Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
Director: George Miller, George Ogilvie
Starring: Mel Gibson, Tina Turner, Bruce Spence
Synopsis:
Max is robbed and tracks the thief to Bartertown, where he makes a deal to intervene in a local dispute to get his stuff back.
Impressions:
For the longest time, this was my only exposure to the Mad Max franchise and it remains my favorite. While I appreciate the technical accomplishments of Fury Road, this film manages to expand the scope of the story while still retaining the low-budget charm of the earlier films. Now, Tina Turner probably isn't the first person you'd pick for the main antagonist of a postapocalyptic scifi story, but I rather liked her as Aunty Entity. (They also make the most of having hired her by giving her the opening and ending themes. I particularly like "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)".) Most of the characters have their share of charm to them, but I'll just make a point to also give nods to Angelo Rossitto as Master, Angry Anderson as Ironbar and Edwin Hodgeman as Dr. Dealgood, who does a lot with his limited screentime. The portrayal of the semi-feral tribe was also quite nice, somewhere between Peter Pan and Lord of the Flies with some Aboriginal influence. (Thanks to them, people still 'member to this day.) The eponymous Thunderdome makes for a good action setpiece and there is some fine vehicular carnage for the finale as well. I also want to credit Maurice Jarre's score for giving the story a very epic feel. As I said, of the four films in the franchise I've seen, this one is my favorite and I happily recommend giving it a watch.
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