The film opens with Max (Mel Gibson), now having exacted revenge for the murder of his wife and child in the first picture, roaming the wasteland in a never-ending search for fuel. Coming across a particularly tempting supply, Max finds himself ambushed by a quirky man known as the Gyro Captain (Bruce Spence, recently seen as the Train Man in The Matrix Revolutions). Max manages to get the upper hand and in exchange for his life, the Gyro Captain tells Max of a compound where they pump and refine fuel. The compound is led by Pappagallo (Michael Preston), but it's under siege by a biker gang led by Lord Humungus (Kjell Nilsson). Max finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place as everyone realizes he's the only one capable of defeating Humungus and saving the compound, but all Max wants is to live a solitary life.

The Road Warrior is one of the most savagely kinetic action films ever made. The Mad Max series gained a reputation for having some of the best car action ever captured on film, and this is easily the pinnacle of the trilogy (which includes 1985's Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome). After an extremely brief introduction, the flick opens with Max being chased by a group of outlaws after his car. From that moment on, the movie fires on all cylinders. Sure, there are some scenes at the compound where the characters discuss their options, but that's just so we can have some downtime and allows us to connect emotionally so that the ensuing action carries even more weight.

Mad Max 2 shot Mel Gibson into the public eye, and his performance as Max is as iconic as Clint Eastwood's in Leone's Dollars trilogy. The reason I make such a comparison is because Max is clearly cut from the same cloth as The Man With No Name, a no-nonsense loner who only speaks when he has to, and while he seemingly cares for nobody but himself, he always does the right thing in the end. Gibson plays the part to the hilt, giving Max both a harder edge and a softer core than he did the first time out. Even with his roles in Lethal Weapon and Braveheart under his belt, Max is still the character a good portion of his fan base most closely associate with him.

But performance only goes so far in an action movie, and the real stars of this film are the explosive car chases. George Miller brought a visceral feel and independent style to filmmaking that was completely fresh and original for the time. To this day, the car chases in The Road Warrior are held up as the finest available. Not only are the car chases mind-blowing, but the sense of a world gone to hell is frighteningly real. Shot in the vast deserts of Australia, there is no doubt that the world in which the film takes place is nothing but a wasteland. The outlandish costumes and battle-adapted vehicles all scream "post-apocalyptic." All of this helps push the internal reality the movie is selling.

The movie feels short, even at an hour and a half, but that's because it goes by so quickly in a blazing flash of glory. Even today, with the glut of action films crowding the market, each of them trying to top the other with flashy CGI or increasingly over the top stunts, The Road Warrior still stands tall as one of the most invigorating and thrilling action films of all time. This is must-see viewing.

The HD DVD:

The Image:
First of all, let me say that it is nothing short of a miracle that a high definition transfer of The Road Warrior even exists. For years, the film has languished on home video with barely tolerable image quality. The DVD version is an atrocity, so to see a fully remastered 2.40:1 VC-1 transfer is almost unbelievable. When this transfer is on, it's like a revelation. Small details that I never noticed before jump to life. The colors are sharp and the stability of the image is incredibly pleasing. It's clear a lot of hard work went into making this version the best it could be. Unfortunately, dark scenes don't give the same impression at all. They're muddy and sorely lacking in detail. I also noticed shimmering in several of the nighttime scenes. There are also isolated instances of daylight scenes suddenly going poor, presumably due to degraded source material. But the good definitely outweighs the bad here, and the best portions of this transfer make this easily the best presentation of The Road Warrior on any home video format.

The Audio:
Surprisingly, Warner also saw fit to upgrade the movie's audio to a full-on Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix. The results aren't as spectacular as the video, but it's nice to get the sound all cleaned up. Movies originally mixed in mono or stereo tend too sound pretty awkward when given a 5.1 remix, and this is no exception. The sound is representative of the low-budget nature of the production, often sounding tinny.

The Supplements:
While not a full-blown special edition, this HD DVD does have one nice exclusive HD extra feature.

Feature commentary with Director George Miller and Cinematographer Dean Semler: And here it is. A brand new audio commentary by Mr. Miller himself. The track is very low key, with George and Dean cracking jokes and reminiscing the whole way through. The most interesting portions are when they discuss how the process of making action movies has changed since the release of the film. The rest is worth a listen, too. They never stop talking and it never gets boring. A minor gem.

Introduction by Leonard Maltin: Film critic Leonard Maltin gives a short introduction to the picture that tells us nothing we didn't already know.

Theatrical Trailer: A really abysmal one at that.

The Conclusion:
The Road Warrior is an cornerstone action film. The car chases are so good that nothing has ever been able to top them. It also features a young and charismatic Mel Gibson in the role that shot him to stardom. The newly minted transfer is the best the film has looked--possibly better than in the theaters. For fans of the film, this is the best purchase they could ever make. For those who haven't seen it before, it's the perfect introduction. Highly Recommended.

Daniel Hirshleifer is the High Definition Editor for DVD Talk.