The Road Warrior

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior is an unrivaled post-apocaplyptic/dystopian movie from the early 1980s. Film critic Robert Firsching provides a wonderfully succinct plot summary:

After a road battle with psychotic villain Wez (Vernon Wells), [Mad] Max meets up with the odd Gyro Captain (Bruce Spence), who takes him to the camp of a sympathetic group led by Pappagallo (Mike Preston). As Pappagallo's people are camped at a refinery, Max plans to take their oil -- more precious than gold in this world -- but eventually joins them to fight a band of marauders led by the evil Humungus (Kjell Nilsson).

All you really need to know is that the battle between Mad Max and Hummungus--shirtless, wearing some sort of hockey mask and clad in leather underwear--entails epic car chases, high speed collisions, and giant explosions. In a word: breathtaking.

The chase scenes feature vehicles that appear to be muscle car/tractor hybrids, which have been retrofitted with guns and arrow-launchers (yup), and are adorned with bits of pig iron. These Road Warrior-esque vehicles look like they have been sitting on blocks in someone's post-apocalyptic front yard for quite a while, and in this way, remind me of my childhood in Albuquerque, NM.

I think I would've really enjoyed watching this movie if I didn't have to watch it on our dull and flickering TV set, which is a total piece of shit.