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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 are genres 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; astronom ...
dystopian A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmenta ...
action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...
directed by George Miller, who co-wrote it with
Terry Hayes Terry Hayes (born 8 October 1951) is an Australian screenwriter, film producer and author. He is best known for his work with Kennedy Miller production house, with whom he won the AACTA Award for Best Film twice, for '' The Year My Voice Brok ...
and
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) - writer, director *''Travellin' Round'' (1975) - writer, ...
. It is the second installment in the ''
Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It centres on a series of post-apocalyptic and dystopian action films. The franchise began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ...
'' franchise. The film stars
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...
reprising his role as "Mad Max" Rockatansky and follows a hardened man who helps a community of settlers to defend themselves against a roving band of marauders. Filming took place in locations around
Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...
, in the
Outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...
of
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
. ''Mad Max 2'' was released in Australia on 24 December 1981 to widespread critical acclaim; praise was given to Gibson's performance, the musical score, cinematography, action sequences and costume design, with its sparing use of dialogue in particular being unprecedented for an action film. 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 character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...
writing. At the
10th Saturn Awards The 10th Saturn Awards, honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy and horror film in 1982, were held on July 30, 1983. Winners and nominees Below is a complete list of nominees and winners. Winners are highlighted in bold. Film awards ...
, 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 * As ...
, Best Actor for Gibson, Best Supporting Actor for
Bruce Spence Bruce Robert Spence (born 17 September 1945) is a New Zealand-born Australian actor. Spence has amassed over 100 film and television credits and has also acted in theatre. Career Spence won an AFI Award for Best Actor for his role in the 197 ...
, Best Writing, and Best Costumes for Norma Moriceau. ''Mad Max 2'' is widely hailed as both one of the greatest action films 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 media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It centres on a series of post-apocalyptic and dystopian action films. The franchise began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ...
'' in 1979, the film was followed by ''
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome ''Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'' (also known as ''Mad Max 3'') is a 1985 Australian post-apocalyptic dystopian action film directed by George Miller and George Ogilvie and written by Terry Hayes and Miller. It is the third installment in the ''M ...
'' in 1985, '' Mad Max: Fury Road'' in 2015 and '' Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga'' in 2024.


Plot

After a
global war A world war is an international conflict that involves most or all 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 War I (19 ...
results in widespread oil shortages and
ecocide Ecocide (from Greek 'home' and Latin 'to kill') is the destruction of the natural environment, environment by humans. Ecocide threatens all human populations that are dependent on natural resources for maintaining Ecosystem, ecosystems and ensu ...
, civilisation collapses and the world descends into barbarism. Former policeman Max Rockatansky, haunted by the death of his family, drives around the desert
Outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...
of what was once
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, scavenging for food and petrol with his dog. He outmanoeuvres a group of marauders led by biker Wez using his driving skills and a shotgun. He steals petrol from the wrecked vehicles of one of his pursuers and inspects a wrecked semi-trailer and
prime mover Prime mover may refer to: Philosophy *Unmoved mover, a concept in Aristotle's writings Engineering * Prime mover (engine or motor), a machine that converts various other forms of energy (chemical, electrical, fluid pressure/flow, etc.) into ener ...
. Later, Max tries collecting an apparently abandoned
gyrocopter An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), gyroscope, gyrocopter or gyroplane, is a class of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. A gyroplane "means a rotorcraft whose rotors are not engine-driven ...
'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 motorised gang, of which Wez is a member. The next day, Max witnesses cars leave the besieged compound and get chased down by marauders. He rescues Nathan, the sole survivor of one car, and strikes a deal to return him to the complex in exchange for fuel, but the man dies after Max gets him back, and the leader of the settlers, Pappagallo, says the deal died with Nathan. The settlers are about to confiscate Max's car and cast him out of their compound when the marauders return to negotiate. A feral child who lives in the refinery compound kills Wez's partner with a metal boomerang and Wez wants revenge, but the gang's leader, a masked man called "Lord Humungus", offers to spare the settlers' lives in exchange for their fuel supply and leaves for the day. However, the settlers are divided over whether or not they can trust Humungus. 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, and that night Max sneaks past the marauders on foot carrying fuel for the truck. He encounters the Gyro Captain and forces him to fly him to the truck, which he gets started. It is somewhat damaged as Max passes through the marauders' encampment en route to the refinery, but he makes it, followed by the gyrocopter. Max refuses Pappagallo'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 factitious air, among others, is a chemical compound, an Nitrogen oxide, oxide of nitrogen with the Chemical formula, formula . At room te ...
-equipped vehicle and causes him to crash. A Marauder kills Max's dog and is about to kill the seriously-injured Max when Marauder Toadie attempts to siphon the fuel from the tanks of Max's car, triggering the vehicle 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, Pappagallo 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. Pappagallo 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, only to abandon their chase when they see the tanker leaking sand and not gas. As Max carries the Feral Kid from the wrecked tanker, he inspects the sand pouring out. The Gyro Captain drives up and the two share a grin as Max realises the tanker was a diversion the whole time. They rendezvous with the settlers, who transported the fuel in oil drums inside their vehicles. The Gyro Captain succeeds Pappagallo as leader of the settlers and takes them north. The grown Feral Kid, "Chief of the Great Northern Tribe," reveals in
voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...
that he never saw "the Road Warrior" again.


