Mad Max (Captioned)

Australia, 1979

Film
Please note

Sorry, we aren't able to make images or video for this item available to the public online.

Mad Max marked the debut of Australian director George Miller and his first collaboration with Mel Gibson. Part science fiction, part road movie, “Mad Max” is a futuristic vision of a post-apocalyptic Australia where ordered society is fast disintegrating into violent chaos. In this anarchic setting, rogue gangs menacingly roam the land in search of petrol (a vital and increasingly scarce resource), spoils of looting and bloodthirsty fun. Mel Gibson stars as Max Rockatansky, a good cop made mad by the death of his wife and child and the hands of a gang of feral bikies. The film follows Max as he embarks on a personal vendetta to avenge the death of his family, armed with anger, a gun and his car - “the last of the V-8 interceptors”. “Mad Max” has a much-imitated visual and thematic style - gang members are clad in filthy rags with maimed bodies; the landscape is bleak and featureless; camps are transitory pit-stops between war zones; and machines rule their owners. “Mad Max”, with its ordinary hero and car culture narrative, fits neatly into the zeitgeist of 1970s filmmaking. A nihilistic road movie, fuelled by male angst, “Mad Max” is a thrilling, truly original film that remains a highlight of Australian film history.

Content notification

Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.

Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.

How to watch

Stream, rent or buy via Just Watch Logo

Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

director

George Miller

producer

Byron Kennedy

production company

Kennedy Miller Productions

Mad Max Films

Duration

01:31:00:00

Production places
Australia
Production dates
1979

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

302475

Language

English

Audience classification

R (18+)

Sound/audio

Captioned

Colour

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/81392--mad-max-captioned/ |title=Mad Max (Captioned) |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=9 November 2024 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}