Delayed Reaction: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

What I Guessed It Was About: It'll be The Road Warrior, only more insane, and there will be a large part of it taking place in someplace called the Thunderdome, that Max will get beyond.

How I Came Into It: I'd just watched The Road Warrior for the first time. You know, that's a tough comparison. Perhaps it would've been better served if it got to be on a night by itself. I knew Tina Turner was in this and that prepared me for an awesome weirdness.

<<Full Disclosure: I watched this in a very distracted setting.>>

Why I Saw It: Fury Road had me very interested to see the rest of the series, especially this one, because it's the next most recent. Mel Gibson is as good as he is in the others and Tina Turner is a force. It's funny. Early on, I made an offhand comment that I was getting a Return of the Jedi vibe with this, with Max showing up and getting a tour around and the Master playing like Jabba's little minion. Then Max gets in a fight in the Thunderdome that reminded me a lot of Luke against the Rancor. Then, Max show up in village colony with diminutive creatures and tells stories. It doesn't perfectly match up, but once I saw the similarities, I couldn't stop.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: At what point does something become self parody? Because, Beyond Thunderdome is there. There's a style to these movies that's incredibly distinctive. Mad Max was limited by budget but it was still there. The Road Warrior could really have fun with the costumes and did. Thunderdome was more weird by obligation at times. Maybe that's just me. I've since learned that George Miller didn't have his head in the game as much with this one and it shows.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend