Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
"Mad Max 2" (original title)

In the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline rich, community escape a band of bandits.

Director:

George Miller

Writers:

Terry Hayes (screenplay), George Miller (screenplay),

Stars:

Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston

8 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mel Gibson	...	Max
Bruce Spence	...	The Gyro Captain
Michael Preston	...	Pappagallo (as Mike Preston)
Max Phipps	...	The Toadie
Vernon Wells	...	Wez
Kjell Nilsson	...	The Humungus
Emil Minty	...	The Feral Kid
Virginia Hey	...	Warrior Woman
William Zappa	...	Zetta
Arkie Whiteley	...	The Captain's Girl
Steve J. Spears	...	Mechanic
Syd Heylen	...	Curmudgeon
Moira Claux	...	Big Rebecca
David Downer	...	Nathan
David Slingsby	...	Quiet Man

Storyline

An former Australian policeman now living in the post-apocalyptic Australian outback as a warrior agrees to help a community of survivors living in a gasoline refinery to defend them and their gasoline supplies from evil barbarian warriors.

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Plot Keywords:

gasoline | warrior | refinery | australian | australia | 

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Taglines:

Only one man can make the differance

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 May 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Road Warrior

Filming Locations:

Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$2,527,864 (USA) (21 May 1982)

Gross:

$2,527,864 (USA) (21 May 1982)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kennedy Miller Entertainment, Kennedy Miller Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min 87 min (heavily cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) (as Dolby Stereo) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The costume department assembled the costumes by raiding - amongst others - junk shops, second hand clothing stores, sporting outlets and S&M shops.

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Goofs

Some steel plates protecting the truck's wheels reappear after the truck has crashed.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: My life fades. The vision dims. All that remains are memories. I remember a time of chaos. Ruined dreams. This wasted land. But most of all, I remember The Road Warrior. The man we called "Max". To understand who he was, you have to go back to another time. When the world was powered by the black fuel. And the desert sprouted great cities of pipe and steel. Gone now, swept away. For reasons long forgotten, two mighty warrior tribes went to war and touched off a blaze which engulfed...

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Connections

Referenced in Tropic Thunder (2008)

User Reviews

the best movie Gibson has ever been in

The first time I saw this at a friends recommendation was in 1985 on our brand new VHS vcr. I was absolutely blown away by it at the age of 16 and I still watch every few months on DVD now.I would give anything to see this on a big screen. This movie started a real trend for a lot of real crappy B movies to follow unfortunately and Mel Gibson has called this movie with an apologetic shrug 'classy B-grade trash' which is sad because it would prove to be his best movie by far. What I truly liked about this film was its lack of dialogue and how it was smart enough to let its settings, action and costumes do the talking. Perhaps this is why Gibson didn't have much praise for it because he is merely a representation of the Western gunslinger in the film. I liked how there was a sketchy explanation of how the world got into such an apocalyptic mess and lets the viewer make their own conclusion to that end. It's not important anyways. The lack of ammunition is indicated quickly through the Wez's use of a wrist-strapped crossbow, the very preciousness of gasoline is established quickly as well by Max's anxious mopping up of it and capturing it in a few make-shift items including a dusty soldier's helmet.

The original Mad Max had too much dialogue and proved problematic for the 18 year old Gibson to convey the emotion of losing his family and best friend. It had it's moments but in the end it lost it's impact due to it's own clumsy attempt at trying to establish the family-man Max. The Road Warrior didn't try to attempt any deep characterizations, the pain and suffering was quick and obvious, the need to just survive in this stark world conveyed through a few spoken words and violent actions. George Miller got it right with this one, unfortunately he had to make Mad Max first to get to Mad MaxII and horribly had to make Mad MaxIII.