bad guy that you see jumping from the front of a vehicle to the rear of the tanker - without any safety gear - is Dog's trainer! She was also a stuntwoman at that time.
Yes, Thunderdome is worth watching. It's a different kind of Mad Max tale. Advances the world building and I think is Max moving back and forth through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. Also has Tina Turner.
This opened in the States in the summer of 1982 when I was 14. My dad took me and both of us were blown away by the stunts. I wish he would have lived to see Fury Road, he would have loved it.
For me, this is the best of the serie, even above Fury Road. Unlike the previous film, by this point, society has completely collapsed. I love how they tie nicely the plot of the first film in the small intro so you jump right in the action. Humungus is hands down one of the best and scariest vilain and his right hand Wez (played by Vernon Wells) can be seen as the bad guy who kidnaps Schwarzenegger's daughter in Commando. The feral kid is also pretty awesome, all the charatcers in fact are great but the action, especially the last chase sequence. Adrenaline heaven. The style of Mad Max 2 directly influenced the post apocalyptic genre and an onslaught of post apocalyptic movies came out in the early to mid-80's. Hail your lord Humungus, the Ayatollah of the ROCK'N ROLLA!
Vernon Wells was a bit over the top in Commando but in this one he was phenomenal. I don’t think Kjell Nilsson was an actor at all but he was really intimidating as Humungus, great job. The gyro captain is a funny and original character. All the characters are great, even the toothless mechanic lol. Great movie score. Yeah, the last chase is simply amazing.
Glad you finally got to see this classic. Thunderdome is slightly more Hollywood, slightly less 'raw' but still a great movie and I would love to see you react to it.
This movie introduced Mad Max to the US audience. When we saw it in 1981 we had no idea there had been an earlier movie. I, too, think it's the best of the franchise, although Thunderdome is definitely worth a watch. After all, Tina Turner is in it. ^_^
For me, that high speed head on collision where the smaller vehicle just disintegrates, makes me giggle like a luniatic every time I see it. So satisfying!
I love this movie, one of my most watched films. Max is a legend, like you said. It's like the stories of Max are told by those who encounter him at some time and place and he became this legendary figure. " Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" is worth watching. Glad you enjoyed this one, Thank You!
My friends and I were obsessed with this film after seeing it when we were 12 years old. We went as Max, Humongous, Gyro Captain, and Wez for Halloween, and made the vehicles and played Car Wars for years! Such a classic
Two Mel Gibson films - Mad Max and Gallipoli - not only launched his film career but also (with Picnic at Hanging Rock) revitalised Australian movie making and created our modern movie industry. This movie is a great introduction to post-apocalyptic cinema, even if shot on a shoestring budget.
Still my favourite Mad Max movie and one of the greatest action movies ever. It pretty much spawned the whole post apocalyptic thriller genre. Beyond Thunderdome is good but is more glossy commercial and lacks the raw brutal intensity of this one.
The rare sequel that surpasses the original. The original was made for half a million. Road Warrior was made for 4 and a half million. Longest chase scene ever filmed at that time.
This is my favorite film in the Mad Max franchise, perhaps because it was the first one that I ever saw. (After seeing it I went back and watched the first movie to understand Max's back-story.) It really set the tone for post-apocalyptic movies for decades to come. I was fascinated with the gyrocopter and a neighbor in our community owned and operated a gyrocopter himself so occasionally I would see him flying around the community and think of the gyro pilot.
When I saw this movie for the first time, back in the 1980's. I turned to my friends and said, "The guy playing Max is going to be a huge star...just wait" My personal favorite of his early films is The Year of Living Dangerously, you should check it out.
This is my favorite action movie. It's ruthless, single-minded, and the stunts are incredible. In Fury Road, any important character's death is replete with music cue and a character's sad reaction. It's sentimental crap. Notice when the main woman rebel is killed in the Road Warrior. Her body is thrown under the wheels and the chase continues. Just awesome!
I saw all kinds of major coverage of "Mad Max" in Japanese and German movie magazines when it was first released, but it remained mostly unknown to mainstream audiences in the U.S., playing in art house theaters that specialized in showing foreign and cult movies if it played at all. However, it earned enough money internationally to lead to the making of "The Road Warrior" which got a major theatrical release in the U.S. that finally made Max a pop culture icon to Americans. I remember overhearing a kid excitedly telling his friend that there was a "new" movie with Max called "Mad Max" because he didn't realize the low budget, indie original came before "The Road Warrior."
