Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

Set a few years after Mad Max (which looks primitive by comparison), Mad Max 2 concerns a strange post-industrial future where motorised warlords scour the deserts for fuel. Max, played in proper Eastwood style by Gibson, comes upon an oil fortress beleaguered by hordes of biker barbarians. The simple plot has the macho inspiration of a 2000 AD comic strip, and though the film can't quite sustain its length, it's kept alive by its humour and the sheer energy of its visuals. In fact, Miller's choreography of his innumerable vehicles is so extraordinary that it makes Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark look like a kid fooling with Dinky Toys.