Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior Blu-ray Disc Review

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Title: The Road Warrior

Region: A

Media: Blu-ray Disc

Genre: Post Apocalyptic Action Adventure

Stars: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Mike Preston, Max Philipps, Vernon Wells, and Emil Minty

Writer: Terry Hayes, George Miller, and Brian Hannant

Director: George Miller

Feature length: 95 minutes

Extras: New Audio Commentary By Director George Miller and Cinematographer Dean Semler, Introduction By Leonard Maltin, Theatrical Trailer

Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and French and Spanish Language Stereo Sound

Subtitles: English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles

Packaging: Elite Blue BD Case

Chapter Stops: 32

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Stereo Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 1982/Blu-ray Disc Release: 2007

Theatrical Distributor: Warner Brothers

Home Video Distributor: Warner Home Video

MPAA Rating: R

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

There have been ten influential sci-fi films that I feel have truly had an effect upon contemporary pop culture and to this day continue to remain timeless as well as inspiring. These films are:

2001: A Space Odyssey – 1968

Planet Of The Apes - 1968

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope – 1977

Alien – 1979

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior – 1981

Blade Runner – 1982

The Terminator – 1984

Terminator 2: Judgment Day – 1991

Jurassic Park – 1993

The Matrix – 1999

Since The Matrix in 1999 there has not yet been a sci-fi film that has had a major impact on how films are made and all pop culture around it so I imagine we are about due. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior had a profound effect upon the post apocalyptic genre ranging from various imitators to an influence that is still felt today in films of various genres. The Road Warrior itself is simply another “Man With No Name” type character. The reluctant hero or antihero depending on how you view Max’s initial motivations in the film and much like Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy, Max develops as a character to show more sympathy and even compassion in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome just as Clint Eastwood displays in the western classic The Good, The Bad And The Ugly.

Following a global war over the world’s natural resources, there is an industrial breakdown in what remains of society and soon anarchy erodes away the few remaining civilized settlements in countries like Australia. Max (Mel Gibson) was a “Bronze” or a cop that defended one such settlement from the encroaching gangs that came out of the wasteland, which have been marked forbidden to cross into due to various dangers. Though Max avenged his wife, child, and best friend, who was also a cop, his soul and humanity were shattered so he left the rapidly disintegrating settlement he had once lived in, and with the last of the V8 Interceptors, he disappeared into the wasteland. Some 5 years later, he comes across a tanker truck after finishing off some road pirates trying to take his vehicle for the fuel. Later he comes across a seemingly mad Gyro Captain (Bruce Spence) who takes him to a fuel refinery in the middle of the wasteland where a group of people defend themselves from an army of road warriors led by The Humungus and eventually finds himself as their reluctant savior in a plan to get the gasoline out of the refinery and evade the dreaded Lord Humungus and his gang.

Warner Home Video’s Blu-ray Disc edition of Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior is a beauty to behold compared to any other home video version I’ve ever seen. The film is presented in a widescreen aspect ratio of approximately (2:40:1) and with the exception of one night sequence, I think most consumers who buy this disc will be presently surprised. There’s detail that I’ve never even noticed before in this VC1 encoded disc with a maximum output resolution of 1080p where available. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is also far more refined and sharper than I was expecting. Ironically this version has the film’s original Australian release name Mad Max 2 and not the American title The Road Warrior. If you compare this version to the original region one NTSC DVD released ten years ago, you’ll find that that version is dubbed The Road Warrior, but the trailer for the film that accompanies it is the international Mad Max 2 trailer while the trailer included on the Blu-ray disc is for the American release version dubbed The Road Warrior. French and Spanish Language Stereo Soundtracks are also included along with English Subtitles For The Deaf and Hearing Impaired and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles encoded as options.

Exclusive to both the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD version is a new feature length audio commentary with Director George Miller and Cinematographer Dean Semler, who go into great detail about the making of the film as well as some of the casting and so forth. The Leonard Maltin Introduction (3:36) from a 1999 home video release and the trailer (2:28) wrap up the bonus materials included on this Blu-ray Disc. Timely now and timeless, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior is available on Blu-ray Disc now courtesy of Warner Home Video.

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