Mad Max 1979

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: [The] film has been consigned to the grind houses, where audiences are responding as Miller wants them to. From there Mad Max will find its way to the film schools and revival houses, where its tough-gutted intelligence may be appreciated. Read more

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader: Some of the most determinedly formalist filmmaking this side of Michael Snow. Read more

Tom Buckley, New York Times: Mad Max is ugly and incoherent, and aimed, probably accurately, at the most uncritical of moviegoers. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Overnight, Mad Max went from being a U.S. cult hero to a mainstream figure, and Mel Gibson's place in the firmament was secured. Read more

David Pirie, Time Out: The tone sometimes wavers into self-parody, and there are occasional crude patches, but overall this edge-of-seat revenge movie marks the most exciting debut from an Australian director since Peter Weir. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: Stunts themselves would be nothing without a filmmaker behind the camera and George Miller, a doctor and film buff making his first feature, shows he knows what cinema is all about. Read more