By Robert Scucci
| Published 55 seconds ago
Ever since George Miller gave us the first Mad Max movie in 1979, moviegoers have been assaulted with cheap imitations, some of which are actually quite good. 1986’s Dead End Drive-In is a superb example of how a society in decline manages to operate before everything totally collapses. It exists in an early state of decay, showing how the powers that be still struggle to keep the common citizen under their thumbs, while the common citizen tries to navigate a bleak future looming over the horizon. More often, though, we get films like 1985’s Wheels of Fire, which might as well be called The Road Warrior, But Not As Cool.
In this film, we’re already occupying the wasteland, resources are scarce, and it’s every man for himself. There are trucks and explosions, and a rag-tag group of miscreants trying to fight off evil militias, with their only hope being to live another day before figuring out where they’re going to scavenge next. It’s a fun, action thriller B-movie, but most of the excitement I felt while watching it was over how awesome it’s going to be the next time I watch a Mad Max film. I’m way overdue to revisit Fury Road, and I have Wheels of Fire to thank for making me realize that.
The Ownership, True Believers, Rebel Gangs, And Lots Of Stuff Blowing Up
Wheels of Fire follows the adventures of Trace (Gary Watkins), a former member of a militia known as The Ownership. The Ownership’s entire reason for being is to establish stable communities where people can start rebuilding peacefully. Scavenging along with Trace is his sister, Arlie (Lynda Wiesmeier), and her boyfriend, Bo (Steve Parvin), but the group quickly gets broken up by a warlord named Scourge, who captures and enslaves Arlie, while Bo falls in with his gang.
Along the way, Trace befriends a lone mercenary named Stinger (Laura Banks), and the two cross paths with a group of Sand People and a psychic named Spike (Linda Grovenor), only to run into another community known as the True Believers. Scourge, who simply wants to rule over everybody, is hellbent on destroying both The Ownership and the True Believers if it means he gets to be the ruler of the wasteland. Lots of stuff blows up, everybody’s wearing leather in the desert, and you can only imagine just how bad everybody smells in this context.
A Quick And Fun Imitation
While I give credit to Wheels of Fire for having fun with a formula that was already perfected with 1981’s The Road Warrior, it’s also all over the place, and undermines its own adventure by trying to cram so much lore into such a short run time. The entire movie clocks in at 81 minutes, and just when you think things are getting going, the credits are already rolling. It’s one of those “drive off into the sunset” kind of movies, as it’s pretty obvious that nobody’s situation is going to improve overnight, and there’s still a long road ahead. In order for that to work, though, a film like Wheels of Fire has to be good enough to warrant a sequel that allows for that lore to properly build out.
Instead, we have a bunch of wasteland renegades on the adventure of a lifetime, but there’s such a lack of charisma that nobody seems like they want to be there at all. Even when the film was at its most intense, I kept thinking to myself, “Man, if I were there, I’d go out in an epic blaze of glory unlike these clowns.” The most we get here is some yelling and a bunch of marauders sauntering around the desert haphazardly, simply going where the screenplay tells them to walk.
Still, Wheels of Fire is such a low-stakes film that any fan of that dusty and crusty Mad Max flavoring will find enjoyment in its aesthetic because you really can’t go wrong with it, which is why we’re still silently holding out hope for another Mad Max movie that we’ll probably never get. Though there are murmurs of a TV series in development, so never say never.
As of this writing, you can stream Wheels of Fire for free on Tubi.