I'm an idiot. I knew there was Mad Max and I knew there was The Road Warrior. What I did not know was that The Road Warrior is actually the sequel to Mad Max and officially Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. So I watched this movie without seeing the original, but luckily this movie seems to stand on its own and is one of the best post-apocalyptic films I've seen.
The Road Warrior is set sometime in the future where the world lies in ruins. The only people left seem to be a bunch of survivors, scavengers, and marauders. Vehicles left over from the end of civilization rule the wastelands. Everyone is looking for precious gasoline. The hero of the film, Max (Mel Gibson), is much like the mysterious gunman who strolls into a town in trouble in old westerns. He happens upon a group of survivors protecting an oil refinery from a bunch of marauders. At first Max just wants gasoline so he can drive off and to be left alone. Of course he ends up leading them against the bad guys.
There isn't much of a plot to work with, but it's really all about the world that the movie creates. It is a harsh grim world filled with dirt and nothingness. The bad guys are, to put it bluntly, a bunch of freaks. They parade around with war paint, masks, biker gear, chains and lots and lots of leather. One guy wears ass-less chaps. Their leader looks like he just came out of a dominatrix's dungeon. Very bizarre, borderline homo-erotic, group of guys. It is a strange strange world they live in.
Very little is actually said throughout the film. It's almost as if Mel Gibson was starring in a silent movie. His character barely speaks at all and certainly doesn't provide any insight to his thoughts. Perhaps in Mad Max, we learned something about him that we were supposed to carry over to this film, but it doesn't really matter. In fact it's better that we don't really know anything about him. He is this mysterious drifter whose actions speak louder than words. We know as much about him as the people in the community do.
The film is all about its visual style, the world it encompasses and the action that takes place in it. And there is some pretty great action. The Road Warrior is often cited for having one of the best car chases ever on film and for good reason. The last twenty or so minutes of the film is devoted to a crazy scene where Max drives a big rig through the desert with bad guys in hot pursuit. They throw everything they got at him and he just keeps on going and going while everything around him gets ran off the road, gets crushed, crashes, and/or explodes. Loads of mayhem, lots of fun. As far as post-apocalyptic action films go, it's hard to beat this one.
Grade: B+
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