Saucy Musings: In Praise Of: Mad Max 2

The feature is as follows: To balance all of the homosexual talk and negative gossip in the rest of this blog in this wackily named feature 'In Praise Of' - I sing the praises of something which I think is underrated, or which is praised, but not enough. Today's thing, which is heralded as good, but is even better than that, is:

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.

[Source] incidentally, the dog is a Blue Heeler, a fine and noble beast.

I'm not really gonna go through the plot, because if you don't know it, you should watch it, and if you have watched it, you'll know the plot. This is a very Australian take on the Western, a grim, high-octane action movie: effectively a Western on Wheels. Roger Ebert has said that it is "a film of pure action, of kinetic energy" and "one of the most relentlessly aggressive movies ever made." While Ebert points out that the movie does not develop its "...vision of a violent future world... with characters and dialogue" I argue that doing so would ruin the illusion: the fact that nobody knows what is going in is surely reflective of a world where communication and technology have broken down. It is therefore better to leave it to suggestion. some things are unexplained, such as why only a few guns work, the rest of the weaponry being based on arrows or fire. I also argue that Mad Max 2 might be the most subversive movie to ever make the mainstream. It suggests that the decline of society and law and order in Mad Max has conpletely brkoen down by the time of the sequel. All that is left now are marauders, scavengers, or those huddled together for safety.

The movie contains one of the very weirdest and most frightening of movie bad guys, the Lord Humongous. A nearly naked muscular giant with a hockey mask covering his presumably scarred face, his exposed scalp covered in burns. He speaks in a strangely calming, measured Germanic accent through a microphone, using psychological warfare to coax out the group huddled in the petrol compound. He offers words of peace and mutual compromise, but to leave would mean their almost certain deaths. His measured speeches suggest a sense of decency and intelligence, but their actual meaning is hinted at when he is stunning his henchman, "we do it my way...then we have our revenge." No one doubts when he is scorned for the last time, that he will do all in his power to ensure that "nobody gets out of here alive." He is ludicrous and yet believable, in a world where the strong survive, he leads the strong. His decision to avoid getting himself and his allies flame throwered when besieging the base also suggests a calm thinking under pressure. He is, at once a leader you can rely on, and be terrified of.

He's a big guy all right, with a gun, a hockey mask, and with two corpses on the front of his vehicle. Who could say no to that?

However, what is more interesting is the Humongous' dog of war, Wez, a man with a mohawk, American football armour, and leather chaps with the buttocks exposed showing. Although he is a threat throughout the movie, he only really turns psychotic when his gay lover is killed, his howl of anguish evidence of a deep and forbidden love. His lover, described as the 'golden youth' in the end credits, was by Wez's side, silent and as pliant as a puppy until his brutal death. Look at the satisfaction on Wez's face when he blows up Max's car, his vengeance nearly complete. The scene at the film's conclusion, where Wez springs up from the bonnet of the truck, has made it into popular culture. For example, it is featured in, 'Beyond Blunderdome', that Simpsons episode with pre-crazy Mel Gibson). Despite the exigencies of the world meaning that, as the Humungous says "we all lost someone we love," it seems that the main reason for Wez's ferocity is to gain vengeance on those who killed his lover.

[source] Wez with his whipping boy/catamite, the Golden Youth

The whole movie is underpinned not just by tight action sequences, impressive set-pieces and fearful, desperate conversations in the camp itself, but a very Australian brand of humour. The scene where the Gyro Captain is the prisoner of Max's dog; the delighted laughter which peels around the gang when Toady's fingers are chopped off; or the scene where Max driving by blows over a tent to expose a couple having sex, all provide much needed dark comic relief. Similarly, the tension of the rape scene, shown at a distance, through snatched binocular vision, is juxtaposed with the novelty value of the Sky captain's 2-meter-long telescope.

[source] The Gyro Captain and Dog (in scarf)

The two new heroes to the camp, Max and the Gyro Captain, show two different ways to survive. While the Gyro Captain can use his vehicle to literally distance himself from the rest, the stress of this modern world mean that his sanity is a distant memory.

For example, he is able to watch from above and offer aid when Max most needs it (Max is in the truck.)

Meanwhile, Max must suppress all emotion to best scavenge a meagre survival. Initially motivated by greed and petrol, his old instincts as a law enforcer kick in, and he helps to protect the community. His relationship with the feral child, who travels with him on the final battle, helps him to rekindle his idea of the brighter side of humanity. It is noticeable though, that of the two 'sexually available' females, the Sky Captain immediately chooses one, while Max turns his back on the Amazonian warrior woman (for the record, I wouldn't have, danger lovers are GREAT!)

[source] The Warrior woman, with her expensive but cheap-looking clothes, messy hair, and incomprehensible voice, is seen here pre-empting upper-class English student fashion circa 2008-11

It is an aggressive and largely bleak movie. There is a quite suggestive rape and murder of someone from the compound, and the threat of starvation or murder permeates the camp, informing the community's decision to leave. They are safe, but not for long, and the theme of time is often evoked throught the movie. For example, the leader of the community, Papagello, plays with a sand timer when he volunteers to drive the tanker; he knows that the success of the group depends on him sacrificing his life: for him, time is running out. Other scenes of brutality include when Max's loyal dog is executed; Max himself narrowly avoids a similar fate when his booby-trapped car kills his would-be executioner. Resultantly, he fights the final battle injured, and goes out of his way to protect the feral kid. Wonderfully, the final battle is lost, there are still plenty of bad guys left, they just give up when they realise that there is no gas in the truck. Instead it has been an elaborate trap to prevent them from killing the rest of the group. The conclusion suggests that Max escapes, he did after all make the forgettable Beyond Thunderdome after this, but it does end on a downer. It is very definitely not a Hollywood movie.

[source] There have also been accusations of homo-eroticism. These accusations are hard to deny.

Despite this, the movie has reached into popular culture. See for example, that fact that Martin Crane on the show Frasier calls his winnebago the Road Warrior, with the unhelpful registration of 'RDWRR;' or the continued use of images from South Park, to illustrate Stan has a poster of 'Street Warrior' on his wall, and two of the boys are chased by the heavily armed truck from the films conclusion when they upset Mel Gibson. Also, the Frankie Goes To Hollywood song 'Two Tribes,' now a homosexual anthem, is said to be based on the conflict in the movie, while further evidence can be seen on this page.

[source] This is the Ghanian poster of the movie. I don't know what those guys are on.

In conclusion:
This is a movie which in its own way, offers a potentially prophetic view of the future shorn of gas, shorn of sexual, political and economic more, where gas is the king. The movie provides some of the sickest and slickest action of any movie, and is tightly scripted. The heroes and villains are often shades of grey, and the whole thing is surprisingly cerebral for something with such a straightforward plot. Mel Gibson has described the whole Mad Max trilogy as 'youthful trash' - but then look at him now. I genuinely believe that this, alongside the Godfather part 2, and Drunken Master 2, are the best sequels of all time.

On a personal note, I like how there are camels in a pen surrounding the compound, which are never mentioned, and I also like that the feral kid is now running a jewellery store in Sydney, at least according to rumour. I have seen a youtube mashup which suggests that Americans travel to Australia to watch the carnage, suggesting that only Australia descended into chaos, while the rest of the world thrives, however I can't find that anywhere.