Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

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Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

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Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Mel Gibson, Tina Turner, Angelo Rossitto, Helen Buday, Bruce Spence

About 15 years after the events of Mad Max 2, nuclear war has finally destroyed what little was left of civilization. Grizzled and older, former cop Max (Mel Gibson) roams the Australian desert in a c... read more read more...amel-drawn vehicle -- until father-and-son thieves Jebediah Sr. (Bruce Spence) and Jr. (Adam Cockburn) use their jury-rigged airplane to steal his possessions and means of transportation. Max soon winds up in Bartertown, a cesspool of post-apocalyptic capitalism powered by methane-rich pig manure and overseen by two competing overlords, Aunty Entity (Tina Turner) and Master (Angelo Rossitto), a crafty midget who rides around on the back of his hulking underling, Blaster (Paul Larsson). Seeking to re-equip himself, Max strikes a deal with the haughty Aunty to kill Blaster in ritualized combat inside Thunderdome, a giant jungle gym where Bartertown's conflicts are played out in a postmodern update of blood and circuses. Although Max manages to fell the mighty Blaster, he refuses to kill him after realizing the brute is actually a retarded boy. Aunty's henchmen murder Blaster nonetheless, then punish Max for violating the law that "Two men enter, one man leaves." Lashed to the back of a hapless pack animal and sent out into a sandstorm, a near-death Max is rescued by a band of tribal children and teens. The descendants of the victims of an airplane crash, the kids inhabit a lush valley and wait for the day when Captain Walker, the plane's pilot, will return to lead them back to civilization. Some of the children, refusing to believe that Max isn't Walker and that the glorious cities of their mythology no longer exist, set off in search of civilization on their own. Max and three tribe members must then rescue their friends from Bordertown and the clutches of Aunty Entity -- a quest that ends in a lengthy desert chase sequence that echoes the first two Mad Max films. Spence also appeared in Mad Max 2 in a different role, that of the Gyro Captain. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Id: 10903682

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Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome Recent Reviews
  • cosmo313
    March 8, 2012
    cosmo313
    This might be the most polished and slick of the three Mad Max films, but it's also a bit of a mess and admittedly rather silly and campy, but not in a totally good way.

    It's been years since the events of The Road Warrior, and the world has finally and fully become a wasteland ... read morethanks to nuclear fallout. Max finds himself stranded in the middle of this barren field of nothingness, but things begin to look up when he stumbles into the shady Bartertown run by Aunty Entity- a ruthless overlord played with campy villainy by Tina Turner.

    Thanks to the fact that he isn't completely morally bankrupt yet, Max gets banished from Bartertown but soin finds himself in a paradise that has escapred the nuclear nightmare. Whiel here, he becoems a savior of sorts to a pack of feral kids, and ultimately takes them under his wing to settle the score with Aunty Entity.

    All in all, this is a fun and action packed filmed that is pretty enjoyable, has some great sets, and some decent action. It is more slick than the first two, but not quite as gritty, and also seems a bit too campy and cheesy. It's well done though, and it does get a mild pass from me, even thoguh the action and chases aren't as brilliant as they were in the previous films.
  • SirPant
    August 30, 2011
    SirPant
    Mad Max 3 has some great ideas but ends up a little messy. The kids are fairly annoying too and at times it feels like a horrible version of the Goonies. It's still not as bad as I was lead to believe though and exploitation films don't need to make sense, they were always messin... read moreg around with characters and storeys etc. Tina Turner though, eh?
  • TheDudeLebowski65
    November 25, 2010
    TheDudeLebowski65
    Mad Max and The Road Warrior redefined the action genre. Not only did the films have some of the best action scenes ever filmed, but they also made Australian actor, Mel Gibson a star. Obviously it's only natural that they would make a third entry in this bizarre series of action... read more films. Mad Max has always had eccentric characters, and loads of action. In the case of Beyond Thunderdome its one one the films that features the oddest characters of the series, Master/Blaster being the one. George Miller takes a different approach to this film, as Max no longer has a car, and he now more than ever looks like a drifter, lost, soulless and barely human. The film is quite original in it's idea, and has all the elements that make a Mad Max film great, but something is obviously missing which is of course, car chases, and impressive crashes. Beyond Thunderdome is a mixed bag and it doesn't do the first two justice, the film is good of course, but it lacks the adrenaline surge that was very much present in The Road Warrior.
    Considering that the first two films in this trilogy are prime examples of some of the best action films ever made, Beyond Thunderdome is a bit of a letdown. Though the cast gives great performances here and Tina Turner is better than Mel Gibson actually this time around, this film lacks something that makes a Mad Max film so special. This third entry in the trilogy is average to say the least and the lack great ideas for this film is apparent. However this is a good film, but definitely not as terrfic and awesome as the first two. Beyond Thunderdome is a film that does have impressive visuals and good action, but it lacks the wicked car chases of the firs two.
  • ythelastman89
    November 22, 2010
    ythelastman89
    "Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves!" -The rules of the Thunderdome. While this movie just in no way measures up to the first two in the series, it has the coolest futuristic game ever created. It's an even more brutal and violent form of a gladiatorial match. Really, there's nothing ... read moreterrible about the movie, it just doesn't deliver the same feeling or adrenaline rush that it theoretically should have. This also gave birth to what would later become Waterworld, so inevitably you'll associate the two together in your mind. Perhaps the reason it is most enjoyable is one man: Mel Gibson. His utter coolness and ability to make any movie look better makes this a memorable adventure into post-apocalyptic Australia. Tina Turner is actually strangely effective as a villain, but there's just no comparing her to the previous bad guys in the series.
  • sononothing
    August 27, 2010
    sononothing
    Any edge that the first two Mad Max films had was dulled to nothing in this third chapter of George Miller's apocalyptic saga of scavenging for fuel and Aussie accents. In this installment Max (Mel Gibson) ends up in Barter Town searching for his stolen camels. He ends up working... read more for Aunty Entity (Tina Turner), the Hillary Clintonesque leader of the village. She wants Max to eliminate her competition called Master Blaster, which happens to be an old midget riding on the back of a retarded giant. They have a little tumble in Thunderdome, the Judge Judy of Barter Town and when Max gets a tad bit of humanity back and refuses to kill this defenseless big guy, he's forced into the desert tied to a mule to die. He stumbles onto a group of kids ala Lord of the Flies who want to go to Tommorrowland (I hope they get Park Hopper) and it's up to Max to save them for their trip to wherever the hell it is they want to go.



