Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
Encyclopedia
Mad Max 2 is a 1981 Australian post-apocalyptic
action film
directed by George Miller
. The film is the second installment in the Mad Max film series
, with Mel Gibson
starring as Max Rockatansky
. The film's tale of a community of settlers moved to defend themselves against a roving band of marauder
s follows an archetypal "Western
" frontier movie motif, as does Max's role as a hardened man who rediscovers his humanity when he decides to help the settlers. Filming took part in locations around Broken Hill.
Mad Max 2 was released on 24 December 1981, and was critically acclaimed. Observers praised the visuals and Gibson's role. Noteworthy elements of the film also include cinematographer Dean Semler
's widescreen photography of Australia's vast desert landscapes; the sparing use of dialogue throughout the film; costume designer Norma Moriceau
's punk mohawked
, leather bondage gear
-wearing bikers; and its fast-paced, tightly edited, and violent battle and chase scenes. The film's comic-book post-apocalyptic/punk style popularized the genre in film and fiction
writing. It was also a box office success and received several nominations at the Saturn Award ceremony. Eventually, Mad Max 2 developed into a cult film
: fan clubs and "road warrior"–themed activities continue into the 21st century. The film was followed by Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
in 1985.
; and that "two mighty warrior tribes" had gone to war, in some cases resulting in nuclear exchanges. The governments attempted to restore order, but life has become a "whirlwind of looting and a firestorm of fear, in which men began to feed on men."
In the film's opening scene, Max Rockatansky
(Mel Gibson
) is being chased by marauders. Clad in his worn out leather police uniform, with his knee in an improvised brace, Max roams the desert in a scarred, black supercharged
V-8
Pursuit Special
, scavenging for food and petrol, which is a very precious commodity. His only companions are an Australian Cattle Dog
, and a rare functioning firearm—a sawn-off shotgun
—for which the ammunition is very scarce.
After driving off a gang, led by biker warrior Wez (Vernon Wells
), Max collects the petrol from one of their wrecked vehicles. As Max continues driving across the wastelands, he comes upon a seemingly abandoned autogyro
and stops to check for fuel. The autogyro's pilot (Bruce Spence
) set a trap with a venomous snake; but Max outwits and overpowers the gyro captain. Bargaining for his life, the pilot tells Max about a small working oil refinery
nearby in the wasteland.
On a cliff overlooking the oil refinery, Max watches as a gang of marauders, with a motley collection of cars and motorbikes besieges
the compound. They are led by a large, muscular man with a hockey mask over his disfigured face called "The Humungus" (Kjell Nilsson
). The Humungus' speeches to the settlers, exhorting them to "just walk away", are articulate and convincing; a number of settlers appear to believe his eloquent, seemingly benign offers.
The next morning four settlers' vehicles escape from the refinery. The marauders chase them down and capture their occupants. After Max witness one such brutal treatment, he goes down to the wrecked vehicles and kills one of the bikers. Max makes a deal with a mortally wounded settler that if Max returns the man to the compound, Max will get a tankful of petrol. However, the man dies shortly after Max enters into the compound and the deal is reneged on by their leader Papagallo (Michael Preston
). Not trusting Max, the settlers are about to execute him, but he is spared when the marauders return.
The Humungus again offers the settlers safe passage out of the wastelands if they leave him the facility and fuel reserves. Max has an alternative deal for Papagallo: he will retrieve an abandoned Mack
semi-truck he knows of in return for petrol and his freedom. This vehicle would be perfect to haul their fuel out of the wastelands. The settlers accept Max's proposal, but keep his car. Max sneaks out of the compound at night, carrying fuel for both the truck and the autogyro. He catches up to his "prisoner" the gyro captain, who has decided that Max is his friend.
With air support from gyro captain, Max returns to the abandoned semi and drives it back to the compound, despite the efforts of Humungus' men to stop the vehicle. The settlers want Max to escape
with the group, but Max opts to collect his petrol and leave. The settlers discuss holding Max by force, but he is vouched for by Papagallo, who calls him a man of honor for keeping his bargain. As Max tries to break through the siege and is chased down by Wez in The Humungus's nitrous oxide–equipped car, his Pursuit Special is wrecked and he is badly injured, and his dog is killed by a crossbow
. One of the marauders unknowingly triggers a booby-trap when they try to siphon the car's gas. The trigger blows up Max's car. The semi-conscious Max is rescued by the gyro captain, who flies him back to the refinery, where the settlers are making hasty preparations to leave.
