73
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90NewsweekJack KrollNewsweekJack KrollJunky, freaky, sadistic, masochistic, Mad Max has a perverse intelligence revving inside its pop exterior. It's a crazy collide-o-scope, a gear-stripping vision of human destiny careening toward a cosmic junkyard. [21 July 1980, p.71]
- 90The GuardianLuke BuckmasterThe GuardianLuke BuckmasterMad Max has always radiated an otherworldly vibe, a slightly sickly sensation that something at its core is fundamentally wrong.
- 80EmpireWilliam ThomasEmpireWilliam ThomasSimple, but effective.
- 80TimeRichard CorlissTimeRichard CorlissWith his instinct and craft, Miller has provided more autosuggestive violence on a $1 million budget than The Blues Brothers did with half the Chicago police force and $30 million.
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliIt's pretty much assumed throughout art and literature that the collapse of civilization will result in the rise of barbarism. That assumption underlies Mad Max, where the strong prey on the weak, and Max steps in to be the equalizer.
- 75TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineThough the plot is that of a simple revenge western, director George Miller infuses the film with a kinetic combination of visual style, amazing stunt work, creative costume design, and eccentric, detailed characterizations that practically jump out of the screen and grab the viewer by the throat.
- 75The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay ScottThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay ScottOne does not expect to find references to Bertolucci in a action movie distributed by American International, but Mad Max is no ordinary action movie: it's a B-movie classic on the order of Truck Stop Women, and when its director, George Miller, steals from established filmmakers, he steals from the best. [15 April 1980]
- 63Washington PostWashington PostHackneyed at exposition, Miller demonstrates breakneck prowess at chase sequences and terrifying shock effects. [29 April 1980, p. B1]
- 40The New York TimesThe New York TimesMad Max is ugly and incoherent, and aimed, probably accurately, at the most uncritical of moviegoers. [14 June 1980, p.13]