Mad Max where have you been all my fan woman life?

Oh, Mad Max. Why did I never understand you before now?

Yes, before the Mad Max Fury Road comic-con trailer nearly kicked John Carpenter’s beloved Escape Universe out of my brain, I  was not a Max devotee. Of the three films, Beyond Thunderdome was the one I’d frequently seen  (and the one I can only watch the first 45 minutes of now but…), The Road Warrior and Mad Max were single viewings long lost in my fan woman brain.

Alas, I was too young to see all these great movies when released, but I distinctly remember one movie ads from my teen years:  The Road Warrior.  And yet, I never followed through after initial viewings decades ago.

My fondness for bikesploitation and spaghetti westerns has grown as time passes. Watching Mad Max last week made me feel like I discovered a more vicious, punk older brother of Carpenter’s Escape from New York.  Viewing Mad Max on my computer, I found myself completely lost in that world. This happens far less frequently than I would like these days, so it was a wonder to get so sucked in. 

Mad Max revels in a world becoming more lawless and chaotic. In the near future, Good cop Max Rockatansky is pushed beyond his breaking point when his family and best friend are murdered by an insane and vicious bikie gang.

In Mad Max, we had a wonderfully realized take on A Clockwork Orange and a villain worthy of making Rockatansky go over the edge: The Toecutter.

For Villains to click with me, they must stand out.  Hugh Keays-Byrne’s glorious Toecutter is a scene-stealer with his many accents, moods and cadaver cleaver. There is something beautifully unnerving about him; as if he is an acolyte of Kali, a creator and destroyer. One who would easily serve up his own men, if the situation demands.

I fall for a character when the actor does. Hugh had a great time making this, as did his Stone cohort, Vince Gil whose Nightrider is gloriously unhinged.  It’s a shame these two did not share a scene because they give the film  a vibrantly dangerous element  which the crazy car and bike chases/wipe-outs only intensify. I love when actors are so enthused, their character takes over.  I believed in the gang taking over the sleepy little old west town, I believed in them running down that couple and running over Jess and the little one.

Since the villains are firing on all cylinders, I also believed in Max.  He might take a back seat to Jim Goose’s explosive Bronze for the first half of the film, but once folks start falling, Max does too.

And so I fall. Vroom, vroom. 

*I am eagerly awaiting Scream Factory's special edition blu coming in 2015. I hope they tagged Hugh Keays-Byrne at the very least. The man is still channeling Toe Cutter and I cannot wait to see his wicked new Mad Max monster, Immortan Joe, in Fury Road.  The older I get the less desire I have to meet people who play the characters I love, but I would travel quite some ways to meet Mr. Keays-Byrne. He’s captivated my imagination in ways only Lo Pan has and that says something.