The Mad Max universe was born almost forty years ago. It all started with the fact that in the patrol squad of a small town, the ordinary policeman Max Rokatansky flew like a meteor on his interceptor. The character embodied the then modest, unknown Mel Gibson.
Respectable police officer in a crazy world
Everything for Max was like ordinary people - work, beloved wife, child. It only happened in unusual times. The world was plunged into anarchy and chaos, gangs of scumbags doing what they wanted on the streets. Order and stability were supported by the efforts of already tired and exhausted lone heroes like Max Rokatansky and his partner Gus ...
From this he began to create an odyssey about Mad Max, who became already iconic director George Miller. To create the first part of the franchise, he had nothing but enthusiasm, Australian landscapes and a tiny budget. The frenzied success of Mad Max allowed him to turn around and create a whole post-apocalyptic universe in the second part.
For most people, it was the second part of the film that became the classic story of Mad Max. However, if you start watching the saga from the second part, many questions remain. Why is the hero such a furious sociopath, why did he become Mad Max, who is Max Rokatansky in general? The biography of our hero, his transformation into an eternal wanderer - all this is told precisely in the first part of the franchise.
Way to madness
The world of the first film is still similar to the usual one for us, there are still no law enforcement agencies, unscrupulous lawyers are pulling inveterate murderers from prisons for money. But decomposition has already begun, and the world is rolling into the abyss. Max Rokatansky is a police patrol squad who does his job. He does not care about the rest of the world because his beloved wife and child are nearby. Everything that happens outside does not touch him. Everything changes when his friend Gus is brutally murdered. The bandits whom he once caught, wanting to take revenge on him, burn him alive in his own patrol car.
This marks the beginning of Max Rokatansky becoming Mad Max. Killed and devastated by the sight of his crippled and burned friend, he loses faith in the fact that working in the police can change something. Max believes that you can escape from the real world and create your own cozy world with your beloved family. He is still a kind and cheerful person, able to love and ready to respond to love. Traveling with his wife and child, he seemed to be gaining lost peace, the ability to enjoy life. But fate is merciless, the murderers of his friend get to his family. Having lost everything, Max Rokatansky becomes Mad Max. He does not believe in anything, he does not want anything. The only driving force is revenge. Revenge his enemies, devastated and unlike the former, Max leaves to reappear in a post-apocalyptic world destroyed after a global catastrophe.
Max Rokatansky. Photo of the post-apocalyptic world
In the sequel, Max is already an eternally lonely wanderer. He does not care about other people's problems, he only wants to survive and rush forward, not stopping anywhere. The interceptor, the faithful dog with which he shares canned dog food - this is the world in which Max Rokatansky lives. Mad Max wants one thing - to get fuel, which in this crazy world is almost more expensive than water.
That is how he gets involved in history with the salvation of a small settlement of people. On their own head they possessed wealth in the form of a fuel source. A whole horde of bandits besieges the fortress, and by chance Max is drawn into this war. Only having directly faced the sufferings of people, having recognized them anew, Rokatansky wakes up, and he is again ready to fight for justice. Helping unfortunate people out of the besieged fortress, Max again feels like a man.
Knight of the sad image
Films about Max Rokatansky fascinate not only with the plot and the history itself. All sorts of cars, trucks, trucks are active participants in films. Live stunts keep all screen time energized. The fate of Max is always connected with growling monsters. He and the car are inseparable from each other. He is like a centaur and without wheels loses all his strength. And it doesn’t matter if Max sits at the wheel of a car or steers an armored wagon. Max is a real warrior of roads, and a car for him is like a horse for a medieval knight.
In fact, he is a wandering knight. Only a knight without faith, without hope, without purpose. Australia's sunburned radioactive desert is his world. A serious shake-up is needed for the law enforcement officer to wake up in him and help the weak and defenseless.
Loud crack "Under the dome of thunder"
The third part of the franchise turned out to be frankly weak and meaningless. "Crazy Max. Under the Dome of Thunder ”was conceived, apparently, as an attempt to please everyone without exception. The city of Barterville, where Max Rokatansky falls as a result of his wanderings, is more like one of the cities from the films about Conan the Barbarian. The image of the owner of the city of Entity reinforces this impression even more. Tina Turner, by the way, is the only thing that can cause interest in this film.
