Is 'The Road Warrior' a Notable Australian Cinematic Achievement?

Quite a few people, I'd say, given the number of post-apocalyptic science fiction films that came out in the 70s (A Boy and His Dog, No Blade of Grass, Zardoz, The Omega Man, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, etc). But it certainly popularized the idea.

I haven't seen this in years but it is certainly notable for any number of reasons, and it certainly made Mel Gibson a star. I recently re-watched the first Mad Max film and had forgotten just how charmingly lo-fi it is. This thread may inspire me to see this one again too.

 

Yes but it did get funded by WB so the scale was much bigger. It was also sold as a standalone film in the US and other territories. The Blu-ray is lovely but I wish it had the proper color timing with the redder desert and bluer skies. The old releases while not perfect and the censored US cut at least give that proper effect.

I’d argue the original film is the more notable “Australian achievement” if we are strictly talking about it as an identifiable Australian film. Then again I think it’s the best and strongest of the whole series and an astonishing picture for being ultra low budget and everyone’s first time out.

I hold MM 79 and Road Warrior/MM2 as near equal masterpieces but I do prefer the grit and stronger narrative of the original combined with its scrappy shoestring production. I like things in Thunderdome and finally came around on it. I just wish it was a better film. Mostly I wish we got the proper send off for Max and not the Max in name only but aren’t the visuals super cool Fury Road.

 

I have not! Will add it to my list.

 

You'll love it Jim. It can be a bit wooden acting wise in some respects, but it makes up for it in grass roots grit.

 

Great film made great by the villains.
Disappointed by 3 as I assumed wrongly that it would continue in the same vein as I'm sure he was left with Pappagallo's vehicle at the end.
Maybe it was ....... but there was no fuel left to run it on for very long?

 

yes, it's a pioneer....

 

Since this thread is still open, I'll add that . . . finally . . . Road Warrior is going to be released in 4K: https://www.amazon.com/Mad-Max-The-...ag=bluraynews-20&linkCode=xm2&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I'm don't have the equipment for 4K, but I am hoping the blu-ray version that will be released in the 4K package will be a substantial upgrade. The old blu-ray is kind of "ratty" looking.

I still remember the first time I saw this movie in 1982. I was living in Chicago, and I went down to a theater in Calumet City to see this movie. My interest was piqued after Siskel and Ebert had given it a positive review. I still remember thinking that some stuntmen (and stuntwomen) must have died during the shoot of that final scene where the convey, led by a tanker trunk, is racing down that highway, under constant assault by the desert gang. Bring it on!

 

From IMDb ("IMDb: What you do instead of things "):

The version released in the U.S. was re-dubbed with American accents. It has been widely claimed that the distributor, American International Pictures (AIP), feared that American audiences would have had problems understanding the thick Australian accents spoken by the actors. However, now that the original track has surfaced Stateside, it is revealed to be poorly mixed, with the music score often overwhelming dialogue (the very important conversation between two doctors that Max overhears is almost entirely drowned out). AIP's releases were predominantly seen in drive-in theaters (where in fact most of this picture's US box office revenue was earned) and where at this time the audio came through little speakers hanging on the car windows. This would definitely have made the audio problems worse and is the probable motivation for the alternate audio track (AIP having mostly American voice actors available to them).
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(of course whoever wrote this saw the MGM DVD where the original mono mix is apparently a fold of the 5.1 mix.)

 

It’s a great widescreen film with great characters and some great lines. Only a few things would need to be changed to make it a great western - part of the reason being the terrain used. I appreciate the cinematography and the score. Being Australian, I enjoy it when we make something original.
Every character in it has a purpose and I suppose that’s why I like it. You could enjoy it as a standalone film without seeing the first one. I’m not a fan of the third one, but I had to have all three in the collection.

 

Granted, the film wasn't made to be digested dozens of times, much less at home on 4K when ROAD WARRIOR was made, but I wouldn't object to digitally correcting a couple awkward shots where the footage has been obviously sped-up. Seems like that could be done unobtrusively.

The rest of the film is a miracle. Hard to believe it was written, financed, shot and distributed in such a short time. By US standards, ROAD WARRIOR was a low-budget film but it looked amazing.

 

Road Warrior spawned an entire genre !

One of the best, most taut action movies ever made.

I mean, just the closing chase sequence, it’s so influential, but has anyone done it better ?

 

I enjoy the first film more, but RW is really good too. I only saw Beyond Thunderdome once, but I remember hating it. Fury Road is trash.

 

Wasn't it the first Australian film to be a hit worldwide?

 

Possibly the first Australian film that wasn’t an art house period piece to make an impact internationally, made Mel Gibson a star and George Miller a great career.
I saw it 5 times in it’s initial cinema run, definitely worked for a 16 year old and it definitely still holds up

And it’s called Mad Max 2

 

Guess it's matter of taste....It was sort of cultural phenomenon in my latter high school days, and I wasn't much into movies at the time.. Being what it was I had to see it, and did. I embraced it at the time, but it was pretty boring still. Seemed much more a stylistic thing at the time, than an evenly remotely accurate view of a post industrial/nuc war world. It was about the style, I was on board at the time.

That said, I've seen some Australian movies I though were a lot better... I prefer the old school thriller type genre and Australia did it well.

 

I guess you're referring to Picnic at Hanging Rock.

 

Walkabout springs to mind.

 

That was a "period piece"?

 

No it isn’t, my mistake. Great movie though.

 

It’s amazing film. I saw it at UCLA at a special premiere. There wasn’t quite anything else like it-taking a B movie aesthetic and adding an element of art, action that hadn’t been done in quite that eye popping way before.

 

Walkabout - great film, might be considered a bit of an outlier as it’s a British production set in Australia (English director and lead actor)
Picnic At Hanging Rock was arguably the first Australian produced and directed film to have a significant reception around the world and it was a period piece.
For the next decade there were a lot of period set films as Australian film mined the country’s literature and troubled history for subject matter.
There were of course contemporary films but it seemed like a lot of period stuff.
Mad Max and it’s sequel were the first local action/exploitation movies to move out of just cult status

 

I'd suggest "The Story Of The Kelly Gang" was Australia's first international success.

 

Except for one thing: It was probably the most homoerotic.

 

yes, and it sure was good for Mel...