Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
Dir: George Miller
1982
*****
George Miller's second Mad Max outing is more of what the audience loved about the first and then some. It was only towards the end of the first film that Max became 'Mad' and since the brilliant conclusion of the 1979 classic years have passed and a third world war has savaged the earth further. Law no longer exists and Mad finds himself a loner, searching only for oil (to fuel his Supercharged V8 pursuit special), food and water. The cars, the villains and even Max himself are all suped-up to the nines in this sequel that surpasses the original and cements the Mad Max films in the 'Cult classics' hall of fame. Dialoge is spars, instead it is all about the action in what has to be one of the greatest car chases of all time. The budget is bigger but not at the expense of creativity, far from it, the inclusion of Dean Semler as cinematographer and Norma Moriceau as costume designer help develop Miller's dystopian futuristic universe onto something both horrific but beautiful. Ozploitation, Carsploitation, Apocalypse, Action....Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior tops lists in many a genre and rightly so. It's full on frenzied excitement and the epitome of a cult classic.