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Mad Max (1979)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
12 April 1979 (Australia)
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Tagline:
The Maximum Force of the Future. more
Plot:
In a dystopic future Australia, a vicious biker gang murder a cop's family and make his fight with them personal. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
4 wins
&
4 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(210 articles)
Gibson Ends Speculation On Mad Max 4
(From FilmShaft.com. 20 November 2009, 12:27 AM, PST)
Mel Gibson sounds off on not being cast in new ‘Mad Max’
(From Reel Loop. 18 November 2009, 4:58 AM, PST)
(From FilmShaft.com. 20 November 2009, 12:27 AM, PST)
Mel Gibson sounds off on not being cast in new ‘Mad Max’
(From Reel Loop. 18 November 2009, 4:58 AM, PST)
User Comments:
This film proved that there is unlimited potential for Australian Films
more (195 total)
US TV Schedule:
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Mel Gibson | ... | Max |
 | Joanne Samuel | ... | Jessie |
| Hugh Keays-Byrne | ... | Toecutter |
| Steve Bisley | ... | Jim Goose |
| Tim Burns | ... | Johnny the Boy |
| Roger Ward | ... | Fifi |
 | Lisa Aldenhoven | ... | Nurse |
| David Bracks | ... | Mudguts |
| Bertrand Cadart | ... | Clunk |
 | David Cameron | ... | Underground Mechanic |
| Robina Chaffey | ... | Singer |
| Stephen Clark | ... | Sarse |
| Mathew Constantine | ... | Toddler |
| Jerry Day | ... | Ziggy |
| Reg Evans | ... | Station Master |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
88 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
UK:X (theatrical rating) |
Singapore:NC-16 |
Netherlands:16 |
UK:18 (cut) (1986) |
Ireland:18 |
Brazil:16 |
Italy:VM18 |
Argentina:16 (re-rating) (1999) (uncut) |
Argentina:X (original rating) |
Argentina:18 (re-rating) (1982) (cut) |
USA:TV-MA (cable rating) |
Australia:R |
Canada:18+ (Quebec) |
Canada:18A (special edition) |
Canada:R |
France:-16 (re-rating) |
France:X (original rating) |
New Zealand:(Banned) (original rating) |
New Zealand:R18 (re-rating) |
Norway:18 |
South Korea:18 |
Spain:18 |
Sweden:(Banned) |
UK:18 |
USA:R |
West Germany:18 |
Finland:K-18 |
Germany:BPjM Restricted
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Steve Bisley's eyes are red & puffy because he had to spend hours suspended in the truck.
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Goofs:
Continuity: When Max and Jessie first take off for their vacation, it's just the two of them (no baby). There's no baby anywhere when they're on the beach initially either. The baby first appears at the gas station, when Jessie tells Max that she's going to buy an ice cream cone.
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Quotes:
Goose:
[via radio] Max.
Max: [via radio] Go ahead.
Goose: We are 100% SNAFU.
Max: You ok?
Goose: Nothin' a year in the tropics wouldn't fix.
Max: Much damage?
Nightrider: [via radio] You should see the damage, bronze. Huh? metal damage, brain damage. Heheheh. You listen bronze. I am the Nightrider. I'm a fuel injected suicide machine. I am the rocker, I am the roller, I am the out-of-controller! I'm the Nightrider, baby,
[unintelligible]
Nightrider: , and we ain't never comin' back!
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Max: [via radio] Go ahead.
Goose: We are 100% SNAFU.
Max: You ok?
Goose: Nothin' a year in the tropics wouldn't fix.
Max: Much damage?
Nightrider: [via radio] You should see the damage, bronze. Huh? metal damage, brain damage. Heheheh. You listen bronze. I am the Nightrider. I'm a fuel injected suicide machine. I am the rocker, I am the roller, I am the out-of-controller! I'm the Nightrider, baby,
[unintelligible]
Nightrider: , and we ain't never comin' back!
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Movie Connections:
Featured in Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008)
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FAQ
An urban myth is the stuntman on the bridge was killed when hit by his own bike. Does anyone have proof this is true ?Build your own black interceptor replica.
Did Goose and Jesse die?
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more (195 total)
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Dr. George Miller's low budget Mad Max movies impacted on Australian culture and altered the perception of Australia and Australians overseas in a way that no other Australian film had done. Discourses such as man and the environment, fear provoking post-apocalyptic future, family, masculinity in crisis, good versus evil (Max as an iconic hero), Australian ethos and car culture, often featured within Australian films, are presented in a stark and dramatic way. The cinematographic impact is powerful; the human and emotional appeal is timeless.
Australia's barren deserts presented the ideal setting for a post-apocalyptic environment. The movie set is more identifiable as Australia as it was filmed around the city of Melbourne. Long deserted roads feature significantly in the film and the cinematographic device of taking long distant shots of Max demonstrates how small he is in the scale of the environment that he is living. It is a relentless, unforgiving environment which demands defeat or survival and marks the characters which play upon its stage.
Just as the physical setting is stark and desolate, the time setting and its associated events create an atmosphere of fear and foreboding which plays on the minds and emotions of contemporary viewers. In this fear provoking post apocalyptic future the few survivors of the nuclear holocaust are in warfare with one another, the rebel bikers and the police.
Good versus evil is a dominant discourse in many film genres and one which embraces the Australian ethos. Max possesses some highly valued "Australian" traits; in particular, those of the underdog, the battler, the hero. External forces beyond his control stop him from "winning" completely. Contrary to the Hollywood hero, the Australian hero is a pawn in the game of others, which explains why Max can never quite "win" in absolute terms. There is little public glorification of success in Australia; heroes are remembered for their style rather than for their achievements. (Venkatasawmy, 1996) Mad Max represented a tradition hero, a hero to whom many diverse cultures are able to relate, as a story of a lone hero is a story that goes back through centuries of storytelling, and as a consequence the film achieved colossal success within Australian and around the world. The Australian cultures and lifestyles shown throughout these films give Australians an understanding of their country in the landscape, the language, and the way we treat people, life and life in exceptional circumstances.
Reference Venkatasawmy, R. (1996), Australian Film in the Reading Room: The Hybridity of Film-making in Australian National Cinema: Formulating a Cinematic Post-Diaspora. Retrieved March 14, 2005, from http://wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/rama/CHAPT4.htm