Despite his injuries, Max insists on driving the repaired truck with the fuel tanker. He leaves the compound in the now heavily armored truck with a feral kid
and several settlers in armored positions along the tanker. With Pappagallo driving an escort vehicle, he is pursued by the wasteland warriors. Overhead, the gyro captain follows the chase. While the Humungus and almost all of his warriors pursue the tanker, the remaining settlers flee the compound in a rag-tag caravan of vehicles, leaving the compound wide open. A handful of marauders seize the compound, discovering too late that it has been rigged to explode. In the ensuing chase, Papagallo and the settlers defending the tanker are killed. The gyro captain also crashes as his engine is hit by arrows from a dart gun. Max and the Feral Kid find themselves alone against the marauders, who continue their pursuit. Wez boards the truck and almost kills the two survivors, but a head-on collision with the Humungus obliterates both villains. Max loses control of the tanker and it rolls off the road. As the injured Max carries the Feral Kid from the tanker, he discovers that the tanker trailer contains sand, not fuel. The Gyro Captain manages to catch up to Max in his battered gyro copter.
The truck and its trailer are revealed to be a decoy
, allowing the other settlers to escape with the precious fuel in oil drums
inside their vehicles. With Papagallo dead, the gyro captain succeeds him as their chief, and leads the settlers to the coast, where they establish the "Great Northern Tribe." Max remains in the desert, once again becoming a drifter, alone in the wasteland, and the narrator ends by saying that was the last time they ever saw Max, but the tribe will be forever grateful to him for ensuring their survival. The narrator also says that at a later date, he becomes chief, revealing that the narrator is in fact the Feral Kid, now an old man.
Max's powerful black-painted muscle car is a modified Pursuit Special
, a Ford Falcon XB GT coupe with a V8 engine ("the last of the V8 Interceptors") that the fictional MFP (Main Force Patrol) customized for use as a police Pursuit Special in the first Mad Max film. The car is depicted with a supercharger
protruding through the hood which can be toggled on and off, and its black body is scarred and scratched from Max's journeys in the wasteland. The precious contents of the Pursuit Special's petrol tanks are protected from thieves with an explosive "booby trap." A sheathed knife is hidden on the underbody of the vehicle, to provide Max with a concealed weapon to kill anyone who attempts to force him to disarm the booby trap.
The large Mack
truck used to pull the oil tanker is a 1970s Mack R-600 with a "coolpower
" engine setup (the coolpower setup uses an aftercooler
on the cylinder head and a tip turbine fan) and a twin-stick transmission. The Mack has a massive cowcatcher mounted on the front to protect the vehicle from crash impacts, armoured plates welded in front of the radiator
(with air slits for cooling ventilation), and armoured cages around the wheels. The trailer is protected with fortified, spike-encrusted turrets and barbed wire strung up along the sides of the tanker.
Humungus' bizarre vehicle is a heavily modified Ford F-100 Ute, which is depicted with a custom-made Nitrous Oxide booster system. The marauders use an early 1970s red F-100 with a cobra painted on the doors, and a cut-down boat-style windshield during the final chase scenes. Humungus's lieutenant Wez drives an early 1980s model Suzuki
GSX1000 motorbike in the film, and later is seen riding on a Yamaha
XS1100E motorbike with a sidecar. Most of the solo and side-car dirtbikes used in the film are XT and TT500 Yamahas. Most of the dune buggies used in the film were VW-based modified "sandrail" kitcars, with single-axle drive train and suspension.
The settler leader Pappagallo's vehicle, which was captured from the marauders in an earlier battle, has two Ford 351 engines. The front engine is turbocharged, and the one on the back boasts a Roots-style supercharger similar to the unit on Max's Pursuit Special. Other vehicles used in the movie include a variety of Australian muscle car
s, including a 1974 ZG Fairlane
, with LTD front guards; a custom-made vehicle with open engine bay and half of its roof chopped out, and a 6/71 supercharger; a Holden Monaro
with a custom front and a roof opening; an LC/LJ Holden Torana
which has been custom-modified into a Speedway car; a Ford XA Falcon, a Valiant
VH coupe; a VW Kombi
; a Ford Landau; and various Valiant Chargers.
The main gate of the settlement is a Commer
School Bus
with jury-rigged plate metal armour. This bus is also the main escape vehicle for the settlers at the end of the film.
. Film critic Roger Ebert
gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and 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 points out that the movie 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 praises its action sequences. Ebert calls the climactic chase sequence "...unbelievably well-sustained" and states 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
, Vincent Canby
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". In his review for Newsweek
, Charles Michener praised Mel Gibson's "easy, unswaggering masculinity and hint 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
, 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
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". However, Kael criticized director George Miller's "...attempt to tap into the universal concept of the hero", stating that this attempt "...makes the film joyless", "sappy", and "sentimental".
The film's depiction of a post-apocalyptic future was widely copied by other filmmakers and in science fiction novels, to the point that its gritty "...junkyard society of the future look...is almost taken for granted in the modern science-fiction action film." The Encyclopedia Of Science Fiction says that Mad Max 2, "...with all its comic-strip energy and vividness...is exploitation cinema
at its most inventive."
Richard Scheib calls Mad Max 2, "...one of the few occasions where a sequel makes a dramatic improvement in quality over its predecessor." He calls it a "kinetic comic-book of a film," 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 states 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
's tight-lipped Man With No Name
" helping "...decent frightened folk" from the marauding Indians.
