Mad Max [Collector's Edition] [Blu-ray] [1979]

Ok, Ok... I know calm down about the original soundtrack.. right? I was very excited to hear it for the first time, actually hearing Mel Gibson & Crew speak in their native language and I must admit you might wish to turn subtitles on since I still don't understand some of the things said, but was elated never the less! Video Quality A solid 4 stars here with the MPEG-4 AVC encoding of "Mad Max" that varies due to weather conditions..Let me explain! When the sun is bright the image is startling real with colors that burst & pop! The Interceptor's Yellows really stand out & the Australian Blue Sky is deep. Skin tones on the other hand appear a bit baked but not overly so. Filming on cloudy days really bring out the grain & you will notice the drop in color brightness from scene to scene. Clarity is fine & I could not find any enhancing of this video with film grain intact. Audio Quality As stated the original Australian soundtrack 5.1 DTS-HD sounds fantastic even tho the musical track is a bit louder than the rest of the audio. The Dubbed American version is in DD mono. I was very pleased with the audio offerings on this Blu-ray! Extra's How about a DVD copy? We are seeing less & less of this with releases of Digital copies becoming the norm, me personally, I would like the DVD and manipulate it into my own video format. I find the time limits placed on digital copies to be a nuisance. Commentary Track – Art director Jon Dowding, cinematographer David Eggby, special effects supervisor Chris Murray, and superfan Tim Ridge gather to talk about the film and its creation. While it obviously would have been great to have Gibson and Miller take part, fans of the film will be happy with this foursome. Mad Max: Film Phenomenon (SD, 26 min) – The foursome from the commentary track, as well as a few critics, talk about the making of the film. There is some overlap and the narration is slightly over the top with its praise. Mel Gibson: The High Octane Birth of a Superstar (SD, 17 min) – On the DVD, actress Piper Laurie is the most well-known participant of the people interviewed who speak about knowing Gibson around the time 'Mad Max' was created. Mad Facts Trivia Track – On the DVD, trivia pops up on the bottom of the screen International Poster Gallery (SD) – Exactly as the title describes. Trailers (SD) – On the Blu-ray, there are two for for 'Mad Max' as well as trailers for 'The Terminator', 'Species', 'Windtalkers', and 'Rollerball' (2002). On the DVD, there is the original Australian theatrical trailer, TV spots, and 'The Terminator: Special Edition' DVD Trailer In closing it's time to ditch the DVD & step up to this fine rendering of a great Australian classic.. I highly recommend this 2 Disc Set!

70's. I pointed out the 70's because you have to remember this movie was filmed in the late 1970's. I remember this movie as a child and watching it at the theater (or was that a drive in). I can remember when MAX first turned on that Supercharger with that big red button on the gear sifter and hearing that roar! I could feel the horse power through the speakers. As a child I liked it. As an adult I like it even better. I also own the new MAD MAD FURY ROAD. You can't compare the two. Remember that this was filmed in the 1970's this is 2015 my friends that's a big difference! I liked the new FURY ROAD but not as much as the original MAD MAX. I watch the original MAD MAX and I always seem to catch a line or see something I missed seeing previously (watching it in widescreen, HD, and HD SURROUND helps immensely). Imagine your favorite song you listen to all the time. You never get tired of it. In fact you look forward to hearing it; although, you've heard it a 1000 times. That's how this movie is. It never gets old It just gets better. I own the Special edition DVD and this Blu-ray with DVD Combo pack. You have to watch this on a large widescreen HD 1080P with SRS TruSurround HD. I watched this on video tape years ago and to watch this on Full HD is amazing. I hear sounds I never heard and the sounds I do remember are even better. The horse power of Max's car the "Pursuit Special" is phenomenal when he turns on that supercharger (I want one)! The video is as if they used today's cameras and technology to film it. Some say that the 2nd incarnation of the series was best (THE ROAD WARRIOR). But the 2nd one doesn't really make sense unless you watch the 1st. I own all 3 original MAD MAX movies and the new FURY ROAD. I enjoy all the original MAD MAX movies better.