Hey man, great reaction. This is one of the best movies that was ever made, in my opinion. I remember vividy first seeing this movie on VHS at my Dad's house when I was a pretty small child. I would end up watching that movie probably every weekend I was over at my Dad's, along with the original Star Wars on VHS. Such great memories. Also, I personally think this is the best Mad Max. Fury Road is great, but what they were able to accomplish in this movie, with the budget they had and the technology they had, is just absolutely astounding. There's a really good making of documentary that came with the old VHS, I'd highly recommend trying to find it online. The making of this movie is so aboslutley insane.
I love your facial expression. The reveal that the feral kid was the narrator is one of my favorite reveals in cinema. Looks like you enjoyed it as much as I did.
A mate of mine was involved in the filming of this movie. He was involved in working on all the different vehicles in the film, and he said the cast and crew would get on the beers every night after a day's filming, including Mel.
My first VHS tape purchase - one of the best "fake outs" out there in movie history...right up there with "The Sting". Get most of the baddies to follow a tanker full of....well
The female warrior was the girl in the tube for The Buggles Video Killed the Radio Star video. She also voice the head of the all female alien planet with arms in their head in Rick and Morty.
And she was blue and bald alien Zotoh Zhaan in Farscape. :) And general Pushkin's girlfriend in the Bond film The Living Daylights that Shan has also watched.
The vehicles and costume designs are wild. There's a whole S&M thing going on with Wes and Humongous. And if you look closely some of his marauders look just like the Police Officers from the first film... Maybe cops who went nomad like Max did. It's little details like that make for great world building.
Watched Mad Max and Road Warrior in the same weekend at my cousin's birthday party back in '82 or '83, probably as a 10 year old. The first two movies have to go hand in hand. Cars, explosions, and of course Max. The most memorable part though, was the rental of the Betamax player and the movie tapes. The other good part was because I was family, I spent the night and we watched them again on Sunday. Still can't believe we were allowed to watch these movies as 10 year olds. As always, thank you for your review and bringing back so many memories.
I remember seeing the commercial for this movie and being in awe. In the US it was called The Road Warrior. I was too young to see it in theaters but watched as soon as it came to HBO. A couple years later I was introduced to a movie called Mad Max. My friends said I had to see it, "it's where The Road Warrior comes from". So I watched the first two movies in reverse order and the story still worked only, maybe the first part is more sad that way. Knowing how he ended up before you know how he got there.
I remember that my last night of my rotation with the Trauma Service was on Halloween, and the team watched "The Road Warrior" and had take out Thai food as we waited to be called down to the Emergency Room. It was sort of morbidly humorous for us to enjoy all the movie carnage while waiting to treat victims of real life carnage. Somehow, it turned out to be an exceptionally quiet night, and there were no major trauma cases for us. It was a nice way to conclude one of my most stressful rotations.
The tanker crash at the end was one of the most dangerous stunts in the movie, the weight of the trailer they weren't sure wouldn't drive it through the cab and kill the driver. I mean, they too every precaution, but there was genuine concern about his safety.
As for Beyond Thunderdome being watchable, I honestly can't tell you. I watched all 3 when I was a child and young teen. But the first 2 movies seemed more primal in their action, so I think they ingrained themselves into me. I 'feel' these movies just as much as I remember them. But please do watch part 3. I would like a revisit.
The raw grittiness is what keeps this film above Fury Road in my opinion. Fury Road felt a bit too much like a great 2 hour video game cut-scene to me. Edited to add... That may also just be because I'm 40. Things just look more bleak and desolate when it isn't filmed with perfect crispness and lighting.
“Last of the v-8 Interceptors”: on a high desert highway my 351 Cleveland powered 1972 Ford Ranchero broke the speedometer at 150 mph / 240 kph, same power plant as the interceptor minus the fake supercharger. At some point the dotted line in the middle of the road turned solid…
I'll never forget my 12th birthday when this came out w/ all my friends a double feature at the theater of The Road Warrior and Enter the Dragon. Great times
I saw this film for the first time in the early 80's and it quickly became a favorite of mine and my teenage friends. We watched it all the time on VHS or maybe HBO. We only knew it as "The Road Warrior" and none of us had any idea that it was part two of what would eventually be a trilogy of sorts. I think 20+ years passed before I learned about "Mad Max" and finally got a chance to watch it. I would say that "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" is worth watching for sure. It's not as good as this one, but it's still fun.