. It received additional nominations for Best Director
, Best Writing
, and Best Costume Design. Mel Gibson and Bruce Spence received nods for Best Actor
and Best Supporting Actor, respectively. George Miller won the Grand Prize at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival. Mad Max 2 was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
and was awarded the Los Angeles Film Critics Association
award for Best Foreign Film
. The film was also recognized by the Australian Film Institute
, winning awards for best direction, costume design, editing, production design and sound. It received additional nominations for the cinematography and musical score.
placed the film on its Best 1000 Movies Ever list. Entertainment Weekly
ranked Mad Max 11th on their list of The All Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture.
Brian May. The 35 minute-long recording is available on CD on the Varèse Sarabande
label, catalog number VCD 47262. The music is presented out of order and sometimes retitled; part of the track titled "Finale and Largo" is actually the main title, "Montage" was written for the truck chase scene (and as such would fit between "Break Out" and "Largo") and the "Main Title" is actually the post-title montage. The sound effects suite that concludes the disc has two cues, "Boomerang Attack" and "Gyro Flight," that do not appear elsewhere on the album (the former is actually presented without any overlaying effects).
The soundtrack begins with the music for the "Montage/Main Title" sequence, which gives the back-story to the descent into war and chaos. The next selections accompany the action-packed sequences as Max and the settlers battle with the gang ("Confrontation"; "Marauder's Massacre", "Max Enters Compound"; "Gyro Saves Max"; and "Break Out"). The final tracks include the "Finale and Largo" and the "End Title" music, which is used while the narrator describes the settler's escape to the coast to start a new life. The recording also includes a suite of special effects sounds, such as The Feral Kid's "Boomerang Attack"; "Gyro Flight"; "The Big Rig Starts"; "Breakout"; and the climactic effects for "The Refinery Explodes", when the booby-trapped oil refinery turns into a fireball.
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
Apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial attack, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural...
action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
directed by George Miller
George Miller (producer)
George Miller is an Australian film director, screenwriter, producer, and former medical doctor. He is most well known for his work on the Mad Max movies, but has been involved in a wide range of projects, including the Oscar-winning Happy Feet and "Babe" family films.Miller is the older brother...
. The film is the second installment in the Mad Max film series
Mad Max (franchise)
The Mad Max franchise refers to a series of futuristic films, taking place in the "Mad Max Universe", that tell a story of breakdown of society, murder, and vengeance. The first Mad Max was an Australian action film directed by George Miller and written by Miller and Byron Kennedy, released in 1979...
, with Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
starring as Max Rockatansky
Max Rockatansky
"Mad" Max Rockatansky, sometimes referred to as The Road Warrior and The Man with No Name, is the main character from director George Miller's Mad Max franchise, appearing in the films Mad Max, Mad Max 2, and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome...
. The film's tale of a community of settlers moved to defend themselves against a roving band of marauder
Marauder
A marauder is a bandit, outlaw, raider or such like who moves about in roving fashion looking for plunder.Other uses of marauder, usually derived from the above include:in " Football"...
s follows an archetypal "Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
" frontier movie motif, as does Max's role as a hardened man who rediscovers his humanity when he decides to help the settlers. Filming took part in locations around Broken Hill.
Mad Max 2 was released on 24 December 1981, and was critically acclaimed. Observers praised the visuals and Gibson's role. Noteworthy elements of the film also include cinematographer Dean Semler
Dean Semler
Dean Semler, A.C.S., A.S.C. is an Australian cinematographer. Over his career, he has worked as a cinematographer, camera operator, director, second unit director, and assistant director.-Early years:...
's widescreen photography of Australia's vast desert landscapes; the sparing use of dialogue throughout the film; costume designer Norma Moriceau
Norma Moriceau
Norma Moriceau is an Australian costume designer and production designer. She is best known for the post-apocalyptic leather-fetish biker warrior costumes she designed for Mad Max 2 and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome ....
's punk mohawked
Mohawk hairstyle
The mohawk is a hairstyle in which, in the most common variety, both sides of the head are shaven, leaving a strip of noticeably longer hair...
, leather bondage gear
Leather subculture
The leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities. Wearing leather garments is one way that participants in this culture self-consciously distinguish themselves from mainstream sexual cultures...
-wearing bikers; and its fast-paced, tightly edited, and violent battle and chase scenes. The film's comic-book post-apocalyptic/punk style popularized the genre in film and fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
writing. It was also a box office success and received several nominations at the Saturn Award ceremony. Eventually, Mad Max 2 developed into a cult film
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
: fan clubs and "road warrior"–themed activities continue into the 21st century. The film was followed by Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is a 1985 Australian post-apocalyptic film directed by George Miller and George Ogilvie, written by Miller, Doug Mitchell and Terry Hayes, and starring Mel Gibson and Tina Turner. It is the third installment in the action movie Mad Max franchise...
in 1985.
Plot
The world is described as "crumbled and...the cities have exploded"; there have been uprisings and social disorder due to energy shortagesPeak oil
Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. This concept is based on the observed production rates of individual oil wells, projected reserves and the combined production rate of a field...