There was a time in this country when you couldn't even watch this movie with the original dialogue track. Among the many other aspects of historical content Shout! Factory's cult classics line Scream Factory provides in this release, options for both the original "Australian" English audio as well as the dubbed "American" English audio are present. In another nod to history, Scream Factory appears to have cleaned the picture well enough to present it in HD, but leaves just enough slight imperfections to recall the film's grindhouse roots. A few of bonus features conducted exclusively for this release, such as the brief interviews with Mel Gibson, who incidentally sounds more American than Australian these days, serve really to only reinforce the good call director George Miller made in recasting Max for Fury Road. But the info dispersed by DP David Eggby and SFX artist Chris Murray in the commentaries and beyond really shine a new light on what used to be everyone's least favorite entry in the franchise. The lines between Mad Max's entirely practical effects, cast and shots and those found Mad Max: Fury Road really becomes clearer than ever in the Scream Factory release, far more so than one could gleam from the barebones version included in the Mad Max Anthology set. In short, Scream Factory provides probably the best release of their entire line and the definitive version of the original film in Mad Max.

George Miller's masterpiece starring a then, almost unknown Australian, Mel Gibson, unleashes 90 minutes of unbridled, inexplicable, premeditated, orchestral moving, cinematic violence. Written & directed in the 70's during the world's "oil crisis" as countries around the globe were held under duress & tyranny by OPEC & the Arab nation(s). Miller's "Mad Max" is reflective and hauntingly parallel to what plays out in the script & on the screen. "Good guy" Max hunts down "bad guy(s)", gangs, that murdered his family while on raiding and looting pilgrimages across an arid wasteland wrought with the fallout of humanity and economic turmoil. Later sequels would continue to involve the same search for valuable "fuel", figuratively and literally, to continue survival and or torture of the fittest. Do yourself a favor. Rent, buy, borrow, or stream this classic film and see why Gibson became the Hollywood icon he became and why Miller is still the master of action packed filmmaking.

I bought this in a hefty sale having never seen it before. I loved Fury Road and wanted to watch the original trilogy. The transfer on this is alright... the audio mix left a bit to be desired but let's be real here this movie is 30+ yrs old and made for peanuts. The action held up well but this is a much different movie than the rest of the series. It is inferred throughout the movie that they are in a dystopian future but nothing close to the latter movies. Max is actually a cop with a boss and fellow officers. He also has a wife and child. Things don't really get crazy until The Road Warrior but this one sets up Max's motivations for future movies. There is an interesting ~20min doc on here about the making, marketing and cultural impact of the first movie but that's about it for extras. If you're into Fury Road I'd say both the movie & behind-the-scenes are worth a look. I don't know how many more times I'd watch this but for $4 it's almost at the cost of a rental. Recommend getting while it's on sale

I'm so glad I bought this disc. I picked it up at Best Buy for a mere $7.99 and it was so worth It. This Blur-Ray is incredible. What clarity. I never got to see the first Mad Max in an actual movie theater but I think I have an idea of what George Miller started in 1979. IWhen it played in New York City (where I grew up and still live), I did not catch it at the time. The Blu-Ray has the actual Australian audio track that was recorded and is so much better than the dubbed version that used to be on VHS in the '80's. First of all, Mel Gibson is a baby in it, maybe he's 23. He's never looked better and I think it reminded me of why he was such a big movie star. It would be a great double feature at home of the original Mad Max and then watch Fury Road. George Miller kicked butt in '79 and then made my jaw drop in 2015!

George Miller's original Mad Max may not have the trappings of a post-apocalyptic future dystopia running on fumes and hell-bent on destruction that have become so familiar in the 3 later films of the series and 35 years since its creation, but what does have in spades are the basic elements of the classic tale of good vs. evil and what happens when good men do bad in order to fight back. Don't expect the bizarre costumes and cars of The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome, and take it for what it is- a classic revenge tale against a wasteland backdrop. Shout Factory's new transfer looks and sounds great with some decent features like interviews and commentaries, but the best upgrade for US fans is the film's original dialogue soundtrack with Mel Gibson's voice and not the lame dubbing available for years as the only option.

I thought this was going to be an introspective movie about an angry man named Max. Instead it was a post apocalyptic adrenaline fueled Australian nightmare. ****SPOILERS FOLLOW**** Max is not mad at all at first and sure he gets angry after his wife and child are run down by crazy gang members, but the real twist is that he goes crazy because of that. He goes mad. What the heck was Max doing taking a vacation in a post apocalyptic Australia, anyway? I mean non-post apocalyptic Australia is dangerous enough, with saltwater crocodiles and poisonous spiders and poisonous snakes and poisonous saltwater snails and poisonous jellyfish but throw in post apocalyptic gang members and maybe you should just have taken a staycation, eh Max?