The refinery exploding is the best explosion in movie history in my opinion. No CGI. Just set the explosives, setup your cameras around the landscape and hope for the best. No second takes. Bruce Spence (The Gyro pilot) is almost as big a actor as Mel. The latest thing he was in was The Return of the King as the mouth of Sauron. Virginia Hay (The paladin woman) had a starring role in the Sci-fi TV series Farscape (Though she was bald and colored blue) Thunderdome is not as good as this one. It's not horrible just not as good. It certainly has a bigger budget but a bigger budget doesn't always make a better film. It wasn't as well received as this one was and George took a break from the Mad Max series until he came up with Fury Road 30 years later.
I just have to say that it seems like your post-film analysis feels like it's being delivered more naturally compared to some of your earlier reactions that I've watched. In the early ones, I felt like you were just reading off of a prewritten script, but here, although you seem to have an outline you're following, it feels more off-the-cuff and extemporaneous. So bravo for continued improvement as a reactor. You already seem to have some background knowledge of the filmmaking process that sets you apart from many other reactors. I'd say Mad Max 3 is definitely worth a watch, if nothing else for the amazing performance by the icon Tina Turner, and also for the great world-building and unique combat sequences.
This has to be one of the BEST examples of when a 2nd movie is superior to the 1st. It isn't often that you can take the same character and EXPAND on their character, setting, LEGACY and their cultural importance all at once. Yet, this movie (and only a handful of others) actually did it by focusing on LESS dialog and more physical interaction (action/stunts) in a way that actually told a story of their own. That final semi-trailer sequence is absolutely nothing but a massive self-contained story of its own, told with little (or in some parts none) dialog to convey the stakes, relationships and importance of figures.
I love Thunderdome a lot. I feel it is greatly overhated. The plot is quite weak but the world building is INSANE in it. Every new element they introduce is amazing.
I saw "Road Warrior" with friends when it was a new release, in a double bill of post-apocalyptic adventures, on one of Montreal's largest movie screens, Cinema V. The other feature was 1975's "A Boy and his Dog", starring a very young Don Johnson, prior to becoming a mega-star in "Miami Vice". You could not ask for two films better suited to each other, both excellent.
My dad took me to see this when I was 12 years old in 82. He debated taking me because it was an R-rated film. , but he decided it was ok after talking with the ticket salesman. I fell in love with it. One of my favorite movies of all time. By far the best of the series.
FUN FACTOID: Most folks know Mel Gibson as that Aussie-accented actor from the Mad Max movies. However, Mel is actually an American, being that he was born in Peekskill, NY.
Virginia Hey is the actress with the red hair in this movie. She is best known for a science fiction show she was in in 1999 to 2003 as the character Zhaan. She unfortunately had to leave the show because the makeup she was wearing was causing health problems.
Never think of any Mad Max movie as a continuation of the previous movies. Miller viewed these as stories swapped around the fire by the elders of a future dark age. The general themes of the favorite stories about Max would be the same... but the details would change with each telling.
Hi Shan! So happy to see you doing this one. Please, don't listen to the naysayers, and go ahead and do Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome. 4:24 - By this time (an unknown amount of time has passed since the first movie) society has completely broken down, and no, there is no police force anymore.
When you mentioned the poor quality of the dummy falling out of the Semi you were right, not that good BUT The EPIC stunts were more than enough to make up for it. And they were REAL, no CGI in this one, to me that makes it better, no fake stunts, they are the REAL DEAL
Nobody in the automotive community actually calls it NOS. That's a misnomer from bad script writing in the fast and the furious series. NOS is actually an acronymn for a company's trade name Nitrous Oxide Systems. People in the know correctly refer to it as Nitrous.
Ive been waiting for you to watch this one. The refinery explosion was the largest on film to this date on film and I know how you love explosions! Cheers
The first movie is really the only movie where Mad Max is the actual protagonist. From The Road Warrior on he just kind of stumbles into other people's movies and is just a POV character.
"The last of the V8 Interceptors". A subtlety from the first film to be sure, but other cops drove PURSUIT cars and Max drove the INTERCEPTOR. The psychotic Night Rider, for example, was laughing and confident while being chased by PURSUIT cops but started to openly cry when he realized he was being tailed by an INTERCEPTOR.
The Night Rider was driving a stolen Pursuit Special. (Black. 2dr coupe. High horsepower running on methanol.) Max's (also stolen) ride is a Pursuit Special as well. Radio chatter in the background of MM1 is very clear on this. The mechanic in the compound incorrectly calls it an Interceptor. There are (at least) 3 tiers of vehicles seen onscreen. Pursuits, Interceptors and Pursuit Specials. Shan is entirely correct.
