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 - MAD TO THE MAXThis is THE template for the post-apocalyptic action film. Came out the same year as Blade Runner and both movies hold up to scrutiny and still amaze some 25 years later. You would not believe the flood of imitators that followed its release in the early eighties and it still continues to inform the look of the dirty, raw sci-fi genre (Doomsday, anyone?) I liked the original okay, but ROAD WARRIOR (which you don't need to see MAD MAX first to follow, you newbies) distilled the essence and multiplied it times 10. George Miller, the genius behind this flick, struck gold with this combination, then preceded to bungle it with MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME, which was probably the second most-anticipated yet then most disappointing film upon its release in my pre-teen universe... The first being RETURN OF THE JEDI. Rating: - Mad Max 2, in HD-DVD ROCKS!!This is the BEST version of the movie I have seen ( I bought it on VHS and DVD) and by-far this version beats them ALL hands down!! Too bad HD-DVD is no more, I guess I will buy it on Blu-Ray next!! Rating:  - A great film ignored its greatnessThis concerns just the DVD itself, which is FULL SCREEN, not widescreen. In other words, the widescreen version is the full screen shrunk down--both sides of the original frame are lopped off. And with such a film as this? The Road Warrior was rated the ninth best film of the entire decade of the 1980's .... I was surprised too; hidden in an action story is .... [blank]. My screenwriting professor at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts passed around handouts: Number One was Raging Bull ... Nine, This (circa 1991). Which group of critics I cannot say, but it WAS a group. And if one of the best film schools in the country distributes word of such confidence for a film, and enough critics and film buffs over the years too, don't you think film studios would have some pride to restore it and make some non-flakey and non-adulatory documentary features seriously interested in TRW? How many films can boast this kind of following? And last and last? Don't the studios know how many of us WANT to buy a DVD version like Wez would w ... Oh yeah. He's missing fingers. Similar congratulations go to the DVD cover. Rating: - "The last of the V-8 Interceptors...""Great Mel before hammering in the nails of Jesus....post-apocalyptic goodness.....'walk away. I will let you live if you only walk away...'" PILATE: A Brutal Bible Tale Rating: - Can't beat the visual quallityI am not going to bore you with saying I know everything about quality and imperfections. Enjoy the movie. It doesn't get any better then this.
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