Mad Max Retrospective part 3 (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome 1985) *spoilers*

I'm finally coming to the end of my Mad Max retrospective. It's been a nice journey but all good things have to end. I loaded up the DVD and my girlfriend and I watched Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. This was the first Mad Max I had ever seen. My uncle recorded Aliens on a VHS and he also happened to have Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome on it as well. I had always liked this movie, but after seeing The Road Warrior I thought it was just okay. However, My girlfriend told me that not only was this her favorite of the movies, but she felt that it looked a lot more like Mad Max Fury Road. Regardless, this movie should not be ignored especially if you're a Mad Max fan.

one of Richard Amsel's last movie poster creations

The movie begins with an older and wiser Max making his way to a place called Barter Town. Max had his supplies stolen by Jedediah (played by Bruce Spence who was the gyro copter pilot from the previous movie, but Jedediah is a different character altogether). He enters the town to get his stuff back when the pioneer of Barter Town, Aunty Entity offers him a deal. If makes takes out Master Blaster who supplies the town with energy and uses it to his advantage, then he will win all his belongings back. Master Blaster is two people; a little person who is the brains and a large man who is the muscle. Max agrees and he enters Thunderdome with Blaster, the muscle of the duo. The rules of Thunderdome are simple; Two men enter, one man leaves. Max takes on Blaster and find his weakness is loud sounds (makes Blaster keel over in pain). Max uses a dog whistle and brings down Blaster only to find that he is a large down syndrome man. Master pleads with Max to spare Blaster's life and Max back off and yells at Aunty saying this wasn't part of the deal. Aunty is furious and the betrayal. Her henchman kills Blaster and she sentences Max to be tied to a horse and sent out into the wasteland to die. When the horse dies of exhaustion, Max is free and wanders the desert until he succumbs to the heat as well. Luckily, someone comes and saves him. Max is brought into a tribe of children who long ago survived a plane crash. Their parents left them to find help and civilization but never returned. The kids see Max and believe him to be "Captain Walker", the man who will fly them to The City of Lights. Max explains to the kids that there is no world anymore and the best thing to do is stay where they are now. Some of the children don't want to accept this and during the night, leave to find a new home. Max goes after the children and saves most of them from desert quicksand. During the night, the kids see the lights of Barter Town and think it is their salvation. With Max, they go to the city to rescue Master and they escape on a train out of Barter Town. Ahead of their pursuers, they find Jedediah who takes them on a plane to escape. The Barter Town thugs are still on their trail and the plane might not have enough runway to take off. To save the kids, Max jumps from the plane and gets into a vehicle to clear a path for the plane. The car gets destroyed and Max is left at Aunty Entity's mercy. She decides to let him live and offers Max to join her in rebuilding Barter Town. Max chooses to go on his own path again. The plane takes the kids to the ruins of old Sydney and the children start a new life there. The movie ends with the eldest of the children telling this bedtime story to generations of children about the man who saved them all.

The kids are finally asleep. gives me... ten minutes to sleep before work

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was actually never supposed to be made. Originally, it was supposed to be a retelling of Lord of the Flies but Geroge Miller suggested the Max be the man that finds the children. The company decided to make this the last Max movie in the series and Gibson agreed to play Max one last time. The movie had two directors in George Miller, who created the series, and

George Ogilvie. George Miller had lost his friend and producer, Byron Kennedy, when the helicopter used for scouting the locations crashed. Miller couldn't deal with directing everything in the movie because of his grief, so Miller handled the action sequences and Ogilvie handled everything else in the movie. Perhaps this is why some fans shy away from this movie. It still has several action sequences in the movie which are exciting to watch, but everything else just seems a bit different. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the movie and I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying it's different. I actually feel like this movie is the more "family friendly" of the trilogy. When I eventually have children, I'll probably have them watch this movie before any of the others just because it is fun. I made a joke that my girlfriend liked this movie more because it was Hook, just with Mel Gibson. This was also the first Mad Max movie made with some American funding which is why Tina Turner is Aunty. Tina Turner isn't a bad choice because she is a powerful woman and not only in voice. Do I think she stole the show? No but she plays her role well and wasn't annoying to have in the movie like when other singers go into acting (Rihanna in Battleship).

WHAAATTTSSS LOVE GOT TA DO WITH IT!!!!

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was a great way to end it. Max regains his humanity again and goes on his own path. This movie ends in a happy way and there is some closure to the series. If you've never seen this movie and just want something fun to watch, then please give it a go. It's a fun movie with action and adventure and in my opinion all ages can give it a watch. With that, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome gets eight rounds in Thunderdome out of Ten. Say goodbye to the Max you know and love and join me again when I tell if I enjoyed Mad Max Fury Road starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.

I see Fury Road Max. It looks wonderful.