Mad Max Collection

Adventure

Action

Thriller

Science Fiction

Mad Max 2

Kennedy Miller Productions

Australia

English

Mel Gibson

Bruce Spence

Michael Preston

Max Phipps

Vernon Wells

Kjell Nilsson

Emil Minty

Virginia Hey

William Zappa

Arkie Whiteley

Steve J. Spears

Syd Heylen

Moira Claux

David Downer

David Slingsby

Kristoffer Greaves

Max Fairchild

Tyler Coppin

Jerry O'Sullivan

Tony Deary

Kathleen McKay

Guy Norris

Anne Jones

James McCardell

Harold Baigent

Stewart Finlay-McLennan

Joanne Samuel

Terry Hayes

George Miller

Norma Moriceau

Brian May

Graham 'Grace' Walker

Tim Wellburn

Byron Kennedy

Michael Balson

David Stiven

Bob McCarron

Dean Semler

Linda Bates

Peter Lipscombe

Ralph Clark

Jennifer Lee-Lewes

Jenny Day

Kim Priest

Pauline Walker

Penn Robinson

Phil Judd

Mark Thomas

Dennis Smith

Rickley W. Dumm

Bruce Lamshed

Andrew Steuart

Michael Parkhurst

Mark Clayton

Andrew Plain

Patrick Clayton

Marc van Buuren

Brian Hannant

Melinda Brown

Bronwyn Parry

Mike O'Donnell

Kathy Coultrup

Toivo Lember

Phillip Hurst

John Daniell

Roger Savage

Anne Breslin

Matt Vowles

David Watts

Roger Cowland

Steve Courtley

Jeff Clifford

Gerry Gauslaa

Roger Monk

Dale Aspin

Andrew Mclean

Michael Chirgwin

Gary Carden

Derry Field

Paul Moyes

Terri Lamera

Arthur Cambridge

Philip Dickson

Robert John

Ruth Beach

Rosanne Andrews-Baxter

Richard Wilmot

Tom Glass

David Hardy

Vern Dietrich

Kim Noyce

Dennis Williams

Les Fiddess

Dean Bryan

John Morton

Geoffrey Simpson

Shelley Lodge

Graeme Mardell

Catherine Barber

Mont Fieguth

Richard Merryman

Melissa Grillett

Graham Carter

Pam Maling

Christopher Plowright

Steve Knapman

Glenn Boswell

Bob Hicks

Sandy Gore

Bill Grimmond

Annabelle Sheehan

Carey Loftin

John Brock

Allan Mills

The last of the V8 Interceptors and the battle for gasoline!

It's post nuclear war Australia and the precious commodity is gasoline, all the varying degrees of survivors pursue it in anyway they can.

Director George Miller is here armed with considerably more cash than was available for the first cult hit offering in the series, and boy does it show as we get more destruction, even more outlandish stunts, and a fully realised apocalyptic vision of the future. It's incredible to note that there is no CGI here, this is pure raw stunt work, the film plays out as a standard good versus evil tale, but it's the realisation of the crash bang wallop sequences that lift it to being one of the most important sci-fi action movies of modern times.

The baddies are a seething mass of leather, masks, and mohawks, they scowl as they rape pillage and plunder anything in their path, they will stop at nothing to get the craved gasoline that is so important in this world. The good guys are joined by the road warrior himself, Mad Max Rockatansky, a former police officer who turned to being the angry lone warrior of the road after his wife and child were murdered. Can these honest folk survive the onslaught of the crazed plunderers?.

Well it's high octane entertainment finding out, and the pace is relentless. The direction is first rate, the scenes are put together with breath taking exhilaration, and the sound mix is incredible for those fortunate enough to own home cinema. Pic may be guilty of having little to no dialogue for the most part, yet it really isn't needed since the story unfolds via the smartly stitched together action sequences. So just strap yourself in and enjoy the ride given to you by a film that's still a benchmark for the genre. 9/10

***Fighting for fuel in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of the Outback***

In the years after a global holocaust, an ex-lawman (Mel Gibson) in remote Australia befriends people at a refinery compound and helps them escape a band of ruthless punk bikers who want their resources. Bruce Spence plays the Gyro Captain while Vernon Wells is on hand as a subordinate leader of the bikers.

