Films like Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) reads as Sombre, breathless, extreme action / sci-fi, inventive in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, cold. Every film below is ranked by distance across the same twelve hand-scored axes — with what it keeps, and where it walks away. Not a genre dump.

Duel to the Death (1983) poster
1. Duel to the Death1983

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the relentless forward drive — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

The Kid with the Golden Arm (1979) poster
2. The Kid with the Golden Arm1979

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the white-knuckle intensity — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Masked Avengers (1981) poster
3. Masked Avengers1981

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the white-knuckle intensity — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Fist of the White Lotus (1980) poster
4. Fist of the White Lotus1980

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a relentless forward drive.

Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976) (1976) poster
5. Master of the Flying Guillotine1976

Keeps the white-knuckle intensity and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a relentless forward drive.

The Shaolin Avengers (1976) poster
6. The Shaolin Avengers1976

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the white-knuckle intensity; trades toward a heightened unreality.

The Five Venoms (1978) poster
7. The Five Venoms1978

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a relentless forward drive.

Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell (1974) poster
8. Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell1974

Keeps the white-knuckle intensity and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a relentless forward drive.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) poster
9. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome1985

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a relentless forward drive.

Five Element Ninjas (1982) poster
10. Five Element Ninjas1982

Keeps the white-knuckle intensity and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a relentless forward drive.

Burning Paradise (1994) poster
11. Burning Paradise1994

Keeps the white-knuckle intensity and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a dense, packed storytelling.

Mad Max (1979)1979
12. Mad Max1979

Keeps the white-knuckle intensity and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a pitch-dark outlook.

These are Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior’s neighbours — where are yours?

Rate five posters and the same twelve axes read you — then tonight’s pick comes from your own centre of taste.

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