; and that "two mighty warrior tribes" had gone to war, in some cases resulting in nuclear exchanges. The governments attempted to restore order, but life has become a "whirlwind of looting and a firestorm of fear, in which men began to feed on men."
In the film's opening scene, Max Rockatansky
Max Rockatansky
"Mad" Max Rockatansky, sometimes referred to as The Road Warrior and The Man with No Name, is the main character from director George Miller's Mad Max franchise, appearing in the films Mad Max, Mad Max 2, and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome...
(Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
) is being chased by marauders. Clad in his worn out leather police uniform, with his knee in an improvised brace, Max roams the desert in a scarred, black supercharged
Supercharger
A supercharger is an air compressor used for forced induction of an internal combustion engine.The greater mass flow-rate provides more oxygen to support combustion than would be available in a naturally aspirated engine, which allows more fuel to be burned and more work to be done per cycle,...
V-8
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
Pursuit Special
Pursuit Special
The Pursuit Special is the fictional model of car driven by the officers of the fictional MFP in the Mad Max franchise of films.-Mad Max:...
, scavenging for food and petrol, which is a very precious commodity. His only companions are an Australian Cattle Dog
Australian Cattle Dog
The Australian Cattle Dog is a breed of herding dog originally developed in Australia for droving cattle over long distances across rough terrain. In the 19th century, New South Wales cattle farmer Thomas Hall crossed the dogs used by drovers in his parents' home county, Northumberland, with...
, and a rare functioning firearm—a sawn-off shotgun
Sawed-off shotgun
A sawed-off shotgun also called a sawn-off shotgun and a short-barreled shotgun , is a type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel and often a shorter or absent stock....
—for which the ammunition is very scarce.
After driving off a gang, led by biker warrior Wez (Vernon Wells
Vernon Wells (actor)
Vernon George Wells is an Australian film and television actor who has built his career around action-type films, most often cast as a villain...
), Max collects the petrol from one of their wrecked vehicles. As Max continues driving across the wastelands, he comes upon a seemingly abandoned autogyro
Autogyro
An autogyro , also known as gyroplane, gyrocopter, or rotaplane, is a type of rotorcraft which uses an unpowered rotor in autorotation to develop lift, and an engine-powered propeller, similar to that of a fixed-wing aircraft, to provide thrust...
and stops to check for fuel. The autogyro's pilot (Bruce Spence
Bruce Spence
Bruce Spence, born September 17, 1945 is an actor, having spent most of his career performing in Australia. Bruce attended Henderson High School in West Auckland....
) set a trap with a venomous snake; but Max outwits and overpowers the gyro captain. Bargaining for his life, the pilot tells Max about a small working oil refinery
Oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
nearby in the wasteland.
On a cliff overlooking the oil refinery, Max watches as a gang of marauders, with a motley collection of cars and motorbikes besieges
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
the compound. They are led by a large, muscular man with a hockey mask over his disfigured face called "The Humungus" (Kjell Nilsson
Kjell Nilsson
Kjell Nilsson is a Swedish olympic-class weight lifter and actor. His best known role is his 1981 portrayal of biker gang leader Lord Humungus in Mad Max 2.-Career:...
). The Humungus' speeches to the settlers, exhorting them to "just walk away", are articulate and convincing; a number of settlers appear to believe his eloquent, seemingly benign offers.
The next morning four settlers' vehicles escape from the refinery. The marauders chase them down and capture their occupants. After Max witness one such brutal treatment, he goes down to the wrecked vehicles and kills one of the bikers. Max makes a deal with a mortally wounded settler that if Max returns the man to the compound, Max will get a tankful of petrol. However, the man dies shortly after Max enters into the compound and the deal is reneged on by their leader Papagallo (Michael Preston
Michael Preston
Michael Preston is an international film and television actor, sometimes credited as Mike Preston.-Career:...
). Not trusting Max, the settlers are about to execute him, but he is spared when the marauders return.
The Humungus again offers the settlers safe passage out of the wastelands if they leave him the facility and fuel reserves. Max has an alternative deal for Papagallo: he will retrieve an abandoned Mack
Mack Trucks
Mack Trucks is an American truck-manufacturing company and a former manufacturer of buses and trolley buses. A wholly owned subsidiary of Renault Véhicules Industriels since 1990, Mack Trucks is currently a subsidiary of AB Volvo. The company's headquarters are located in Greensboro, North Carolina...
semi-truck he knows of in return for petrol and his freedom. This vehicle would be perfect to haul their fuel out of the wastelands. The settlers accept Max's proposal, but keep his car. Max sneaks out of the compound at night, carrying fuel for both the truck and the autogyro. He catches up to his "prisoner" the gyro captain, who has decided that Max is his friend.