Cast

*
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...
as "Mad Max" Rockatansky, a former member of the Australian highway patrol (the Main Force Patrol, 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 media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It centres on a series of post-apocalyptic and dystopian action films. The franchise began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ...
'' transformed him into an embittered "shell of a man", but he still elects to assist the settlers with their plan in this film. *
Bruce Spence Bruce Robert Spence (born 17 September 1945) is a New Zealand-born Australian actor. Spence has amassed over 100 film and television credits and has also acted in theatre. Career Spence won an AFI Award for Best Actor for his role in the 197 ...
as The Gyro Captain, a wanderer who searches for fuel and supplies using a ramshackle old
gyrocopter An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), gyroscope, gyrocopter or gyroplane, is a class of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. A gyroplane "means a rotorcraft whose rotors are not engine-driven ...
. He, too, decides to throw in his lot with the settlers and help defend their compound. Writing for ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'',
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 Comment ...
called the Captain "a deranged parody of the World War I aerial ace: scarecrow skinny, gaily clad, sporting a
James Coburn James Harrison Coburn III (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an American film and television actor who was featured in more than 70 films, largely action roles, and made 100 television appearances during a 45-year career.AllmoviBi ...
smile with advanced
caries Tooth decay, also known as caries,The word 'caries' is a mass noun, and is not a plural of 'carie'.'' is the breakdown of teeth due to acids produced by bacteria. The resulting cavities may be a number of different colors, from yellow to black ...
". *
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 Hackney, London, England. He was a boxer and then bec ...
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." The novelization of the film expanded on Pappagallo's history, describing him as a top executive for one of the "7 Sisters" major petroleum firms who lost his family in the war and escaped to the wastelands, where he would join up with other refugees and become a leader of their efforts to establish a new civilization. *
Max Phipps Maxwell John Phipps (18 November 1939 – 6 August 2000) was an Australian actor, known for a number of roles in theatre, films and television during the 1960s until the end of the 1990s. Phipps' most notable roles included portraying Prime Mini ...
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 dre ...
of Humungus's gang and 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, where it had a d ...
. *
Vernon Wells Vernon Wells may refer to: * Vernon Wells (baseball) (born 1978), American baseball player * Vernon Wells (actor) (born 1945), Australian actor * Vernon Wells (Neighbours), a character on the soap opera Neighbours {{hndis, Wells, Vernon ...
as Wez, a mohawked, leather-clad biker who serves as Humungus's lieutenant.
Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was 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 2000. ...
, writing for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', 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 Film, cinema and sports-related topics. Peary is most famous for his book ''Cult Movies (book), Cult Movies'' (1980), which s ...
, Miller said the characters of Wez and Max are near mirror images of each other. In 2011, ''
Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
'' magazine listed Wez as the greatest movie henchman of all time. * Kjell Nilsson as Lord 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. 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 Film, cinema and sports-related topics. Peary is most famous for his book ''Cult Movies (book), Cult Movies'' (1980), which s ...
, 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 jeweller and former child actor. Career Minty 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'', he 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. *
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 neura ...
. *
Syd Heylen Harold Sydney Charles Heylen (25 May 1923 – 4 December 1996), credited variously as Syd Heylen, Sid Heylen and Sydney Heylen, was an Australian character actor of radio, stage, television and film, comedian, and variety performer and soldi ...
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's 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's 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's 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 Tyler Coppin (born 9 November 1956) is an American-Australian actor, playwright and American dialect coach for actors in film, television and theatre. Personal life and education Coppin is a fourth-generation Californian born in Roseville, Cal ...
as Defiant Victim, a settler who is caught and tied to the front of Humungus's 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 media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It centres on a series of post-apocalyptic and dystopian action films. The franchise began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ...
'', director George Miller tried to develop a
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and 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 African ...
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 ''Mad Max'', Miller and
Terry Hayes Terry Hayes (born 8 October 1951) is an Australian screenwriter, film producer and author. He is best known for his work with Kennedy Miller production house, with whom he won the AACTA Award for Best Film twice, for '' The Year My Voice Brok ...
teamed up in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
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 t ...
'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 my ...
'' and the work of
Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of Carl Jung publications, over 20 books, illustrator, and corr ...
, as well as the films of
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...
, 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) - writer, director *''Travellin' Round'' (1975) - writer, ...
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 the ...
took place over the course of twelve weeks in the winter of 1981 near
Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...
,
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
. 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. In one scene, stunt coordinator Guy Norris broke his femur when he flew off his motorcycle and his leg hit the car. His injury is visible in the released film.


