Mad Max
Year: 1979
Director: George Miller
Starring: Mel Gibson
Runtime: 93 mins
BBFC: 18
Published: 11/02/22
Director: George Miller
Starring: Mel Gibson
Runtime: 93 mins
BBFC: 18
Published: 11/02/22
For thirty years Mad Max was the most profitable film of all time. Made on a budget of less than $400,000, and earning a box office take of over $100 million, it was an unprecedented success earning around two hundred and fifty times its budget. It also paved the way for Mel Gibson to become an international moviestar, and director George Miller to become one of Hollywood’s most inventive directors, and for both of whom this was their first major project. But the original Mad Max is often forgotten, overshadowed by its considerably more popular sequels. So, I’m going to take a look back at the 1979 classic (a film I wasn’t particularly fond of the first time I watched it around ten years ago), to see whether I can work out why the film was as popular as it was.
Set in a dystopian near-future Australia where society is on the brink of collapse, Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) is the best officer in the Main Force Patrol (MFP), the highway police. When a motorcycle gang member kills an officer leading to a high-speed chase, Max drives the man to his death.
Angered by the loss of a gang member, Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne), the gang’s leader, wants revenge on the MFP, whilst also raping and pillaging any settlement he passes through.
Disillusioned by the MFP’s lack of action, Max takes matters into his own hands to hunt down the members of Toecutter’s gang before taking on the man himself.
I wish I had good things to say about Mad Max’s story, but honestly, it’s total garbage. The actual plot itself is generally incoherent because of the rubbish dialogue that firstly doesn’t tell us anything about what’s actually happening, and secondly can’t be heard because it’s too quiet in the audio mix (I watched the Blu-Ray release of the film, more on this issue later). There’s not an awful lot of dialogue in Mad Max, but what is there won’t tell you anything about the characters or the story. It’s total macho man bullshit where gruff, deep voiced muscle men growl at each other about cars and loyalty, whilst any time a woman is present the men simply state how they don’t know how to share how they’re feeling with them because they’re men and are incapable of such things. Every single character has as much depth as teaspoon and zero-character development across the whole film.
The way the film is edited together doesn’t communicate the story very well either. It often feels like it’s been cobbled together by a blind man, choosing random clips for peculiar lengths of time. This could be why the production cost was so low, potentially down to being limited in the number of takes that could be done, and a generally low bar of talent for those involved.
Add to this that the dystopian premise of the film isn’t even present or addressed. Things certainly seem a little barren, but they’re in the outback for most of the film which doesn’t have a lot there anyway. There’s no mention or sign of society crumbling, everything just seems kind of normal. Which for a dystopian film is the last thing you want.
Set in a dystopian near-future Australia where society is on the brink of collapse, Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) is the best officer in the Main Force Patrol (MFP), the highway police. When a motorcycle gang member kills an officer leading to a high-speed chase, Max drives the man to his death.
Angered by the loss of a gang member, Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne), the gang’s leader, wants revenge on the MFP, whilst also raping and pillaging any settlement he passes through.
Disillusioned by the MFP’s lack of action, Max takes matters into his own hands to hunt down the members of Toecutter’s gang before taking on the man himself.
I wish I had good things to say about Mad Max’s story, but honestly, it’s total garbage. The actual plot itself is generally incoherent because of the rubbish dialogue that firstly doesn’t tell us anything about what’s actually happening, and secondly can’t be heard because it’s too quiet in the audio mix (I watched the Blu-Ray release of the film, more on this issue later). There’s not an awful lot of dialogue in Mad Max, but what is there won’t tell you anything about the characters or the story. It’s total macho man bullshit where gruff, deep voiced muscle men growl at each other about cars and loyalty, whilst any time a woman is present the men simply state how they don’t know how to share how they’re feeling with them because they’re men and are incapable of such things. Every single character has as much depth as teaspoon and zero-character development across the whole film.