If you're liking these movies, you should watch The Rover with Guy Pearce, Robert Pattinson, and Scoot McNairy. I always imagine it taking place around the same time as Mad Max. The world hasn't completely fallen to shit.
there is a scene in Gladiator that I reckon is nearly a direct copy of the scene from this movie where Max is transported on the helicopter basically on death's door, similar to the scene in gladiator where Maximus is transported on a cart on death's door, even the camera angle is very similar.
![[Watch Party] RoV Pro League 2024 Winter | ( Bacon Time Vs PSG )](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zM25REvnJW4/mqdefault.jpg)
![[UNCUT] The Loyal Pin ปิ่นภักดิ์ EP.6 (2/4)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/GgeGQOP10RQ/mqdefault.jpg)
After more than 40 years.
This is still one of the best action movie ever.
Mel Gibson is great as Mad Max.
We don't need another hero.
I have heard all the children say that. ;)
We just need to know the way home
Hope to see Mel again in this roll, and T.Hardy being the mute kid with the Boomerang that grew up to copy his hero, Max.
I see what you did there 😉
I saw this with my Father at a drive in in Ohio in 1982, I was 16. I never saw anything like it. The extended tanker chase at the end was the first thing I ever saw to rival Star Wars in being completely epic. Made me a fan for life.
Nobody, in the history of the ever, had seen anything quite like this. At the time. You were quite fortunate. But then again, so was all the ages of cinema. Gone with the wind. Cleopatra. Max Max. Lord of the rings. Avengers End Game. All very different. Alll very magnificient. What else? Who knows? I'll be exited to see.
This movie is one of the reasons the 80's was one of the greatest eras in movie making. There was just about a great movie coming out every weekend.
I'm from Florence Alabama and was born in 1965 and saw this movie with my dad,
I can relate
@@highlandergunn9240 I live over by Gulf Shores
Now for the Thunderdome! Definitely worth a reaction!
Break a deal, face the wheel
Who. Run. Bartertown.
He's a raggedy man
@@hughdalton7622 Master Blaster run Bartertown
Ooh yeah Tina Turner
"And the Road Warrior? That was the last we ever saw of him. He lives now... only in my memories."
Fun Fact: The costume department assembled the costumes by raiding junk shops, second hand clothing stores, sporting outlets, and S&M shops.
Liability Waved Fact: The tanker roll stunt at the end of the chase was deemed so dangerous that the stunt driver was not allowed to eat any food twelve hours before they shot, in the likely event that he could be rushed into surgery.
Shocking Backstory Fact: Humungus was originally supposed to be Max's partner Jim Goose. The production decided against this, but left a few hints, such as horrible burns behind Humungus' goalie mask, the use of police vehicles by the raiders, and his own use of a similar weapon to the MFP's standard sidearm.
K-9 Enthusiast Fact: The dog used in the film, named simply Dog, was obtained from a local dog pound and trained to perform in the film. Because the sound of the engines upset him (and in one incident, caused him to relieve himself in the car), he was fitted with special earplugs. After filming was complete, he was adopted by one of the camera operators.
I just saw a video about Dog a few weeks ago:
The cameraman ended up giving Dog back to the trainer & her husband, and he lived out his life with them.
Fun fact, the bad guy that you see jumping from the front of a vehicle to the rear of the tanker - without any safety gear - is Dog's trainer! She was also a stuntwoman at that time.
Hope to see Mel again in this roll, and T.Hardy being the mute kid with the Boomerang that grew up to copy his hero, Max.
My junior cricket club used the exact same batting gloves that appear in this movie. With the green rubber spikes all over them. So cool.
Yes, Thunderdome is worth watching. It's a different kind of Mad Max tale. Advances the world building and I think is Max moving back and forth through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. Also has Tina Turner.
Thunderdome and Fury Road more similar in tone, I thought. Over the top characters, much slicker looking than 1 and 2, etc.
Thunderdome is great….it’s just a very different movie.. bigger budget and made in the 80s. A product of its time for sure
Road Warrior was made in the 80s as well.
He's just a raggedy man...
Remember this!
Yes for me The Road Warrior is the best of the trilogy. Thunderdome isn’t nearly as good, but worth a watch for sure.
The 80s had some of the best anti-hero characters filmed; Mad Max, Snake Plissken, John Rambo to name a few
All kneel before lord Humungus!! :)
The ayatollah of rock and rolla!
Remember lingerie?
As Joe Bob Briggs once said of the movie, The Terminator, "kudos to the director for not letting the plot get in the way of the action."
