This really isn't a review for any of them. I just viewed the original three the other day and wanted to give my thoughts on the films. Plus the new one is coming out next year I think? Starring Tom Hardy. My buddy is huge into these movies and urged me to watch them, so I gave them a go..here are my thoughts..

I have seen Mad Max (1979) before, but only bits and pieces. My buddy always says that it starts off fantastic, has some pacing issues, and then gathers back up in the end. I agree fully. The opening car chase scene is one of my favorite car chases in cinema and Mel Gibson is just a bad ass. It slows down a LOT after the opening scene, but the story is pretty great. I was attached to all of the characters and even though it suffered from some serious pacing issues, I didn't want it to end. But when the final big revenge scene came, it was extraordinary. Because this movie is more serious than the other two, I'd say this one is my favorite, although you can't mess with the action from..

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) is a lot more action packed than the first installment. It takes a serious nose dive in seriousness and focus' more on the fact that it's pretty much the apocalypse and people are more odd than ever. Now, this film I haven't seen before, but everyone told me how great it was. I thought this film was a little goofy and hard to take serious. Hell, even South Park uses multiple scenes from these films and exaggerates the shit out of them. For an example, view below. There are all these goofy characters and it pretty much focuses on getting gas. Mel Gibson is hesitant throughout the entire movie and can't make up his god damn mind, but in the end he does his thing. I think this movie should be a mandatory viewing for the final car chase scene alone. It's fantastic and gives a satisfying ending to the series.....except they made another (sigh) There is also a spoiler that bugged me about the ending of the second one..


Spoiler...
At the end of Road Warrior there is a narration saying that no one saw Max again, yet the pilot is in the third one





That's from this scene of the Road Warrior..



Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is a decent film, but is the lowest of the low when it is compared to the previous installments. It starts off fine and reminded me of The Road Warrior a lot. Which is what a good sequel should be, but then strays faaaaar from everything we have seen previously. The biggest downfall is the atrocious way it turns into a kid movie all of a sudden. He goes to "town" where kids rule all and it's just a mess. It reminds me of Peter Pan and the acting by the kids is not good. South Park ripped on this again (if you remember when the kids get rid of the adults in South Park and they keep referring to that as "the before time" (sorry, huge south park fan). After that it gets a little better, but doesn't leave a satisfying ending really. These movies are about Max, not about the children. I think it was a little cliche (even though it probably is the film that started the cliche).

It just goes to show the impact of these films to people. These are a cult phenomenon and although the first two are really good, the third disappoints. Now, more than ever, I want to see the new one with Tom Hardy. I heard Gibson just filmed a cameo in it and it's due out next year. Your guys' thoughts?