"The Road Warrior,” aka “Mad Max 2” (1981) shows a grim, bleak, brutal future, but it's too comic booky and sometimes goofy to truly disturb because it screams exaggeration. A truly disturbing movie debuted fifteen years earlier, “The Wild Angels” (1966), which is shocking because it’s realistic rather than cartoonish. But “The Wild Angels” was an outlaw biker drama whereas “Mad Max 2” is an action-packed adventure. There’s a lot of motorhead thrills if that trips your trigger. 

The movie’s an Australian production and avant-garde bordering on surrealism. The protagonist is aloof and laconic while the antagonists are bizarre, even psycho, which makes sense in that people would become a little mad in a desperate post-apocalyptic environment. It’s a strangely detached film about cartoonish people surviving in the wastelands of Australia, but the characters and images are often iconic; and there IS some human interest, like the Gyro Captain’s developing relationship with the cute blonde, the so-called Captain’s Girl (Arkie Whitley). Meanwhile Virginia Hey is striking as the Warrior Woman.

The film runs 1 hour, 34 minutes and was shot in the Outback of New South Wales, Australia.

GRADE: B

Really great sequel that surpasses the original. While short on character moments, the action sequences were fantastic culminating with an adrenaline-filled finale. All in all highly entertaining with just enough weidness to make it stand out all the more... **4.0/5**

CinemaSerf

The first film did us the favour of establishing the character, so this time we can cut quickly to the chase. "Max" (Mel Gibson) is now a fully fledged drifter. He still has a semblance of decency, comparatively speaking, as he travels the Australian wastelands trying to stay alive and keep himself fuelled. Along the way he meets up with the slightly wacky "Gyro Captain" (Bruce Spence) but it's when he encounters a besieged oil facility that things start to hot up. He agrees to try and help them fend off the menacing, mask-wearing, "Humungus" (Kjell Nilsson) and his menacing sidekick "Wez" (Vernon Wells) who has a distinctly Achilles/Patroclus style relationship with his cute, blonde, friend. These bandits are ruthless, violent, and determined to seize this most precious of assets so "Max" proposes to his allies a straight swap - in return for enough gas, he will deliver them a large truck for use to travel to the coast and safety. What follows are a series of quickly paced, perilous escapades that culminate in a cracking chase with what looked very much like the front of a snowplough (in the desert?) playing a crucial role as they try to force their way out. Emil Minty is pretty effective as the aptly named, boomerang-bearing, "Feral Kid" and once we see why Spence has his moniker, the whole thing quite literally takes off. This is so much better than the original. The story is much more substantial, it has plenty of gore yes, but there is also some dark humour and Gibson has loads of charisma as his character develops. Director George Miller offers quite a potent lesson to other film makers too - ninety minutes is quite long enough to pack in plenty and keep the attention of the audience.

I got more enjoyment from <em>'Mad Max 2'</em>. It's a good watch!

Everything felt a bit more fleshed out to me personally. Mel Gibson's titular character is improved, as are his sidekicks and their antagonists. The action is still at the same high level, there's plenty to gain entertainment from in regards to that along with the more amusing aspects; but disappointing to see that the wacky eye bulge gag did not reappear! I will say that final sequence overruns, not a big deal though.

Most importantly, the story is more interesting. It is, in my opinion, much better befitting of the movie's dystopian setting and is, just generally, a more noteworthy watch compared to its predecessor's plot. Gibson puts in another solid showing, as do Bruce Spence and Michael Preston in this entry. Honestly, mind, across these opening two flicks the cast don't really stand out to me all that much - it's all about the action!

Intrigued to find out what <em>'Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'</em> had to offer!

Best Movies

Mad Max 2

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Mel Gibson

Bruce Spence

Michael Preston

Max Phipps

Vernon Wells

Kjell Nilsson

Emil Minty

Virginia Hey

William Zappa

Arkie Whiteley

Box office

More Like This

The Mountain Between Us

Walking Tall

Love Finds A Home

Day of the Woman

Undertow

Escape from Sobibor

The 39 Steps

Cyborg 3: The Recycler