(AfroGamers.com) Mad Max is one of my favorite film franchises. Mind you, there aren’t a ton of movies, games, and comics for a franchise that has been around since 1979. It’s actually pretty criminal but ultimately, it doesn’t matter since the stories are so loosely tied and that content creators such as OneTake had to drop a video detailing the timeline.
In the 21st century, content tends to have more backstory and lore. There are callbacks to previous events, antagonists once thought dead can return and it’s not via soap opera means. We find out what they were doing since their demise and how they survived. Hell, we might even get lore on them to keep them from being cartoonishly evil.
Mad Max has typically kept things simple storyline-wise with the comics and Furiosa giving the biggest bumps in lore in regards to Max’s world. That’s different from the hard world shift from Mad Max and The World Warrior.
We’re getting into what rocker about the first film and get more into what I feel is its biggest flaw.
Mad Max: Highway Patrol Extreme
The first movie takes place in the not-so-distant future of Australia. Max is a highway patrol officer known for being the best of the best and the most feared. At this time, Australia was hit with a lot of crime and the roads are the playground of gangs. So, the Main Force Patrol is established to handle road crimes.
One gang terrorizing the roads is a group of wild bikers led by Toecutter. The MPF has a rough go of it dealing with them as the biker Johnny avoids jail time for his crimes thanks to intimidating witnesses. Over time, the MPF is whittled down to just Max and Captain Fifi following the gruesome injury suffered by his friend Jim Goose.
Rattled, Max—a husband and father—looks to retire. Instead, Fifi gives him vacation time. Tragedy would strike during the vacation with Max losing his wife and kid. This kicks off the best stretch of the film with Max going on the offensive.
Mind you, the film had most been Toecutter’s gang just terrorizing the roads without being checked. Now that he has nothing to lose, Max Rockatansky is out for blood. We get the start of some film consistencies. Max’s injuries never actually heal up. It’s the wasteland, so good luck finding skilled doctors and surgeons in the apocalypse.
Highs and Lows
One of the highs included a rapid pace for the story. It was fantastic and remind me of watching Death Race 3000. Things kept moving and we were evenly introduced to both the MPF and Toecutter’s gang in a way that didn’t bog the film down to mostly extended scenes of just dialogue.
The black Pursuit Special making its road debut was awesome. It’s my favorite fictional vehicle and is iconic in the franchise. Much like Max, it takes its bumps and bruises…only Max is taken through the ringer multiple times and in each movie.
I felt the biker gang was a good foil to Max and the MPF. It’s the origin of Max and Toecutter’s actions really set this youngster on a fun revenge quest.
The main con is that there wasn’t much Mad Max continue post-Beyond Thunderdome. Max is a wandering hero, so his adventures are mostly one-offs with little continuity between them. There was a lot to explore without being super layered with the story.
A television show would explain what happened to the MPF before Mad Max 2. I bring that up because a lot happened between MM and Road Warrior. Like, nukes were dropped but Max is still alive and kicking. What occurred is explained but what a quick turnaround to get the post-apocalypse going.
That’s an area that could be explored as well as what other MPF-like forces were doing at the time and following Max’s departure. Hell, The Dark One—simply mentioned in Mad Max–could finally make their debut. The thing is: load us up on Max content.
My final gripe against this film is that while as good as it is, it suffers from the first movie curse. Mad Max 2 was a movie that could’ve been considered the start of the franchise since that version of Max is who many think off when Mad Max is mentioned. It’s like the first Friday the 13th or Evil Dead.
Part of that is because of the timeline of the first three movies. The first and second film are pretty much different franchises with the world in full-on apocalypse rebounding just three years after the incident with Johnny. Sure, the nukes were going to f**k some stuff up but they’ve already started establishing raider parties with tactics and cars!
Just three years for society to end up on a ventilator but Max is the same as he’s been following his son’s death and his wife going into a coma.
All of that aside, I love my post-apocalyptic stuff and Mad Max was always an example of adventures in the wasteland. The films often put more of the character focus on those around Max and building them up so that Max sees some hope for humanity and himself. It doesn’t hurt that there’s heaping handfuls of action and villains with great catchphrases throughout the franchise.
In the OG film alone, Nightrider’s “I am rocker, I am a roller, I am a out of controller” is probably the banger quote!
What did you like or dislike about the original Mad Max film? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.