
Mad Max
1979, Adventure/Action, 1h 33m
62 Reviews 100,000+ RatingsWhat to know
critics consensus
Staging the improbable car stunts and crashes to perfection, director George Miller succeeds completely in bringing the violent, post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max to visceral life. Read critic reviews
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Movie Info
Cast & Crew
"Mad" Max Rockatansky
Jessie Rockatansky
Toecutter
Jim Goose
Fifi Macaffee
Crawford "Nightrider" Montizano
News & Interviews for Mad Max
Critic Reviews for Mad Max
All Critics (62) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (56) | Rotten (6)
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If punk is a sensibility as well as an adjective, Mad Max is a punk movie. Its Australian setting enhances it, authenticating its futuristic aura.
April 27, 2018 | Full Review… -
[The] film has been consigned to the grind houses, where audiences are responding as Miller wants them to. From there Mad Max will find its way to the film schools and revival houses, where its tough-gutted intelligence may be appreciated.
May 11, 2015 | Full Review… -
Simple, but effective.
May 30, 2007 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review… -
Overnight, Mad Max went from being a U.S. cult hero to a mainstream figure, and Mel Gibson's place in the firmament was secured.
May 30, 2007 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review… -
Stunts themselves would be nothing without a filmmaker behind the camera and George Miller, a doctor and film buff making his first feature, shows he knows what cinema is all about.
May 30, 2007 | Full Review… -
Some of the most determinedly formalist filmmaking this side of Michael Snow.
May 30, 2007 | Full Review…
Audience Reviews for Mad Max
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Sep 15, 2017I didn't enjoy this film as much as I wanted to, I found the story to be predictable and dull, The acting wasn't great, The villains were just a a typical crazy biker gang and didn't seem a threat to anyone other than women and children, It did have some good car chase scenes and some cool stunts but it felt too dull and the ending was pretty tame compared to what I thought it would be like, It's not a terrible film more of a let down.Jamie C Super Reviewer
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Jul 18, 2016There is a reason why Mad Max remains a cult classic, George Miller created a violent apocalyptic world where fuels are now scarce and violent gangs terrorise people. Mel Gibson was the star of this film in his very early film career, he truly did a marvellous job playing the titular character. Overall, Mad Max has enough car stunts to satisfy action buffs, even if the acting was not the greatest.Sylvester K Super Reviewer
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Feb 11, 2016A very good debut for a great franchise. Mad Max has a great storyline, cool stunts and an amazing performance by Mel Gibson. It does get boring in some segments and isn't as action packed as later installments but this film does work great as a revenge thriller.Mr N Super Reviewer
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Jun 18, 2015More grindhouse than post-Apocalypse wheelhouse, this drive-in adrenaline rush established a blockbuster brand and put Mel Gibson on the map. It was shot mostly on the cheap, but you wouldn't know it. Staging Fast & Furious-level hot-rod blockbusting on a Two-Lane Blacktop budget, this origin tale exhibits a biting - albeit offbeat - sense of humor and balletic violence that rightly earned it an instant cult status. Indeed, Mad Max isn't for everybody. It's more dialogue driven and stagy than the superior follow-up, The Road Warrior, and shares only basic DNA with Fury Road, but it sets a winning grindhouse cinema tone that carries through to this day in top shelf form. In this R-rated thriller, a vengeful Australian policeman (Gibson) sets out to stop a violent motorcycle gang in a self-destructing post-apocalyptic world. George Miller and Mel Gibson seem to be planning this road trip as it goes. Driven but cagier than in future stories, the titular anti-hero gets played more as a feral vigilante here. In the next two superior installments, Gibson's Mad Max assumes the mantle of lone wolf-turned-reluctant hero. For now, however, this less assured young actor exhibits definite chops but still exudes lethal weapons-grade charisma. You can't turn away, even if this iteration of Max lacks the steely cool machismo of Road Warrior. More of a cornered animal striking out, his magnetism keeps us vested, as does Miller's H'Wood-level stunt spectaculars. Bottom line: The Passion of the CrikeyJeff B Super Reviewer
Mad Max Quotes
Mad Max: | The chain in those handcuffs is high-tensile steel. It'd take you ten minutes to hack through it with this. Now, if you're lucky, you can hack through your ankle in five minutes. Go! |
Mad Max: | I'm scared, Fif. It's that rat circus out there, I'm beginning to enjoy it. Look, any longer out on that road and I'm one of them, a terminal psychotic, except that I've got this bronze badge that says that I'm one of the good guys. |
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