Rated:
R
Runtime: 1 Hour
and 35 Minutes
Reviewer:
Dale
Grade: A+
"The Road Warrior" is more than your average, post-apocalyptic-waste-land,
action film. It is very much more, in fact. It is the very template
for such films and, despite its low budget and gritty production design
(or maybe because of them and the invention which such issues force
upon a filmmaker) it is still the best example of such a film and
the one that truly fires on every single cylinder. This film is utter
carnage, pure adrenaline, and a bit of philosophy. It is a cautionary
film. A film that makes you appreciate humanity in the face of the
utter lack of it. It is also one of the most kickass action films
ever made. In fact, I would rank it only behind "Raiders of the
Lost Ark" for the title "Greatest Action Movie Ever Made".
This is a miracle of a movie. It has a kinetic energy and exertion
behind it that exhausts the viewer as much as the people actually
in the movie. Why? Because we care so much for its main characters.
The best of these, of course, would be Mel Gibson as Max. We only
know that his name is Max because of the first film in this series:
Mad Max. Gibson never says his name. Neither does anyone else. Things
like names have ceased to matter in the future of "The Road Warrior".
In an atmosphere where human life itself has no value, why should
a simple name? Max wanders through the waste lands of this future
society (the time is, like the best of these films, not specified)
searching for the things that mean life: food, water and, particularly,
gasoline. If the film is, stripped to the essentials, a Western (and
it is, one of which Sergio Leone himself might have been proud) then
gasoline is the gold. It is the marrow of life in this society. Though
it remains to be seen exactly what good this gasoline will do once
obtained. After all, where is there to go?
Oh, wait, there is somewhere to go. In his trek across the waste land,
Max meets the captain of a small helicopter (Bruce Spence), a true
eccentric who leads him to a group of people with a plan and a horde
of gasoline. Their plan is to make the trek north to a place where
there is still tillable ground, beaches and the amenities of life.
A place that has not been ruined in the conflict.
The only problem is the Lord Humongous, an unseen foe with a burned
head and a hockey mask where his face is supposed to be. He and his
army of barbarians have surrounded the compound and refuse to leave
without the gasoline. They will also do anything to get it. And I
mean anything. Our first introduction to these bloodthirsty men involves
a rape and two murders, among other unpleasantries. Enter Max, the
only man who can drive fast enough to get them out alive and with
the "juice".
The strengths of this film are myriad, but I will attempt to catalogue
them nonetheless.
First of all, it has an immensely compelling hero. We never really
know who Max is, or what makes him tick. And it is this enigmatic
quality that keeps us watching, that keeps our interest so thoroughly
piqued. We never exactly know if he will keep his word, if he can
or will help the people at the compound, and we never really understand
what makes him tick. But that is the marvel of his character. He is
a wonderful enigma, a wasted man in a wasted land searching for nothing
quite so ardently as his soul. He has lost everything, even if we
hadn't seen the first film or the recap at the beginning of this one,
we would sense that in an instant.
But he still retains, deep down, his dignity and a certain amount
of morals. This isn't entirely apparent, however, until the film's
ending, after its dynamite finale.
Another element that is key to the success of the film is the villains.
These guys rival even Nazis as far as pure evil is concerned. They
are not at all sophisticated. They are not at all moral. They are
human only in their desires. They want sex, so they rape. They take
lives at will. They are soulless monsters, acting only on the basest
of instincts. They are as inescapable and devoid of complications
as a pack of sharks or wolves. And they are, therefore, utterly terrifying.
They are not the sort of men one would want to meet in a dark alley,
or even a well-lit one. They are barbarians of the worst lot and even
the most cynical freak would doubt their bloodthirsty nature or want
to meet them. They are an unstoppable force, as well as one of the
greatest forces of villainy that the cinema has ever unleashed. Especially
the quiet, brooding menace of the faceless Humongous or the rage of
the vicious Wez (Vernon Wells). It's hard not to quiver in the face
of a man that even THESE guys have to keep on a leash!
Best of all, the action sequences are like adrenaline in a bottle!
From the first frame, the film grips you by the throat and refuses
to surrender its hold over you. It's a mesmerizing, exhilarating,
eye-popping and blood-soaked ride. It's not for the faint of heart
or stomach, but those who can handle it will be handsomely rewarded.
Witness the finale, in which a convoy of the good guys defend a tanker
driven by none other than Max from a group of the nihilistic bastards
armed with every manner of weapon known to man. There is not an instant
where the outcome of this conflict is not in doubt, not a moment where
the heart is not beating somewhere in the throat. The movie rockets
forward like a missile, bombarding and uplifting the senses.
But the greatest thing is that, somewhere along the way, by stripping
away that which is not important, by its simplicity and its scope,
it manages to show the essence of humanity. It also shows us how terrifying
the concept of those without it truly would be. This is an action
movie for the brain as well as the pulse. This is a true classic in
every sense of the word. Look at the glorious production design, which
really does look as though it is cobbled together out of whatever
was handy after the Bomb was dropped. Check out the brilliant costumes,
which work for the same reason. Thrill at the script, which is hardworn
and utterly functional, yet retains its own sense of poetry, its own
violent sort of rhythm and epiphany. The film attains mythic status
without even seeming to try. No, it was not the first of its kind,
that distinction belongs to the quirkier and more humorous "A
Boy and His Dog". But it has refined that earlier vision, stripped
it to its core, and made it breathe in a fresh way.
Simply put, this is what action films are SUPPOSED to do. Check it
out.