Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1415 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-04-01
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Dolby, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 94 minutes

From Amazon.com
The Road Warrior is already a classic, sans condescending genre distinctions like "sci-fi" or "action." But the story of Mel Gibson's stately antihero begins in Mad Max, George Miller's low-budget debut in which Max is a "Bronze" (cop) in an unspecified postapocalyptic future with a buddy-partner and family. But unlike most films set in the devastated future, Mad Max is especially notable because it is poised between our industrialized world and total regression to medieval conditions. The scale tips towards disintegration when the Glory Riders burn into town on their bikes like an overamped cadre of Brando's Wild Ones. Representing the active chaos that will eventually overwhelm the dying vestiges of civil society, they take everything dear to Max, who will exact due revenge. His flight into the same wilds that created the villains artfully sets up the morally ambiguous character of the subsequent films. --Alan E. Rapp

Additional Features
MGM's special edition restores the original Australian soundtrack (including Mel Gibson's voice!) to the film for the first time on home video. That in itself would be enough to make this a DVD essential, but cinematographer David Eggby, special effects supervisor Chris Murray, and art director Jon Dowding look under the hood of this revved-up revenge classic in a commentary track and the featurette "Mad Max: The Film Phenomenon." Their nuts-and-bolts comments and nostalgic stories of seat-of-the-pants stunts provide a terrific survey of low-budget action moviemaking by ambitious young filmmakers. Less essential is the rather wan Mel Gibson star portrait (apparently Gibson and director George Miller were too busy to participate in the supplements, so we make do with his acting teacher and costars) and the entertaining, if truly trivial, "Road Rants" subtitle track. --Sean Axmaker

Review
Though not as polished and fascinating as its sequel, Mad Max 2 (The Road Warrior), Mad Max features some of the most impressive and intense action sequences ever filmed. The first effort from writer/director George Miller, the film is reminiscent of a low-budget road movie in the style of Roger Corman. It was Mel Gibson's second film, and his Max is a vengeful loner anti-hero out of a Western. Instead of the yet-to-be-tamed Old West, however, the setting is an eerily barren world vaguely of our own time. And the horses have been replaced by roaring, menacing cars and motorcycles. The movie's weird characters and tawdry atmosphere, though, suggest something more culty, perhaps a post-apocalyptic Japanese anime film. Unlike such mainstream sci-fi films of its day as Star Wars or Alien, Mad Max has a homespun quality. At the time of its release in the United States, Mad Max hardly made a splash, and it wasn't until Mad Max 2's release that the film was recognized in America. However, it was very popular in its native Australia and elsewhere around the world. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide

Customer Reviews

Give the master some respect for early work too...
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.

All time classic
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.

That Car, That Beautiful Car!
MAD MAX is one of my favorite Mel Gibson movies. He's just a kid, but he comes across as genuine and ultimately vengeful. Max is a member of a black leather-clad police force in an unspecified future. He's an "interceptor", and a good one. When his partner is burned alive by a gang of insane bikers (led by the notorious "Toecutter"), Max quits the force. When his wife and child are murdered by the same gang, Max leaves his own sanity behind and becomes a killing machine, bent only on revenge. He hunts down the "Glory Riders", slaughtering them in a suped-up, black monster car, complete with a towering V8 and nitrous injection! MAD MAX deserves it's place in movie history. George Miller re-invented the high-speed chase scene. I recommend that you get a copy right this bloody minute...