The Road Warrior
Year: 1981
Film Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures, Kennedy Miller Entertainment
Genre: Action, Science-Fiction, Adventure
Length: 95 Min.
DirectorGeorge Miller (1945)
WritingTerry Hayes (1951)...Written By
George Miller (1945)...Written By
Brian Hannant (1940)...Written By
ProducerByron Kennedy (1952)
CinematographerDean Semler (1943)
MusicBrian May (1934)...Composer
StarsMel Gibson (1956) as Max
Bruce Spence (1945) as The Gyro Captain
Michael Preston (1938) as Pappagallo
Max Phipps (1939) as The Toadie
Vernon Wells (1945) as Wez
Kjell Nilsson (1949) as The Humungus
Emil Minty (1972) as The Feral Kid
Virginia Hey (1952) as Warrior Woman
Review Thanks to the advent of Cable television and pay movie channels like HBO, obscure films from around the world would be given an audience that most movies of previous years could never attain. As the quantity of channels increased, so too did the demand for quality programming to fill the schedules of these new networks. At the time, the Big three networks had a strangle hold on the American viewing public, and also on the second run broadcasts of the hit movies of the time. But the Walls of Jericho would soon start to crumble, as HBO, Showtime and Cinemax would offer Americans something that CBS, NBC and ABC could only dream of; Uncut and un-censored films. American television audiences would follow the dangling carrot of nudity, profanity and non-commercial interruptions, which had been removed for their welfare and well being, to the new promised land of pay-per-view programming.
One obscure Australian film would set the path for many other foreign and independent films to follow, as repeated telecasts on these pay services would launch it into cult status and make a star out of Mel Gibson.
The Road Warrior was the sequel to a small successful film in Australia called
Mad Max, about a cop in the Australian outback whose family is murdered by a roving band of belligerent bikers, and whom he subsequently seeks revenge upon. While
Mad Max has attained its own cult following, the story is a little stiff and uneven, making it most noteworthy for being the inspiration for its successful offspring. By changing the setting to an apocalyptic wasteland sometime in the near future, and turning Max into a nomadic mercenary whose only interest is self-preservation, a new benchmark would be achieved in action films that all future films in that genre would try to emulate.
As the world has sunk into the abyss of post-nuclear annihilation, the few remaining survivors must struggle to exist on a day-to-day basis. Rogues and renegades run roughshod over the endless landscape pillaging, raping and murdering anyone who dare confront them. They venture the highways in an endless search to find the one commodity that preserves their outlaw existence. Petrol is the oxygen that breathes life into the battlewagons of these barbarians and they will stop at nothing to attain this precious lifeblood. Which brings us to one of the last operational oil refineries in the outback. The inhabitants are continually under siege from a band of outlaws who are hell-bent on acquiring the installation. Temporarily safe behind their makeshift barricades, they send off volunteers on motorcycles to find a vehicle powerful enough to help them escape to a city on the coast of Australia that has survived and has been rebuilt under law and order.
It is here that we meet Max (Mel Gibson), who witnesses the murders of two of the volunteers, and brings back the bodies in hope of bartering for some fuel. At first he is rebuked, but when he mentions that he came upon an abandoned oil truck a few days earlier, they strike a deal with the stranger. In return for all the gas he can carry, Max will head out into the wasteland and return with the vehicle. The struggle of the group to beat back the attacks by the outlaws, and Max’s own adventure with them on his way back to the refinery, fuel the frenzied pace of the story until the climactic showdown at the end of the film. Max’s heroism will cast him in a new light to the group of refugees who will reach out to him for leadership and guidance on their dangerous journey. In the end, Max will live by the bargain made with the pilgrims and will set off alone, back into the desolate world that is his home.
In the many years since this films release, many usurpers for the title of best action film have been made, with a good percentage of these being pale comparisons. While I’m not a big fan of the action film genre, I do from time to time, enjoy watching a movie that is believable at its core and thrilling in its exploits. I can only think of a handful of appreciable films in this genre that can meet that requirement.
Aliens,
The Terminator I &
II and
Die Hard all fit this profile and for that reason are considered the true class of this genre. If you’ve been spoon fed on the pabulum of mediocre movies by Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer and are tired of the repetitive nature of their films, rent or buy
The Road Warrior and see how a great action film is made.
Review Criterion5 Stars - The pinnacle of film perfection and excellence.
4 ½ Stars - Not quite an immortal film, yet a masterpiece in its own right.
4 Stars - Historically important film, considered a classic.3 ½ Stars - An entertaining film that’s fun or engaging to watch.
3 Stars – A good film that’s worth a Netflix venture.
2 ½ Stars - Borderline viewable.
2 Stars – A bad film that may have a moment of interest.
1 ½ Stars – Insipid, trite and sophomoric, and that's its good points.
1 Star – A film so vacuous, it will suck 2 hours from the remainder of your life.
½ Star - A gangrenous and festering pustule in the chronicles of celluloid.