With air support from gyro captain, Max returns to the abandoned semi and drives it back to the compound, despite the efforts of Humungus' men to stop the vehicle. The settlers want Max to escape
Exit strategy
An exit strategy is a means of leaving one's current situation, either after a predetermined objective has been achieved, or as a strategy to mitigate failure. An organisation or individual without an exit strategy may be in a quagmire...
with the group, but Max opts to collect his petrol and leave. The settlers discuss holding Max by force, but he is vouched for by Papagallo, who calls him a man of honor for keeping his bargain. As Max tries to break through the siege and is chased down by Wez in The Humungus's nitrous oxide–equipped car, his Pursuit Special is wrecked and he is badly injured, and his dog is killed by a crossbow
Crossbow
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...
. One of the marauders unknowingly triggers a booby-trap when they try to siphon the car's gas. The trigger blows up Max's car. The semi-conscious Max is rescued by the gyro captain, who flies him back to the refinery, where the settlers are making hasty preparations to leave.
Despite his injuries, Max insists on driving the repaired truck with the fuel tanker. He leaves the compound in the now heavily armored truck with a feral kid
Feral child
A feral child is a human child who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age, and has no experience of human care, loving or social behavior, and, crucially, of human language...
and several settlers in armored positions along the tanker. With Pappagallo driving an escort vehicle, he is pursued by the wasteland warriors. Overhead, the gyro captain follows the chase. While the Humungus and almost all of his warriors pursue the tanker, the remaining settlers flee the compound in a rag-tag caravan of vehicles, leaving the compound wide open. A handful of marauders seize the compound, discovering too late that it has been rigged to explode. In the ensuing chase, Papagallo and the settlers defending the tanker are killed. The gyro captain also crashes as his engine is hit by arrows from a dart gun. Max and the Feral Kid find themselves alone against the marauders, who continue their pursuit. Wez boards the truck and almost kills the two survivors, but a head-on collision with the Humungus obliterates both villains. Max loses control of the tanker and it rolls off the road. As the injured Max carries the Feral Kid from the tanker, he discovers that the tanker trailer contains sand, not fuel. The Gyro Captain manages to catch up to Max in his battered gyro copter.
The truck and its trailer are revealed to be a decoy
Decoy
A decoy is usually a person, device or event meant as a distraction, to conceal what an individual or a group might be looking for. Decoys have been used for centuries most notably in game hunting, but also in wartime and in the committing or resolving of crimes.-Duck decoy:The term duck decoy may...
, allowing the other settlers to escape with the precious fuel in oil drums
Drum (container)
A drum is a cylindrical container used for shipping bulk cargo. Drums can be made of steel, dense paperboard , or plastics, and are generally used for the transportation and storage of liquids and powders. Drums are often certified for shipment of dangerous goods...
inside their vehicles. With Papagallo dead, the gyro captain succeeds him as their chief, and leads the settlers to the coast, where they establish the "Great Northern Tribe." Max remains in the desert, once again becoming a drifter, alone in the wasteland, and the narrator ends by saying that was the last time they ever saw Max, but the tribe will be forever grateful to him for ensuring their survival. The narrator also says that at a later date, he becomes chief, revealing that the narrator is in fact the Feral Kid, now an old man.
Cast
- Mel GibsonMel GibsonMel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
as "Mad" Max RockatanskyMax Rockatansky"Mad" Max Rockatansky, sometimes referred to as The Road Warrior and The Man with No Name, is the main character from director George Miller's Mad Max franchise, appearing in the films Mad Max, Mad Max 2, and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome...
, a former member of the Australian highway patrol (the MFP). However, after a biker gang kills his family, he leaves the force and hunts down and kills all of the gang members. The trauma transforms him into the embittered, "burnt out...shell of a man". At first, the settlers dismiss Max as a mercenary and "a maggot [who is] living off the corpse of the old world." Eventually, Max wins their admiration by his courage and they accept his offer of help. - Bruce SpenceBruce SpenceBruce Spence, born September 17, 1945 is an actor, having spent most of his career performing in Australia. Bruce attended Henderson High School in West Auckland....
as the Gyro Captain, a wanderer who looks for fuel and supplies. However, instead of driving a car, the Captain flies in a ramshackle old gyrocopter powered by a VW air-cooled engine. He, too, decides to throw in his lot with the settlers, and help defend their compound. A TimeTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
reviewer called the Captain "a deranged parody of the World War I aerial ace: scarecrow skinny, gaily clad, sporting a James CoburnJames CoburnJames Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
smile with advanced cariesCariesCaries is a progressive destruction of any kind of bone structure, including the skull, ribs and other bones, or the teeth. Caries can be caused by osteomyelitis, which is a microorganism disease. A disease that involves caries is mastoiditis, an inflammation of the mastoid process, in which the...
