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 The Road Warrior Aug 30, 2010
In the barren wastelands of the post-apocalyptic future, one man stands above the rest: his name is Max, the Road Warrior. Introduced originally in the Australian trash and tumble actioner MAD MAX, creator George Miller transports his lead character into an entirely different environment for this second adventure. The world has been ravished by war, and all that remains are roving bands of marauders that scour the roads in search of fuel. Max, a lone warrior, battles his way through the packs of motor gangs with nothing to live for but revenge. His journey leads him to a remote oil refinery, whose leader acquires Max's help in leading his people through the treacherous desert in exchange for fuel. Miller's high-octane action sequences and explosive car chases across the Australian outback have served as a standard model for future filmmakers, with unforgettable scenes that have been copied and stolen repeatedly in the decades following its release. It is THE ROAD WARRIOR's wild costume designs and outrageous characters that set it apart from so many other imitations, especially seen in the frightening, larger-than-life villains Toadie and The Humungus that lead the feral hordes. Relics from the Old World are twisted and reformed to create the misshapen fortresses and gnarled body armor of the future. Although the plot and dialog are noticeably thin, Miller has drawn from the basic story structures used in cultures around the world to create an epic tale of good versus evil set in a futuristic landscape that offers a universal appeal to all viewers. Along with its predecessor, THE ROAD WARRIOR is a must-see film for all action and sci-fi fans, and a staple 1980's classic!
-Carl Manes
I Like Horror Movies
 If you haven't seen it, you need to! Jun 28, 2010
This is an action classic. I recommend the trilogy for diehard action junkies. A must see.
Superior Blu-ray Experience of an all-time favorite Jun 23, 2010
My introduction to The Road Warrior and Mel Gibson began in the summer of 1982 when it was shown during its first run at the long gone local drive-in. The apocalyptic aspect of the story as well as the awesome stunt work had a profound impact on me then. Now it stands as a true cinematic classic especially when you consider how much CGI is overutilized these days. It also became the template for Mel Gibson's acting career by playing the reluctant hero who only gets involved when he's pushed too far. This is also a great example of how an older film is supposed to be transferred to blu-ray. I would probably upgrade more older films from DVD but it seems to be very hit and miss with the older titles. Don't hesitate to upgrade this one because the PQ and AQ is exceptional.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
"Mad Max 2" [released in the United States as "The Road Warrior"] is a film of pure action, of kinetic energy organized around Jun 12, 2010
...the barest possible bones of a plot. It has a vision of a violent future world, but it doesn't develop that vision with characters and dialogue. It would rather plunge headlong into one of the most relentlessly aggressive movies ever made. I walked out of "Mad Max 2" a little dizzy and with my ears still ringing from the roar of the sound track; I can't say I "enjoyed" the film, but I'll hardly forget it.
The movie takes place at a point in the future when civilization has collapsed, anarchy and violence reign in the world, and roaming bands of marauders kill each other for the few remaining stores of gasoline. The vehicles of these future warriors are leftovers from the world we live in now. There are motorcycles and semi-trailer trucks and oil tankers that are familiar from the highways of 1982, but there are also bizarre customized racing cars, of which the most fearsome has two steel posts on its front to which enemies can be strapped (if the car crashes, the enemies are the first to die).
The road warriors of the title take their costumes and codes of conduct from a rummage sale of legends, myths, and genres: They look and act like Hell's Angels, samurai warriors, kamikaze pilots, street-gang members, cowboys, cops, and race drivers. They speak hardly at all; the movie's hero, Max, has perhaps two hundred words. Max is played by Mel Gibson, an Australian actor who starred in "Gallipoli." Before that, he made "Mad Max" for the makers of "Mad Max 2," and that film was a low-budget forerunner to this extravaganza of action and violence.
Max's role in "Mad Max 2" is to behave something like a heroic cowboy might have in a classic Western. He happens upon a small band of people who are trying to protect their supplies of gasoline from the attacks of warriors who have them surrounded. Max volunteers to drive a tanker full of gasoline through the surrounding warriors and take it a few hundred miles to the coast, where they all hope to find safety. After this premise is established with a great deal of symbolism, ritual, and violence (and so few words that sometimes we have to guess what's happening), the movie arrives at its true guts.
The set piece in "Mad Max 2" is an unbelievably well-sustained chase sequence that lasts for the last third of the film, as Max and his semi-trailer run a gauntlet of everything the savages can throw at them.
The director of "Mad Max 2," George Miller, compares this chase sequence to Buster Keaton's "The General," and I can see what he means. Although "The General" is comedic, it's also very exciting, as Keaton, playing the engineer of a speeding locomotive, runs an endless series of variations on the basic possibilities of two trains and several sets of railroad tracks. In "Mad Max 2," there is basically a truck and a road. The pursuers and defenders have various kinds of cars and trucks to chase or defend the main truck, and the whole chase proceeds at breakneck speed as quasi-gladiators leap through the air from one racing truck to another, more often than not being crushed beneath the wheels.
The special effects and stunts in this movie are spectacular; "Mad Max 2" goes on a short list with "Bullitt," "The French Connection," and the truck chase in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" as among the great chase films of modern years.
What is the point of the movie? Everyone is free to interpret the action, I suppose, but I prefer to avoid thinking about the implications of gasoline shortages and the collapse of Western civilization, and to experience the movie instead as pure sensation. The filmmakers have imagined a fictional world. It operates according to its special rules and values, and we experience it. The experience is frightening, sometimes disgusting, and (if the truth be told) exhilarating. This is very skillful filmmaking, and "Mad Max 2" is a movie like no other.
0 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 The Road Warrior May 31, 2010
The Sequel to Mad Max(A Movie better than this)is a decent flick(if compared to Beyond Thunderdome) it's long and a bit boring at times, I am not a fan of Post-Apocalyptic films.The story isn't good but the action makes up for it along with the chases and vehicles. And While I despise Fords I thought the movie was cool and decent.
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