Rent Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

Mad Max : The Road Warrior - Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior review by SS

This is the best action film ever because the stunts you see in the film are real - no CGI rubbish. Forget Fury Road, which was full of CGI because this is the real thing. When you consider that both this and Raiders of the Lost Ark were released in the same year but with Raiders costing around five times as much the action is very "staged" in Raiders especially the Tibet bar fight and truck chase or as I call it "very Hollywood". Gibson is a very brooding anti-hero in this and little dialogue is needed. If you want to watch a "raw" peice of Australian film making at its best I highly recommend this because you will not be disappointed.

Absolute Classic - Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior review by GI

One of the best examples of where a sequel is superior to the original film. Set after a nuclear holocaust and former cop Max (Mel Gibson) now roams the Australian wasteland forever in search of precious fuel, the new gold. He helps a struggling band of survivors who have refined a large amount of petrol but who are besieged by a horde of violent thugs intent on stealing it. Director George Miller had a bigger budget after his first film became huge in Australia although failed to find an audience in the USA (it was a modest hit in the UK though). With an interesting vision of a post apocalyptic future and incorporating mythological storylines Mad Max 2 (also known as The Road Warrior - the American title) is the ultimate action movie, probably only surpassed by 2015s Mad Max: Fury Road. The final chase sequence itself lasts 13 minutes and with a downbeat ending this is a film with little dialogue but builds on legend by utilising western genre tropes. This certainly launched Gibson's international career and has become an example of narrative structure in film analysis. It's a mini masterpiece and remains as exciting as it was on initial release.

Even Madder - Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior review by Steve

As much an upgrade as a sequel. Mel Gibson returns as the road warrior who patrols the lawless, junkyard dystopia of the post-apocalypse Australian outback. It adapts a standard western scenario, with Max assisting some broadly peaceful survivors against a feral tribe of badass killers in customised stock cars.

That's if the plot matters. This is more about the action and state of the art stunts. The final third is given over to a cartoonish, Wacky Races style car chase. Maybe this now looks dated, but that's some of the appeal. It hasn't the make-do Ozploitation vibe of Mad Max (1979) as there is money on board from Warner Brothers....

But it still feels distinctively Australian because of the desert locations and eccentric vernacular. The rock score is by the Aussie Brian May. The costumes today seem more glam than punk, though Gibson is reasonably iconic in his leathers, as a sort-of mythic man with no name. But called Max...

Most of the violence of the original has been cut, though the worst is regrettably at the expense of women. Maybe the lack of a decent story is a drag for those not much into grindhouse. This is bubblegum escapism mainly aimed at blokes who like motors, and as far from Hanging Rock as possible.