PRODUCTION

Mad Max 2 (1981) was filmed in the desert of Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia. It took 12 weeks to conclude the footage. They choosed a location that certainly would not rain during the shots, but actually, there had the first rain in four years, and production was shut for a week.

There had a few near-fatal acidentes during the shots, including one of them so dramatic, that the diretor kept it in the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_XtkfoCLPw

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P4LUt0qcX8

Max's unnamed dog was saved by the filmmakers. The dog was supposed to be put down, but the productors saw him playing with a rock and decided to train him for the movie.

CHARACTERS

Mel Gibson - Max Rockatansky

Bruce Spence - Captain Gyro

A man who lost his family and travels in the wasteland.

A guy with a autogyro who trains snakes for hunting and use them as trap in order to survive.

Michael Preston — Pappagallo

Vernon Wells — Wez

Kjell Nilsson — Humungus

The leader of the tribe of the Oil Refinery.

The leader of the gang who wants to conquer the Oil Refinery.

The second leader of the gang, who rides his bike along with his partner, The Golden Youth.

Kjell Nilsson - Humongous

Emil Minty — Feral Kid

Virginia Hey — Warrior Woman

A boy from the tribe of the Oil Refinery who apparently can't speak, and is obsessed about Max.

The bravest warrior from the tribe, as her name suggest, who wants to defend her people.

DIRECTOR

George Miller

Most famous films:

-Mad Max

-Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

-Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

-The Witches of Eastwick

-Babe

-Happy Feet

-Mad Max: Fury Road

PLOT - MAD MAX

Mad Max series takes place in a post apocalyptic wasteland. The world was devasted after a nuclear war.

In the first movie, Max was a a policeman who gave up the office after seeing his companion die while chasing Teocutter's bike gang.

But even after move with his family to a peaceful place, the gang still caused troubles to Max. The leaders tried to violate his wife, Jessie Rockatansky, so she reacted and tried to escape with her baby. Max heard about it too late, and couldn't save them in time, just getting to see their dead bodies.

Max viciously chase the gang members and assassinate them one by one. But after achieve his objective, he didn't went back home. He started traveling on his Ford Falcon V8 in the wasteland, so he would never bring trouble to anyone again.

PLOT - THE ROAD WARRIOR

Driving adrift in the lawless wasteland and surrounded by gangs, Max needs to find fuel for his vehicle in order to survive. When trying to steal it from a autogyro, he meets and fights against Captain Gyro, and wins with the help of his dog. Then the captain tells about a Oil Refinery where he could find how many fuel he needs.

Arriving there, the refinery was surrounded by a huge gang, who wants to dominate the territory. A day later, Max rescues a member of the tribe to get some fuel in return, but the gang returns and the Road Warrior is forced to fight with the refinery people against the gang.

AWARDS

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 1982: Best Foreign Film - Won

Hugo Awards 1983: Best Dramatic Presentation - Nominated

Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival 1982: Grand Prize - Won

Australian Film Institute 1982: Best Direction; Best Achievement in Sound; Best Achievemente in Production Design; Best Achievement in Costume Design; Best Achievement in Editing - Won

Australian Film Institute 1982: Best Original Music Score; Best Achievement in Cinematography - Nominated

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 1983: Best International Movie - Won

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 1983: Best Actor (Mel Gibson); Best Direction; Best Writing; Best Costumes - Nominated

CURIOSITIES

• In the whole movie, Max, the protagonist, has only 16 lines.
• Originally The Golden Youth was supposed to be a female character, and Warrior Woman to be a male character.
• In the US version, Mel Gibson re-dubbed his character, because the producers thought american audience wouldn't understand his australian accent.
• Feral Kid, who has no lines, speaks with a southern accent in the US version, to appear as the movie is set on the United States.
• One day before his audition for the role, Mel Gibson cut his face in a bar fight.

INFLUENCE

Fallout is a nuclear post-apocalyptic game series with many references, including the protagonist costumes and the dog companion.

In South Park, Stan Marsh has a "The Street Warrior" poster in his room.

The popular seinen manga series Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) is set on another violent post-apocalyptic wateland, with biker gangs and look-alike characters from the movie.

In the movie Friday-Night 13th: Part 3 (1982), the Jason's hockey mask was first introduced, and resembles Lord Humongous' steel mask, that appeared one year before.

A scene from Saw is a reference of the first Mad Max movie, when Max gives Johnny the Boy a saw so he can cut off his leg before he explodes.

In Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain, the main character Venom Snake is very silent, based on Max Rockatansky's silence in the movie. Hideo Kojima also cited Mad Max 2 as one of he's favorite movies of all time.

ACTIVITY

The tank used by Max to transport the Refinery's fuel has a "7 Sisters" logo. What is this in real life?

The "Seven Sisters" are the seven most rich oil companies in the world, at least in 1981.

GROUP

• Estêvão F. Albiero - 09
• Felipe Amaral
• Gabriel Navarro
• Luis Fernando