This opened in the States in the summer of 1982 when I was 14. My dad took me and both of us were blown away by the stunts. I wish he would have lived to see Fury Road, he would have loved it.
Yes, you should watch Beyond Thunderdome, Tina Turner is fantastic in her role.
For me, this is the best of the serie, even above Fury Road.
Unlike the previous film, by this point, society has completely collapsed.
I love how they tie nicely the plot of the first film in the small intro so you jump right in the action.
Humungus is hands down one of the best and scariest vilain and his right hand Wez (played by Vernon Wells) can be seen as the bad guy who kidnaps Schwarzenegger's daughter in Commando.
The feral kid is also pretty awesome, all the charatcers in fact are great but the action, especially the last chase sequence.
Adrenaline heaven.
The style of Mad Max 2 directly influenced the post apocalyptic genre and an onslaught of post apocalyptic movies came out in the early to mid-80's.
Hail your lord Humungus, the Ayatollah of the ROCK'N ROLLA!
"even above"?
Fury Road is trash as a Mad Max movie and also pure mediocrity as a movie.
@@prltqdf9
You are entitled to your opinion.
That's the beauty of free speech.
Fury road is garbage.
Vernon Wells was a bit over the top in Commando but in this one he was phenomenal. I don’t think Kjell Nilsson was an actor at all but he was really intimidating as Humungus, great job. The gyro captain is a funny and original character. All the characters are great, even the toothless mechanic lol. Great movie score. Yeah, the last chase is simply amazing.
I respect the fact you call it a Pursuit Special.
Glad you finally got to see this classic. Thunderdome is slightly more Hollywood, slightly less 'raw' but still a great movie and I would love to see you react to it.
This movie introduced Mad Max to the US audience. When we saw it in 1981 we had no idea there had been an earlier movie. I, too, think it's the best of the franchise, although Thunderdome is definitely worth a watch. After all, Tina Turner is in it. ^_^
First saw this film in 1982 when I was 16 at the Totem theater in Prince Rupert BC, Canada. Was an experience I'll never forget.
For me, that high speed head on collision where the smaller vehicle just disintegrates, makes me giggle like a luniatic every time I see it. So satisfying!
I love this movie, one of my most watched films. Max is a legend, like you said. It's like the stories of Max are told by those who encounter him at some time and place and he became this legendary figure. " Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" is worth watching. Glad you enjoyed this one, Thank You!
My friends and I were obsessed with this film after seeing it when we were 12 years old. We went as Max, Humongous, Gyro Captain, and Wez for Halloween, and made the vehicles and played Car Wars for years! Such a classic
I love how Wez and the Humungus gang show up in Weird Science 😂
Two Mel Gibson films - Mad Max and Gallipoli - not only launched his film career but also (with Picnic at Hanging Rock) revitalised Australian movie making and created our modern movie industry. This movie is a great introduction to post-apocalyptic cinema, even if shot on a shoestring budget.
Still my favourite Mad Max movie and one of the greatest action movies ever. It pretty much spawned the whole post apocalyptic thriller genre. Beyond Thunderdome is good but is more glossy commercial and lacks the raw brutal intensity of this one.
The rare sequel that surpasses the original. The original was made for half a million. Road Warrior was made for 4 and a half million. Longest chase scene ever filmed at that time.
This is my favorite film in the Mad Max franchise, perhaps because it was the first one that I ever saw. (After seeing it I went back and watched the first movie to understand Max's back-story.) It really set the tone for post-apocalyptic movies for decades to come. I was fascinated with the gyrocopter and a neighbor in our community owned and operated a gyrocopter himself so occasionally I would see him flying around the community and think of the gyro pilot.
Growing up in Australia, you cannot believe how famous these films were
This is my favorite but the third movie is still really good.
The dog didn't die. They took him back to the refinery and did surgery. Then they sent him to live on a farm.
My mom told me
Great movie! Still holds up 41 years later.
Lord Humungus is one of the most quotable characters ever. Great villain.
Here is something you might have missed,the red mohawk guy is the same actor as the bad guy in commando Arnold Schwarzenegger fights in the end
When I saw this movie for the first time, back in the 1980's. I turned to my friends and said, "The guy playing Max is going to be a huge star...just wait" My personal favorite of his early films is The Year of Living Dangerously, you should check it out.
This is my favorite action movie. It's ruthless, single-minded, and the stunts are incredible. In Fury Road, any important character's death is replete with music cue and a character's sad reaction. It's sentimental crap. Notice when the main woman rebel is killed in the Road Warrior. Her body is thrown under the wheels and the chase continues. Just awesome!
