Mel Gibson in 'Mad Max'“Mad Max” (1979)

MPAA Rating: R
Directed by: George Miller
Starring: Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Geoff Parry, Vince Gil, Steve Bisley

The Gist: When the going gets tough, this tough guy goes psycho.

The Story: Welcome to the Australian outback. It’s the near future and oil shortages and wars have brought civilization to a state of near-anarchy. Officer Max Rockatansky (Gibson) is the toughest member of the heavily armed, but outnumbered local police department. Max’s woes start after he takes down a killer named The Nightrider (Gil). The Toecutter (Keays-Byrne) leads a merry gang of bikers who show up to collect The Nightrider’s remains. They stay in town to settle the score. First, they cripple Max’s best friend. Then, they target his family. Finally, they learn they should never have messed with Mad Max.

The Review: Don’t write off “Mad Max” as just another macho revenge yarn. First-time feature filmmaker George Miller was an ER doctor when he co-wrote and directed this film, and he knew how to engage an audience’s brains and adrenal glands with surgical precision. Before computer-generated effects made it easier to cheat, Miller and his gang staged some of the most insane car chases in cinema history. The visuals are astonishing with cameras positioned inches above the asphalt, which whizzes by at 100 mph. The rugged beauty of the Australian outback mirrors the settings of this film’s spiritual predecessors, the great spaghetti westerns. A pre-superstardom Gibson imbues Max with a balance of likability and venom.

The Classic Quote: Max: “The chain in those handcuffs is high-tensile steel. It'd take you 10 minutes to hack through it with this. Now, if you're lucky, you could hack through your ankle in five minutes. Go.”

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com)