Mad Max (1979)
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Overview

Max Max is an Ozploitation film set in Australia in the near future. The film is widely known for its destructive car crashes and for starring the then relatively unknown Mel Gibson. It was shot on a shoe string budget by George Miller who raised the funds for film by working as an emergency doctor in a hospital.

Plot

Many trashed car in this movie

The film is set in the near future and depicts a mostly underpopulated society, whose law and order is on the brink of total collapse. A gang member named The Nightrider is in the process of escaping from the police in a stolen police car, taunting them on the radio whilst the police fail to disable his vehicle. Whilst the Nightrider manages to evade their attempts, his nerves are suddenly shot when Max plays a game of chicken with him in his pursuit vehicle and doesn't back down. Max continuously rams the Nightrider's car who eventually looses control and is killed in the resulting crash.

The gang that the Nightrider was a part of led by the barbarian like Toecutter, arrives at a small town to collect the corpse of their dead member, however shortly after they arrive the gang immediately takes control of the town. They embark upon a destructive rampage and chase down a young couple who are attempting to escape, destroying their car and raping the woman. When Max and his friend Goose, arrive at the scene of the crime they find one of Toecutter's gang members who has stayed behind and appears to be either high or psychotic. Max overhears him mention the Nightrider and makes the connection that he is a member of the same gang who now have it out for Max

Even if a naked woman was standing in front of this car, I would still notice the car before her...beautiful.

They take him into questioning however when they are later told they have to keep set him free due to no one showing for his trial, including the judge, Goose becomes enradged and tries to strangle him, forcing Max and the chief to restrain him. When the Lawyers are gone the chief instructs them that they can go after the gang again as long as its by the book.

After surviving a crash from his sabotaged motorcycle Goose is killed by the gang when they roll his truck and set it on fire, burning him alive but not immediately killing him. Max is disheartened when he sees the mortally charred Goose and confides in his wife that he is going to quite the force before he turns into the monsters that he is trying to arrest.

They two decide to go on a holiday together along with their young son, however the Toecutter gang are not going to let Max escape from his violent life so easily. They want blood for the death of the Nightrider and they aren't going to show any mercy to either him or his family.

Production

A V8 Holden watering can

The film was shot on tiny budget of around $400, 000, which Miller had largely raised himself whilst working as an emergency doctor at a hospital, where he witnessed a great many of car crash victims which inspired him to the write the script. At the time Australia was not known for making films and as a result lacked proper procedure to shoot a dangerous action movie. The crew shot all these dangerous case scenes on open highways, controlling the traffic themselves without any police involvement or notification. Some stunt men were hurt in the process of making this film, however looking back at it, Miller was surprised that nothing serious happened.

To further demonstrate the small budget that film was shot on, cars were re-painted to make it seem like there were more in the movie, the schedule getting so hectic that they were often driven whilst the paint was still wet. Everyone except for Mad Max were wearing fake vinyl leather, to keep costs down.

In the production of Mad Max a total of fourteen cars were destroyed, including Miller's own blue van which is wrecked in the movie's early chase scene. The van was stripped of its engine so that it would be light enough to push out in front of the path of the oncoming cars. The lightness of the van added to the spectacle of the crash, as it was sent spinning out of the control due to its lack of mass.

Vehicles

Poetry in motion

Many of the vehicles in the film are actual decommissioned police cars that were heavily modified. The police cars in the film are mostly comprised of Ford Falcon XA and XB sedans that usually had a form of V8 engine. The car that everyone is Mad Max's black interceptor which he uses during his murderous rampage at the end of the film. It was a GT351 version of a 1973 Ford XB Falcon Hardtop. The Interceptor is now on display in the Cars of the Stars motor museum.

American Dubbing

Sorry luv, I only go for women who like hair metal.

At the insistence of American International Pictures, the film was dubbed by American actors as they believed that an American Audience would not warm to the characters Australian accents. The original Australian audio was finally released in America in 2000. To further attempt to hide to audiences that this was an Australian film, the trailer was cut in a way to hide all the characters, focusing instead on the car crashes and violence in the film.

	George Miller	Story and Screenplay
	Byron Kennedy	Story

	Mel Gibson	Max Rockatansky
	Joanne Samuel	Jessie
	Hugh Keays-Byrne	Toecutter
	Steve Bisley	Jim Goose
	Tim Burns	Johnny the Boy
	Roger Ward	Fifi
	Lisa Aldenhoven	Nurse
	David Bracks	Mudguts
	David Cameron	Underground Mechanic
	Stephen Clark	Sarse
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Name	Mad Max
US Release	Jan. 1, 1979
UK Release	Dec. 10, 1979
AUS Release	April 12, 1979
Runtime	93
Language(s)	Add a new language English
Genre(s)	Add a new genre Action Adventure Sci-Fi
Theme(s)	Add a new theme post-apocalyptic extreme violence futuristic
Rating	R
Alias(es)

	Vanishing Point
	A Boy and His Dog
	The Ultimate Warrior
	Escape from New York
	The Chain Reaction
	Battletruck
	The Road Warrior
	Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
	Judge Dredd
	Waterworld
	Westbrick Murders
	Dredd
	Mad Max: Fury Road

	"Get The Hell Outta There!"
	Wrecked Police Cars
	Baby Carriage in Danger
	Exploding Cars

Domestic	$8,750,000
Foreign	+$91,250,000

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Domestic	$8,750,000
Foreign	+91,250,000

Mad Max (1979) Add