Clip Art: The Road Warrior

The Road Warrior or Mad Max 2 (1981)
dir. George Miller


As far as post apocalyptic movies go, this is the king of kings. A great story about survival, humanity, amazing car stunts, cinematography and a new star being born. Yep, there was a time when Mel Gibson was a cool guy and not the sexist, antisemitic, drunk driving, religious wacko that he's better known for being today.

But I admit, I still love the guy despite his flaws because he was Max Rockatansky and Martin Riggs, two great action heroes of the 80's. Plus he was one hell of an actor. Before he started falling back on his celebrity and rely more on mannerism, he actually worked at creating his characters psychology.

Back on topic: I like this scene because with very simple strokes it introduces a lot of the characters and gives us an idea of what type of characters they are. Then there is the great bonding moment that Max has with the Feral Kid. This is one of the few moments where Max shows a little bit of softening as the kid lights up when hearing the music gear. Plus it ends with one of the greatest Bad Ass lines of dialog and is complimented by camera movement and Mel's delivery. A real cinematic moment.

Great stuff and part of a trilogy that really holds up. People can complain about aspects of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985), but come on, look at the history of movie trilogies and you'll realize it's a pretty solid entry in an excellent series.