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''Mad Max 2'' (released as ''The Road Warrior'' in the United States) is a 1981 Australian
post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...
action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
directed by George Miller. It is the second installment in the ''
Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian post-apocalyptic Action film, action film series and media franchise created by George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with ''Mad Max (film), Mad Max'', and was followed by thre ...
'' franchise, with
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocaly ...
reprising his role as "Mad" Max Rockatansky. The film's tale of a community of settlers moved to defend themselves against a roving band of marauders follows an archetypical "
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
" frontier movie motif, as does Max's role as a hardened man whose decision to assist the settlers helps him rediscover his humanity. Filming took place in locations around
Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...
, in the
Outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...
of
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
. The film was released on 24 December 1981 to widespread critical acclaim, with particular praise given to Gibson's performance, the musical score, cinematography, action sequences, costume design and sparing use of dialogue. It was also a box office success, and the film's post-apocalyptic and punk aesthetics helped popularise the genre in film and
fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...
writing. At the
10th Saturn Awards The 10th Saturn Awards, honoring the best in Science fiction film, science fiction, Fantasy film, fantasy and Horror film, horror film in 1982, were held on July 30, 1983. Winners and nominees Below is a complete list of nominees and winners. ...
, the film won Best International Film and was nominated for five more awards:
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...
, Best Actor for Gibson, Best Supporting Actor for
Bruce Spence Bruce Spence (born 17 September 1945) is a New Zealand–Australian actor. Spence has amassed over 100 film and television credits and has also acted in theatre. Biography Spence won an AFI Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1971 comedy ...
, Best Writing, and Best Costumes for Norma Moriceau. ''Mad Max 2'' is widely hailed as both one of the greatest action movies of all time and one of the greatest sequels ever made, and fan clubs for the film and "road warrior"-themed activities continue into the 21st century. Preceded by ''
Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian post-apocalyptic Action film, action film series and media franchise created by George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with ''Mad Max (film), Mad Max'', and was followed by thre ...
'' in 1979, the film was followed by ''
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome ''Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'' is a 1985 Australian post-apocalyptic dystopian action film directed by George Miller and George Ogilvie and written by Miller and Terry Hayes. It stars Mel Gibson and Tina Turner in a story of a lone roving warri ...
'' in 1985 and '' Mad Max: Fury Road'' in 2015.


Plot

After a
global war A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...
resulted in widespread oil shortages, civilization collapsed, and the world descended into barbarism. Now, former policeman Max Rockatansky, haunted by the death of his family, drives his
supercharged In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...
black V-8
Pursuit Special The Pursuit Special, also referred to as the Last of the V8 Interceptors, is the iconic black GT Falcon muscle car featuring a distinctive supercharger driven by the title character Mad Max during much of the ''Mad Max'' franchise, where it app ...
around the desert wilderness of
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, scavenging for food and petrol with his
Australian Cattle Dog The Australian Cattle Dog (ACD), or simply Cattle Dog, is a breed of herding dog originally developed in Australia for droving cattle over long distances across rough terrain. This breed is a medium-sized, short-coated dog that occurs in two m ...
. He outmaneuvers a small group of marauders led by the unhinged biker Wez using his driving skills and a
sawed-off shotgun A sawed-off shotgun (also called a sawn-off shotgun, short-barreled shotgun, shorty or a boom stick) is a type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel—typically under —and often a shortened or absent stock. Despite the colloquial term, ...
and gets some petrol from a wrecked
semi-truck A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semitruck, (or semi, eighteen-wheeler, big rig, tractor-trailer or, by synecdoche, a semitrailer) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer a ...
. Later, Max tries collecting an apparently abandoned
gyrocopter An autogyro (from Ancient Greek, Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift (force), lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an ...
's fuel, but is ambushed by the pilot. Max overpowers the man with his dog's help, sparing his life in return for being led to a working oil refinery the pilot has discovered. They arrive during the daily attack on the facility by a motley motorised gang, whose members include Wez. The next day, Max witnesses several cars leave the besieged compound and get chased down by marauders. He rescues the sole survivor of one car and strikes a deal to return him to the complex in exchange for fuel, but the man dies shortly after Max gets him back, and the leader of the settlers, Papagallo, reneges on the deal. The settlers are about to confiscate Max's car and cast him out of their compound when the marauders return to parley. A feral child who lives in the wasteland near the refinery kills Wez's partner with a metal boomerang and Wez wants revenge, but the gang's leader, a muscular masked man called "Lord Humungus", offers to spare the settlers' lives in exchange for their fuel supply and leaves for the day. With the settlers split about what to do, Max offers his own deal: he will bring them the semi-truck he saw earlier so they can try to haul away their tanker full of oil, if they return his car and give him as much fuel as he can carry. The settlers agree to let him try, and that night Max sneaks past the marauders on foot carrying fuel for the truck. He encounters the Gyro Captain and forces the man to fly him to the truck, which he is able to get started. It is somewhat damaged as Max passes through the marauders' encampment on the way back to the refinery, but he makes it, followed by the gyrocopter. Max refuses Papagallo's entreaty to accompany the settlers to a fabled northern paradise, opting instead to collect his fuel and leave. Wez catches him using Humungus's
nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and has a ...
-equipped vehicle and causes him to crash. A Marauder kills Max's dog and is about to kill the seriously-injured Max when a Marauder named Toadie attempts to siphon the fuel from the Pursuit Special's tanks, triggering the car to self-destruct. Left for dead, Max is rescued by the Gyro Captain and returned to the compound. Despite his injuries, Max insists on driving the repaired truck during the escape. His support consists of the Gyro Captain, Papagallo in a separate vehicle, three of the settlers on the outside of the armoured tanker, and the Feral Kid, who jumps on the truck as it is leaving. The marauders pursue the tanker, allowing the remaining settlers to flee their compound in a caravan of smaller vehicles after rigging the refinery to explode. Papagallo and the three settlers are killed and the Gyro Captain is shot down. Max turns the truck around and, as he is fighting with Wez, Humungus collides with the truck head on, killing Wez and himself. The truck rolls off the road and the surviving marauders survey the scene and leave. As Max carries the Feral Kid from the wrecked tanker, he sees sand, not oil, leaking from the tank. The Gyro Captain drives up and takes Max and the Feral Kid to rendezvous with the settlers, who transported the fuel in oil drums inside their vehicles. The Gyro Captain succeeds Papagallo as leader of the settlers and takes them north. The Feral Kid, revealing himself as the film's narrator, relates that he became "Chief of the Great Northern Tribe" when he grew up. He concludes by saying that he never saw the Road Warrior again.