It won 6 Oscars
I saw all kinds of major coverage of "Mad Max" in Japanese and German movie magazines when it was first released, but it remained mostly unknown to mainstream audiences in the U.S., playing in art house theaters that specialized in showing foreign and cult movies if it played at all. However, it earned enough money internationally to lead to the making of "The Road Warrior" which got a major theatrical release in the U.S. that finally made Max a pop culture icon to Americans. I remember overhearing a kid excitedly telling his friend that there was a "new" movie with Max called "Mad Max" because he didn't realize the low budget, indie original came before "The Road Warrior."
The Warrior Woman also played Zhaan on Farscape. Multiple actors are in both the Mad Max movies and that TV series.
Hey man, great reaction. This is one of the best movies that was ever made, in my opinion. I remember vividy first seeing this movie on VHS at my Dad's house when I was a pretty small child. I would end up watching that movie probably every weekend I was over at my Dad's, along with the original Star Wars on VHS. Such great memories.
Also, I personally think this is the best Mad Max. Fury Road is great, but what they were able to accomplish in this movie, with the budget they had and the technology they had, is just absolutely astounding. There's a really good making of documentary that came with the old VHS, I'd highly recommend trying to find it online. The making of this movie is so aboslutley insane.
I worked at blockbuster in the 80’s and constantly played this on the monitors during my shifts.
You are legend 👍😁
I love your facial expression. The reveal that the feral kid was the narrator is one of my favorite reveals in cinema. Looks like you enjoyed it as much as I did.
A mate of mine was involved in the filming of this movie. He was involved in working on all the different vehicles in the film, and he said the cast and crew would get on the beers every night after a day's filming, including Mel.
Excellent film. The definitive Max
My first VHS tape purchase - one of the best "fake outs" out there in movie history...right up there with "The Sting". Get most of the baddies to follow a tanker full of....well
Mad Max 3 - Beyond Thunderdome. It co-stars Tina Turner and her long legs. Its not as good as this one but its ok
The opening of this film with the supercharger screeching is TIGHT.
Mad max 2 is just iconic, Amazing ahead of its time and such a crazy ride. So hype for your reaction.
The female warrior was the girl in the tube for The Buggles Video Killed the Radio Star video. She also voice the head of the all female alien planet with arms in their head in Rick and Morty.
And she was blue and bald alien Zotoh Zhaan in Farscape. :)
And general Pushkin's girlfriend in the Bond film The Living Daylights that Shan has also watched.
The vehicles and costume designs are wild. There's a whole S&M thing going on with Wes and Humongous. And if you look closely some of his marauders look just like the Police Officers from the first film... Maybe cops who went nomad like Max did. It's little details like that make for great world building.
Watched Mad Max and Road Warrior in the same weekend at my cousin's birthday party back in '82 or '83, probably as a 10 year old. The first two movies have to go hand in hand. Cars, explosions, and of course Max. The most memorable part though, was the rental of the Betamax player and the movie tapes. The other good part was because I was family, I spent the night and we watched them again on Sunday. Still can't believe we were allowed to watch these movies as 10 year olds. As always, thank you for your review and bringing back so many memories.
So glad you watched this one. To me it's one of the greatest action movies ever made.
Btw. "continuity" is a loose term in the Mad Max universe. :)
Great reaction. Shout out to Dean Semler the cinematographer and one of the true national treasures of Aussie movie-making.
I love your visible anger and disgust at the killing of the dog.
I remember seeing the commercial for this movie and being in awe. In the US it was called The Road Warrior. I was too young to see it in theaters but watched as soon as it came to HBO. A couple years later I was introduced to a movie called Mad Max. My friends said I had to see it, "it's where The Road Warrior comes from". So I watched the first two movies in reverse order and the story still worked only, maybe the first part is more sad that way. Knowing how he ended up before you know how he got there.
When Pappagallo says "That is more than just a tanker of gas." The real location of the gasoline, the bus, takes up 2/3 of the screen.
Vernon Wells (Wez) reprizes his character in a scene in "Wierd Science" as a biker/home invader. Very funny.
I remember that my last night of my rotation with the Trauma Service was on Halloween, and the team watched "The Road Warrior" and had take out Thai food as we waited to be called down to the Emergency Room. It was sort of morbidly humorous for us to enjoy all the movie carnage while waiting to treat victims of real life carnage. Somehow, it turned out to be an exceptionally quiet night, and there were no major trauma cases for us. It was a nice way to conclude one of my most stressful rotations.
