Mad Max (1979)
Directed by George Miller
“People don’t believe in heroes anymore,” laments Fifi, head of Main Force Patrol, to young protégée Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson). One of their fellow officers has been blown to pieces, and another burned to death—this is commonplace in near-future Australia, and relentless vigilante Max decides to take matters into his own hands. Miller’s first film, a hodgepodge of high-octane cars, low camera angles and high-speed chases, follows Max as he bird-dogs revenge. The fiendish Toecutter leads the bestial gang Max is after, for whom raping and pillaging are mere afternoon pastimes. After the marauding lunatics squash Max’s wife and young sun with their motorcycles, he rides off into the Outback without a whit of stability, into the Dystopian unknown. Samantha Vacca (May 8, 9, midnight at IFC Center)