Mad Max Film Analysis

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The setting is decades into the future and the world has reached a post-apocalyptic state. Australia has become a wasteland ruled by tyrants and war bosses. Gas is the pinnacle of all resources and is fought over constantly. Max Rockatansky, former police officer, has become a loner in the wasteland and searches for a reason to live after what he has gone through. Throughout the 4 movies of the Mad Max franchise, we observe Max transitioning through several kinds of pain and obstacles. In the first movie, police officer Max takes care of the motorcycle gang who murdered his family and a plethora of others. Road Warrior was a different movie entirely with a more wasteland feeling and showing what Mad Max truly is with fast action scenes. Mad …show more content…

Let’s say these 4 movies were playing at the local movie theater and you wanted to know which one to watch. How can a decision be made? Check online reviews from trusted sources to aid in your decision-making, of course. One famous movie critic was Roger Ebert, who review the 2nd and 3rd Mad Max movies. In Ebert’s review of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, he calls the movie the best of the 3 Mad Max movies that were out at the time. (Ebert) Ebert says “This is a movie that strains at the leash of the possible, a movie of great visionary wonders.” (Ebert) To have something like this said about a movie is a victory for the film in itself. However, Ebert also reviewed Road Warrior, which he had an interesting opinion on as well. Ebert calls Road Warrior an intense thrill ride that at times is quite “exhilarating”. (Ebert) Road Warrior is often referred to as the movie that gives Mad Max its style as it injects the viewer in the post-apocalyptic world more immensely than the original. Although Road Warrior gives the franchise its signature style, there still are reasons to watch the original movie. For one, Mad Max shows the beginning of Max …show more content…

With an estimated budget of around $200,000, the first Mad Max was obviously primitive in its effects and casting. (IMDB.com) However, the movie, as of May 21, 1982, made over $8,750,000 in the U.S.. (Boxofficemojo.com) That’s an outstanding profit when you compare it to how much it spent. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, came in with a bigger budget at $2,000,000 and interestingly enough, even with the overhauled budget, the film as of May 21, 1982 had only made about $24 million in the U.S. In the end, revenue is revenue and it’s still higher than the first film, so it’s an improvement. (IMDB.com) Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome came in with a budget of about $12 million and as of July 12, 1985, the movie had earned over $36 million in the U.S. Thunderdome’s profit was large but only three times what they spent as compared to the previous films who made 12 times as much. (IMBD.com) Last but not least, Mad Max: Fury Road had a whopping $150 million to work with when in production. Disappointingly, up to today it has only made around $153 million in the U.S., which is barely breaking even.

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