This and thunderdome provide a large percentage of the look and feel of the fallout game series
The tanker crash at the end was one of the most dangerous stunts in the movie, the weight of the trailer they weren't sure wouldn't drive it through the cab and kill the driver. I mean, they too every precaution, but there was genuine concern about his safety.
Thunder dome is good too. Turned it up a notch. Great stunts and explosions. You are going to love it.
As for Beyond Thunderdome being watchable, I honestly can't tell you. I watched all 3 when I was a child and young teen. But the first 2 movies seemed more primal in their action, so I think they ingrained themselves into me. I 'feel' these movies just as much as I remember them.
But please do watch part 3. I would like a revisit.
The raw grittiness is what keeps this film above Fury Road in my opinion. Fury Road felt a bit too much like a great 2 hour video game cut-scene to me.
Edited to add... That may also just be because I'm 40. Things just look more bleak and desolate when it isn't filmed with perfect crispness and lighting.
“Last of the v-8 Interceptors”: on a high desert highway my 351 Cleveland powered 1972 Ford Ranchero broke the speedometer at 150 mph / 240 kph, same power plant as the interceptor minus the fake supercharger. At some point the dotted line in the middle of the road turned solid…
I'll never forget my 12th birthday when this came out w/ all my friends a double feature at the theater of The Road Warrior and Enter the Dragon. Great times
I saw this film for the first time in the early 80's and it quickly became a favorite of mine and my teenage friends. We watched it all the time on VHS or maybe HBO. We only knew it as "The Road Warrior" and none of us had any idea that it was part two of what would eventually be a trilogy of sorts. I think 20+ years passed before I learned about "Mad Max" and finally got a chance to watch it. I would say that "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" is worth watching for sure. It's not as good as this one, but it's still fun.
You have to remember Max was shot in the lower leg in the first film which explains the leg apparatus, awesome must've watched it well over 30 times
The refinery exploding is the best explosion in movie history in my opinion. No CGI. Just set the explosives, setup your cameras around the landscape and hope for the best. No second takes.
Bruce Spence (The Gyro pilot) is almost as big a actor as Mel. The latest thing he was in was The Return of the King as the mouth of Sauron.
Virginia Hay (The paladin woman) had a starring role in the Sci-fi TV series Farscape (Though she was bald and colored blue)
Thunderdome is not as good as this one. It's not horrible just not as good. It certainly has a bigger budget but a bigger budget doesn't always make a better film. It wasn't as well received as this one was and George took a break from the Mad Max series until he came up with Fury Road 30 years later.
A few Mad Max alumni appear on Farscape, including the late Hugh Keays Byrne (Toecutter / Immortan Joe).
Road warrior is my favorite. Saying that Thunderdome is a must watch!
I like the music in this film and especially that one 14:14 :)
I remember seeing this in the cinema and walking out and buying tickets for the next screening
I saw this movie when I was much too young for this type of movie. It had a deep lasting impact me.
I like Thunderdome for it's society being rebuilt, showing how it has rebounded in some ways.
I just have to say that it seems like your post-film analysis feels like it's being delivered more naturally compared to some of your earlier reactions that I've watched. In the early ones, I felt like you were just reading off of a prewritten script, but here, although you seem to have an outline you're following, it feels more off-the-cuff and extemporaneous. So bravo for continued improvement as a reactor. You already seem to have some background knowledge of the filmmaking process that sets you apart from many other reactors. I'd say Mad Max 3 is definitely worth a watch, if nothing else for the amazing performance by the icon Tina Turner, and also for the great world-building and unique combat sequences.
This has to be one of the BEST examples of when a 2nd movie is superior to the 1st. It isn't often that you can take the same character and EXPAND on their character, setting, LEGACY and their cultural importance all at once. Yet, this movie (and only a handful of others) actually did it by focusing on LESS dialog and more physical interaction (action/stunts) in a way that actually told a story of their own. That final semi-trailer sequence is absolutely nothing but a massive self-contained story of its own, told with little (or in some parts none) dialog to convey the stakes, relationships and importance of figures.
"not only is the pursuit special gone, but also the dog is dead." --- One may stop and think ... What would John Wick do? Lol
I love Thunderdome a lot. I feel it is greatly overhated. The plot is quite weak but the world building is INSANE in it. Every new element they introduce is amazing.
Thunderdome is the one with all the quotable lines." Two men enter. . ."
