The fight in the thunderdome itself is the best example bungee ropes, Max’s chainsaw comically failing on him at the critical moment, and substantially less blood than in the other films (this was the first film in the franchise to be rated a PG-13). Whereas thought-provoking violence was the order of the day before, with Beyond Thunderdome everything became much more obviously framed for entertainment. While the first two films show are uncompromising and merciless in their tone, this entry is far lighter, right from the catchy ’80s theme music in the opening credits. Few things are more fun to witness than her looking down on Mel Gibson and dismissing him as nothing more than a “raggedy man.” Her magnetic presence gives a true sense of fun to Beyond Thunderdome, Turner sustaining a glint in her eye throughout a performance that has aged to perfection.įans of the first two films complain that Beyond Thunderdome is too ‘Hollywood’, and it is easy to understand what they mean. Her onscreen time is fairly minimal, especially in the second half, but Turner turns a small role into something truly iconic, a testimony to her sheer charisma and status. Bartertown is run by a ruthless leader named Auntie Entity, played by the one and only Tina Turner. This time, however, Max finds himself in Bartertown, the first and only urban centre seen in the trilogy, which brought in a much larger cast. While Miller and his co-director George Ogilvie enjoyed a much larger budget than they had with the first two films, the leather-clad wasteland populated with skeleton vehicles, and a devotion to practical effects all remain. It was also Miller’s final all-out action film for almost 30 years, a wacky note on which to make his temporary exit from the genre.īeyond Thunderdome remains an iconic, if tonally divergent, piece of action entertainment. What most people will agree to, however, is how the third and final film in the ‘original’ Mad Max trilogy cemented Miller’s place as a hero of both cult cinema and pop culture. Not an unwelcome one per se, but certainly one which still divides opinion. With that in mind, the tonal shift to 1985’s Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome was a surprise. Mad Max had defined itself as a series through its use of outlandish set pieces, and a sombre tone littered with offbeat humour. The first two films in his iconic series were unlike anything seen before, rooted in some familiar motifs (especially ones drawn from classic Westerns) but with a whole new setting and direction. Following the release of Mad Max 2 in 1981, George Miller had established himself as an imaginative, gas guzzling force of nature in science fiction.
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