Common Sense Note
Parents need to know this movie is not for children. It's filled with graphic violence that includes severed body parts and bloody car accidents. There are distant nudity/sexual simulations and an implied rape. Characters smoke and drink.
Families who see this movie can talk about police power, fascism, and the court system. At what point does force met with force cause more problems than solutions?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: James Malik
In post-apocalyptic Australia, MAD MAX begins with future cop Max Rockatowsky (Mel Gibson) on the hunt for Night Rider (Hugh Keays-Byrne), the leader of an outlaw motorcycle gang. After Night Rider dies in an accidental explosion, fellow gang members terrorize a small town, rob a couple, and then rape a woman. One of the members is caught and jailed, but released because no one is willing to testify. When his partner is killed, Max realizing that he is about to snap ("any longer out on that road and I'm one of them, a terminal psychotic, except that I've got this bronze badge that says that I'm one of the good guys."), quits the force, and takes his family on vacation. The gang runs into his wife (Joanne Samuel) and child who torment them and eventually run them over. Max vows revenge.
This is the "Special Edition" DVD of MAD MAX. Mercifully, the Americanized voiceover that infested the original U.S. theatrical release is gone. Shots of gore are quickly cut away (probably having had more to do with budgetary constraints than craft).
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentTwo nude people having sex as seen through rifle scope. |
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ViolenceImplied rape, dismembered hand, head-on collision between motorcycle and a semi-truck. |
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Social BehaviorNone; amoral motorcycle killers in a fascist police state. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoCharacters smoke and drink. |
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