MAD MAX (1979)

Due to a major energy crisis, society is on the verge of a total collapse.  In Australia, most people have moved to the major cities, so now the Outback has become an almost no man's land.  Still, there's a small police force.  One of these police officers is Max Rockatansky.  A married man with a small child, Max worries that all of this brutality will harden him and cause him to be a poor husband and father.  After the violent death of his partner at the hands of a motorcycle gang lead by the ruthless Toecutter, Max leaves the force and goes on vacation.  Unfortunately, Fate has other ideas for him. 

MAD MAX is an entertaining film and very influential for it's time, but I think a lot of people who've never seen it before will honestly be surprised at how tame the middle section really is.  The film opens with an awesome chase scene that will blow your socks off, but then after that things slow down for the remainder of the film.  Yeah, the story moves forward and there's little spurts of action here and there, but it pales to that opening scene...and it doesn't even come close to the total awesomeness of THE ROAD WARRIOR!

Good movie (especially for the low budget) that is required viewing for anybody interested in dystopian films, cinematography and/or 70's action cinema, particularly Australian.

Part 2 - The Road Warrior (1981)
Part 3 - Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
Part 4 - Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Part 5 / Prequel / Fury Road spin-off - Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)