." Despite his quirks, however, he proves to be wily and courageous. After the death of Pappagallo, the Gyro Captain succeeds him as the leader of the settlers. - Emil MintyEmil MintyEmil Minty is an Australian former child actor. He played The Feral Kid, a feral child in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. As an actor he had no lines in the film. After Mad Max 2 he had minor parts in Fluteman and in The Winds of Jarrah...
as the Feral Kid, a boy who lives in the wasteland near the refinery settlement. His speaks only in growls and grunts. The boy wears shorts and boots made from hide, and defends himself with a lethal metal boomerang which he can catch using an improvised mail glove. The Kid is befriended by Max who gives him a tiny music box. After helping Max deal with the bandits, he escapes with the refinery occupants and eventually becomes the leader of the Great Northern Tribe - Michael PrestonMichael PrestonMichael Preston is an international film and television actor, sometimes credited as Mike Preston.-Career:...
as Pappagallo, the idealistic leader of the settlers in the barricaded oil refinery. Even though the settlers' compound is besieged by a violent gang, Pappagallo "...carries the weight of his predicament with swaggering dignity." - Virginia HeyVirginia HeyVirginia Hey is an Australian actress, known for her role as Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan on the science fiction TV series Farscape....
as the Warrior Woman, an amazonAmazonsThe Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
-like female member of the settlers who initially distrusts Max. A fierce combatant, she is clad in white armor and a white bandana. She is an expert fighter with the bow, the knife and in hand-to-hand combat. - Kjell NilssonKjell NilssonKjell Nilsson is a Swedish olympic-class weight lifter and actor. His best known role is his 1981 portrayal of biker gang leader Lord Humungus in Mad Max 2.-Career:...
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 "warrior of the wasteland, the Lord Humungus, [and] the ayatollah of rock-and-rollah", The Humungus' "malevolence courses through his huge pectorals, [and] pulses visibly under his bald, sutured scalp." The Humungus' face is never seen, as he wears a hockey goalie's mask. Nothing is known about his background before the war, but he possibly suffered from radiation exposure. Although ruthless, he also appears to have the ability to think rationally, and at one point even expresses fatigue with the barbarous mode of his existence. In a 1985 interview with Danny PearyDanny PearyDanny Peary is an American film critic and sports writer. He has written many books on cinema and sports-related topics.-Biography:...
, Miller posited that he thought the character "was a former military officer who suffered severe facial burns," and who "might have served in the same outfit as his counterpart, Pappagallo." - Vernon WellsVernon Wells (actor)Vernon George Wells is an Australian film and television actor who has built his career around action-type films, most often cast as a villain...
as Wez, a mohawked, leather-clad biker who serves as The Humungus' lieutenant in the gang. Vincent CanbyVincent CanbyVincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
, the New York Times reviewer called the Wez character the "most evil of the The Humungus's followers...[a] huge brute who rides around on his bike, snarling psychotically." He is cruel and unrelenting in his pursuit of prey. In the same Danny PearyDanny PearyDanny Peary is an American film critic and sports writer. He has written many books on cinema and sports-related topics.-Biography:...
interview, Miller states the characters of Wez and Max are near mirror images of each other, in the film – with each being chained by the leaders of their respective camps, and who both find themselves spurred on by the death of a loved one somewhere in their past, in Wez's case the relatively recent death of The Golden Youth at the hand of The Feral Kid. EmpireEmpire (magazine)Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
magazine listed Wez as the greatest movie henchman of all time. - Max PhippsMax PhippsMax Phipps was an Australian actor, known for a number of roles in theatre, films and television during the 1960s until the end of the 1990s....
as the Toadie, the gang crier. He is a thin, bespectacled man. He wears a decorated minkMinkThere are two living species referred to as "mink": the European Mink and the American Mink. The extinct Sea Mink is related to the American Mink, but was much larger. All three species are dark-colored, semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, which also includes the weasels and...
stoleStole (shawl)A stole is a lady's shawl, especially a formal shawl of expensive fabric used around the shoulders over a party dress or ballgown.A stole is typically narrower than a shawl, and of simpler construction than a cape; being a length of a quality material, wrapped and carried about the shoulders or arms...
as a hat and has many automobile badges and hood ornaments on his clothes. His behavior with The Humungus and Wez make him a classic sycophantSycophantSycophancy means:# Obsequious flattery; servility.# The character or characteristic of a sycophant.Alternative phrases are often used such as:-Etymology:...
. Toadie takes pleasure in molesting helpless prisoners, but the gang has little respect for him. He gets the fingers on one of his hands cut off when he tries to catch the feral boy's boomerang, and the rest of the gang laughs at him.
Vehicles
The film's tale of settlers that have to defend themselves from a roving band of marauders transplants the archetypal "Western" frontier movie concepts to the post-apocalyptic desert wastes. In place of horses and stagecoaches, the film uses large number of cars, motorbikes, trucks, and custom-made vehicles which are often chopped up and hot-rodded with superchargers and engine modifications and geared up for post-apocalypse highway battles with armour plating, mounted pneumatic-dart weapons, and reinforced bumpers.Max's powerful black-painted muscle car is a modified Pursuit Special
Pursuit Special
The Pursuit Special is the fictional model of car driven by the officers of the fictional MFP in the Mad Max franchise of films.-Mad Max:...
