Review of "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome," DVD version starring Mel Gibson and Tina Turner

Review of

Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, DVD version starring Mel Gibson and Tina Turner


Five out of five stars

 In general, the third film in a sequence tends to be underwhelming compared to the first two. That is not the case here, Tina Turner stars as Aunty Entity and turns in a superb performance as the protagonist to Max. Unlike in the first two movies, Aunty Entity is not a brutal, evil person, in her own way she is a savior of humanity and civilization. She has created a civilization out of the ruins of an apocalyptic war, giving the people hope for a future. Aunty Entity has given the world the rule of law once again, brutal though it may be.

 Max is once again a vagabond loner where circumstances give him no choice but to act as an agent of Aunty’s bidding. The ultimate in surviving, Max joins forces with a group of children that survived the crash of a 747 and are living in an oasis in the middle of a vast and nearly impenetrable desert.

 The chase scene is once again an incredible thing, this time there is some humor amidst the fighting to the death. In this case it involves a train to nowhere, where the day is saved by a man and his son with a plane. Max proves that he is very much a hero, risking his life to save a group of children.

 As was the case in “Road Warrior,” the supporting characters in this movie do much more than that. They provide tension, light moments and do more than is usual in making this movie the entertaining powerhouse that it is. There is Robert Grubb as “Pigkiller,” a man given a life sentence for killing a pig for food, Frank Thring as the “Collector” the front man for Bartertown, he is the one that decides what goods are worth and who gets to enter the town to conduct their business. Bruce Spence as “Jedediah the Pilot,” a role similar to the one he had in “Road Warrior.” Angry Anderson as “Ironbar,” one of the commanders of the troops controlled by Aunty and perhaps the best was Angelo Rossitto as “Master,” the genius that designed and managed the infrastructure of Bartertown.

 This is an entertaining and thoughtful movie, pointing out one unfortunate fact about the behavior of humans. Even after being nearly wiped out, there will still be struggles for power and control over what meager structures are rebuilt after the destruction. The action and character interactions are exceptional.