Great Movies
When Mad Max jolted cinema screens in 1979 with is grim post apocalyptic world set in the sparse Australian outback, the low budget Aussie flick not only established a new cinema star, Mel Gibson but also landed its iconic director George Miller firmly in the center stage of world class directors. Two films followed ("Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior" in 1981 and "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" in 1985). It then seemed Miller had parked his insane desert cruising junk cars away for good, as he moved into more Hollywood fair ("The Witches of Eastwick" in 1987) and then found new fame with the kid friendly franchises "Babe" and "Happy Feet."
But he always harbored the desire to return to his beloved stoic Max. He developed a new story line, had Mel Gibson lined up for a return, but as is always with the movie business the cards did not quite fall into place. Fast forward twelve years, a few cast changes (Heath Ledger at one point) and a change of location to Namibia (rain ruined his plans to return to the outback town of Broken Hill in Australia), and Miller has emerged triumphant with the wild, relentless new "Mad Max: Fury Road," starring Tom Hardy as his new Max, and Charlize Theron as Furiosa, an equally compelling female road warrior.
Katherine Tulich is an Australian-born entertainment journalist now living in Los Angeles, where she covers music, movies and television. She is a contributor to the Los Angeles Times.
