Know in some places as simply The Road Warrior, the movie, directed again by George Miller, was released in 1981, and features Mel Gibson reprising his titular role, and is joined by Bruce Spence, Emil Minty, Kjell Nilsson, and Vernon Wells. It has everything that made the first movie a success, and stands as one of the greatest follow-up movies of all time, one that could truly stand alone.
Following on from the events depicted in the last movie, mankind has moved further into decay, with an almost complete collapse in civilisation. The world is no longer ruled by governments and elected leaders, but by gangs and factions, who fight for ever-diminishing fuel supplies by means of violence and terrorism.
We rejoin our protagonist Max, who, still heartbroken over the loss of his family, now drives aimlessly through the desert in his car, accompanied by a dog that he has acquired from an unknown location. Like all the other people in the desert, he is on a constant search for fuel to keep himself on the move. After being attacked by a gang of bikers, led by a red-mowhawked psychopath named Wez (Vernon Wells), he comes across a gyro-copter, owned by the 'Gyro Captain' (Spence). After some 'friendly' coercion, the Captain takes Max to a small oil refinery, where there is a tanker full of fuel.
Just as they arrive, they witness the compound and its inhabitants being intimidated by a hostile group know as The Marauders, commanded by the disfigured Humungus (Nilsson), who's main henchman turns out to be Wez. He tells them that if they abandon the compound and leave behind their fuel, they will be granted safe passage away from the base. Reluctant to surrender their fuel, which they have fought so hard to keep, they do not agree to the idea. After some of the group try to escape, they are brutalised by the Marauders, and when Max brings the only survivor back to the compound in exchange for fuel, he gets far more than he bargained for.
Aided by a feral child (Emil Minty), who resembles a prepubescent caveman, and communicates only in grunts and growls, Max offers to retrieve a Semi that the group can use to haul the tanker of fuel out of the compound and towards the coast, where they can live in peace. They offer Max the opportunity to come with them if he drives the truck, but he declines, finding that aimlessly driving through the wasteland is his only way of life.
As far as sequels go, it's one of the most faithful I've ever seen. It continues the story from the original but also maintains its bleak atmosphere, it's dark characteristics, it's fast-paced action scenes and it's technique of letting the interactions and behaviour of the characters tell the story rather than the dialogue. The characters all leave an impression, even if it's difficult to remember their names. Gibson gives yet another terrific performance as the lonely outlaw, and the supporting cast hold up well too. But possibly the greatest part of the film is the car chase at the end, which I find to be one of the best action scenes in movie history. Its fast, it's tense, it's dramatic, has spectacular stunts, and a great build-up to an epic payoff. Is it better than the original? I can't really decide. At the very least, I'd say it's just as good.
NB. For those of you are wondering, no, I'm not reviewing Beyond Thunderdome next week, and this is for 2 reasons:
1. I've never actually seen it all the way through.
2. It's been so long since I watched it that I honestly don't remember much about it at all.
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