Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

After being exiled from the most advanced town in post apocalyptic Australia, a drifter travels with a group of abandoned children to rebel against the town's queen.

Directors:

George Miller, George Ogilvie

Writers:

Terry Hayes, George Miller

Stars:

Mel Gibson, Tina Turner, Bruce Spence

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mel Gibson	...	Mad Max Rockatansky
Bruce Spence	...	Jedediah the Pilot
Adam Cockburn	...	Jedediah Jr.
Tina Turner	...	Aunty Entity
Frank Thring	...	The Collector
Angelo Rossitto	...	The Master
Paul Larsson	...	The Blaster
Angry Anderson	...	Ironbar
Robert Grubb	...	Pig Killer
George Spartels	...	Blackfinger
Edwin Hodgeman	...	Dr. Dealgood
Bob Hornery	...	Waterseller
Andrew Oh	...	Ton Ton Tattoo
Ollie Hall	...	Aunty's Guard
Lee Rice	...	Aunty's Guard

Storyline

Bartertown is a city on the edge of a desert that has managed to retain some technology if no civilization. Max has his supplies stolen and must seek shelter there in a post apocalyptic world where all machines have begun to break down and barbarians hold what is left. He becomes involved in a power struggle in this third Mad Max film where he must first survive the town, survive the desert and then rescue the innocent children he has discovered.

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Plot Keywords:

post apocalypse | cage match | australian outback | group of children | death match | 

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Taglines:

MIGHTY MAX!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [UK] Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 July 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Filming Locations:

Far Northern South Australia, South Australia, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,283,714, 17 July 2012, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$36,200,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kennedy Miller Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Australia this film is simply referred to as "Mad Max 3". There are four films in the franchise, so far. Mad Max (1979) is the first. The second film, The Road Warrior (1981), was released in the United States as simply The Road Warrior (released and referred to as Mad Max 2 in Australia). It was not marketed as a Mad Max film upon its American release, for fear of its foreign credentials hurting its U.S. box-office. This has caused confusion for Americans who thought it was just a stand alone film, but it is definitely the second in the Mad Max franchise, all produced and directed by George Miller. IMDB now lists the second film as "The Road Warrior". Quentin Tarantino, a teenager when it was released, accidentally calls it "The Road Warrior", before correcting himself and calling it "Mad Max 2" in the documentary Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008), which explored Australian exploitation cinema. The recently released Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) is the fourth in the franchise, and the first to not star Mel Gibson.

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Goofs

When Max "parks" his weapons, we hear the sound of 15 separate items (counting the shotgun shells as one item) hitting the counter, yet when he's finished, there are only about 7 items in the pile. Also, he puts his shotgun down second, on the right side of the counter. It immediately disappears for several shots and then reappears on the left side.

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Quotes

Aunty Entity: Do you know who I was? Nobody. Except on the day after, I was still alive. This nobody had a chance to be somebody.

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Crazy Credits

Dedication: "...for Byron"

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Alternate Versions

Scenes filmed but cut from the final film: Max comforting the dying Ghekko while facing Bartertown from the desert dunes and telling him it's Tomorrowmorrow land (this scene can be glimpsed in the Tina Turner video for We Don't Need Another Hero.) Max waking in Crack in Earth in the middle of the night and remembering his wife Jessie and crying, realising he is no better than the people he has hunted for so long.

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Connections

Referenced in Waiting... (2005)

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Soundtracks

Toreador Song
from 'Carmen' (uncredited)
By Georges Bizet

User Reviews

Gorgeous, delirious post-apocalypse fable

Who could not love this movie? It's got more imagination than five average postbomb flicks, incredible visual design, enough alternate societies with enough backstory apiece for three more movies (including an aboriginal clan who look like Peter Pan's Lost Boys and speak a dialect you'll be copying for days after you see it), car chases, amazing costumes, one of the most original death-duel sequences ever, Tina Turner, *and* Mel Gibson! I mean, goddamn, what more do you want? I personally want another movie just set in Bartertown AND a movie that follows what happens to Anna Goanna and her clan, and they don't even have to have Mel Gibson in them - that's how rich I think the imaginative depth of this movie is. I like it more every time I see it. Genuinely something special.