Cast

*
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocaly ...
as "Mad" Max Rockatansky, a former member of the Australian highway patrol (the Main Force Patrol, or MFP) who, after a biker gang killed his family, left the force and hunted down and killed all of the gang members. The trauma of the events of ''
Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian post-apocalyptic Action film, action film series and media franchise created by George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with ''Mad Max (film), Mad Max'', and was followed by thre ...
'' transformed him into an embittered "shell of a man", but he still elects to assist the settlers with their plan in this film. Once his part is complete, however, "the Road Warrior" (as the narrator refers to him) becomes a drifter once again, choosing not to follow the settlers north. *
Bruce Spence Bruce Spence (born 17 September 1945) is a New Zealand–Australian actor. Spence has amassed over 100 film and television credits and has also acted in theatre. Biography Spence won an AFI Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1971 comedy ...
as The Gyro Captain, a wanderer who searches for fuel and supplies using a ramshackle old
gyrocopter An autogyro (from Ancient Greek, Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift (force), lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an ...
. He, too, decides to throw in his lot with the settlers and help defend their compound. Writing for ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'',
Richard Corliss Richard Nelson Corliss (March 6, 1944 – April 23, 2015) was an American film critic and magazine editor for ''Time''. He focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects. He was the former editor-in-chief of '' Film Commen ...
called the Captain "a deranged parody of the World War I aerial ace: scarecrow skinny, gaily clad, sporting a James Coburn smile with advanced
caries Tooth decay, also known as cavities or caries, is the breakdown of teeth due to acids produced by bacteria. The cavities may be a number of different colors from yellow to black. Symptoms may include pain and difficulty with eating. Complicatio ...
". Despite his quirks, the Captain proves to be wily and courageous, and he is chosen as the new leader of the settlers after the death of Pappagallo. *
Mike Preston Michael Preston (born Jack Davies; 14 May 1938) is an English international film and television actor, and singer, sometimes credited as Mike Preston. Life and career Preston was born in Metropolitan Borough of Hackney, Hackney, London, Engla ...
as Pappagallo, the idealistic leader of a group of settlers barricaded in an oil refinery. Even though the settlers' compound is besieged by a violent gang, Pappagallo "carries the weight of his predicament with swaggering dignity." * Max Phipps as The Toadie, the
crier A town crier, also called a bellman, is an officer of a royal court or public authority who makes public pronouncements as required. Duties and functions The town crier was used to make public announcements in the streets. Criers often dress ...
of Humungus' gang. An unkempt, bespectacled man who wears a decorated
mink Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera ''Neogale'' and '' Mustela'' and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the A ...
stole as a hat and has many automobile badges and hood ornaments on his clothes, his behaviour toward Humungus and Wez make him a classic
sycophant In modern English, sycophant denotes an "insincere flatterer" and is used to refer to someone practising sycophancy (i.e., insincere flattery to gain advantage). The word has its origin in the legal system of Classical Athens. Most legal cases o ...
. Toadie takes pleasure in physically abusing helpless prisoners, but the gang has little respect for him. *
Vernon Wells Vernon Michael Wells III (born December 8, 1978) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and the New York Yankees. Wells ...
as Wez, a mohawked, leather-clad biker who serves as Humungus' lieutenant.
Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...
, writing for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', called Wez the "most evil of The Humungus's followers... huge brute who rides around on his bike, snarling psychotically." In a 1985 interview with
Danny Peary Dannis Peary (born August 8, 1949) is an American film critic and sports writer. He has written and edited many books on cinema and sports-related topics. Peary is most famous for his book '' Cult Movies'' (1980), which spawned two sequels, '' Cu ...
, Miller said the characters of Wez and Max are near mirror images of each other, with each being chained by the leaders of their respective camps and both men spurred on by the death of a loved one—in Wez's case, the relatively recent death of the Golden Youth at the hand of the Feral Kid. In 2011, ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' magazine listed Wez as the greatest movie henchman of all time. * Kjell Nilsson as The Humungus, the violent, yet charismatic and articulate, leader of a "vicious gang of post-holocaust, motorcycle-riding vandals" who "loot, rape, and kill the few remaining wasteland dwellers". Announced by the Toadie as "The Lord Humungus. The Warrior of the Wasteland. The
Ayatollah Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیت‌الله, āyatollāh) is an Title of honor, honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Etymology The title is originally derived from ...
of Rock-and-Rollah.", The Humungus' "malevolence courses through his huge pectorals, pulses visibly under his bald, sutured scalp", and his face is never seen, as he wears a hockey goalie's mask. In the interview with
Danny Peary Dannis Peary (born August 8, 1949) is an American film critic and sports writer. He has written and edited many books on cinema and sports-related topics. Peary is most famous for his book '' Cult Movies'' (1980), which spawned two sequels, '' Cu ...
, Miller posited that he thought the character "was a former military officer who suffered severe facial burns," and that he "might have served in the same outfit as his counterpart, Pappagallo."Danny Peary on "Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior."
Thefilmist.wordpress.com. Retrieved on 18 November 2011.
*
Emil Minty Emil Minty (born 1972) is an Australian former child actor and jeweller. Career He played The Feral Kid, a feral child in the 1981 film '' Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior''. As an actor, he had no lines in the film. After ''Mad Max 2'', Minty had ...
as The Feral Kid, an eight-year-old boy who lives in the wasteland near the oil refinery. He speaks only in growls and grunts, wears shorts and boots made from hide, and defends himself with a metal boomerang that he can catch using an improvised mail glove. In the film's closing sequence, the narration that opens and closes the film (which is spoken by
Harold Baigent Harold Verdun Baigent (16 November 1916 – 9 March 1996), known as 'Baige', was a New Zealand theatre director, actor and arts manager. He trained as an actor in the USA at Yale University Drama School, and acted in Broadway theatre, Broadway ...
) is revealed to be the Feral Kid relating his youthful encounter with Max when he is an old man. *
Virginia Hey Virginia Hey (born 19 June 1952) is an Australian actress, known for her role as Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan in the science fiction television series ''Farscape'', playing the "Warrior Woman" in '' Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior'', and various roles in tele ...
as Warrior Woman, a settler who initially distrusts Max. * William Zappa as Zetta, a settler. *
Arkie Whiteley Arkie Deya Whiteley (6 November 1964 – 19 December 2001) was an Australian actress who appeared in television and film. Early life and education Whiteley's parents were the renowned Australian artist Brett Whiteley and cultural figure Wen ...
as The Captain's Girl, a beautiful young settler who chooses to stay with her compatriots rather than escape with the Gyro Captain, prompting him to stay as well. * Steven J. Spears as The Mechanic, a settler who is
paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...
. * Syd Heylen as Curmudgeon, an elderly settler who wears a military helmet and decorations. * Moira Claux as "Big" Rebecca, a settler who wields a bow and arrow and initially wants to take Humungus' offer of safe passage if they abandon their compound. * David Downer as Nathan, one of the settlers who leaves the compound to look for a truck to tow the oil tanker. He is wounded by some of Humungus' bikers and dies shortly after Max brings him back to the refinery. * David Slingsby as Quiet Man, a settler. * Kristoffer Greaves as Mechanic's Assistant, a settler. * Max Fairchild as Broken Victim, a settler who is caught and tied to the front of Humungus' car. Gibson and Fairchild are the only two actors who appear in both ''Mad Max'' and ''Mad Max 2'', though Fairchild portrays a different character in each film. * Tyler Coppin as Defiant Victim, a settler who is caught and tied to the front of Humungus' car. * Jerry O'Sullivan (credited as Jimmy Brown) as The Golden Youth, Wez's companion, who is killed by the Feral Kid's boomerang.


