Braveheart – GOAT Film Reviews

Director: George Miller

Cast: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence

Screenplay: Terry Hayes, George Miller, Brian Hannant

95 mins. Rated R.

Back when Ozploitation was making its way to America, a property known as Mad Max went with it, but many Americans hadn’t seen the original film. So the American distributors decided to drop the Mad Max 2 title and go with an original title, The Road Warrior. It helped to create a modern day post-apocalyptic classic.

Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson, Braveheart, The Expendables 3) has been drifting across the wasteland of the remnants of the Earth for five years since the loss of his family. When he comes across a Gyrocopter Captain (Bruce Spence, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, I, Frankenstein) and meets a group of survivors being terrorized by the villainous Humungus and his team of gas-hunting murderers. Now, its up to Max to help the survivors get to refuge and protect their gasoline.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior takes the best parts of the original film and elevates them to a new level while simultaneously fixing the flaws of the first film. Mel Gibson absolutely kills it at this role in his second film of the series. We also get the terrific inclusion of character actor Bruce Spence.

The best parts of the film are the tonal shifts and the mood of the film. The sparingly used dialogue allows for the carnage to be fully realized and displayed.

Now apparently some have questioned the real identity of Humungus that was originally a large part of the story. I’ll let you know about it some time.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior is one of the greatest post-apocalyptic spectacles of all time. The notable chase sequence with the gas truck is a fantastic sequence that left me breathless. It would be nearly impossible to top this film (although Mad Max: Fury Road was able to accomplish the feat decades later). You don’t have to see The Road Warrior to fully appreciate this year’s reboot to the Mad Max franchise, but it is a film that demands respect.

5/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

For my review of George Miller’s Mad Max, click here.

Director: George Miller

Cast: Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Steve Bisley, Tim Burns, Roger Ward

Screenplay: James McCausland, George Miller

88 mins. Rated R.

Legends get passed down from generation to generation, but a legend is only as good as the storyteller who tells it. The storyteller can make a legend. The storyteller can break a legend. Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson, Braveheart, The Expendables 3) is the stuff of legends, as is the series that defined his status.

In Mad Max, the first in the series created by George Miller (Happy Feet Two, Babe: Pig in the City), we meet Max Rockatansky as a normal man. In the later films, he is presented as a myth, but here we see Max as a vengeful and angry man looking for justice in a world that no longer contains it. He plays cat-and-mouse and mouse-and-cat with the malicious Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne, Moby Dick, Sleeping Beauty) as he loses everything close to him.

It’s hard to discuss Mad Max without spoilering a lot, but I’m going to try to get through it. George Miller absolutely commands this film and creates a wild and wily experience with some truly incredible action sequences. He also creates a likable flawed hero and a disturbed monstrous villain in Toecutter.

What sets Mad Max apart from the later films in the series is that the sequels are told from someone else’s perspective, whereas Mad Max is an origin story to a legend. It creates a character that is relatable as he slowly becomes larger than life.

Mel Gibson isn’t at his best here, but his skills develop as his performance progresses. George Miller gives him plenty to play with, though.

Mad Max is worth seeing for its insanity. This film is pure insanity. It is the weakest of the franchise to this point, but it works as an origin story and a story of revenge very well. No one will tell you it is perfect, but it is the strangest cheese that sometimes tastes the best.

3.5/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

Tag: Braveheart

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

Mad Max (1979)