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Mad Max 2 The Road Warrior, 1981

I had it on good authority that I would really enjoy this entry in the Mad Max, and sure enough I really did.

Following the events of the first film (which honestly wouldn't be necessary to enjoy this one), Max (Mel Gibson) roams the dystopian Australian outback with his dog, searching for food and gasoline. When he finds himself in the middle of a conflict between a (relatively) peaceful group led by a man named Pappagello (Michael Preston) and a destructive, violent road gang led by the masked Humungus and his main enforcer, Wez (Vernon Wells), Max must decide how much he is willing to extend past his initial transactional agreement with the group. Also along for the ride is a wacky helicopter pilot (Bruce Spence), a warrior woman (Virginia Hey), a paraplegic mechanic (Steve Spears), and a feral child (Emil Minty).

It's funny to think that the main strength of a movie that features flamethrowers and outlandish, bondage-inspired costumes is a less is more approach, but I found that the main heft of the film comes from a certain degree of minimalism when it comes to the main character. There are a lot of movies about tough, cynical men surviving in post-apocalyptic landscapes--and in 99% of them it just takes the right helpless woman or helpless child (or both) to open their hearts. But this isn't a film about Max transforming into a husband or father figure.

From beginning to end, Max never lets go of a certain degree of aloofness. And it makes sense. He has suffered a terrible loss and has no wish to open himself up to that pain again. The film repeatedly offers out possibilities to Max: the feral child, the straight-forward and awesome warrior woman, the pilot. All of them offer that chance for connection--fatherhood, romance, sex, love, friendship. And the great emotional heft of the film comes from the way that you can see some part of Max responding to them before choosing to close himself off again. There's an honesty to this response to trauma--Max is a tragic figure, and the emotional distance he keeps from the other characters is part of his survival. Significantly, none of the characters who represent this potential--the child, the warrior woman, the pilot--are ever given names. I've always gotten weird vibes off of Mel Gibson (even before the whole wishing rape on a woman and using racial slurs thing came to light), but here that nervous, strange energy is put to good use. Gibson does a great job at portraying a man who depends on his outsider status for the sake of his sanity.

Then there's the world-building, which I thought was pretty great. Given the bleak situation, some choose to try to rebuild--the more peaceful group--while others seem only interested in a nihilistic grab-bag approach. I read in an article (so feel free to correct me if this is wrong) that the writers (including director George Miller) wanted to portray a society where gender roles have lost their meaning. Thus Wez's romantic companion, originally a female character, became the Golden Youth. The Warrior Woman apparently was originally meant to be a male character. (This gender parity only extends so far into the film itself, as the only victim of sexual violence is a female character). But this world building also creates a landscape in which Max has no home. He cannot open himself up to the optimism and community of the peaceful group, nor can he ignore his conscience and become a ruthless scavenger like the violent gangs.

One aspect of the film I wasn't sure how to interpret was all of the blatantly gay or homoerotic content. Everything form the fetish leather outfits to the chain that the Golden Youth wears, to the fact that one of the parts of the violent gang is called the Gayboy Berserkers. The violent gang is almost entirely male (with a handful of female characters in the background and one female character used in a visual gag), and I couldn't tell if this was meant to be a commentary on their philosophy (ie there is no need for a balanced society and reproduction because they don't care about the future and long-term survival) or what.

The last thing that I appreciated in the film was the portrayal of violence. It is a violent film, to be sure. Characters are burned, stabbed, shot, crushed and so on. But what makes the action hit hard in this movie is the "routine" and inelegant and arbitrary nature of it all. Characters in this movie are as likely to die accidentally (falling off of a moving vehicle or being hit by a truck) as they are to die doing something noble. And when the main action scenes get going, a character we care about deeply is just as likely to die in a quick scene with little comment as some random extra. There aren't any "heroic" deaths in this film. Yes, characters die doing noble things like defending their companions, but it's always ugly and unfair and cruel. No more so than when (MAJOR SPOILERS) .

Overall I really enjoyed this one. Mad Max Fury Road is probably one of my favorite films from the last 10 years, and this one had a lot of the same dynamics that I loved about it.

Pop, you haven't seen Attack The Block? It's quite fun.

Not yet, but I plan to soon.

Mad Max 2 The Road Warrior, 1981

It's funny to think that the main strength of a movie that features flamethrowers and outlandish, bondage-inspired costumes is a less is more approach, but I found that the main heft of the film comes from a certain degree of minimalism when it comes to the main character. There are a lot of movies about tough, cynical men surviving in post-apocalyptic landscapes--and in 99% of them it just takes the right helpless woman or helpless child (or both) to open their hearts. But this isn't a film about Max transforming into a husband or father figure.

From beginning to end, Max never lets go of a certain degree of aloofness. And it makes sense. He has suffered a terrible loss and has no wish to open himself up to that pain again. The film repeatedly offers out possibilities to Max: the feral child, the straight-forward and awesome warrior woman, the pilot. All of them offer that chance for connection--fatherhood, romance, sex, love, friendship. And the great emotional heft of the film comes from the way that you can see some part of Max responding to them before choosing to close himself off again. There's an honesty to this response to trauma--Max is a tragic figure, and the emotional distance he keeps from the other characters is part of his survival. Significantly, none of the characters who represent this potential--the child, the warrior woman, the pilot--are ever given names. I've always gotten weird vibes off of Mel Gibson (even before the whole wishing rape on a woman and using racial slurs thing came to light), but here that nervous, strange energy is put to good use. Gibson does a great job at portraying a man who depends on his outsider status for the sake of his sanity.

I am extremely pleased that you enjoyed it, it has been a favorite of mine for like 35 years.
The spoiler scene you mention above is a good call-out from you for the reason you point out.
I will say that people who were blown away by Fury Road perplexed me a bit as, while I liked it a lot and thought it was really well done, it seemed largely to just be The Road Warrior updated for a contemporary audience. And I don't mean that as a criticism, merely that it wasn't new in any way to the George Miller universe it was just the next one. Unless you hadn't seen The Road Warrior (or Beyond Thunderdome, for that matter).

Um, wut?

I will say that people who were blown away by Fury Road perplexed me a bit as, while I liked it a lot and thought it was really well done, it seemed largely to just be The Road Warrior updated for a contemporary audience. And I don't mean that as a criticism, merely that it wasn't new in any way to the George Miller universe it was just the next one.

One thing I feel differently about in it, however, would be Max, which, despite me generally preferring subtlety in film, and the fact that his characterization certainly rings true considering what he went through in the original film, I still feel like the film underplayed his arc a bit too much; it feels like almost all of it was conveyed through The Feral Child's bookending narration (in other words, the film lets us know that Max regained some of his humanity by literally telling us that he did, without really showing it), and The Road Warrior could've really used at least one big "My name is Max" moment of humanization for him, ala Fury Road.

I think that Max is always humanized, but just aloof. For example, giving the child the music box. And I appreciated the honesty behind the fact that him helping the group was largely about revenge for the actions of the violent gang.

I only wish FR were slightly less polished and processed to capture the roughness and grittiness of RW. It would then be perfection (it's already pretty darn close and my admiration grows with every viewing).