Production


Development

Following the release of ''
Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian post-apocalyptic Action film, action film series and media franchise created by George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with ''Mad Max (film), Mad Max'', and was followed by thre ...
'', director George Miller received a number of offers from Hollywood, including one to direct '' First Blood'', but he instead decided to develop a
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
movie, the working title of which was ''Roxanne''. After working together on the
novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...
of ''Mad Max'', Miller and
Terry Hayes Terry Hayes (born 8 October 1951) is an English-born Australian screenwriter, producer and author best known for his work with the Kennedy Miller film production house and his debut novel ''I Am Pilgrim''. Biography Born in Sussex, England, ...
teamed up in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
to write ''Roxanne'', but the script was ultimately shelved. Miller then became intrigued with the idea of returning to the world of ''Mad Max'', as a larger budget would allow him to be more ambitious. He said: "Making ''Mad Max'' was a very unhappy experience for me. I had absolutely no control over the final product," but "There was strong pressure to make a sequel, and I felt we could do a better job with a second movie." Inspired by
Joseph Campbell Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the ...
's ''
The Hero with a Thousand Faces ''The Hero with a Thousand Faces'' (first published in 1949) is a work of comparative mythology by Joseph Campbell, in which the author discusses his theory of the mythological structure of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world myt ...
'' and the work of
Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...
, as well as the films of
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...
, Miller recruited Hayes to join the production as a scriptwriter.
Brian Hannant Brian Hannant (born 13 February 1940) is an Australian filmmaker who worked for many years at Film Australia. Select Credits *''Three to Go'' (1970) - director *''Flashpoint (1972 film), Flashpoint'' (1972) - writer, director *''Mad Max 2'' (19 ...
also came on board as co-writer, first assistant director, and second unit director.


Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
took place over the course of twelve weeks in the winter of 1981 near
Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...
,
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
. The scene where the Pursuit Special rolls over and explodes was shot at Wilangee Road near the Mundi Mundi Plains lookout, just outside of Silverton. Filming also took place at the Pinnacles, which is where the set of the oil refinery compound was constructed.


Music

The musical score for ''Mad Max 2'' was composed and conducted by Australian composer
Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Fredd ...
, who had also composed the music for
Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian post-apocalyptic Action film, action film series and media franchise created by George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with ''Mad Max (film), Mad Max'', and was followed by thre ...
. A soundtrack album was released by
Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...
in 1982.


Censorship

The original cut of the film was more bloody and violent, but it was cut down heavily to receive an "M" rating from Australian censors. Entire scenes and sequences were deleted completely, and others were edited. When the film was submitted to the
MPAA The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...
in the United States, two additional scenes were shortened (the scene in which Wez pulls an arrow out of his arm and the one in which he pulls the boomerang out of the Golden Youth's head). Although the version of the film that includes the scenes trimmed down for the MPAA survives, no version without the previous deletions exists.


