Back when Mel Gibson was still Australian, he was a seriously cool, laconic screen presence heading up action movies and serious dramas alike as a more sensitive kind of Down Under-Clint Eastwood. And of all the movies he made in the decade that he owned, Gibson's quietly rageful presence was utilised best in George Miller's Mad Max sequel, The Road Warrior. Reprising his role as Max Rockatansky, the ex-cop battling gasoline-hungry gangs in a post-apocalyptic Australia, Gibson is matched for surly macho-ness by a newly-ambitious Miller hurling all kinds of vehicular carnage his way. The kind of 'wasteland of tomorrow' featured in The Road Warrior has become such a cliche for apocalypse cinema that Mad Max 2 should seem dated. And, in some ways, it does - for instance, the S&M caveman look that the antagonists go for is pretty comical now. The action sequences are untouchable though - this is a film that makes the continuing argument for sticking (where possible) with practical effects, the very real car chases here remaining terrific-looking to this day.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
