Rating: 
Summary: Watch "The Road Warrior" first!
Review: This film is the prequel to the amazingly good "The Road Warrior". I've read that "Mad Max" has the highest return on investment of any film ever made ($100K to make, $100M in revenue generated); however, upon watching this movie, you will immediately be struck by its very low budget look and feel. If you've already watched "The Road Warrior", you may want to watch this one to see where RW has its roots, but you really need to watch RW first. Leonard Maltin (in his RW review) states that Mad Max is at least as good as RW; he is crazy. MM is a great movie for having been made for $100K, but RW is a GREAT MOVIE, period. One more thing, this film is dubbed with American voices because someone, in their infinite wisdom, thought Americans wouldn't be able to understand Australian accents. This was a big mistake, as the American voice actors invariably overacted in their dubbing.
Rating: 
Summary: THIS MOVIE IS TOTALLY MAD
Review: After watching Mad Max I didn't really know what to say,I mean the acting was pretty bad,but the action was great,there wasn't really that much of a plot but it had good characters who tried to describe the plot.It was cool to see Mel Gibson in his first staring role.This movie's fun.
Rating: 
Summary: A classic Aussie movie with a very young Mel Gibson, staring
Review: This movie is the first of a series, it was made in and around Melbourne, Victoria Australia. The film was produced on a very small budget and showcases a number of Aussie stars, the most significant being Mel Gibson in the Title role. Although the storyline is good and simple, and the soundtrack was in Mono....this movie still has all the elements of a good storyline and believable characters. If you can get the original version with the Australian accents, you will enjoy this movie for years to come. Mad Max is still the highest grossing movie in Australia (when compared to actual budget).As an unashamed fan of the film I have even created a Windows Theme based on the film. END
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Summary: This is where "road-rage" originates!
Review: If you worry about how much you pay for gas, read this book! END
Rating:
Summary: Give the master some respect for early work too...
Review: Come on people... If you liked the Lethal Weapon Series, you will enjoy the Mad Max Series. Remember that this film had almost no budget or high profile actors(at the time), so the point is what a great film to launch a career with. Gibson rode the tail of these movies to being one of the most sought- after action stars of the era and used it to become a force in hollywood by making films he wanted and his way with few compromises. Watch and enjoy a great actor come into his own.
Rating:
Summary: Before Mel Was Mel
Review: I remember seeing "Mad Max" in the spring of 1980. Now this was the days before multiplexes. "Mad Max" was distributed by American International Pictures, Samuel Z. Arkoff's outfit whose forte was drive-in fare i.e. Grade B action and horror films. I was seventeen at the time and the way this film was promoted was appealing to me. The TV commercials were full of car chases and fast action. When I saw the film naturally it was a real rush. It didn't disappoint in the action department and the good guys were good and the bad guys were vile. Something seemed a little off to me, though. The landscape didn't look like anything that I was familiar with in America. The speaking parts seemed a little off even though they were distinguishable American accents. One of actresses in a minor role, Sheila Florence(May) was familiar to me from a popular Australian women's prison soap-opera from that time,"Prisoners of Cell-Block H". Never mind. If this film was reviewed at all it was generally dismissed as exploitation trash. I forgot about this film completely until I read a review of it in "Time" magazine, I think it was Richard Schickel, a couple months later extolling the virtues of this high-octane action thrill-ride. The next I heard of Mel Gibson he was appearing in the highly praised "Gallipoli" this time speaking in an Australian accent. Summer of 1982, "The Road Warrior"(or "Mad Max 2" as it was known overseas) was released to better box office and critical acceptance. Home video was breaking at that time and both "Road Warrior" and it's lesser received original were released around the same time. The legend continued to grow. I watched "Mad Max" numerous times over the years and always enjoyed it but those bogus accents were always a detriment even as Mel Gibson's celebrity continued to grow. I'd watch it and try to imagine what it should sound like by inserting in my mind Mel Gibson's actual voice instead of that lame dubbed voice. Now,finally, we have the version that should have been available all along, "Mad Max" in all it's down-under glory. For those who don't remember the original "American-version" of "Mad Max" don't even bother to seek it out. I don't feel the least bit nostalgic for it. This is the "Mad Max" that should have been available all along and we can leave the old "Max" to the garbage heap.
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Summary: The Road Warrior's Origins
Review: George Miller launched Mel Gibson's career in this low-budget film about a solo cop who's out for justice after his partner and family are killed by ruffians. Although the film doens't have the explicit apocalyptic theme and plot of its sequel, this film has plenty of high-speed chases and tension to keep the audience entertained.