I saw "Road Warrior" with friends when it was a new release, in a double bill of post-apocalyptic adventures, on one of Montreal's largest movie screens, Cinema V. The other feature was 1975's "A Boy and his Dog", starring a very young Don Johnson, prior to becoming a mega-star in "Miami Vice". You could not ask for two films better suited to each other, both excellent.
Boy and his dog would be a good one for a reaction. It's not as iconic as mad Max but the story is very good
My dad took me to see this when I was 12 years old in 82. He debated taking me because it was an R-rated film. , but he decided it was ok after talking with the ticket salesman. I fell in love with it. One of my favorite movies of all time. By far the best of the series.
FUN FACTOID: Most folks know Mel Gibson as that Aussie-accented actor from the Mad Max movies. However, Mel is actually an American, being that he was born in Peekskill, NY.
Virginia Hey is the actress with the red hair in this movie. She is best known for a science fiction show she was in in 1999 to 2003 as the character Zhaan. She unfortunately had to leave the show because the makeup she was wearing was causing health problems.
Never think of any Mad Max movie as a continuation of the previous movies. Miller viewed these as stories swapped around the fire by the elders of a future dark age. The general themes of the favorite stories about Max would be the same... but the details would change with each telling.
Hi Shan! So happy to see you doing this one. Please, don't listen to the naysayers, and go ahead and do Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome.
4:24 - By this time (an unknown amount of time has passed since the first movie) society has completely broken down, and no, there is no police force anymore.
It's only called The Road Warrior in the US, and Mad Max 2 everywhere else.
When you mentioned the poor quality of the dummy falling out of the Semi you were right, not that good
BUT
The EPIC stunts were more than enough to make up for it.
And they were REAL, no CGI in this one, to me that makes it better, no fake stunts, they are the REAL DEAL
Nobody in the automotive community actually calls it NOS. That's a misnomer from bad script writing in the fast and the furious series. NOS is actually an acronymn for a company's trade name Nitrous Oxide Systems.
People in the know correctly refer to it as Nitrous.
While this is probably my favorite, the third film is just as good. Its budget was vastly bigger as well.
In Australia, they were released as Mad Max, Mad Max 2, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.
"Break a deal, face the wheel". You'll like Thunderdome.
Beyond Thunderdome is pretty good. Tina Turner is the bad guy boss, great vehicles.
BEST MAD MAX MOVIE EVER MADE!
Ive been waiting for you to watch this one. The refinery explosion was the largest on film to this date on film and I know how you love explosions! Cheers
For me Mad Max 2 is the best.
Bruce Spence - Stork, play the Mouth of Sauron in the Return of the King. Famous australian actor. Lots of aussie extras in these films :D
The first movie is really the only movie where Mad Max is the actual protagonist. From The Road Warrior on he just kind of stumbles into other people's movies and is just a POV character.
Thunderdome is definitely word a watch.
Thunderdome has one of my favorite lines. Loved Tina, Mel is always great as Max.
You've seen the Gyro Captains teeth before, he played the Mouth of Sauron in the extended Return of the King
"The last of the V8 Interceptors". A subtlety from the first film to be sure, but other cops drove PURSUIT cars and Max drove the INTERCEPTOR. The psychotic Night Rider, for example, was laughing and confident while being chased by PURSUIT cops but started to openly cry when he realized he was being tailed by an INTERCEPTOR.
The Night Rider was driving a stolen Pursuit Special. (Black. 2dr coupe. High horsepower running on methanol.)
Max's (also stolen) ride is a Pursuit Special as well.
Radio chatter in the background of MM1 is very clear on this.
The mechanic in the compound incorrectly calls it an Interceptor.
There are (at least) 3 tiers of vehicles seen onscreen. Pursuits, Interceptors and Pursuit Specials. Shan is entirely correct.
Fun fact- the snake is a carpet python. They are harmless, though sometimes bitey.
Waiting for Thunderdome. You know it, you love it!
Hope to see Mel again in this roll, and T.Hardy being the mute kid with the Boomerang that grew up to copy his hero, Max.
Stone cold masterpiece. An incredible film.
If you're liking these movies, you should watch The Rover with Guy Pearce, Robert Pattinson, and Scoot McNairy. I always imagine it taking place around the same time as Mad Max. The world hasn't completely fallen to shit.
Mad Max is so badass he has the Mouth of Sauron as sidekick.
there is a scene in Gladiator that I reckon is nearly a direct copy of the scene from this movie where Max is transported on the helicopter basically on death's door, similar to the scene in gladiator where Maximus is transported on a cart on death's door, even the camera angle is very similar.