MAD MAX 2:
THE ROAD WARRIOR
_________________________________________________________
CREDITS
DIRECTOR:
George
Miller
PRODUCER:
Byron
Kennedy
SCRIPT:
Terry
Hayes, George Miller, Brian Hannant
CINEMATOGRAPHER:
Dean
Semler
EDITOR:
Michael
Balson, David Stiven, Tim Wellburn
MUSIC:
Brian
May
PRODUCTION
DESIGN:
Graham
‘Grace’ Walker
RUNNING
TIME:
95
minutes
AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR:
Roadshow
Cast
‘Mad’
Max Rockatansky Mel
Gibson
The
Gyro Captain Bruce
Spence
Pappagallo Michael
Preston
The
Toadie Max
Phipps
Wez Vernon
Wells
The
Humungus Kjell
Nilsson
The
Feral Kid Emil
Minty
Warrior
Woman Virginia
Hey
Zetta William
Zappa
The
Captain’s Girl Arkie
Whiteley
Mechanic Steve
J. Spears
Curmudgeon Syd
Heylen
Big
Rebecca Moira
Claux
Nathan David
Downer
Quiet
Man David
Slingsby
Mel Gibson as
‘Max’ with the…. “last of the V8 Interceptors”.
“……I'm
just here for the gasoline.”
Plot Synopsis
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior is the second film in
George Miller’s Mad Max trilogy. In a post-apolcalyptic outback setting,
Max (Mel Gibson) roams the
wastelands as a lone warrior in search of fuel to survive. By way of chance he is lead (by Gyro Captain played by
Bruce Spence) to a small colony of
survivors who have been refining their own fuel supplies in order to make it out to
‘Paradise’.
The
wastelands are ruled by the Humungus (the Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla), and
his gang of deviants, (a strange mix of S&M punk bandits) who want to get
their hands on the fuel and are prepared to wait it out and fight for it. There
are some amazing car-chase scenes that ensue, which is surely one of the
highlights of this film. Petrol
heads will not be disappointed, as
the “last of
the V8 Interceptors” is put to work. The gang violence is menacingly portrayed in a world where there
are no longer any laws, other than the survival
of the fittest.
Mad
Max 2: The Road Warrior is a classic tale of good v’s evil, one that sets
up
social order v’s anarchy in an environment where all sense of governance justice
and control have been destroyed.
Max unwillingly becomes the colony’s
only way out, by getting past the gang and bringing back the truck to haul
the tanker of precious fuel. He
makes a deal with the leader Papgallo (played
by Michael Preston) and then is overpowered himself by Humungus’s dogs of war when he attempts to
escape alone. (However- he does
take out a few bad guys as the last of the V8 Interceptors goes up in flames).
Rescused by the Gyro Captain and with nothing to
lose, Max volunteers for the job of driving the tanker, which leads to one of
the most incredible car-chase / road scenes in history. Max finds redemption in aiding the
survivalof the people of the colony, in particular The Feral Kid (Emil Minty);
when he was unable to save his own son in Mad Max.
Mad
Max 2: The Road Warrior is an action-packed road thriller, reminiscient
of
the American Western films; where if the good guys can’t drive the bad
guys out, they’ll drive themselves out guns blazing. This film had great success at both the
Australian and American box offices, and Australian cinema advertising was run
with the slogan: “It’s our Star Wars!”.
One
of the classic all-time cult road flicks, and most certainly the best of the Mad
Max
trilogy, The Road Warrior withstands the test of time.
“When all
that’s left is one last chance, pray that he’s still out
there.....somewhere!”
Critical Review
Mad
Max II: The Road Warrior was released as a sequel to 1979’s Mad Max, in 1982. The original Mad Max was most certainly one
of the first domestic product that had real success internationally in terms of
box office attendance. The slogan
on promotional advertising and posters for the film touted “It’s
our Star Wars” and “Everyone is seeing Australia’s Star Wars-
don’t you miss it!” (probably one of the single-most popular
blockbuster films of international cinema history).
The
1980’s was another decade of growth in Australian Cinema; characterised
by an increase of Australian product in the form of Hollywood blockbuster-style
films of the dominant US international cinema. The Road Warrior didn’t disappoint
audiences in Australia or overseas.
Government
legislation introduced at this time in the form of tax concession 10BA proved
profitable for private investors; whom encouraged to provide financial backing
for the film industry and rewarded with significant monetary gains on their
investment. This shaped the style
of films being produced in Australia in several ways.
In
order for films to be successfully marketed in the international arena,
distributors were more likely to purchase films that starred big name actors
and that were made by known directors to ensure box office success and
profits. In Australia at this
time, there were not as many well-known Australian actors whom had ‘made
it’ in American films, contrary to the current status quo of the
noughties.
In
the third film of the Mad Max trilogy, Beyond Thunderdome, Tina Turner not only
starred in a lead role in the film, she also sang the theme song from the
film’s soundtrack. The third
film is by far the one with the biggest budget, set design and marketing; and provides
an example of the “80’s excesses” of the blockbuster genre. The
focus of this criticism is the sequel, Mad Max II: The Road Warrior; however I feel it
necessary to place it within context of the other two films that make up the
trilogy and will refer to these intermittently for the purposes of this review.
Mad
Max II
is somewhat unique in that it has an all-Australian cast, filmed entirely in
Australia by an Australian production team. It did not require an American big-name actor in the
lead role of Max Rockatanski to prove successful domestically or
internationally. Filmed in the
outback town of Broken Hill in NSW, the stunt-driving sequences are
stylistically set against a lonely, dry and somewhat eerie landscape that is
featured strongly throughout so many Australian films.
Max’s
sense of loss and the utter hopelessness of what the world has become are
echoed in the ravaged post-apocalyptic landscape dotted with survivors
scavenging for a meek existence.
The cold war between USA and Russia during the Reagan administration of
the 80’s was a feature in American politics, so in this context the film
pointed at possiblities if the threat of nuclear war was acted upon. The film was socially relevant with a
narrative that concerns itself with the cultural affectations of survival,
lawlessness, classlessness, anarchy, community and violence in a variety of
forms.
The
Road Warrior surpasses
the broad unity of the “Australian” genre of filmmaking and is
easily translated into other cultural realms in the international sense. Max is a lone, unwilling hero whom
eventually sacrifices himself for the greater good of the group he finds
himself unintentionally a part of.
This mythologizing of the ‘hero’ is more a characteristic of
International cinema than Australian national cinema, and the post-apocalyptic
setting could be in any country destroyed by nuclear war. It picked up on an underlying political
threat in the decade and transcended the sometimes disadvantageous constriction
of the “Australian” genre to International box-office success.
The
Road Warrior most certainly contains some national
specifities in terms of the theoretical concept of film unity. The characters are predominantly male,
white and heterosexual; in congruence with other films of the action blockbuster
genre in the international milieu.
The character of the Warrior Woman (played by Virginia Hey) is one of
strength and equality to the males she fights alongside. This is contrasted
with the lack of strong female presence in Mad Max, where the women tend to
be the victims of the sexual assaults and violence perpetrated by the vicious
gangs, however Hey’s character is not a victim and goes down fighting for
the greater good that she believes in saving and is a valued part of. In Beyond Thunderdome this is also transcended
with the presence of Tina Turner’s “Aunty” character who
rules over Bartertown; so there are some negotiations of gender in the historic process of the
narrative of the entire three films; which is reflected in the rise of feminism
in society from the 1970’s to date.
There
is a theme of sexual deviancy and homosexuality that runs through the first two
Mad Max
films, assigned largely to the violent gangs that terrorise the landscape. In the 1980’s, AIDS awareness was
just beginning and homosexuality was certainly not as openly discussed as it is
in the present; let alone represented positively in the media at this
time. Homosexuality is almost
compartmentalised in this way and attributed to the ‘deviant’
behaviour of the gang members.
When women are encountered they are assualted and denigraded, not valued
or seen as contributing to the group as a whole in any way. This viewpoint that is presented could be said to be
in sync with the social and public concerns of the time, however dated it may
seem in comparison with homosexual representation of the present; (films like Priscilla,
Queen of the Desert
and The Sum of Us,
where homosexuality is celebrated).
The
classic narrative set-up of good v’s evil is presented, but with a twist.
Max isn’t exactly a “good guy”, but he’s not all
“bad” either. The gang
members lead by the Humungus are an anarchic collection of punk misfits, that
symbolize not only the immediate threat to the colony of survivors protecting
their fuel and thus their freedom; but also the real threat to the death of
society in a land without laws and social justice.
Max
Rockatansky, (previously an officer of the law in the first Mad Max film), lost faith in
the law he was paid to uphold when he lost his family. Max eventually chooses to assist the
colony and drive the tanker to safety when his vehicle is destroyed by the
gang, rather than choose to do nothing. He re-mythologizes himself as the
‘hero’ in doing so, and it is because he still has a sense of
‘decency’ (when all sense of the term seems lost) in encountering a
group of people whom too have suffered loss. It could be said that his actions are what “any decent
human being would do” when faced with such extreme dilemmas in a world
gone mad; the audience are invited to participate in the myth. The Road Warrior was even marketed with
the slogan...”When all that’s left is one last chance, pray that
he’s still out there.....somewhere!” In
classic Hollywood formula- when all is lost the hero saves the day..........and
Max does just that.
The
international web presence confirms the continued success of all three Mad
Max
films almost 20 years since the last of the triology was made, particularly
with the advent of DVD technology into the mainstream culture. All three films are available on DVD
“special edition’ release in varying formats across differing
countries. Mad Max II: The Road Warrior is an excellent example
of how Australian cinema transformed itself yet again in order to survive and
be successful in the international arena.
Australian national cinema is one that is continually evolving and
re-inventing itself as a strong entity in the international milieu, and
provides strong influence to both international cinema, and other national
cinemas within the film industry.
Web Presence
There’s
a huge web presence for all three of the Mad Max movies. When I put
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior into the Google search engine on the Internet,
It came up with 19,200 related sites in 0.10 seconds, (that’s impressive!)
The
Internet Movie Database has very thorough listings for all three of the
Mad
Max
films, as well as extensive coverage of and links to, all cast and crew and other projects.
I
was able to locate an interesting article entitled ‘Mad Max, Reaganism
and The
Road Warrior’
by J. Emmett Winn , which provides and analyses and
comparison
of the rise of the hero film around the time of the Reagan/Bush
administration
in the 1980’s.
There
will be a Mad Max 2 reunion - ‘Back 2 The Max’ July 13-14 2002
in
Broken Hill, NSW Australia to mark the 21st Anniversary of the film. This will
include scheduled screenings of the first two Mad Max films, and a guided tour of the areas
where the films were originally shot.
Another site, Allscifi.com has a Road Warrior Fan Club, as well as
links to a Road Warrior Message Board and Main Page. There are several film reviews by submitted by different individuals
available for perusal.
One film review site ForeignFilms.com (an
American site) has several film reviews available also. I just found it amusing that Road
Warrior
was
classified
as a ‘foreign’ film!
The
script for Road Warrior is available
in PDF or Word format from another
American site, which is definately worth a read to see how Miller brought the characters to life.
My favourite site that I found was Goblin Toys
, they
have 6 inch dolls available that were based on the characters from Mad Max
2: The Road Warrior.
Max even has ‘dog’ with his doll, and Humungus comes with removable
mask! You can play Mad Max til your heart’s content!!YAY!
Printed Literature
I was able to locate
articles related to Mad Max via the internet and found the following movie magazines that contained printed material
regarding the Mad Max films:
Mad
Max: Beyond Thunderdome (Official Collector’s Edition-“Mad
Max Beyond Thunderdome” Souvenir
Magazine.)
USA,
Australia
Cinema Papers Issue #21, May-June
1979. Extensive Mad Max Production Report,
pp 365-371, Australia.
Cinema
Papers Issue #35, Nov-Dec 1981. Mad Max 2 Pictorial and pull-out
poster,
1981, Australia.
Movie
79 Magazine
Issue#3, Mad
Max
article on pp 40-43, 1979, Australia.
Movie
82 Magazine, Issue#1, Mad Max 2 article on pp 30-31,1982, Australia.
Movie 85 Magazine,
Issue#2, Mel Gibson (as
Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome)
Cover
only, 1985, Australia.
Movie
85 Magazine, Issue#3, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome Article,
pp
4-5. 1985, Australia.
American
Cinematographer Magazine, Vol.66-#9, September Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome Article, pp 68-78,
1985, USA.
Enterprise
Incidents Magazine, #16, April. Road Warrior article, pp19-26
1984,
USA.
SF
Movie Land Magazine, #31, July. Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
article,
pp 32-37, and p54. Front Cover,USA.
SF
Movie Land Magazine, #32, August. Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
article,
pp 33-39. Front Cover, USA.
SF
Movie Land Magazine, #33, September, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
article,
pp 13-15 and p64. USA.
Fantastic
Films Magazine, #30, August “Expanded Summer” edition.
Mad
Max2: The Road Warrior article and interviews, pp 56-62,1982, USA.
Fantastic
Films Magazine, #44, June, Mad Max2: The Road Warrior pictorial
and preview, pp36-37, Front Cover, 1985 USA.
Fantastic
Films Magazine, #45, July, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
Front
Cover, 1985, USA.
Fantastic
Films Magazine, #46, October, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome article,
pp24-29, 1985 USA.
Starburst
Magazine, Vol.4 #9, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior article pp 32-35
UK.
Starburst
Magazine, #57, George Miller Interview, pp 34-39, includes Mad Max
& Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior coverage and pictures,UK
Total
Film Magazine, Issue #2, March, ‘Carmageddon Supplement’. Mad
Max & Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior listed on pp25-26, 1997, UK
Australian
Video and Cinema Magazine, August, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome article pp20-21,
Australia.
Famous
Monsters Magazine, August, “The Road Warrior, A Ride On The
Wild
Side” article, pp48-51, 1982, USA
Warren’s
Film Fantasy 1983 Yearbook “The Road Warrior, A Ride On The
Wild
Side” article, pp28-31, 1983, USA
Cinefantastique
Mad Movies Magazine, #26 April, Mad Max and Mad Max 2: The
Road Warrior articles,
pp45-51, picture p55, Front Cover Pictures,1983, France.
Cinefantastique
Mad Movies Magazine, #32, Article on post-apocalyptic films
including
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior articles, pp46-50, Front Cover Pictures1983,
France.
Premiere
Magazine, Issue #65, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior article
pp
62-69, 1982, France.
Impact
Magazine Issue #36 Summaries of best action & horror films, heroes etc..
Mad Max cited
on pp31, 48 & 50. Front Cover picture, France.
Daredevils
Issue no. unknown, article “The World of the Road Warrior”
pp
19-22, USA.
Cinema
Magazine, November, “George ‘Mad Max’ Miller” article,
pp
576-580, 1982, Belgium.
Fantastique
Magazine, #22, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior article, pp53
Front
Cover Picture,France.
Moviegoer
Magazine, Vol. 2 #2, February, Interview with Mel Gibson for
The
Year of Living Dangerously and Mad Max 2: The Road Wariror,
pp8-11.
Bibliography
Internet Sites
(1) http://www.madmaxmovies.com
(2) http://www.madmaxmovies.com/films/madmax2/displayad.html
(3) http://www.madmaxmovies.com/films/madmax2/starwarsmain.html
(4) http://www.madmaxmovies.com/films/madmax2/starwarsreview.html
(5) http://www.madmaxmovies.com/archives/magazines/moviemagazines.html
(6) http://us.imdb.com
(7) http://google.com/search
(8) http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/FINE/juhde/winn972.htm
(9) http://wwwback2themax.com/
(10) http://www.allscifi.com
(11) http://www.foreignfilms.com/film.asp?film_id=2806
(12)
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/4367/immscript1.html
(13) http://goblinjp.com/goblin/newitem/other/madmax.html