Tag Archives: Mad Max

E. R. Torre Art

Sketchin’ 31

When I was much younger (way back in the stone age, natch), I very clearly remember the release of the subject of my latest sketch, Mel Gibson’s Mad Max from the incredible Mad Max 2 or, as it was known in the United States, The Road Warrior.

Back when the film was released, I was too young to see this “R” rated film without *ahem* adult supervision.  I nonetheless managed to see the film twice upon its initial release and was turned away a third time.

Ah well.

I still consider Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior one of the very best action films ever made, regardless of people’s current opinions -sadly, understandable- against Mr. Gibson.  I felt the latest Mad Max film, Mad Max Fury Road, would have been better served with Mr. Gibson, though please don’t take that as a slight against Tom Hardy, who took over the role.

It’s just that to me, Gibson is Mad Max and I personally feel he would have done better in the lead role… but that’s crying over spilled milk at this point.

So here he is, in all his glory, a very young Mel Gibson in the role that made him a star…

Movies

This ‘n that…

Couple of interesting article from io9.com I found.

First up, a review of the first episode of Ash vs Evil Dead, a cable series (it will be presented on Starz starting on Halloween night) continuation of the saga of Ash from the Evil Dead movies…

We Saw The First Episode of Ash vs. Evil Dead And It Blew Us Away

If you haven’t seen any of the Evil Dead films (the original 1981 Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, and Army of Darkness.  IMHO, you can skip the not very good -other than a certain cameo appearance at the very end- 2013 remake), you should at the very least give the last two a look (the first film is more of a horror film while the last two hilariously straddle a fine line between horror and comedy and beloved actor Bruce Campbell gives a hilarious performance as an “anti-hero”…a man who, if he didn’t do so much good fighting the forces of the Evil Dead, would be looked upon as nothing more than a total jerk!).

So, after far, far too many years (Army of Darkness came out way back in 1992), the gang behind the original trilogy are back together again and, if the above review is accurate, we’re in for a treat.  Certainly looks like it based on the trailer!

Next up…

Furiosa Won’t Be In George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road Sequel

Although reading the article it doesn’t sound like the article’s headline is quite as strongly written in stone as presented.

Mr. Miller himself notes that there is a chance she may appear in some kind of (possible) cameo or something of the character.  However, taking all the quotes provided by Mr. Miller, what I came away with was that the sequel to MMFR its still a long way away and while there are concepts (and even possibly full scripts to at least two movies) ready, much is in flux.

I enjoyed MMFR quite a bit but, as I noted in my review, the film might have been better had it not included the character of Max within it.  Why?  Because as a fan of the previous three films 1) Even though I like Tom Hardy a lot as an actor, I missed Mel Gibson and 2) I expected Max to be the central character just as he was in the previous three films yet the movie’s protagonist was Furiosa and, with very little tinkering, MMFR would have worked equally well -maybe even better!- without the Max character in it.

Having said all that, I can see a new Mad Max film being made which, like the others, doesn’t necessarily tie into what we’ve seen before.  MMFR presented a “soft” reboot of the world of Max as well as things that nixed continuity with the other films.  Chief among them was a certain car Max was driving at the beginning of the film which would have been impossible given what happened in Mad Max 2 aka The Road Warrior.

Having said all that, you know what I’d like to see?

I’d like to see a new Mad Max film that features…Mel Gibson.

I know, I know, he’s older now and Hollywood still has him on a blacklist and, yes, Tom Hardy may be better known to audiences now as the character versus Mr. Gibson…

…but…

If Mr. Miller makes another Mad Max film and it doesn’t necessarily tie in to MMFR just as that film didn’t necessarily tie into the others before, wouldn’t it be cool to have Mr. Gibson return in the role as an older, though just as fearsome, version of Max, a la Batman in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns?

Why not?

If they were to make another Mad Max film and Mr. Gibson was willing to star in it, you can most certainly count me in!

Movies

Apocalypse…Pow!

