The Road Warrior
Rent/Purchase
Max Rockatansky returns as the heroic loner who drives the dusty roads of a postapocalyptic Australian Outback in an unending search for gasoline. Arrayed against him and the other scraggly defendants of a fuel-depot encampment are the bizarre warriors commanded by the charismatic Lord Humungus, a violent leader whose scruples are as barren as the surrounding landscape.
What critics thought
The Road Warrior is widely regarded as a landmark of action cinema and a rare sequel that surpasses its predecessor — the kinetic stunt work and relentless pacing drew near-universal praise. The main point of critical friction was Miller's mythologizing ambition: some found the archetypal hero framework gave the film a stirring universality, while Pauline Kael argued it drained the movie of joy and made it feel sentimental. Nearly everyone agreed on the craft; the disagreement was over whether the film's soul matched its spectacular surface.
“frightening, sometimes disgusting, and (if the truth be told) exhilarating”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“Never has a film's vision of the post-nuclear-holocaust world seemed quite as desolate and as brutal, or as action-packed and sometimes as funny as in George Miller's apocalyptic The Road Warrior, an extravagant film fantasy that looks like a sadomasochistic comic book come to life”
Vincent Canby·The New York Times
“While he seems to let triumph slip out of his grasp, Miller is still a prodigious talent, capable of a scenic and emotional amplitude that recalls the most stirring attributes in great action directors like Kurosawa, Peckinpah and Leone”
Gary Arnold·The Washington Post
“Its taut scripting, exceptional performances, and pulse-pounding pacing, which leaves an audience breathless, combined to make it one of the best SF films of the year.”
Christopher John·Ares Magazine
Genres
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Cast & Crew
DirectorGeorge Miller
StarringMel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Max Phipps, Vernon Wells
ComposerBrian May
The Road Warrior
Max Rockatansky returns as the heroic loner who drives the dusty roads of a postapocalyptic Australian Outback in an unending search for gasoline. Arrayed against him and the other scraggly defendants of a fuel-depot encampment are the bizarre warriors commanded by the charismatic Lord Humungus, a violent leader whose scruples are as barren as the surrounding landscape.
What critics thought
The Road Warrior is widely regarded as a landmark of action cinema and a rare sequel that surpasses its predecessor — the kinetic stunt work and relentless pacing drew near-universal praise. The main point of critical friction was Miller's mythologizing ambition: some found the archetypal hero framework gave the film a stirring universality, while Pauline Kael argued it drained the movie of joy and made it feel sentimental. Nearly everyone agreed on the craft; the disagreement was over whether the film's soul matched its spectacular surface.
“frightening, sometimes disgusting, and (if the truth be told) exhilarating”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“Never has a film's vision of the post-nuclear-holocaust world seemed quite as desolate and as brutal, or as action-packed and sometimes as funny as in George Miller's apocalyptic The Road Warrior, an extravagant film fantasy that looks like a sadomasochistic comic book come to life”
Vincent Canby·The New York Times
“While he seems to let triumph slip out of his grasp, Miller is still a prodigious talent, capable of a scenic and emotional amplitude that recalls the most stirring attributes in great action directors like Kurosawa, Peckinpah and Leone”
Gary Arnold·The Washington Post
“Its taut scripting, exceptional performances, and pulse-pounding pacing, which leaves an audience breathless, combined to make it one of the best SF films of the year.”
Christopher John·Ares Magazine
Genres
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Cast & Crew
DirectorGeorge Miller
StarringMel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Max Phipps, Vernon Wells
ComposerBrian May
Rent/Purchase