Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

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I think it's safe to say that, ultimately, when it comes to checking out the 'Mad Max' franchise, 'The Road Warrior' is among the better places to start, as opposed to its predecessor. 'Road Warrior' actually does a pretty solid job of covering what the world you're about to enter is all about, while subtly recapping the first film. Again, a classic in its own right, I just can't highly recommend it, and a lot of it is because it's not the 'Mad Max' we've gown to love over the years. That Mad Max really, arguably gets his start here.

Just to recap, a global war has caused civilization to collapse due to a deadly combination of oil shortages and ecocide. As a result, the world has been plunged into a state of anarchy and ongoing war for survival. Former "cop", Max Rockantansky (Mel Gibson) has since lost his family, and now travels the desert of Australia with his awesome Austrailian cattle dog, simply credited as "Dog" in search of the essentials - namely fuel, food and... not water? Actually as a side note, watching these movies during a local heatwave is a touch difficult. But I digress.

As Max is doing his thing, he heads for an abandoned "gyrocopter" to collect its fuel. He's ambushed by the pilot (Bruce Spence), but easily overpowers him, sparing his life for directions to an operational oil refinery that the pilot has discovered. Said refinery wages an ongoing war for rights to the oil with a motorized gang of thugs, lead by "The Humungus" (Kjell Nilsson). Humungus offers to spare their lives if they "just walk away" and leave the oil for the gang, prompting debate among the group residing in the refinery.

Just to fast-track things here, Max eventually finds himself striking a deal with the residents of the refinery: He will find and bring back a semi-truck he saw on the road earlier, which would allow the people to escape their facility with the fuel they still have left, thus avoiding the conflict with the gang. All they have to do is repair and return his car, and supply him with as much fuel as he can carry.

The deal is made, and a lot of the movie, again, is the gearing up for the big action sequence, which is a nice, long vehicle chase involving a lot more of those beautifully done practical effects. For 1981, the film looks great, even in comparison to some of the modern CG stuff we see in 'Fast & Furious' movies. Why? Because it's real, and director Frank Miller never pulled any punches with that stuff. That's why to this day, it's still one of the best chase scenes of all time.

Joining the cast here, whom I have not mentioned, are a few key players. But I mainly wanna talk about, the Feral Kid (Emil Minty), who ends up being moderately significant by the end. But until then, the kid plays the role incredibly well. Miming something like a chimp most of the time, he's a lovable character, and seeing him throw a boomerang in speedy reverse-cam action is pretty hilarious. There's also Virginia Hey as "Warrior Woman", and Michael Preston as Pappagallo (the leader of the facility), but they just don't stand out as much for me, even as key players.

This chapter, even though it's a bit slow to really pick up, still manages to hit the ground running. It does a solid job with its recap of what has been going on in the world, making the trudge-through of the previous film unnecessary, and again, this is where the Mad Max we all know and love was really brought to the spotlight. It's the film 'Fury Road' looked at and said "do that, but better" (and holy crap, did they ever). I'd say for this one, remember that is was 1981, but it's still a lot of fun, there are more likeable characters throughout, and that old school action really puts the cherry on top of the sundae.

4/5

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