To those who weren’t around back then, there was a time in the pre-internet stone age when movies “snuck up” on you and suddenly there they were, released to movie theaters in all their glory…movies you hadn’t heard a thing about until literally they were days if not a couple of weeks from being released.

One such film that surprised me was 1981’s  Escape From New York.  Never heard so much as a word about it before being floored by the movie’s poster I saw in a theater no more than a couple of weeks before its release.  While I’m sure there were articles about the movie in sci-fi magazines, back then you had to actually find the magazines in bookstores -remember them?- to read about those upcoming releases.

As I said, what really got me was the poster, presented below.

Pretty neat, no?

Another such film that really surprised me and had me instantly salivating to see it came out that same year, The Road Warrior.

I don’t know if I read the Time Magazine review first (It’s the second one quoted in the above poster) or saw a TV commercial or whathaveyou, but for me 1981 proved to be all about The Road Warrior.  The movie literally blew me away and kept me coming back trying to sneak into theaters to see it (It was R rated and I was still too young to go into the movie without adult accompanyment…though with one exception that didn’t stop me from seeing the film three or four times upon its original release!).

As it turned out, 1981 proved a pretty spectacular year for movie releases.  You have the two mentioned above along with Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Evil Dead, An American Werewolf in London, Stripes, For Your Eyes Only (perhaps my favorite Roger Moore James Bond film), Time Bandits, Outland, The Howling, Superman II, and Scanners, among others (you can find the full list here).

What I didn’t know back then, again, thanks to the stone age pre-internet days, was that Escape From New York and The Road Warrior had a common thread: They were both intricately tied to a low budget, practically unknown 1979 film by the name of Mad Max.

Of course, The Road Warrior was a sequel to Mad Max and was known as Mad Max 2 in foreign markets.  I suppose the name was changed to The Road Warrior in the U.S.A. so that American audiences didn’t stay away from the theaters thinking they’d need to see the original to “get” the sequel.  Escape From New York, on the other hand, was inspired at the very least visually for director/writer John Carpenter because he had seen Mad Max and loved the “look” of the film.  Word is that Kurt Russel, the star of that film, was also a big fan of Mad Max.

Getting back to The Road Warrior, I absolutely loved Mel Gibson’s stoic, almost silent presence (he utters some 17 or so lines in the entire film).  I loved the cast of characters around him, from the desperate surrounded town-folks to the larger than life villains.  I loved the Gyro Captain (he was never given a formal name) and I really loved -and was heartbroken- by Max’s pet dog.

And that ending…so much going on, tragedy, triumph, what looked to be complete disaster only to be revealed as…Ah, but that would be spoiling.

The years that followed gave us one more Mel Gibson starring Mad Max film, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.  As excited as I was to see it, it proved to be a crushing disappointment.  While I can understand the desire by director/writer George Miller to go a different route and give us something “new” with regard to Mad Max and his apocalyptic world, other than the magnetic presence of Tina Turner as the villainness this film was just too removed from what made the original two films such fascinating thrill rides and, to this day, I haven’t gone back to see it from start to finish.

I may have to revisit it, to see if perhaps I’m being too harsh.

Regardless, that brings us to today, with the release of the new Mad Max film Mad Max Fury Road.  Sadly, Mel Gibson isn’t involved in this new feature and that is perhaps my biggest disappointment.  Granted, Mr. Gibson’s strange behaviors a few years back made him a poison pill to many potential audience goers and (I imagine) financial backers and I can’t help but wonder if that, and his age (he ain’t no spring chicken anymore), might have played a role in his not returning for this film.

Still, that’s speculation and it isn’t the first time a popular star was replaced in a popular role.

So Tom Hardy takes over the role of Mad Max (I can’t complain, I like him) and the reviews for this film have been nothing short of stellar.

While it is difficult for me to get to the theaters to see first run films (hence so many belated reviews) I fully intend to see Mad Max Fury Road on IMAX as soon as I can, preferably in the next couple of days.

Will I be transported back to the magical year of 1981, a year when The Road Warrior quite literally blew me away?

By the Gods I sure hope so.