Rating: 13/20
Plot: Max winds up in Bartertown where he runs into some troubles with the people in charge and is forced to fight in the Thunderdome, a large metal jungle gym with weapons and shouting. He's abandoned in the middle of Tatooine. Luckily, Peter Pan's friends are around to save the day.
I don't think I had seen this movie from beginning to end since the mid-80's when I watched it and didn't like most of it, probably because I was 12 or 13 and creeped out by people my age and size. This is a movie in three parts. You've got Bartertown following a crappy Tina Turner song, the movie instantly recovering with camels, a monkey, and a didgeridoo. There's a ridiculous amount of costumed fun, and I love the slow pans over the scum and villainy. Tina Turner and her cronies are never well-defined, but they're at least interesting, and the Thunderdome scene combines just the right amount of silly and awesome. Those guys in Bartertown sure like their rhyming chants. Then, you have the sagging middle bit with all the sand and the children. I did like the ridiculous head Mel Gibson's forced to wear, but this third (maybe half?) of the movie is unquestionably boring. Your mind wanders, and you really miss Bartertown. The final bit features an exhilarating train and cars chase through endless desert, and the whole thing manages to remind you of just how awesome this third installment could have ended up. There's some dark humor, there's violence, there's explosions, there's punching. It's a chaotic mess of a chase scene, but it might still rival the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark. This movie is better than I remember it being, and I especially liked Maurice Jarre's score, mostly when it clanks and booms.
I watched this because I'm giddy about the upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road. And because I wanted to see Angelo Rossitto who is absolutely brilliant in this. This guy's career fascinates me. How many other actors can you name whose career started in the silent era and lasted until 1987? It's pretty impressive. And I just realized, while skimming through his 88-credit filmography (a ton of uncredited work, sadly), that he was a Saucer Man in Invasion of the Saucer-Men. I'm glad he got a great character to play in this movie right at the end of his career.
I might have to do an Angelo Rossitto fest soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment