In the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline-rich community get rid of a horde of bandits.In the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline-rich community get rid of a horde of bandits.In the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline-rich community get rid of a horde of bandits.
- Awards
- 8 wins & 12 nominations
- Pappagallo
- (as Mike Preston)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe dog used in the film, named simply "Dog", was obtained from a local dog pound and trained to perform in the film. Because the sound of the engines upset him (and in one incident, caused him to relieve himself in the car), he was fitted with special earplugs. After filming was complete, he was adopted by one of the camera operators.
- GoofsAfter the tanker has crashed, the remaining barbarians turn away and leave. However they were several hundred yards away from the crash site, and couldn't possibly have known that the tanker was full of sand else they wouldn't have chased it that far, and they wouldn't be able to see the sand from that angle/distance. Also the truck would still have been full of diesel, which they would normally have scavenged.
- 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 them all. Without fuel they were nothing. They'd built a house of straw. The thundering machines sputtered and stopped. Their leaders talked and talked and talked. But nothing could stem the avalanche. Their world crumbled. The cities exploded. A whirlwind of looting, a firestorm of fear. Men began to feed on men. On the roads it was a white line nightmare. Only those mobile enough to scavenge, brutal enough to pillage would survive. The gangs took over the highways, ready to wage war for a tank of juice. And in this maelstrom of decay, ordinary men were battered and smashed... men like Max... the warrior Max. In the roar of an engine, he lost everything... and became a shell of a man... a burnt-out, desolate man, a man haunted by the demons of his past, a man who wandered out into the wasteland. And it was here, in this blighted place, that he learned to live again.
- Alternate versionsSlightly censored when first released in the US, but released without cuts abroad. The Australian version has several more seconds of Wez pulling the arrow out of his arm, and a few more seconds of Wez's partner on the ground with the boomerang embedded in his head. This footage was absent on the US VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD releases, but is present in the US Blu-ray release.
- ConnectionsEdited from Mad Max (1979)
After so many years The Road Warrior still remains one of the most exhilarating action films to ever grace the screen. The car chases are as excitingly pulse-pounding as ever and no film has yet to surpass the final chase as the best in movie history. Yes, in terms of pure action, not many films have been able to equal The Road Warrior's thrills.
The film takes place presumably years after the conclusion of Mad Max. The world has been devastated by a third world war and has suffered a setback by he rarity of gasoline. The loner, Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) is still wandering around the Australian wasteland, thousands of miles from civilization, in search of gasoline. He comes across a gyro-pilot (Bruce Spence), who tells him of a compound that's producing fuel.
Max brings the pilot along with him and studies the compound from atop a cliff. It seems a large gang also wants the gasoline and has been besieging the refinery for a long time now. They are a pack of madmen, led by the Humungus, a hugely muscular man who wears a hockey mask to cover his face. An attempt is made by the people inside the compound to find a rig large enough to haul the fuel but the effort is brought down when Humungus' men take down all the cars.
Max, finding a perfect moment to strike a bargain, makes a deal with one of the survivors and makes it to the compound. Eventually, he makes another deal there, as he tells the people inside that in return for as much gasoline as he can carry, he'll bring the rig to them. What follows is classic edge-of-the-seat action entertainment.
Having inspired dozens of rip-offs, The Road Warrior still remains the best of the bunch due to the great lead performance from Mel Gibson and the unrivalled car chases, which are very much worth mentioning. The movie begins with a rousing commentary over the events that led to the destruction of government. What follows next is a short and exciting car chase. True, the following half-hour does move by a bit slowly, but it all builds up to a lightning paced final 45 minutes.
The final chase, in particular, is an exercise in action craftsmanship. Director George Miller has staged one of the most brilliant and downright exciting action scenes ever. So many spectacular stunts and on-road carnage occur during this sequence, to describe it simply wouldn't do it justice.
Miller's cinematography is decidedly Un-Hollywood. He gives us many breathtaking camera angles, some of which are sometimes a bit shaky, which serves to make the action even more involving. Looking back at the film now, it might not appeal to a wide range of viewers. The odd characters (mainly the villains), ultra-violence, dark tone, and the sparse dialogue may seem a little too offbeat for some people.
Mel Gibson remains the only world-renowned actor in the whole film. He does a terrific job as the character Max, one of his best and most interesting characters. The development of Max is another intriguing component of The Road Warrior, and serves the film by giving it a human edge by featuring Max's slow transformation from loner to savior. Not only that, Gibson also creates a great action hero. There's not a moment in the film when we aren't rooting for Max to smash Humungus and his gang. Bruce Spence as the gyro-pilot is decent in his role and offers the film's few humorous moments.
Virginia Hey is also pretty good as the Warrior Woman, and though the script doesn't exactly give her a lot to do, she plays the part well. Mike Preston also shows a lot of honor as the compound's leader.
On the other side of the equation are the actors who portray the villains. Surprisingly enough, though the characters are outlandish, no one ever goes over-the-top. Vernon Wells and Kjell Nilson are absolutely menacing and frightening as the lead villains, Wez and Humungus. They personify evil itself, creating characters who we truly grow to despise.
To be honest, I am a little surprised that the critics enjoyed this every bit as much as I did. The film doesn't delve very deeply into philosophical issues and doesn't exactly have a lot of grand things to say. I suppose with the acclaim this film received goes to show that critics do truly watch movies primarily for entertainment.
As I mentioned before, the film was the benchmark of a genre that grew in popularity. The premise of a loner helping a group of people in need has been used a bit too much now. Most notably is the big-budget flop, Waterworld (which is a good movie I recommend), though none have yet to match the outright intensity of The Road Warrior.
- jiangliqings
- Feb 28, 2001
- Permalink
- How long is The Road Warrior?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Mad Max 2, guerrero de la carretera
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $3,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $23,667,907
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $2,527,864
- May 23, 1982
- Gross worldwide
- $23,670,853
- Runtime1 hour 36 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1