A few words about…™ Mad Max – in 4k UHD Blu-ray

Robert Harris said:

...neither well directed (by George Miller),
nor photographed. It simply exists.

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Couldn't disagree more strongly with this, but it's good to hear the disc looks good.

As far as the cinematography goes, the most memorable shot in my opinion is right before Goose crashes his bike (the over the shoulder shot with the scenery whizzing by).

As much as I liked the film when it was first released, it seems terribly dated now unlike Mad Max 2 (Road Warrier) which was vastly better and remains a first-rate action film with mythic elements.

I've always felt that the American dub wasn't done so much because of un-understandable (to Americans) accents, but because of incomprehensible (to Americans) Aussie colloquialisms.

I don't find this film to be poorly directed. For the first directorial effort by an ER doctor, it manages to have pretty well-done action sequences. Some of the acting may be a bit dodgy, but otherwise, I think it's a reasonably good "drive-in fare" (which is literally was in its first American release).

But yes, Mad Max 2 was a significant step up on every level.

jayembee said:

I've always felt that the American dub wasn't done so much because of un-understandable (to Americans) accents, but because of incomprehensible (to Americans) Aussie colloquialisms.

I don't find this film to be poorly directed. For the first directorial effort by an ER doctor, it manages to have pretty well-done action sequences. Some of the acting may be a bit dodgy, but otherwise, I think it's a reasonably good "drive-in fare" (which is literally was in its first American release).

But yes, Mad Max 2 was a significant step up on every level.

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Reasonably good drive-in fare, it is. AIP.

Douglas R said:

As much as I liked the film when it was first released, it seems terribly dated now unlike Mad Max 2 (Road Warrier) which was vastly better and remains a first-rate action film with mythic elements.

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Regarding the first film, I’m in the opposite camp. I first watched it in the 1980s and hated every second of it. The younger version of me had no tolerance for it. Flash forward 35 years to the release of Fury Road, I decided to give the original film another try. This time I liked it very much. The years had refined my tastes.

"It’s an extremely low budget affair, neither well directed (by George Miller)... It simply exists."

I couldn't disagree more. I use the opening of this up to The Nightrider's death as an example of how to quickly and efficiently introduce characters without the need for massive amounts of exposition. The rest of the film simply never stops, admittedly the slowest part being Max's family road trip.

As for Mel's performance, it OK, but still very green. Frankly, Hughe Keys Bryne was much more compelling with his rapidly changing accents that seemed to make him more threatening. Almost on the level of Jack Nicholson in terms of perfectly pitched over-acting.

Absolutely dated, especially when feed as a film until itself, but as a fan of the series, I like to look at it as more of a time capsule of its universe. Max's world went post-apocalyptic back in our 1980's.

FTR Mad Max 1 and 2 are technically not post-apocalyptic films as the nuclear war occured in between Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome.

I saw this theatrically on release and never needed to watch it again.

Lord Dalek said:

FTR Mad Max 1 and 2 are technically not post-apocalyptic films as the nuclear war occured in between Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome.

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Been a looooong time since I saw it, but doesn't Road Warrior begin with a recap of the war that destroyed everything?

Jeff Cooper said:

Been a looooong time since I saw it, but doesn't Road Warrior begin with a recap of the war that destroyed everything?

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There's a recap but its about a small scale war between Iran and Saudi Arabia that dried up the oil supply.

...and that happened before the events of Mad Max anyway.