CRACKED MAX III: BEYOND BLUNDERDOME

MAD MAX: BEYOND THUNDERDOME (1985)
dirs: George Miller, George Ogilvie

CRACKED MAX III: BEYOND BLUNDERDOME
Cracked #217, January 1986
a: Bob Fingerman

The third in the series of our hero Max (Mel Gibson) in which he wanders through the desert in his camel-drawn carriage which is then stolen by flying pirate Jedidiah (Bruce Spence) and his son, forcing him to now roam through the desert on foot.

Max then happens upon Bartertown, led by Aunty Entity (Tina Turner). Master (Angelo Rossitto) is a little person who rides on the back of his bodyguard Blaster (Paul Larsson) runs the resources in Bartertown and Max is refused entry unless he fights Blaster in a gladiator match, which is sort of a combination of ultimate fighting and the Daffy Duck cartoon To Duck or Not to Duck.

Max almost wins the match, but instead is sent out into the wilderness, and found by a group sort of like the “lost boys” (except they're not all boys). Here they're drawn as every kid from the newspaper comics.

The children are all survivors of a plane crash abandoned by their parents, and think Max is the captain of that plane coming back to rescue. He tries to tell them he's not but ends up helping them on their quest to find civilization, and as they're pursued by Aunty Entity and her posse.

A big deal is made about Tina Turner doing acting, around that time there was a glut of musicians in movies with Cher, Madonna, Bette Midler, etc. Though it was never a passing fad, musicians have always moonlighted in acting and it continues to this day.