Most importantly, Mad Max was left without wheels here. Without cars, he is not like himself and resembles a fish caught on land. In addition to Conan the Barbarian, a link to "Lord of the Flies" suddenly appears in the film. The community of children divorced from civilization - all this brings Max Rokatansky into the world of children's dystopia. Taking on the role of teacher of a large kindergarten, he begins to babysit with the kids.
The plot of the film loses harmony, it is not perceived as one. Most importantly, the spirit of the Mad Max universe has been lost. Everything is brought to the point of absurdity and exaggerated, is not taken seriously. George Miller went too far with spices, and as a result he learned a rambling set of stamps and references to various science fiction films.
Replace Mel Gibson
Having done things in the third part of the franchise, George Miller decides to return to the roots and again puts the legendary character in the post-apocalyptic environment of the second film. "Crazy Max. The Road of Fury ”and was positioned as an interquel, as a link between the first and second part of the film. Mel Gibson, who became a director and aged, could no longer play such a thermonuclear character as Max Rokatansky. Tom Hardy took the banner from the hands of a legend, and, with the approval of the great Australian, took the helm into his own hands.
Mad Max is already more like a living, weak person. It hurts him, he suffers. It is used as a source of blood for the new owners of the world.
Tied to the pole on the hood of the car, he spontaneously rushes forward, not being the master of his fate.
Furious Furios and Mad Max
Everything changes in his life a woman with a strange fate. The mysterious Furios is one of the generals of the mad dictator Immortal Joe. Having seized water sources of the whole region, he became the absolute owner of a vast territory. Not limited to this, he created a whole religion, declaring himself a god. The fanatical fighters of his army are happy to die for him in exchange for eternal bliss in the afterlife Valgale. Only one person rebels against the living god - Furios.
By challenging the system, it helps the wives of a half-mad maniac escape. So she wants to start life from scratch, on a new land, away from tyranny. At some point, the paths of Max and Furios converge, and they begin a crazy race for happiness.
Without further ado, the main thing is action
The fourth film of the saga about Max is not burdened with unnecessary words. The viewer receives pleasure from the bright dynamic pictures replacing each other. At the same time, the director tried as best he could to avoid the unjustified use of special effects. Many stunts performed live, and all this gives life to the film. He becomes a real world in himself. As if laughing at conventions, the director practically nullifies the plot of the film, which boils down to a crazy race from one point in space to another and vice versa. The point is not in dialogues and monologues, but in action, dynamics. What is a surreal-looking guitarist suspended on the lounges and playing rock on a fire-breathing guitar.
Max Rokatanski and Furios are a crazy tandem. Being a great actress, Charlize Theron replayes her partner. Mad Max is here rather a modest assistant to the Furious Furios. His job is to replace the warrior behind the wheel and help to shoot back from the villains. As in the second part of the saga, Max initially just wants to stay away and continue on his own. Only the sight of defenseless women, torn from the golden cage of Immortal Joe, once again awakens the life of police officer Max Rokatansky. Now his fate is connected with them and with Furiosa.
The victory of rage and madness
The army of insane fanatics of the Immortal Joe, savages on spiked combat vehicles are all enemies that Max and Furios rush away from. Having lost hope at the end of the journey, the team makes a crazy and ingenious decision - to rush back and forth and arrange a coup in the realm of Immortal Joe. Mad Max and Furious Furios overwhelm all obstacles in their path and achieve the impossible.
Another intrigue is Immortal Joe and Max are sworn enemies, Rokatansky has his own personal scores, but this is not emphasized in the film. Foreground is the story of Furiosa. Having completed his mission, Max leaves aside.
In the last film, George Miller returned interest in the legendary story. The radioactive deserts of the future world scorched by the sun, the roar of cars, madmen and heroes - all that for which Mad Max fell in love came back. Max Rokatansky again goes into the sunset, but will definitely return.