The action is stupendous, but the rest is a bit of a drag. When the attackers be attacking it's all great to watch, like I got a lot of entertainment from seeing Toecutter's gang do their thing; and vice-versa with the MFP, really. However, the film kinda goes through peaks and troughs in switching from the action to the more mundane and the latter parts did bore me a little. The characters of Max and Jessie do act noticeably dumb in bits too, I don't necessarily mind that as the whole movie is silly and all those onscreen chew the heck out of the scenery. But it does get a bit annoying to watch, I can't lie. I do like how much extra the characters act in general, though. The whole 90 minutes of <em>'Mad Max'</em> are over the top completely, but it does fit for the majority. I just wanted wall-to-wall overexuberant action, rather than that sprinkled amongst some fairly dull attempted storytelling. Still, I am looking forward to viewing the sequels/spin-offs, particularly those modern-day releases.

It's not often that these dystopian scenarios ever leave the USA, so it's interesting that this one introduces us to the massive expanse of the Australian desert and to the young policeman "Max" (Mel Gibson). His job is pretty thankless - and perilous. He must patrol the remote countryside trying to protect what is left of civilisation from marauding motor cycle gangs who are constantly on the search for fuel - for themselves and for their machines. Things start to boil over when ruthless biker "Toe-cutter" (Hugh Keays-Byrne) avenges the death of his leader by killing just about everyone he can find - including the wife and child of the now incandescent "Max". What now ensues is a grittily told, quickly paced, tale of violence and vengeance with the erstwhile law officer abandoning any sense of decency he had clung onto and going all out to destroy his enemy. This film ought to be remembered for what it spawned, rather than what it offers by itself. Most of the acting is mediocre, as is the dialogue and after a while the brutality started, for me anyway, to lose potency and become almost comedic. This is certainly ninety minutes of cinema history, but it's really not very good.

For whatever reason, never had seen the original and doesn't disappoint, some good action and gut wrenching scenes defying the rules of killing pets and kids, Mel Gibson is quite good in the role and look forward to checking out the sequels. **3.75/5**