Runtime: 93 minutes
Directed by: Ian Barry
Starring: Steve Bisley, Arna-Maria Winchester, Ross Thompson, Ralph Cotterill, Hugh Keays-Byrne
From: Several Australian companies
My referencing several people from Max Max recently inspired me to finally track down this Ozploitation picture (nevermind how) which I have been familiar with for a few years via messageboard discussion, as it has more Mad Max ties than you'd expect. It also gives me a chance to plug an awesome score that the synthwave fans will love.
It has an interesting plot: an earthquake happens at a nuclear power plant that appears to be many kilometers away from civilization aside from dingoes and kangaroos. A leak happens and a scientist gets a fatal dose attempting to fix the problem. He escapes as his superiors want to cover it up... despite the fact that it has leaked to the outside. What makes this different is that this scientist hits and head and gets amnesia (I know, convenient) and runs into auto mechanic/race car driver Steve Bisley-Goose from Mad Max-& his girlfriend as they are spending the weekend in the middle of nowhere. This does mean that we get some car chases and as they were ghost-directed by associate producer George Miller, they were pretty rad. The director on record (Ian Barry) did a fine job but it was a wise idea to have Miller do those scenes.
The movie is unfortunately pretty uneven; at times things grind to a halt. You also don't want to scrutinize this thriller with too fine a comb. That said, I can still give this three stars. The outback scenery was nice to look at... there is suspense as the guys in hazmat suits meet up with the main characters, along with the main heel of course being a German... and it was nice that this has some familiar faces. Besides Bisley, in a key supporting role was Hugh Keays-Byrne and an early scene was a Mad Max reunion as appearing in cameo form was Roger Ward and... an uncredited Mel Gibson. As I do understand those that would skip a movie featuring him after what's been revealed in recent years... I will reiterate that he's heard and seen on screen for like 30 seconds total.
One last thing: a huge assist for this was that this has an AWESOME synth score from Andrew Thomas Wilson. All the synthwave fans should track it down (at the moment the entire soundtrack can easily be found on YouTube) as it's quite boss... especially when our hero's souped-up Holden One Tonner (that's their car-based pickup, sometimes referred to as a Ute) is going real fast. It was an odd mix that managed to work well-enough for me overall.
No comments:
Post a Comment