Mad Max – Jenseits der Donnerkuppel (1985)

Mad Max – Jenseits der Donnerkuppel: Directed by George Miller, George Ogilvie. With Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Adam Cockburn, Tina Turner. After being exiled from the most advanced town in post apocalyptic Australia, a drifter travels with a group of abandoned children to rebel against the town’s queen.

“You can tell a lot about a person from which of the three Mad Max films they think is best. I believe, however that it will be hard work, because there are things going on in these that register on the viewer, but are not obvious.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThereu0026#39;s something quintessentially Australian about these. Though Iu0026#39;m not an Aussie myself, Iu0026#39;ve become attuned to some notions that seem peculiar to the Australian spirit. Which of those that are picked out by a viewer are what tells you who they are.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFor me, this one is the one I like the best. Its reputed to have been influenced by Kurosawa samurai films and their derivative spaghetti westerns. But when I see this one, I see an Australian u0026quot;Lawrence of Arabia.u0026quot; I almost see every scene as something from Leanu0026#39;s epic filtered through different Ox prisms: deliberate looseness, the perspective of the saved rather than the savior, the notion of distance, rugged children, Aboriginal myths, totemic kinship, civilization via barter, u0026quot;laws.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut we keep Leanu0026#39;s desert, train, sun, tribal release and matters of u0026quot;energy.u0026quot; We keep the playing fast with religious superstitions and mob dynamics. We even keep the tent.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhatu0026#39;s added isnu0026#39;t much: a cargo cult backstory and an American woman who is notable for how ill suited she is for her surroundings. A couple of Melu0026#39;s scowls. The sense of fair play.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTerry Hayes wrote this and the previous one excepting stunts. I think its pretty good, what heu0026#39;s done in terms of adding some structure to the tell.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTedu0026#39;s Evaluation — 3 of 3: Worth watching.”