Reception


Box office

''Mad Max 2'' was a commercial success, grossing A$10.8 million in Australia alone, which was double what ''
Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian post-apocalyptic Action film, action film series and media franchise created by George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with ''Mad Max (film), Mad Max'', and was followed by thre ...
'' had earned in the country to become the highest-grossing Australian film at the Australian box office.''Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office''
Retrieved 19 March 2012
Despite making more than its predecessor, however, ''Mad Max 2'' never held that record, because ''
Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...
'' was released earlier in 1981 and grossed A$11.7 million in Australia. In the United States, with a gross of US$23.6 million and
theatrical rental A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is freq ...
s of $11 million, the film also outperformed ''Mad Max''. When that film was released in the U.S. in 1980, it did not receive a proper release from its distributor,
American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...
, as AIP was in the final stages of a change of ownership after being bought by Filmways, Inc. a year earlier, and its box office was affected.
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
decided to release ''Mad Max 2'' in the United States, but, recognising the first film was not well-known in North America (although it was becoming more popular through cable channel showings), they decided to change the name of the sequel to ''The Road Warrior''. The advertising for the film, including print ads, trailers, and TV commercials, did not refer to the Max character at all and shied away from the fact that the film was a sequel. For the majority of American viewers, their first inkling of ''The Road Warrior'' being a sequel to ''Mad Max'' was when they saw the black and white, archival footage from the first film during the prologue of the second. When
Vestron Video Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut, that was active from 1981 to 1993, and is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market. The name is now used for a collect ...
later released ''Mad Max'' on home video, they capitalized by labeling it "the thrilling predecessor to ''The Road Warrior''". Outside of the U.S., the film earned rentals of $25 million (including Australia), for a worldwide total of $36 million, making it the highest-grossing Australian film worldwide.


Critical response

The film received positive reviews and is regarded by many critics as one of the best films of 1981. On
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 95% based on reviews from 55 critics, with an average rating of 8.40/10; the site's "critics consensus" reads: "''The Road Warrior'' is everything a bigger-budgeted ''Mad Max'' sequel should be: bigger, faster, louder, but definitely not dumber." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a rating of 77 out of 100 based on 15 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews". Film critic
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, praised its "skillful filmmaking," and called it "a film of pure action, of kinetic energy", which is "one of the most relentlessly aggressive movies ever made". While Ebert pointed out the film does not develop its "vision of a violent future world ... with characters and dialogue", and uses only the "barest possible bones of a plot", he praised its action sequences. Ebert called the climactic chase sequence "unbelievably well-sustained" and stated that the "special effects and stunts ... are spectacular", creating a "frightening, sometimes disgusting, and (if the truth be told) exhilarating" effect. In his review for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'',
Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...
wrote: "Never has a film's vision of the post-nuclear-holocaust world seemed quite as desolate and as brutal, or as action-packed and sometimes as funny as in George Miller's apocalyptic ''The Road Warrior'', an extravagant film fantasy that looks like a sadomasochistic comic book come to life". Writing for ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'', Charles Michener praised Mel Gibson's "easy, unswaggering masculinity", saying that " ishint of Down Under humor may be quintessentially Australian but is also the stuff of an international male star". Gary Arnold, in his review for ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', wrote: "While he seems to let triumph slip out of his grasp, Miller is still a prodigious talent, capable of a scenic and emotional amplitude that recalls the most stirring attributes in great action directors like Kurosawa, Peckinpah and Leone".
Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...
called ''Mad Max 2'' a "mutant" film that was "sprung from virtually all action genres", creating "one continuous spurt of energy" by using "jangly, fast editing", but criticized Miller's "attempt to tap into the universal concept of the hero", stating that this attempt "makes the film joyless", "sappy", and "sentimental". Richard Scheib called ''Mad Max 2'' "one of the few occasions where a sequel makes a dramatic improvement in quality over its predecessor." He called it a "kinetic comic-book of a film" and an "exhilarating non-stop rollercoaster ride of a film that contains some of the most exciting stunts and car crashes ever put on screen." Scheib stated that the film transforms the "post-holocaust landscape into the equivalent of a Western frontier," such that "Mel Gibson's Max could just as easily be
Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...
's tight-lipped
Man With No Name The Man with No Name ( it, Uomo senza nome) is the antihero character portrayed by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "''Dollars Trilogy''" of Italian Spaghetti Western films: ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964), ''For a Few Dollars More'' (1965), ...
" helping protect "decent frightened folk" from the "marauding Redskins". Christopher John reviewed ''The Road Warrior'' in '' Ares Magazine'' #13 and commented that "Its taut scripting, exceptional performances, and pulse-pounding pacing, which leaves an audience breathless, combined to make it one of the best SF films of the year. It also has the courage to show what the face of death ''really'' looks like. Mel Gibson's portrayal of Max is hard, bitter and realistic; he is neither hero nor coward, but a man caught up in a mad future which he confronts unafraid." ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' says ''Mad Max 2'', "with all its comic-strip energy and vividness ... is
exploitation cinema An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or Exploitation fiction, lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical ...
at its most inventive."


