Jackson Booth-Millard
The first film was very good, the sequel was good, and I was interested to complete with the third and final film in the original trilogy, especially because I knew it had a famous female singer in it, directed by George Miller (The Witches of Eastwick, Babe: Pig in the City, Happy Feet, Mad Max: Fury Road) and George Ogilvie. Basically, in the wastelands of Australia in a post-apocalyptic future, former Main Force Patrol (MFP) officer 'Mad' Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) crosses the desert, Jedediah and his son, Jedediah Jr. (Adam Cockburn), in a Transavia PL-12 Airtruk attack him, stealing his camel-drawn wagon and belongings. Continuing and following their trail on foot, Max reaches the seedy community of Bartertown, he is at first refused entry, he is brought before community founder and ruler, the ruthless Aunty Entity (Tina Turner), she offers to resupply his vehicle and equipment if he completes a task for her. Aunty explains that Bartertown depends on a crude methane refinery powered by pig faeces, which is run by a dwarf called the Master (Angelo Rossitto) and his giant bodyguard the Blaster (Paul Larsson). "Master Blaster" and Aunty hold an uneasy truce for control of Bartertown, but the Master has begun to challenge her leadership, Aunty wants Max to provoke a confrontation with Blaster in the gladiatorial arena Thunderdome, where conflicts are resolved by a duel to the death. A convict called Pig Killer (Robert Grubb), sentenced to work for slaughtering a pig to feed his family, befriends Max, who enters the refinery to size up to Master Blaster, he finds his stolen vehicle, and discovers the Blaster is exceptionally strong, but sensitive to high-pitched noises. Max faces Blaster in the Thunderdome, using his weakness to gain the upper hand, but refuses to kill him, discovering he has special needs and the intellect of a child, Master finds out about Aunty's arrangement to have Blaster killed, he vows to have the refinery, and by extension, Bartertown, shut down. An enraged Blaster executed, Master is imprisoned, and Max is exiled, he is bound on a horse and sent in a random direction into the wasteland, the horse perishes in a sinkhole, allowing Max to free himself, and he presses on. Near death, Max is found in the desert by desert dweller Savannah Nix (Helen Buday), he is hauled to a community of children and teenagers who live on an oasis, they are all survivors of a crashed Boeing 747, and abandoned by their parents who left to find civilisation. The youngsters believe Max is a pilot named Captain G. L. Walker, returned to fix their plane and fly them to civilisation, Max denies this and insists they remain in the oasis for relative safety, knowing the only "civilisation" within reach is Bartertown. Some of the children, led by Savannah, leave anyway, determined to find the prophesized "Tomorrow-morrow Land", Max stops them by force, but another tribe member Scrooloose (Rod Zuanic) sets them free during the night and leaves with them. The tribe's leader Slake M'Thirst (Tom Jennings) asks Max to go after them, he agrees, taking a few of the children with him to help. They find Savannah's group, but they are unable to save one of the children from a sinkhole, with limited supplies, they are forced to head for Bartertown. They sneak in via the underground, and with the help of Pig Killer they free Master, escape in a train-truck, and destroy Bartertown's methane refinery in the process. Aunty leads the inhabitants in a pursuit, catching up to them, Max's group slows them while Scrooloose hijacks one of the vehicles, which happens to be Max's vehicle. The group comes across Jedediah and his son, Max coerces the pilot into helping his group escape in their aeroplane, after clearing a path the plane is able take off and escape, but Max is left to Aunty's mercy. Aunty spares his life, having come to respect Max, she departs and is presumably making good on her vow to rebuild Bartertown, the children are flown to the coast by Jedediah, there they discover the nuclear-devastated ruins of Sydney. Years later, the children have established a small society for themselves, wanderers have been lost in the ruins, Savannah is now the leader, and reciting the story of their journey, and the man who saved them, Max, who still wanders the desert to places unknown. Also starring Frank Thring as The Collector, Angry Anderson as Ironbar and George Spartels as Blackfinger. Gibson is sort of still charismatic, but he is perhaps not as "mad" anymore, and Turner is certainly an interesting choice as the local dictator, the gladiatorial battle sequences are alright, the scenes with the nomadic warrior surrounded by children I recognised as being spoofed by South Park, and there is a pretty good chase sequence near the end, but it is perhaps a bit slow and not enough of a flow with the story, but it is not a bad futuristic action adventure. Mel Gibson was number 47 on The 100 Greatest Sex Symbols, and number 17 on The 100 Greatet Movies Stars. Worth watching!
FilmBuff1994
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is a mediocre movie with a lackluster plot and an average cast. It has its moments, there are certainly some beautiful set pieces and, as you would expect, some glorious high octane action sequences that still hold up today. George Miller's work as a director is one I always admire, even if his work as a writer fails to grab me.It was a lot more character driven and grounded than the previous two installments, which sound like a good thing, but the way it is done is immensely bland. I found it very difficult to care for these characters, they are not likable enough for me to gain any sort of affection for them. The cast do not do a stellar job in helping this movie either. Mel Gibson still shines as Max, but his heart simply is not in it as much the third time around. Tina Turner, on the other hand, is absolutely horrendous, failing to do anything interesting with a juicy role like this, having no screen charisma, there is a reason why this is her only big acting role. Has potential, but lets you down. Some people may love it, but Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome simply was not for me, and I would not recommend it. Max teams up with some new allies to fight for his survival in this post apocalyptic world. Best Performance: Mel Gibson / Worst Performance: Tina Turner
Leofwine_draca
Now I do enjoy the MAD MAX films. They're the epitome of Australian cult filmmaking on a budget: filled with uniquely Aussie humour, outlandish characters and plenty of action. In fact, MAD MAX 2 is one of my favourite films ever, finishing with that massive, sprawling chase sequence that's still inspiring filmmakers today (Neil Marshall's DOOMSDAY, anyone?). For some reason, I'd never got around to watching this, the third in the series, although I had seen snippets of it on TV. I wasn't impressed by the scenes I saw: it seemed cheesier and sillier than what had come before, more child friendly. And the presence of Tina Turner seemed a definite distraction.When I saw MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME was showing on TV again, I decided to bite the bullet and sit down and watch it, fearing the worst. I didn't get that, but this is definitely the weakest MAD MAX film of the series. The heart and soul of the story is missing from this one. It seems like a tired repeat of the last movie, with an unwelcome American presence in the likes of Tina Turner and more Hollywood ideals. Much of the blame must lie on the troubled production: the producer died causing George Miller to back out and only direct the action sequences while another hand took over the character and dialogue moments. The result is a mixed production. The action scenes, of which there are only really two – the 'gladiator combat' scene in the Thunderdome, and the final chase – are exquisite, as good as that which has come before, and very entertaining. Not original, but still entertaining.The non-action scenes drag like heck. The colony of feral children are mostly irritating, with too many attempts to make them 'cute'. They actually reminded me of the Ewoks in RETURN OF THE JEDI. Gibson's character is underwritten in this one, so that he barely speaks and seems like a void at the centre of the film. There's no sense of his desperation or his primal nature here, he's just a stock hero character. I found Tina Turner to be pretty insipid as the would-be villainess, although I was happy to see Bruce Spence returning as the helicopter pilot, albeit he plays a different character this time around. I was also delighted by the casting of veteran dwarf actor Angelo Rossitto who bags something of a swan song performance late on in his career. So, the final result: a hit and miss effort, soon forgotten. The final chase scene, though, is worth watching, even if it is a case of revisiting past glories.
