in the late 1970s, Australian Cinema became a haven for Hollywood with a group of film-makers dubbed the ‘New Wave’ of the territory.
The likes of Peter Weir, Fred Schepisi and Philip Noyce all made their mark in the next decade, evolving to Hollywood mainstream when the likes of PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, THE CHANT OF JIMMIE BLACKSMITH and NEWSFRONT all debuted and became accessible to the more international film community.
However, it was George Miller’s MAD MAX that led the way, becoming a huge hit in its’ native country and bowed through a strong international distribution platform. However, in the US, due to uncertainty from its’ American distributor, the exploitation group American International, it was dubbed into an ‘American English’ and was relegated to low-end play in limited release.
In the UK, Warner Brothers took charge of it and released it in a double bill with a George Peppard war film called FROM HELL TO VICTORY and then found its’ way onto home video as one of the early releases in around 1981 – 82 as part of Warner Home Video’s initiative into that distribution arm.
Mel Gibson plays Max Rockatansky, a disillusioned traffic cop who is part of the stretched Main Force Patrol (MFP) driving V-8 Turbo cars and pursuing all manner of road junkies. His latest catch is ‘The Nightrider’ (Vince Gil) who in the process of a pursuit, is killed in a high-speed collision with a crash site.
Max is not too keen on going any further and is becoming quite a celebrity. His boss, McAfee (Roger Ward) and friend Jim Goose (Steve Bisley) are also keen to give him extra motivation, but when Goose is fatally wounded at the hands of Nightrider’s friends, led by the vicious Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne) , Max quits with his wife Jessie (Joanne Samuel) and child, but the gangs are waiting in the wings when he goes on vacation….
Made for under half a million on a shoestring budget, but with some of the most amazing road stunts, co-ordinated by Grant Page with a cast that included some real-life hell bikers, MAD MAX’s vision of a depleted future using limited resources remains a fantastic addition to the futuristic canvas that similar films of its’ ilk have well trodden.
Later re-issues have seen the film released in its’ proper Australian dub version – and it is this one you should seek out compared to the 1979 ‘American’ dub