Music

The musical score for ''Mad Max 2'' was composed and conducted by Australian composer
Brian May Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...
, who had also composed the music for ''Mad Max''. 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 cast recording, original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as ...
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, the mini-major Amazon MGM Studios, as well as the video streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. F ...
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 those scenes before they were 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 media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It centres on a series of post-apocalyptic and dystopian action films. The franchise began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ...
'' 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 (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...
'' 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 frequ ...
s of $11 million, the film also outperformed ''Mad Max''. When that film was released in the U.S. in 1982, it did not receive a proper release from its distributor,
American International Pictures American International Pictures, LLC (AIP or American International Productions) is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution c ...
, as AIP was in the final stages of a change of ownership after being bought by
Filmways, Inc. Filmways, Inc. (also known as Filmways Pictures and Filmways Television) was a television and film production company founded by American film executive Martin Ransohoff and Edwin Kasper in 1952. It is probably best remembered as the production c ...
a year earlier, and its box office was affected.
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
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 collecto ...
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 highly 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 and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 94% based on reviews from 62 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 an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, 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 criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'' 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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'',
Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was 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 2000. ...
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 news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'', 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'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', 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 was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dynamic style stron ...
, Peckinpah and Leone".
Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael often defied the conse ...
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 criticised 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 (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...
's tight-lipped
Man With No Name The Man with No Name () 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), and '' The Good, t ...
" 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 seeks commercial success by capitalizing on current trends, niche genres, or sensational content. Exploitation films often feature themes such as suggestive or explicit sex, sensational violence, drug use, nudi ...
at its most inventive."


Accolades

At the 24th Australian Film Institute Awards, the film won
Best Direction The MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction is an award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and the director of the music video. From 1984 to 2006, the full name of the award was Best Direction in a Video, and in 2007, it was briefly renam ...
, Best Editing, Best Production Design,
Best Sound The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...
, and Best Costume Design, and it was nominated for
Best Cinematography The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best ...
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 The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...
. At the
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films The 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 fiction, horror in film, television, and home video. The Aca ...
'
10th Saturn Awards The 10th Saturn Awards, honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy and horror film in 1982, were held on July 30, 1983. Winners and nominees Below is a complete list of nominees and winners. Winners are highlighted in bold. Film awards ...
, 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 * As ...
, Best Actor (
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...
), Best Supporting Actor (
Bruce Spence Bruce Robert Spence (born 17 September 1945) is a New Zealand-born Australian actor. Spence has amassed over 100 film and television credits and has also acted in theatre. Career Spence won an AFI Award for Best Actor for his role in the 197 ...
), 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 organi ...
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 (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmenta ...
, apocalyptic, and
post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres 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; astronom ...
themes and imagery in the ''
Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It centres on a series of post-apocalyptic and dystopian action films. The franchise began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ...
'' 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, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
'' magazine as one of "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time". Similarly, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' placed the film on its "Best 1000 Movies Ever" list. ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' 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'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
'' 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 a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...
in
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
) by Adrian and Linda Bennett, who had built a collection of ''Mad Max'' props and memorabilia after moving to Silverton.


See also

*
List of cult films Cult films are films with a dedicated and passionate following, often defined by their opposition to mainstream appeal and traditional cinematic norms. While the term lacks a singular definition, it generally includes films that inspire devoted fa ...
*
List of films considered the best This is a list of films voted the best in national and international Opinion poll, surveys of Film criticism, critics and the public. Some surveys focus on all films, while others focus on a particular genre or country. Electoral system, Voti ...
*
Seven Sisters (oil companies) Big Oil is a name sometimes used to describe the world's six or seven largest publicly traded and investor-owned oil and gas companies, also known as supermajors. The term, particularly in the United States, emphasizes their economic power and ...
, a conspiracy theory referred to in the film *"
Two Tribes "Two Tribes" is an anti-war song by British band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records on 4 June 1984. The song was later included on the album '' Welcome to the Pleasuredome''. Presenting a nihilistic, gleeful lyri ...
", a song inspired by the opening of this film


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 (filmmaker) Films set in Australia Kennedy Miller Mitchell films Mad Max films Peak oil 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 (filmmaker) 1980s English-language films 1981 science fiction films English-language science fiction action films English-language independent films English-language action thriller films Saturn Award–winning films Outlaw biker films