“Let’s get back to romanticism”: the movies Mel Gibson compared to cinematic rock music
Terrible person he may be, but before Mel Gibson slammed his fist on the self-destruct button of his career and found himself relegated to the straight-to-video doldrums forevermore, he made some excellent movies on either side of the camera.
Breaking through by playing the lead role in the single most profitable film ever made was a stellar way of putting himself on the map, but Gibson would spend the two decades following Mad Max casting aside any aspersions he was going to be a short-lived flash in the pan.
Alternating his reprisals in The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome with performances in Peter Weir’s war drama Gallipoli, the same filmmaker’s romantic drama The Year of Living Dangerously, and star-studded historical epic The Bounty, it was clear Gibson had potential that extended well beyond the action hero mould.
Anthony Hopkins predicted as far back as the mid-1980s that he was in danger of destroying himself if he couldn’t keep a lid on his destructive tendencies, which became prophetic two decades later when he became persona non grata in the mainstream after his behaviour made both waves and headlines.
He may have anchored the Lethal Weapon franchise, won Academy Awards for ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ for Braveheart, found significant box office success in western comedy Maverick, Ron Howard thriller Ransom, Nancy Meyers rom-com What Women Want, and been an A-list fixture for decades, but it was George Miller who gave him that platform to begin with.
The first two Mad Max movies were gritty, grizzled, and ferocious, and even though third instalment Beyond Thunderdome upped the camp factor significantly, Gibson nonetheless saw the trilogy as “a sort of cinematic equivalent to rock music”. Comparing it to the soundscape of the time, the actor furthered his analogy during a mid-production conversation with Rolling Stone.
“It’s something to do with the nihilistic sentiments of the music of the ’80s, which can’t continue. I say, let’s get back to romanticism,” he suggested. “And this film is actually doing that. It’s using that nihilism as a vehicle, I think, to get back to romance.”
These days, ’80s music is remembered more for gigantic hairdos and way too many synthesisers rather than its inherent nihilism, but Gibson was living through that period – mullet and all – when he made the comparison. Beyond Thunderdome is easily the most romantic of the three in terms of its lighter touch and more humanistic approach. Still, it never loses sight of the franchise’s origins as a post-apocalyptic thrill ride.
Little did he know at the time that Mad Max would be resurrected 30 years down the line, although it’s fair to say the jaw-dropping Fury Road retained the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll while ratcheting it up by several more notches. It’s lean and mean while also being epic and expansive, with Gibson’s words on the sprawling saga remaining as true as ever three decades later.