    The simplicity was what let the first two films be so damn good, especially the second act. They were basic. A lone guy out on his own trying to maintain himself, yet he allows a certain moral code to prevail. With Thunderdome we get that political undertone which always kills a movie that isn't set in Washington (Phantom Menace anyone?) The idea that these kids are sitting around waiting for their great savior isn't much of a plot point and certainly has no place in a Mad Max movie. What's the formula for a Max movie? Car chase-crash-plot point-crash-crash-conundrum-repeat. They complicated the formula to mixed results. And why in the hell is Tina Turner in this?
  • mumby1988
    April 15, 2010
    mumby1988
    When it comes to making a threequel, three outcomes are possible. Firstly, as in Prisoner of Azkaban or Return of the Jedi, they are the best of the bunch, expanding the themes and characters in ways which are both faithful and original. Secondly, as with Last Crusade and Die Har... read mored with a Vengeance, they match the quality of the first film and bring balance to the franchise, refining what has gone before. Or thirdly, and commonly, they are a big disappointment, sacrificing quality for mainstream appeal. Spiderman 3, Superman III and Army of Darkness all went down the road to goofiness, and none returned with their dignity intact.

    Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome definitely belongs in the third category, though it is not an abject failure like the other examples. There are interesting ideas in it, and on a technical level it is the most accomplished of the trilogy films. But each of its successes belies an equal and opposite failure, making it a frustrating experience for fans and only a reluctant success in its own right.

    The first interesting idea which the film attempts to address is the nature of how post-apocalyptic society would function. There are hundreds of films about humans descending into chaos in a crisis, from The Dark Knight to The Thing and everything in between. But there are very few non-dystopian works which address in detail how society might be rebuilt or restructured.

    Bartertown is an intriguing vision because it appears so radically different on the surface but actually runs in a scarily similar way to our own society. When Max first enters, everything seems orderly and civilised, at least compared to the highways and deserts of his past. There is peaceful trading, a reliable energy supply, and conflicts are resolved through one-on-one gladiatorial combat in the Thunderdome. In fact, the real power lies with those who control the energy, the brutal criminal underclass run by the methane magnate-cum-mobster known as Master. And for all its claimed civility, there is still something macabre and degenerate about the Thunderdome; the weapons may be more advanced, but the crowd are still tribal, baying for blood and taking animalistic pleasure in the carnage.

    There is great potential within these ideas, and in the hands of George Miller you would expect the same combination of substance and subtlety which drove the first two films. Unfortunately, Miller is not behind the camera for any of the scenes between Max's arrival in Bartertown and the clash in the Thunderdome. Miller lost interest in the project after his producer and close friend Byron Kennedy died in a helicopter crash. He eventually agreed to direct the action sequences, while TV director George Ogilvie took the rest.

    The result is a film which is pulling in different directions, with a visual style which is steadily less original. Although certain sections of Mad Max 2 felt similar to Raiders of the Lost Ark, you still felt it was directed by an individual who wasn't just interested in copying Hollywood for commercial reasons. Mad Max 3, on the other hand, is strikingly similar to Temple of Doom; you almost expect someone to shout 'Kali mar!' and pull out Mel Gibson's heart. There is more dialogue in this instalment, and considering the sheer volume of characters there needs to be. But for every great section, like Edwin Hodgeman's speech before the fight, there are three or four which seem laboured, over-long or -- most damningly -- ponderous.