, a Ford Falcon XB GT coupe with a V8 engine ("the last of the V8 Interceptors") that the fictional MFP (Main Force Patrol) customized for use as a police Pursuit Special in the first Mad Max film. The car is depicted with a supercharger
Supercharger
A supercharger is an air compressor used for forced induction of an internal combustion engine.The greater mass flow-rate provides more oxygen to support combustion than would be available in a naturally aspirated engine, which allows more fuel to be burned and more work to be done per cycle,...
protruding through the hood which can be toggled on and off, and its black body is scarred and scratched from Max's journeys in the wasteland. The precious contents of the Pursuit Special's petrol tanks are protected from thieves with an explosive "booby trap." A sheathed knife is hidden on the underbody of the vehicle, to provide Max with a concealed weapon to kill anyone who attempts to force him to disarm the booby trap.
The large Mack
Mack Trucks
Mack Trucks is an American truck-manufacturing company and a former manufacturer of buses and trolley buses. A wholly owned subsidiary of Renault Véhicules Industriels since 1990, Mack Trucks is currently a subsidiary of AB Volvo. The company's headquarters are located in Greensboro, North Carolina...
truck used to pull the oil tanker is a 1970s Mack R-600 with a "coolpower
Coolpower
A coolpower setup in a truck engine uses an aftercooler on the cylinder head and a tip turbine fan to draw heat away from the cylinder head and ram air over the aftercooler. Large Mack trucks from the 1970s such as the Mack R-600 used coolpower systems...
" engine setup (the coolpower setup uses an aftercooler
Intercooler
An intercooler , or charge air cooler, is an air-to-air or air-to-liquid heat exchange device used on turbocharged and supercharged internal combustion engines to improve their volumetric efficiency by increasing intake air charge density through nearly isobaric cooling, which removes...
on the cylinder head and a tip turbine fan) and a twin-stick transmission. The Mack has a massive cowcatcher mounted on the front to protect the vehicle from crash impacts, armoured plates welded in front of the radiator
Radiator
Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in automobiles, buildings, and electronics...
(with air slits for cooling ventilation), and armoured cages around the wheels. The trailer is protected with fortified, spike-encrusted turrets and barbed wire strung up along the sides of the tanker.
Humungus' bizarre vehicle is a heavily modified Ford F-100 Ute, which is depicted with a custom-made Nitrous Oxide booster system. The marauders use an early 1970s red F-100 with a cobra painted on the doors, and a cut-down boat-style windshield during the final chase scenes. Humungus's lieutenant Wez drives an early 1980s model Suzuki
Suzuki
is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Hamamatsu, Japan that specializes in manufacturing compact automobiles and 4x4 vehicles, a full range of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles , outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines...
GSX1000 motorbike in the film, and later is seen riding on a Yamaha
Yamaha
Yamaha may refer to:* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services** Yamaha Motor Company, a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company...
XS1100E motorbike with a sidecar. Most of the solo and side-car dirtbikes used in the film are XT and TT500 Yamahas. Most of the dune buggies used in the film were VW-based modified "sandrail" kitcars, with single-axle drive train and suspension.
The settler leader Pappagallo's vehicle, which was captured from the marauders in an earlier battle, has two Ford 351 engines. The front engine is turbocharged, and the one on the back boasts a Roots-style supercharger similar to the unit on Max's Pursuit Special. Other vehicles used in the movie include a variety of Australian muscle car
Muscle car
Muscle car is a term used to refer to a variety of high-performance automobiles. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines muscle cars as "any of a group of American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving." Usually, a large V8 engine is fitted in a...
s, including a 1974 ZG Fairlane
Ford Fairlane (Australian)
The Ford Fairlane and LTD are full-size luxury vehicles that were produced in a series of models by Ford Australia between 1959 and 2007....
, with LTD front guards; a custom-made vehicle with open engine bay and half of its roof chopped out, and a 6/71 supercharger; a Holden Monaro
Holden Monaro
The Holden Monaro is an automobile that was produced by GM Holden Ltd, an Australian subsidiary of General Motors, between 1968 and 1977 and between 2001 and 2005...
with a custom front and a roof opening; an LC/LJ Holden Torana
Holden Torana
The Holden Torana is a car which was produced by General Motors–Holden's , the Australian subsidiary of General Motors from 1967 to 1980. The name comes from an Aboriginal word meaning "to fly". The first Torana appeared in 1967 and was a four-cylinder compact vehicle that had its origins in the...
which has been custom-modified into a Speedway car; a Ford XA Falcon, a Valiant
Valiant
- Vehicles :* Plymouth Valiant, automobile manufactured by the Plymouth division of Chrysler Corporation from 1960 to 1976* Chrysler Valiant, automobile manufactured by Chrysler Australia from 1962 to 1981...
VH coupe; a VW Kombi
Kombi
Combi aircraft can be used for both passenger and cargo duties.Kombi or Combi may also refer to:-Kombi:* Battle of Kombi, a 1647 battle between Ndongo-Matamba and the Portuguese...
