Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1982)
You want to get out of here? You talk to me.
THE SUMMARY: A guy drives around the post-apocalyptic Australian outback scavenging with his dog, and helps a group of people fight off a gang of homoerotic raiders before he disappears. Outside of some decent action, there’s nothing here. All the characters are uninteresting, the story leads nowhere, and it’s as flaming gay as a San Francisco pride parade.
FROM MOVIE-PICKER BLONDE: The 1981 post-apocalyptic thriller, Road Warrior, showcases Mel Gibson at his best. In a fallen society where every interaction is reduced to the most base survival instincts, Max shows us the importance of being human in the wasteland.
JAMIE AND JEANNE’S AI FACESWAPS:
THE BEST:
The action is alright, and occasionally hilarious: You can watch the opening car chase and the ending car chase and get all there is to see out of this movie. It’s older action, but it checks out, because it’s real stunt work, real car crashes, and real explosions and pyrotechnics. There’s some good entertainment value beyond the driving and crashes too. The bodies flipping around are often funny slapstick, and the jump scare when the feral kid is on the truck hood got me.
Really the only five minutes of the movie worth watching.
Best shot in the movie, by far.
THE WORST:
Who cares?: What even is this story? A guy helps one group of people fight another, and then they win, and they leave. The end. There’s no moral dilemma. There’s no philosophical consideration. There’s nothing to think about at all, really, other than why are they dressed this way?
Zero character development for anybody: It’s impossible to give a single shit about any character in this movie. Even Max - he supposedly has this sad backstory, about which we never learn anything. And in the end, he just disappears. Where did he come from and where did he go? Nobody knows, and apparently nobody cares.
The one character with any emotional connection at all is Max’s dog, and they kill him off unceremoniously. Boom, he’s gone, moving on. You liked the dog? Too bad. He’s dead now. And nobody cares about that either, not even Max.
And there’s absolutely nothing interesting about anybody else. Many of the characters don’t even have names. They’re just… there, fighting each other, and then they’re done and the movie’s over. Do I care that they won? Not at all. The story doesn’t give me a reason to. Would I care if they all got captured by the BDSM squad instead? Well, only if they all died quicker, together. It would be a better movie.
Why is it so gay?: In a post-apocalyptic world with scare resources, why do you choose to wear a bondage harness and a Jason mask? Or chaps and shoulder pads? Was every store looted except the adult shop off the interstate? I’m not even making a prude or anti-gay point here. It just makes no sense and is absurd presentation. Is this a fight for survival, or a fight for the last bottle of anal lube?
There are still gay pride parades after the apocalypse.
Don't ask exactly how humongous he is.
THE RATING: 2/5 Wickies. Some cool car crashes, but a boring story, boring characters, and bizarrely homosexual.
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NEXT WEEK: Conan the Barbarian (1982) - Conan is a selection from October’s listener movie nominator, Brandy.
AFTER THAT? YOU PICK - VOTE! October’s movie nominations are from listener Brandy. Remember: Brandy has submitted five movies, and Matt and Blonde have submitted one each. You will not know who submitted which movies until they are selected.
Blonde’s October pick has been selected - Matt’s remains on the board.
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