MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME (1985)

Holy shirtless saxophone player testicles, what a lame movie!!  Instead of taking place, oh, I don't know, immediately after the second film, MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME takes place a full 15 years later!!!  Of course, there's not really any cars left, so instead of exciting car chases to keep us on the edge of our seat, we're treated to exciting scenes of Max walking around, shoveling pig shit, fighting in the goofy ass Thunderdome, riding a horse backwards (yes, just like Vanilla Ice in COOL AS ICE), hanging out with some annoying feral children that talk like a drunk Yoda and then finally once the film is nearly over getting behind the wheel of a car...for like 10 seconds.  Weak.

I've heard negative things about this third Mad Max installment, but I wasn't prepared for just how bad it was.  Holy fook, right from the beginning it's slow and it never picks up.  Even the short chase scene at the end felt like it was tacked on.  Disappointing story, lame action scenes, nonthreatening bad guys that looked like dorks, ugly photography, irritating music that made me want to kick something, confusing casting of Bruce Spence (the Gyro Captain from Part 2) in this film as a totally different character...I could go on and on, but mostly it was the lack of car chase-based action scenes that ruined it for me.  Well, that and those annoying kids.  God I hated them.  And "Yes." I understand the story is suppose to be deeper and about Max regaining his humanity, but I just don't care.

I'm sure there's some misguided people out there who like this film, but I disliked everything about it.  Even if it wasn't a Mad Max film it still would have sucked.  Skip it with a vengeance and never look back.

Part 1 - Mad Max (1979)
Part 2 - The Road Warrior (1981)
Part 4 - Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Part 5 / Prequel / Fury Road spin-off - Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)