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I have the Mad Max blu ray set and even that has the American dub as the default setting. You have to go into the menu to select the original Aussie version.

I recently rewatched all the Mad Max films, along with my brother who had only seen the original and Fury Road.

They stand up remarkably well.

Mad Max does so much with so little. There's a great atmosphere to the film and it feels like a real effort has been made to make everything as interesting as possible. The bit part characters are almost grotesques. For example, when they go to the country for sanctuary there's no reason for them to be staying with the caliper legged granny and her man-child son other than it makes things more interesting and adds a bit of flavour.
There are some pacing problems but it's still pretty great.

Mad Max 2 is my favourite. It's the archetype and is such a tight, thrilling ride. The first film reminded me of Leone with its grotesque characters (particularly the scene at the train station) and this just doubles down on that.

Beyond Thunderdome has lots to like too. Everything about Barter Town is fantastic. It feels very Cursed Earth. I actually like the idea of the valley populated by kids and it's handled pretty well. The child actors are very good. The biggest problem is with the soundtrack. The theme for the kids is more childish and sappy than anything that's actually on the screen. I'd actually like to watch it with the soundtrack removed to see what a difference it makes.

Fury Road is just an assault on the senses and a fantastically realised vision. There are some great performances in the film but I'm not 100% sold on Hardy as Max. I don't think he has Gibson's charisma.

I rate 2 as the best one, closely followed by Fury Road, with MM1 and Thunderdome joint third.

Gemini Man

A not-too-bad action thriller directed by Ang Lee and starring Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Clive Owen.
I enjoyed it but it felt really dated somehow - like it could have been sitting in a drawer for ten years. There's some pretty dodgy (and unnecessary) CGI going on and the film is spoiled pretty badly by the trailer and promo material.
Smith and Winstead are both good and Owen is his usual wooden self (this time with a dodgy American accent).
All in all, pretty fun but could have done with a better action director and a better baddie.

I find the obsession with the physical aesthetics of new consoles quite weird.
Last generation the Xbox One was getting stick for looking like a VHS player. Personally, I thought it was a good thing - a simple black box to sit under the telly.
This generation we have the extraordinarily ugly PS5, which, if I buy one is probably going to have to sit on the floor because it looks totally impractical to fit in my unit next to, or beneath the Sky box.

I'm not really buying the hype yet.
Last generation they were saying loading times would be a thing of the past. That was a load of rubbish. They also launched with hard drives which weren't really big enough.
For this generation all I really wanted was controllers with decent DPads (the PS5 still has the crappy segmented design) and a simple console design that would fit nicely under the telly.
It doesn't look like either will deliver on that score.

The kids absolutely ruin War of the Worlds for me.
There's loads I really like about the film but I gnash my teeth every time that bloody kid wants to stop the car and then walk about half a mile for a piss.
If aliens had invaded when I was a kid I'd have pissed myself in the car.

The Core is great fun!

Mail's double ender was in the trailer.

I think the 90s animated series did a really good job of nailing down archetypal versions of the characters.
Other than that I'll take the Grant /Breyfogle versions, but they didn't do a huge amount of work with the classic villains roster.

One character I've never had much time for is Poison Ivy. The minute they introduce ambulent man eating plants I switch off. I'd like to see the character as a smart, ruthless eco-warrior with specialist knowledge in botanical toxins. And she doesn't have to wear a green bikini.

Just like the Jedi.

You'll have to make do with Sandi Toksvig.

Mad Max

I'm doing a rewatch of all the MM films. My brother is watching at the same time and we're what's apping our observations as we go.

The first film is probably the most different to the rest of the series. Society is still just about hanging on, with utilities and the basic pillars of civilization still in place. There's a great feel of impending doom though.
The film isn't perfect. The pacing is all over the shop and there's very little in the way of characterisation. Max's wife is a barely sketched character and his kid - only referred to as Sprog - just exists with no interaction to the main character.
The action still stands up brilliantly though. The whole opening sequence with the Night Rider is really impressive - especially on a low budget.
The final act is pretty good too but I wish they'd made a bit more of Max cutting a swathe of vengeance through the Toecutter's gang. I suspect they'd have spent more time on this if they'd had the budget.
I really like how Toecutter's demise is kind of low key. Okay, there's a cool chase and a great stunt, but no personal reckoning in the 'you killed my family' vein.
More time is spent on Max's vengeance on the shittiest most snivelling shit of a gang member - the one you really want to punch. Still a memorable ending and one that made an impression when I first watched this as a kid. It's a very sudden ending though and, really, the film is most interesting as a precursor to what's coming.
Actually, another thing that's really impressive is the way everything and everyone are made as interesting, memorable (and weird) as possible (other than the wife and child). Everyone's a sort of pantomime grotesque. Fifi the police cheif, the guy with the voice synthesiser, Johnny Boy with his weird delivery, even the granny with her leg callipers.
Anyway, enough waffle, I really enjoyed it.

Looking forward to Mad Max 2. My brother's never seen that one.

I rewatched Beastmaster a few years ago and really enjoyed it.

That's beautiful and a really amazing achievement.

I cannot bare Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters. He's such a horrible character who I find it impossible to sympathise with. Totally ruins the film for me.

Cautiously optimistic for this but I think Spock is seriously mis-cast.