A strong candidate for the designation of most thrilling action movie ever made (the turbo-charged exhilaration of its full-throttle highway chases has never been equaled), the second part of George Miller’s post-apocalyptic trilogy is also a magnificently imagined movie myth.  In the 1979 original, Max (Mel Gibson) is a policeman, the last guardian of civilization and order in a devastated world reduced to chaos. But when a leather-clad gang of sadomasochistic speed demons mows down Max’s family, his remaining connections to humanity are also permanently severed. After brutally exacting his revenge, Max wanders off into the wasteland alone, “a burned out shell of a man” who (to paraphrase The Searchers) is destined to wander forever between the winds.
In The Road Warrior, Max rediscovers a sliver of his shattered humanity, and a spark of redemption, when he helps an embattled colony of pioneers fight off the savages who are after that most precious of all commodities: “guzzline.” Max is transformed into a legendary hero, just as Mel Gibson was catapulted to international movie stardom.

“Exhilarating entertainment — and a textbook for sophisticated, popular moviemaking.” – Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine

“A straightforward action/adventure film, filled to the brim with over-the-top chases and stunts.” – James Berardinelli, ReelViews

“A film of pure action, of kinetic energy organized around the barest possible bones of a plot.” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

“Director Miller keeps the pic moving with cyclonic force, photography by Dean Semler is first class, editing is supertight, and Brian May’s music is stirring.” – Variety Staff, Variety

For pure rhythm and visual panache, Miller has few real competitors; the climactic chase, with its deft variation of tempo and point of view, is a minor masterpiece.” – Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

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