After an even longer hiatus than the earlier long hiatus-- it's been a busy summer!-- we're back with the ongoing series Virgin Territory, in which I watch a movie I've never seen and talk about it with someone who loves it. This week I sit down with Max Evry, movie writer about town, to talk about a movie he wanted me to watch so badly that he gave me the DVD for my birthday: The Road Warrior. For whatever reason he didn't want me to start with the first movie in the George Miller series, Mad Max, so my first introduction to Mel Gibson and his expert driving skills came once the oil crisis had hit and gasoline scarcity had turned Australia into a post-apocalyptic wasteland, where Lord Humongous and his cronies reign supreme.
Check out our 15 minute conversation below, in which we talk about the lasting cultural legacy of The Road Warrior, how Mel Gibson's performance still stands completely independent of all the scandalous stuff that came later, and marvel at the fact that no stuntmen died in filming some of the truly amazing action set pieces in this thing.
For the rest of the Virgin Territory series, go here, where you can find me talking Apocalypse Now with Dave Gonzales, Superman: The Movie with Matt Patches, All the President's Men with James Rocchi, Terms of Endearment with Mike Ryan, and The Evil Dead with Eric Eisenberg.