The way the film is edited together doesn’t communicate the story very well either. It often feels like it’s been cobbled together by a blind man, choosing random clips for peculiar lengths of time. This could be why the production cost was so low, potentially down to being limited in the number of takes that could be done, and a generally low bar of talent for those involved.
Add to this that the dystopian premise of the film isn’t even present or addressed. Things certainly seem a little barren, but they’re in the outback for most of the film which doesn’t have a lot there anyway. There’s no mention or sign of society crumbling, everything just seems kind of normal. Which for a dystopian film is the last thing you want.
The acting also isn’t very good. I’m sure most of this falls down to the awful script, but many of the actors can’t keep a consistent accent throughout their lines, and it’s all delivered in the same way…with no real emotion, and always in the same tone.
Now onto the audio. I had to switch the subtitles on for this film because the dialogue is so quiet in the audio mix that I straight up couldn’t hear it for the majority of the film. I had my TV up fairly loud too, and I knew that because the sound of car engines and explosions were deafening. But there was dialogue happening at the same time as all this and I would just see subtitles popping up for it despite being able to hear nothing but engines revving. Even when nothing else was happening the audio was barely audible at times and it was a total shitshow.
Watching clips of the film on YouTube seems as though the audio is marginally more balanced, still quiet in comparison to the rest of the mix, but slightly better than this version I own. Unfortunately, this is the highest quality version of the film currently being manufactured by Warner Bros. so if the audio is bad in this then it reflects badly on the film as a whole.
The only positive thing I can really pinpoint in Mad Max is the action sequences. These extremely fast and very dangerous car stunts are genuinely impressive for the time this film was made. Even moreso when you consider that all of the stunts performed are real, no special effects wizardry, just straight up car carnage and some insanely talented stuntmen.
But was this really enough to warrant the film being so massively successful? Because that’s pretty much the only positive I can find with the film.
I did not enjoy Mad Max in the slightest. There’s almost nothing about the film I would genuinely say is worth actually watching the film for, because even though the stuntwork is commendable, it’s been topped within its own series in every other entry. Thankfully Mad Max isn’t the type of series that you need to have seen this first film to understand what’s happening, so despite this film probably being beloved in 1979 for its high-octane stunts, I simply cannot find any reason to recommend it for modern audiences. An interesting part of film history, but one I most definitely will never be returning to again.
Now onto the audio. I had to switch the subtitles on for this film because the dialogue is so quiet in the audio mix that I straight up couldn’t hear it for the majority of the film. I had my TV up fairly loud too, and I knew that because the sound of car engines and explosions were deafening. But there was dialogue happening at the same time as all this and I would just see subtitles popping up for it despite being able to hear nothing but engines revving. Even when nothing else was happening the audio was barely audible at times and it was a total shitshow.
Watching clips of the film on YouTube seems as though the audio is marginally more balanced, still quiet in comparison to the rest of the mix, but slightly better than this version I own. Unfortunately, this is the highest quality version of the film currently being manufactured by Warner Bros. so if the audio is bad in this then it reflects badly on the film as a whole.
The only positive thing I can really pinpoint in Mad Max is the action sequences. These extremely fast and very dangerous car stunts are genuinely impressive for the time this film was made. Even moreso when you consider that all of the stunts performed are real, no special effects wizardry, just straight up car carnage and some insanely talented stuntmen.
But was this really enough to warrant the film being so massively successful? Because that’s pretty much the only positive I can find with the film.
I did not enjoy Mad Max in the slightest. There’s almost nothing about the film I would genuinely say is worth actually watching the film for, because even though the stuntwork is commendable, it’s been topped within its own series in every other entry. Thankfully Mad Max isn’t the type of series that you need to have seen this first film to understand what’s happening, so despite this film probably being beloved in 1979 for its high-octane stunts, I simply cannot find any reason to recommend it for modern audiences. An interesting part of film history, but one I most definitely will never be returning to again.