Mad Max 3

 

Director: George Miller

Writers: George Miller, Brendan McCarthy

Stars: Mel Gibson, Tina Turner

 

A woman rebels against a tyrannical ruler in postapocalyptic Australia in search for her home-land with the help of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshipper, and a drifter named Max.

Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, Warner Brothers put up enough cash so that Miller (joined in this outing by co-director George Ogilvie) could go wild. The third Mad Max movie represents the end of the saga, although Miller has occasionally voiced interest in producing a fourth film.

Mad Max is the bleakest of the three, as it pulls Max through a character arc that sees everything he holds dear taken away from him. What begins as a fairly typical action/adventure movie turns into a revenge tale. The ending is stark, and there's not much catharsis to be had when Max achieves his aim.

Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome has our hero entering the crude village of Bartertown. He is brought for an audience with Auntie Entity (Tina Turner), who governs the place. She has a deal for him: in return for a full compliment of supplies, he must engage in a duel to the death with The Blaster (Paul Larsson), the muscular guardian of The Master (Angelo Rossitto), an imp who runs the underground. Because he provides the energy that keeps Bartertown running, The Master is a challenge to Aunty Entity's supremacy. With The Blaster gone, Aunty Entity will have free reign. However, Max breaks the deal and becomes an outlaw. He is forced to band together with a group of desert nomads and return to Bartertown by stealth to overthrow Aunty Entity's rule. 

Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome is more plot-driven than its predecessors, with a circular arc that brings Max to Bartertown twice: once as a petitioner and once as an avenger. 

Aside from Mel Gibson, the only actor to appear in more than one Mad Max movie was Bruce Spence, who plays the Gyro Captain in The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome. He starts out as Max's prisoner, become his ally, inadvertently robs him of everything, then helps him bring down Aunty Entity. Like most of the acting turns in the Mad Max trilogy, this isn't a great one, but Spence's features and mannerisms match the character's oddness. The only other performer who merits mention is Tina Turner. Despite being known as a singer, she is credible and powerful as Aunty Entity, Max's most worthy adversary. 

Decades after being brought to the screen, these movies hold up well. The reason is simple: George Miller understands how to make action sequences (especially chase scenes) exciting. Miller never falls back on the formulas that have become the bane of too many recent action films, and his sustained cuts lend a clarity to the proceedings. The battle between Max and The Blaster in Beyond Thunderdome may be the best the series has to offer, but each of the films has something that fans and non-fans alike can embrace. For action fans, this remains one of the genre's most enduring classic trilogies.

Won 6 Oscars.