Review: Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

Rating

Director

George Miller

Screenplay

Terry Hayes, George Miller, Brian Hannant

Length

1h 36m

Starring

Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Mike Preston, Max Phipps, Vernon Wells, Kjell Nilsson, Emil Minty, Virginia Hey, William Zappa, Arkie Whiteley

MPAA Rating

Review

Finding your place after the apocalypse can be a struggle. The Road Warrior (the prefixed title being added well after the film’s U.S. release) follows Max finding that path into the vast wastelands of Australia in a follow up to the cult favorite Mad Max.

On the heels of the dystopian action flick Mad Max, director George Miller returns with star Mel Gibson to craft a more artfully constructed vision of his own future. In it, the post-apocalyptic world finds the remnants of civilization trying to survive with the pursuit of food and fuel. They who control the resources control the people. The first film is set near enough to the “apocalypse” that things still felt rather modern. By pushing forward to a post-war, scrub-grassy plains where the need for resources cause disparate people to perform desperate acts for survival, he creates a more inventive and hostile future for Australia.

In this film, Max is fighting his way across the outback taking on savage motorcycle gangs and other miscreants trying to scrape together some semblance of life. After an altercation with one such gang, he finds refuge in an refinery where a small band of people have become ensconced, using their lucrative oil reserves as leverage to secure their safety. Unfortunately, the gangs are getting bolder and merely scrounging gas from the vehicles they assault is no longer enough. They want to control the stockpiles of these settlers. Max offers to help them create a diversion so they can get away with their oil while taking out the gang in the process.

Miller’s vision of collapsed governments, feral gangs, and the ramifications of ecocide have become increasingly dire and prophetic in their glimpse at the near-future. It’s what keeps his films feeling so fresh and salient. When exploring science-fiction, this is the kind of post-apocalyptic drama that defines and exemplifies the expanse and capability of such storytelling. It’s why Miller continues to return to this franchise, which demands the audience ask difficult questions about the death of this planet and much life upon it through greed and violence.

Gibson has never been better than in this series of films. He didn’t have that egotistical gleam in his eye yet, which made him seem more genuine as the title character. The rest of the cast are either workman actors or non-actors. They deliver fitting performances with standouts including Bruce Spence and Michael Preston as two significant members of the settler group and Danny Parry who makes henchman Wez a compelling villain. While none of them are quite as memorable as Hugh Keays-Byrne in the prior film, they play their characters well, adding to its immersion.

Miller excels when he allows his ideas to play out before the audience without excessive dialogue. Max is a quiet antihero and through his eyes and those around him, you discover the horrific environment in which they all struggle, a bleak universe beyond redemption. The Road Warrior is one of the most compelling visions of a dangerous potential future, one that seems all the more plausible as mankind drifts deeper into its self-centered reverie.