Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

        We’re halfway through talking about the Mad Max franchise. This is where it’s often up for debate whether this was the series at its peak or at its lowest point. Specifically, it’s where the shift in setting and characters is met with praise or derision from casual fans or die hard followers. Beyond Thunderdome is an interesting entry.

1. Thunderdome

        One thing that must be stressed about these films is that you don’t have to watch them in order to understand what’s going on. Each film is self-contained with nothing carried over in terms of plot device or having an expansive story. With the third entry, we see that Max is still the loner in the Australian apocalypse. His car now being pulled by camels is stolen and he goes to get it back. 

        From there he reaches Bartertown, and it’s oppressive leader Aunty Entity who gives him a task to help him. After Max disobeys, he’s ordered to fight in Thunderdome. He fails to kill his opponent and is then exiled away. Compared with the prior entries, I feel that this one tries to do something different and tries to deconstruct Max. Like taking his away his car and his weapons, we see just how he tries to survive without the things he’s known for. 

        I feel that it works since for one thing it would be repetitive by doing The Road Warrior once again but this time run into a quasi-civilized place that is being oppressed. More so that we just see how Max adjusts when he’s thrown into the Thunderdome and fight with something on the spot. It’s a mixed bag since the series up until that point has that grittiness of being in the desert and we see just how the apocalypse changed the people. 

        I’m being a devil’s advocate since I read that the entry is a good one and the worst one. Having it be where it’s set makes sense since we see just how expansive and vast the apocalypse displaced everything. Especially in the moment where we see the kids in an oasis setting. While I’ll talk about them in a moment, this is the point where the series is at it’s most controversial. Mind you, the movie’s not poorly plotted in the least bit or any sense of stupidity lowers the film’s quality as well.  

        As I mentioned earlier, the film lacked that grittiness of being in the desert since that’s where the film and the series has that edge to it. It’s certainly hits that it’s a Hollywood film, and what I mean by that is that it opens with a song that was in the running for an award. A high-profile singer turned actress that is featured very prominent in the film’s poster. It’s the definition of being a sell out when the prior entries has that punk element to it. It’s one thing to rag on it for it’s creative choices, but it can be understandable for not being repetitive. 

2. Children

        I guess kids don’t belong in the Mad Max series. It’s almost head scratching why so many die-hard fans rail against having kids in a series that mostly featured near naked characters with leather barely covering their bodies. Just as Max passes out from exhaustion, he’s picked up from a clan made up of kids. And talk about a change of scenery since their hideout has an oasis. The kids believe that Max is a captain of a downed airplane that is meant to help them get out. 

        In some way, I think it helps that the film continues with that theme of humanity. More so, it’s about rebirth in an apocalypse. We see how the kids lean in on this legend that they created and see Max as an opportunity to go to that place. This is what makes Max an even more interesting part of that story because he doesn’t belong. He’s a product of the world he’s in and he only leads the kids in destroyed Sydney to rebuild. 

        It’s very reminiscent of the old western film The Searchers. Especially with how the film ends with the final shot of Max being a shadow, sort of like a puzzle piece that doesn’t fit in a grand design. With everything we see of Max, he still maintains he sense of heroics but still being a drifter in the desert. Nothing is lost when he’s with the children, especially in the moment when we see him try and rescue them from quicksand.

3. Overall

        Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is a complicated film for the die hard fans of the franchise, but a worthy one in the series to at least diversify it’s setting. It’s the last entry of Mel Gibson playing Max Rockatansky.