Outside of the realms of Star Trek and Star Wars, sci-fi doesn’t seem to have the same level of iconic characters as other genres. Perhaps it’s because narrative is always paramount, and building worlds of wonder creates characters in a different way? Sure, there’s RoboCops, Ellen Ripleys, The Doctor – of course – but they’re still harder to come by than Slasher villains (and that’s only a subgenre of horror.) And weirdly, one of the genuine best sci-fi heroes tends to be pushed into a completely different genre entirely.
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But whether you care to admit it or not, Max Rockatansky – glowering, often word-shy star of the Mad Max franchise – is one of the best of the genre. The dust-covered hero, who debuted in 1979’s shockingly profitable Mad Max was Mel Gibson’s statement of intent to Hollywood (remarkably, given he wasn’t Miller’s first choice), and has spawned a 5-movie franchise and 2 video games, as well as tie-in novels and comics. He also cameod in Space Jam: A New Legacy for some reason. But it wasn’t his first movie that really made him, it was his second: The Road Warrior, released 44 years ago today on 24 December 1981.
Why The Road Warrior Made Mad Max
The first movie was great, but it was limited by its lower budget, and more crucially by the fact that it simply wasn’t well known in the US. So low was the brand of the character in 1981, in fact, that Warner Bros. decided to strip “Mad Max” from the title and market and release it solely as The Road Warrior. The fact that it was a sequel subsequently came as a surprise to viewers, even with the prologue footage taken from the first movie. Given that, and the fudged release (distributor AIP were unable to give it a proper release), it’s remarkable that The Road Warrior still doubled its predecessor’s box office.
It’s also a superior film: the higher budget allowed Miller to dial everything up, from the action through to the circus of grotesque characters. Through it all, Gibson’s almost stoical performance cut a disarmingly charming presence and gained instant, infinite cool points. Such was the impact that the original was released on video, with a tagline positioning it as the predecessor to The Road Warrior, and Max’s icon was written into Hollywood lore.
And as for the question of whether he belongs in the sci-fi conversation, there shouldn’t even be one. Yes, he’s an action star, but so is Han Solo, and no amount of mental gymnastics can get around the reality that the dystopian world George Miller brought to screen is a sci-fi hellscape. It doesn’t have aliens or space travel, but there’s very much a perverse sense of otherness to the characters in this world, and Earth as a dystopian wasteland might as well be another planet. Max’s quest for a utopia of safety feels just as intrepid as anything in Star Trek.
The fact that we haven’t (properly) seen Max Rockatansky since Tom Hardy’s Mad Mad: Fury Road a DECADE ago is simply outrageous. Cynics might point to Furiosa‘s underwhelming performance as an indication of this franchise running dry, but Max wasn’t even in that, and at this point, I’d even take a reboot. Tom Hardy was great, obviously, but he’s not stepped into Max’s police boots for ten years now, and a younger actor could take him on easily. Hell, I’d even take an Old Man Rockatansky movie. Whatever it manifests as, 44 years after his true star-making release, the Mad Max universe has a lot more stories to tell, and we need to find a way to tell them.
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Image Courtesy of Studio Bones -
Image Courtesy of Science SARU