; a Ford Landau; and various Valiant Chargers.
The main gate of the settlement is a Commer
Commer
Commer became known in later years as a maker of vans for the British Post Office—particularly the Commer FC which was introduced in 1960 with many body styles, including a 1500 cc van. After engine and interior upgrades it was renamed the PB in 1967 and the SpaceVan in 1974...
School Bus
School bus
A school bus is a type of bus designed and manufactured for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events...
with jury-rigged plate metal armour. This bus is also the main escape vehicle for the settlers at the end of the film.
Critical reception
Mad Max 2 was well received by critics and is regarded by many as one of the best films of 1981. The film currently holds a 100% rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and 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 points out that the movie 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 praises its action sequences. Ebert calls the climactic chase sequence "...unbelievably well-sustained" and states 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 New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
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". In his review for Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
, Charles Michener praised Mel Gibson's "easy, unswaggering masculinity and hint 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
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, 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
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
, Peckinpah
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
and Leone
Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter most associated with the "Spaghetti Western" genre.Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots...
". Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. Earlier in her career, her work appeared in City Lights, McCall's and The New Republic....
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". However, Kael criticized director George Miller's "...attempt to tap into the universal concept of the hero", stating that this attempt "...makes the film joyless", "sappy", and "sentimental".
The film's depiction of a post-apocalyptic future was widely copied by other filmmakers and in science fiction novels, to the point that its gritty "...junkyard society of the future look...is almost taken for granted in the modern science-fiction action film." The Encyclopedia Of Science Fiction says that Mad Max 2, "...with all its comic-strip energy and vividness...is exploitation cinema
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
at its most inventive."
Richard Scheib calls Mad Max 2, "...one of the few occasions where a sequel makes a dramatic improvement in quality over its predecessor." He calls it a "kinetic comic-book of a film," 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 states 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
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
's tight-lipped Man With No Name
Man with No Name
The man with no name is a stock character in Western films, but the term usually applies specifically to the character played by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy."...
" helping "...decent frightened folk" from the marauding Indians.
Awards
The film received much recognition from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. It won the Saturn Award for Best International FilmSaturn Award for Best International Film
The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best International Film....
. It received additional nominations for Best Director
Saturn Award for Best Direction
The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Direction:-Multiple Winners:*James Cameron - 5 awards*Steven Spielberg - 4 awards*Peter Jackson - 3 awards*Bryan Singer - 2 awards...
, Best Writing
Saturn Award for Best Writing
The following is a list of people who have won the Saturn Award for Best Writing.-Multiple Winners:*James Cameron - 3 awards*Christopher Nolan - 3 awards*William Peter Blatty - 3 awards-External links:* http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html#writing...
, and Best Costume Design. Mel Gibson and Bruce Spence received nods for Best Actor
Saturn Award for Best Actor
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed, who felt that films within those genres...
and Best Supporting Actor, respectively. George Miller won the Grand Prize at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival. Mad Max 2 was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
and was awarded the Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association was founded in 1975. Its main purpose is to present yearly awards to members of the film industry who have excelled in their fields. These awards are presented each January...
award for Best Foreign Film
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film is a film award given by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.-1970s:- 1980s :- 1990s :- 2000s :- 2010s :...
. The film was also recognized by the Australian Film Institute
Australian Film Institute
The Australian Film Institute was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry...
, winning awards for best direction, costume design, editing, production design and sound. It received additional nominations for the cinematography and musical score.
Legacy
In 2008, Mad Max 2 was selected by Empire magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. Similarly, The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
placed the film on its Best 1000 Movies Ever list. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
ranked Mad Max 11th on their list of The All Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture.
Soundtrack
The film score was composed and conducted by Australian composerComposer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Brian May. The 35 minute-long recording is available on CD on the Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, 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 releases by artists no longer under a contract...
label, catalog number VCD 47262. The music is presented out of order and sometimes retitled; part of the track titled "Finale and Largo" is actually the main title, "Montage" was written for the truck chase scene (and as such would fit between "Break Out" and "Largo") and the "Main Title" is actually the post-title montage. The sound effects suite that concludes the disc has two cues, "Boomerang Attack" and "Gyro Flight," that do not appear elsewhere on the album (the former is actually presented without any overlaying effects).
The soundtrack begins with the music for the "Montage/Main Title" sequence, which gives the back-story to the descent into war and chaos. The next selections accompany the action-packed sequences as Max and the settlers battle with the gang ("Confrontation"; "Marauder's Massacre", "Max Enters Compound"; "Gyro Saves Max"; and "Break Out"). The final tracks include the "Finale and Largo" and the "End Title" music, which is used while the narrator describes the settler's escape to the coast to start a new life. The recording also includes a suite of special effects sounds, such as The Feral Kid's "Boomerang Attack"; "Gyro Flight"; "The Big Rig Starts"; "Breakout"; and the climactic effects for "The Refinery Explodes", when the booby-trapped oil refinery turns into a fireball.