    The film often trips over Steven Spielberg territory because of its emphasis on children and its increasingly goofy sensibility. Although the film predates the insufferable Hook by six whole years, you can see hints of that film in the middle third, where Max is rescued by the tribe of children who believe him to be their saviour. (There is, oddly enough, an in-joke here which refers to Ken Russell's Tommy: the tribe's saviour is called Captain Walker, who shares his name with Tommy's father, and both films starred Tina Turner).

    Again, there is something inherently interesting about a post-apocalyptic society involving children. The script does address issues of how history is remembered, and puts forward the idea that the 'promised land' of many religions is nothing more than a skewed memory of the past combined with ignorance about the outside world. That in itself is a shocking and radical idea, but it and others like it get lost in the manner of storytelling. The middle of the film does feel like a rip-off of Peter Pan and neither Miller nor Ogilvie completely mesh it together with the events in Bartertown. In any case, the fact that a new generation would live on is no great surprise, since that was explained in the closing narration of Mad Max 2.

    When it comes to the action sequences, with Miller behind the camera, we get all the excitement and frenetic energy which made the first two films such a joy to watch. The Thunderdome fight is really great, being a highly original take on the classic duel. Roger Ebert went so far as to praise it as "one of the great creative action scenes in the movies.". It is well-paced, well-shot and the performances are very good, particularly from Gibson. Elsewhere in the film he can seem lost, but when his life is threatened he still exudes the same frightening charisma that he had before.

    The problem, however, is that the action sequences are no longer seamless continuations of the plot. For all the inventiveness of the Thunderdome sequence or the thrills of the train chase, they feel like set-pieces, like components of an edgier, spikier film trying to escape from a mainstream vehicle. That said, even the train chase is not as exciting as the climax of previous films because of the goofy direction in which the series had moved. In Mad Max 1 and 2, you genuinely thought that people would get hurt; when there were head-on collisions between vehicles, people really died. Here, the head-on collision results in Ironbar's hair being caught on a pole, forcing him to jump over obstacles like hurdles; and when Max pulls a spear out of the driver's leg, it's treated like a comedy sequence and so packs much less of a punch.

    The best way to describe Mad Max 3 is an enjoyable disappointment. Despite its very obvious flaws, and its all-too-close resemblance to Spielberg, it is a perfectly decent action movie which attempts to address a lot of complicated issues. It is the most ambitious of the Max films, in attempting to broaden out the universe beyond a solitary loner and focus on the future of the human race. But it is never genuinely successful in this task, and in acquiring a greater scope it sacrifices much of the nihilistic intensity and tension from before. For all its moments of genius, and its remarkable action, the film is neither coherent enough nor dark enough to hold together in a completely satisfying way. As a passing amusement it's fine, but it won't be so fondly remembered.
  • ironclad1609
    March 1, 2010
    ironclad1609
    Most people consider this the weakest part of the Max Max series, while it is actually the best, for many reasons. First of all it takes the whole look of post-apocalyptic Australia to a whole new level. Not only do the cars look cooler than in "Road warrior", we finally see the ... read morefirst settlement and it's a wretched hive of scum and villainy, to quote another classic. Tina Turner is the charismatic mayor of Bartertown and hires Max as a killer. And what we already suspected in part two becomes a fact here: Max has a heart and knows how to use it. The rather surreal second half may have been too much for the people who loved the 90 minutes car chase from the second part, but culminates in an outstanding action sequence that does honor to the previous films. The humor is also much more prominent in this part than the previous ones. Additionally Turner sung the best song of her career with "We don't need another hero" for the end credits. A wonderfully weird ride.
  • FilmFanatik
    February 23, 2010
    FilmFanatik
    Hard to sit through.
  • 366weirdmovies
    July 17, 2009
    366weirdmovies
    Loner and reluctant hero Mad Max wanders out of the desert and into a crossroads of post-apocalyptic vice known as Bartertown, and later discovers a colony of innocent children in a peaceful oasis who believe him to be a messiah. The least and the goofiest of the excellent MAD M... read moreAX series, but Max's post-apocalyptic world is always a fun place to visit.
  • bbcfloridabound
    July 5, 2009
    bbcfloridabound
    To Star rate a 1985 film in the year 2009 is a little hard, as some of the scene's that are now outdated were pretty cool in 1985. Mel Gibson was on a roll with the Mad Max films in 1985 time frame and his performance in this movie was as go as the others. Tina Turner did a outst... read moreanding job, some will not give her the credit that I have, but understand Tina is a singer not an actor, her role was stellar. Also Helen Buday can swing from a vine and land in my backyard anyday. I'll give it a 3 1/2 star rating, though there is a cult of Mad Max people out there that would not be happy with anything less then a 5, and speaking of 5 it can be had for $5.00 at Wally World.
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