Mad Max 1979
early Mel Gibson dynasty - Australian - like really Australian - semi post apocalyptic world with another righteous serious yet immature main character in mad max -
Word play with it:
Corruption
Greed
Sadness - deep sadness
Sunset / sunrise
Human scum
Influential and aspiring cinema (lots of modern characters - especially villains - look exactly like these guys… down to the facial hair - sick boy from Trainspotting as an example)
Lots of good shots from below on the street that are super sexy - I don’t know how they’re sexy but lots of butt shots and chest and really full light around white and orange yellow and red
They also light according to character - duality - darkness - and innocence
The male eye makeup budget in this set was high - real high
The homo erotic tones of the psychotic are really really gripping and smart. The road gang psychos are either hypersexed machismo - or calculated homosexual killers. Very very well done. The vapid response to societal norms is smartly executed through these villain themes.
The music budget or talent is lacking obviously - bassoons - bad guy music - tv music - perry mason stuff
but the sound is great and probably even better in the theaters - the dogs - the car, the tires are loud but they're heavy and hearty - not shrill and pitched.
A lot of nods to clockwork orange with the gangs behavior as well - against ultra aggressive or feminine and calm… Like Alex vs Dim.
The “ultra violence” is very horror movie nod which really removes this movie from any one genre to be honest. Its not easy rider - it’s not clockwork orange - and it’s not the warriors and it’s not night of the living dead - but it is a piece of all those.. Miller did a great job paying homage and tipping a cap but also adding to the legends of those movies by almost continuing their work. He slots in his own stall with mad max while pushing it further somehow. I don’t know how specifically but in this movie is a discovery apart from those others. I’m gonna try to find it - maybe it’s the cars. Or the road gang psychosis (but warriors and Cwo had those in their groups). Maybe it’s the normalization of this future society with people being normal but criminal zombie happening all around them. The childlike psychotic is really good - I am definitely going to rewatch this whole series.
This is like going to a restaurant and discovering a food you never get a chance to eat but had it once or something similar and it’s so exciting to go down the rabbit hole with it. Mad Max is definitely that.
This movie inspired - blade runner, gangs of New York, seven, saw, so much… this is a cornerstone movie of cinema in my opinion. Sadly I think the genre died shortly after but the influence lived on in our fringe culture best directors worlds.
It was inspired by: clockwork orange, night of the living dead, two lane blacktop, Ben hur, the warriors, French connection, Texas chainsaw massacre, and even easy rider and Star Wars a little (bar scene where a woman sings). But also the image of a man and his dog was first here - and the dog is a blue healer - the so called smartest dog in the world.
It even does a good job of making Australia so contrary beautiful to the characters - and australian people dutiful and peaceful.
Another hat tip to the post apocalyptic world being similar to our own - but with psycho zombies in it now - the saved - the transcendent - that know nothing matters. But then… they do show fear when they kill their own
Mel Gibsons acting is ya know - whatever - he has a moment or two but obviously still very green or poorly directed or corny on purpose - sometimes it’s hard to tell in these movies. Finding out what’s tongue in cheek campy and what’s just bad or underdeveloped - I’m not cool enough or smart enough yet to figure that out every time. His monologue on his dead friend is terrrrrrrrible. This makes him more movie star than actor but… it ain’t bad bad.
Rating 8.3/10 - this movie gets a lot of hate but it’s so terribly corny in it’s universe and genra that inspired a generation of film makers) think of all the influence this move had / from escape from New York , to heavy metal fashion, to saw and everything David fincher has ever done. Tarentino took a lot from this movie too - especially the bathroom scuzzy conversation scenes. For those reasons alone I’ll overlook how goddamn Australian movie this is and give it - solid rating.