Mad Max (Gibson) is one of a few cops in a small town being ravaged by a motorcyle gang. After several tragedies, Mad Max is left alone is swears to exact vengeance on the gang of outlaws.
Again, the film isn't too clear about its setting: there's no express indication that this is in a post-apocalyptic future as with the film's sequels. The theme and plot is more along the lines of a standard 'Dirty Harry' or 'Death Wish' film. Despite these differences, the film is still a great film to watch with plenty of suspense and action. A great film to watch many times.
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Summary: The cult classic that launched Mel Gibson's career
Review: Mel Gibson has a history of playing borderline psychotic, revenge-driven loners from contemporary actioner Martin Riggs ("Lethal Weapon") to widescreen epic hero William Wallace ("Braveheart") to hard-boiled noir tough guy Porter ("Payback") to historical fiction family-man-pushed-too-far Benjamin Martin ("The Patriot") to the classic Shakespearean originator of the mold Prince Hamlet ("Hamlet"). You could almost say it's his niche.
And in all fairness, he started young. Mel Gibson was an impossible 21 years old when he starred in this 1979 throwback to 1960's biker thrillers produced by the then-unknown team of George Miller and Byron Kennedy. A huge hit in Australia, it was limited to small theatres, drive-ins, and arthouse runs in the United States...where, despite a dubbed dialogue track that would make most kung fu movies seem Academy Award-worthy, it picked up a loyal cult following and enabled a small group of would-be hipsters to be able to say "Mel Gibson? Oscars? P'shaw...he'll always be 'Max Rockitansky' to me."
The movie is not exactly original...it's a redux of the American western with elements of the aforementioned biker flicks, but it is VERY original in its use of some very innovative cinematography (cameras mounted at fender-level on fast-moving cars...I'm not certain it had ever been done before) and some of the more unbelievable stunts ever filmed, the like of which would not be seen again until the sequel's release in 1982 ("Mad Max 2" or "The Road Warrior", depending on your location). The action is more personal because it is REAL.
Mel Gibson's performance might not seem on par with his better roles since, but the role he was playing was that of someone much older than himself at the time...and it can't be denied that even at 21 he had a command of the camera he has never relinquished; you can't take your eyes off him. Of his earlier roles Gibson is rather self-conscious of his performance in "Mad Max"; he refers to himself as "Mr. Porkchop" in this movie, somehow under the impression that he must have been overweight at the time...but fans of his will want to see this movie to see how he looked before his days as a household name and to chart his development as an actor.
Fans of action movies will want to see how movies of this nature looked in the "old skool" days before high-budget special effects when the level of action in your movie was dictated by how far your stuntment were willing to push the envelope of sanity. In Australia during the making of this movie and "The Road Warrior", it fast became evident that no such envelope even existed. The result is a piece of hand-made brilliance of guerilla filmmaking that would inspire latter day innovators such as Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez into accomplishing so much with so little.
And of course the fact that this DVD is equipped with the Australian dialogue track is a selling point unto itself (it also shows exactly why a dub track was used for US distribution; it's not that we can't understand the accent, mates...we just have no idea what the slang means). That and the commentary track by the production team make well-received treats for those of us who are old enough to have loved this film since its original release. A retrospective on Mel Gibson's career and its beginnings is also a nice addition. I can only hope that "The Road Warrior" gets a similar treatment (and soon).
In short you have a great movie with a a great DVD extras package at a VERY reasonable price...I don't know what more a movie buff could ask. This is definitely a "must-own" for your collection.
Rating:
Summary: All time classic
Review: A rookie director, a dirt poor budget, and a no name cast didn't stop Mad Max from becoming one of the most revered action films of all time. A pre fame Mel Gibson stars as cop Max Rockatansky in a post-apocalyptic future where he, his buddy partner, and his wife and child, try to maintain a sense of civilization while ruthless biker gangs rule the road. When his family is slaughtered, Max goes over the edge, and the movie manages to get better and better. MGM has thankfully released Mad Max the way it was meant to be seen on DVD, with the original Australian language track restored in place of the dubbed American accents that were infamously incorporated into the film for years on home video and television. The stunt work of the film is a definite highlight, as is the young Gibson's performance as the hell bent for vengeance Max. Two sequels would follow, the first of which entitled The Road Warrior, managed to surpass this film and remains what many consider the greatest action movie ever made.
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