Accolades

At the 24th Australian Film Institute Awards, the film won Best Direction, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best Sound, and Best Costume Design, and it was nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Original Music Score; it received the most nominations and wins of any film at the ceremony, but it was not nominated for
Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
. At the
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films is an American non-profit organization established in 1972 dedicated to the advancement of science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Academy is headquarter ...
'
10th Saturn Awards The 10th Saturn Awards, honoring the best in Science fiction film, science fiction, Fantasy film, fantasy and Horror film, horror film in 1982, were held on July 30, 1983. Winners and nominees Below is a complete list of nominees and winners. ...
, the film won the award for Best International Film and generated nominations for
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...
, Best Actor (
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocaly ...
), Best Supporting Actor (
Bruce Spence Bruce Spence (born 17 September 1945) is a New Zealand–Australian actor. Spence has amassed over 100 film and television credits and has also acted in theatre. Biography Spence won an AFI Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1971 comedy ...
), Best Writing, and Best Costumes. Additionally, the film won the
Los Angeles Film Critics Association The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is an American film critic organization founded in 1975. Background Its membership comprises film critics from Los Angeles-based print and electronic media. In December of each year, the organiza ...
Award for
Best Foreign Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
and was nominated for the
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation The Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation is given each year for theatrical films, television episodes, or other dramatized works related to science fiction or fantasy released in the previous calendar year. Originally the award covered both ...
, and George Miller won the Grand Prize at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival for his work on the film.


Legacy

The film's depiction of a post-apocalyptic future has so widely influenced other filmmakers and science fiction writers that its gritty "junkyard society of the future look ... is almost taken for granted in the modern science-fiction action film." The
dystopian A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...
, apocalyptic, and
post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...
themes and imagery in the ''
Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian post-apocalyptic Action film, action film series and media franchise created by George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with ''Mad Max (film), Mad Max'', and was followed by thre ...
'' series of films have inspired some artists to recreate the look and feel of some aspects of the series in their work, and fan clubs and "road warrior"-themed activities continue into the 21st century. In 2008, ''Mad Max 2'' was selected by ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' magazine as one of "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time". Similarly, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' placed the film on its "Best 1000 Movies Ever" list. ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' ranked ''Mad Max 2'' 93rd on its list of the "100 Greatest Movies of All Time" in 1999 and 41st on its updated list of the "All-Time 100 Greatest Films" in 2013, and the publication ranked the character of Mad Max 11th on its list of "The All Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture". In 2016, James Charisma of ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...
'' ranked the film 11th on a list of "15 Sequels That Are Way Better Than the Originals". A museum dedicated to ''Mad Max 2'' was established in 2010 in the small town of Silverton (which is 25 kilometres from
Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...
in
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
) by Adrian and Linda Bennett, who had built a collection of ''Mad Max'' props and memorabilia after moving to Silverton.


See also

* Seven Sisters (oil companies) – a conspiracy theory referred to in the film *
List of films considered the best This is a list of films considered the best in national and international surveys of critics and the public. Some surveys focus on all films, while others focus on a particular genre or country. Voting systems differ, and some surveys suffer ...


Notes


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mad Max 2 1981 films 1981 independent films 1980s road movies 1980s science fiction action films Films set in deserts Australian independent films Australian science fiction action films Australian sequel films 1980s chase films Films about automobiles Films directed by George Miller Films set in Australia Kennedy Miller Mitchell films Mad Max films Peak oil films Outlaw biker films Dystopian films Australian post-apocalyptic films Australian road movies Warner Bros. films Films scored by Brian May (composer) 1980s exploitation films Films with screenplays by George Miller 1980s English-language films