Mad Max Beyond Thunderdomeis hardly anyone’s favorite entry in theMad Maxfranchise. Being the series' first and only outing to receive a PG-13 rating, it lacks much of the edge that definesMad Max, trading it in for more fantastical themes, kid-friendly camp, and mythological iconography. Still, the 1985 threequel deserves praise in a few categories—Beyond Thunderdomebrought newfound scale to the post-apocalypticMad Maxuniverse, it built on the franchise’s unique set, hair, make-up, and costume designs, and it offered fans a distinctive and memorable villain in the form of a 1980s pop-star sensation,Tina Turner.
Tina Turner Can Sing, Act, & Play a Cunning Post-Apocalyptic Tyrant
Tina Turner,who passed away last Wednesday, was known as the “Queen of Rock n' Roll”, but she was much more than that. In an illustrious career spanning the second half of the twentieth century and beyond, Turner blended R&B, pop, gospel, and rock to create generation-defining pop songs. Alongside her music, she also made a presence in front of the camera, appearing not just as herself in music videos, concert footage, and documentaries, but also playing dramatic roles in three studio films—Tommy,Last Action Hero, andMad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
InBeyond Thunderdome, Turner portrays Aunty Entity, the film’s main antagonist. Aunty rules a desert trading post called Bartertown, a post-apocalyptic community emulative of the wild west, where civilization perseveres by harvesting methane for energy and justice is served through violence. At the beginning of the film, Max (Mel Gibson) arrives in the town looking for his stolen vehicle and makes an impression on Aunty with his brute strength. She then recruits him into killing the methane miners' muscle, thus quelling a labor rebellion.
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Unlike otherMad Maxvillains such as Lord Humungus (Kjell Nilsson) or Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), Aunty Entity does not come off as a monster, heavy, or delinquent. Especially compared to the volatile people of Bartertown and theMad Maxuniverse at large, she appears intelligent, stable, and even charming. She is well-dressed, clean, and she rules through fear, she masks her tyranny as benevolence. Her demeanor is so agreeable that neither Max nor the audience initially recognizes her as the villain. She even convinces Max to do her dirty work at first, framing the labor uprising as a legitimate threat to Bartertown as opposed to a noble pushback against a dictatorship.
George Miller, who co-directedBeyond ThunderdomewithGeorge Ogilvie, was intentional in casting Turner for this subversive kind of antagonist. According to Miller in a1985 Jet Magazine interview, he chose Turner specifically because “For Aunty Entity, we needed someone whose vitality and intelligence would make her control over Bartertown credible. She had to be a positive character, as opposed to a conventional evil ‘bad guy’” He andTerry Hayesthus wrote the character with Turner in mind. Nobody could embody Aunty quite like Turner. Her star power extended onto the screen, making Aunty powerful, identifiable, and even likable before turning the story on its head.
Max eventually realizes Aunty’s autocratic agenda and refuses to carry out her labor assassination. Because of this insubordination, he is tied to a horse and cast off into the desert, only to be rescued by a tribe of abandoned children. It is here that the film becomes more fantastical and loses much of its grit, coinciding with a second act barren of Turner’s Aunty. The movie only picks up again at the climax, when Max leads the children into Bartertown, liberates the laborers, and then engages in a high-speed chase across the desert with Aunty in pursuit.
At the end of the film, after Max has led the children to their freedom, he alone stands toe to toe with Aunty and her remaining mercenaries. With a grin and a laugh, though, she lets him go, noting “Ain’t we a pair, raggedy man… goodbye soldier” before riding into the horizon. This denouement to Aunty’s story solidifies her as a complex foil to Max. While Max is a wandering vagabond, resistant to community and kinship, Aunty aggressively clings to civilization through Bartertown. At the same time, both are strong leaders, but while Max carries himself with stoic restraint for noble causes, Aunty expresses charismatic authority for more oppressive ends. Ultimately, she acknowledges these parallels and differences in a characteristic conclusion. Sparing Max’s life, she seems merciful, but by leaving him in the desert, she’s hardly done anything just.
Tina Turner lent more than just her acting talent toMad MaxBeyond Thunderdome. Although composerMaurice Jarremade most of the soundtrack for the film,Beyond Thunderdomeopens and closes with Turner’s music. She created two original songs for the movie: “One of the Living,” which plays over the opening credits, and “We Don’t Need Another Hero,” which plays in the closing credits. Both songs are catchy hits, the former earning Turner a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 1986, and the latter becoming a commercial success as well as receiving a Golden Globe Nomination for Best Original Song. These were among very few accolades that the film earned, the only other significant ones being a Best Sound Editors nomination from the Golden Reel Awards, a few Saturn Award nominations, and an Image Award win from the NAACP for Turner as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture. Overall, the film has two trophies to its name, and Turner is responsible for both of them.
The thirdMad Maxfilm is not often looked back upon with fond memories. It performed worse than its two predecessors by both critical and commercial measures and put the series on hiatus for nearly three decades before 2014’sFury Roadredeemed it. Nevertheless, Turner’s involvement with the movie has indeed stood the test of time. Her astute casting,stellar performance, and powerful songsare some of the movie’s highest points. In the wake of the singer’s recent passing, perhapsBeyond Thunderdomedeserves a re-watch if only to relive and applaud Turner’s multifarious talents one more time.
