Rent Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

Not As Good As 1 & 2 But..... - Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome review by GI

The third film in the Mad Max series lacks the hi-octane energy of the first two films and suffers from the increased production values that occurred owing to the injection of Hollywood money. Hence the film has become considered as the weakest of the Mad Max films. The story was not originally conceived as a Mad Max film at all and the intention was to make a post apocalyptic film about a man who finds a group of tribal children in the wilderness - a sort of a Lord Of The Flies narrative - but director George Miller suggested making Max the man who finds the children and hence we have a Mad Max film. So what we have is set about fifteen years after the events of Mad Max 2 (1981) and former cop Max is still roaming the wastelands of nuclear war destroyed Australia. His supplies are stolen (by a returning Bruce Spence as another devious aviator) and Max finds his way to a sleazy desert based den of iniquity called Bartertown run by Aunty, played by Tina Turner who turns in a commendable performance. Max makes a deal with her to rid Bartertown of her rival's bodyguard, he gets double crossed and ends up stranded in the desert to die where he is rescued by a bunch of tribal children. Where Mad Max 2 utilised myth and legend so well to enhance the story Thunderdome attempts to to do similar with religious iconography and this doesn't fully work. The climactic chase scene is a poor copycat of the previous film's and Max is left without a fulfilling story arc. Having two directors can't have helped but as a fan I can see that in there is an interesting film trying to get out and it certainly has some moments. As part of the Mad Max cycle it can't be ignored but you sort of have to tolerate it's cackhanded story and weak action.