Mad Max - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Mad Max or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Mad Max

[duane]

Much of Mad Max's visual slickness is down to being shot in the anamorphic format, one of the first Australian films to do so, and only made possible by salvaging a damaged 35mm lens left behind from the shoot of Sam Peckinpah's The Getaway (1972).

[tammy]

If you look closely at The Toecutter's first scene. One of The Toecutter's gang members has the Pepsi logo on his helmet.

[ella]

Because of the tight budget, actual decommissioned police cars were used in the film. Only Steve Bisley (Goose) was wearing real leathers. All the other police officers were wearing vinyl costumes. The motorcycles, all late model demonstration units, were donated by Kawasaki. Many of the bikers kept them after the shooting was completed.

[lonnie]

Max's yellow Interceptor was a 1974 Ford Falcon XB sedan (previously, a Melbourne police car) with a 351 cubic inch (5.8 liter) Cleveland V8 engine, and many other modifications. The Big Bopper, driven by Roop and Charlie, was also a 1974 Ford Falcon XB sedan, but was powered by a 302 cubic inch (5.0 liter) V8. The March Hare, driven by Sarse and Scuttle, was an in-line-six-powered 1972 Ford Falcon XA sedan (this car was formerly a Melbourne taxi cab). The most memorable car, Max's black Pursuit Special - frequently designated an "Interceptor", based on a mechanic's quote in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) - was a limited GT351 version of a 1973 Ford XB Falcon Hardtop (sold in Australia from December 1973 to August 1976), which was primarily modified by Murray Smith, Peter Arcadipane, and Ray Beckerley. After filming was over, this Interceptor was bought and restored by Bob Forsenko, and was later on display in the Cars of the Stars Motor Museum in Cumbria, England. The Nightrider's vehicle, another Pursuit Special, was a 1972 Holden HQ LS Monaro coupe. The car driven by the couple, that is destroyed by the bikers, was a 1959 Chevrolet Impala sedan. Of the motorcycles that appear in the film, fourteen were donated by Kawasaki, and were driven by a local Victorian motorcycle gang, the Vigilantes, who appeared as members of Toecutter's gang. By the end of filming, fourteen vehicles had been destroyed in the chase and crash scenes, including George Miller's personal Mazda Bongo.

[norma]

Mel Gibson didn't go to the audition for this film to read for a part, he actually went along with his sister, who was auditioning. But because he had been in a bar fight the night before, and his head looked like "a black and blue pumpkin" (his words), he was told he could come back and audition in three week's time because, "we need freaks!" He did return in three weeks' time, wasn't recognized (because his injuries had healed well), and was asked to read for a part.

[phyllis]

In the opening scene, if you look closely at the Highway 9 Sector 26 sign. There is a date written on the sign: December 6th 1984 and the MFP sign at the Halls of Justice also has a date on it: MFP Established in 1983. Even though these signs were canon to the film. George Miller said during an earlier interview in the exact same year of 1984. Mad Max and Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior were meant to be set in the late '90s.

[riley]

Screenwriter James McCausland drew heavily from his observations of the 1973 oil crisis' effects on Australian motorists: "Yet there were further signs of the desperate measures individuals would take to ensure mobility. A couple of oil strikes that hit many pumps revealed the ferocity with which Australians would defend their right to fill a tank. Long queues formed at the stations with petrol-and anyone who tried to sneak ahead in the queue met raw violence. George and I wrote the script based on the thesis that people would do almost anything to keep vehicles moving, and the assumption that nations would not consider the huge costs of providing infrastructure for alternative energy, until it was too late."

[duane]

James McCausland: The bearded man wearing an apron in front of the roadside diner watching the police cyclists and tow trucks drive away is the film's co-writer.

[carla]

For the lead role, George Miller had considered an American actor to "get the film seen as widely as possible" and even travelled to Los Angeles, but eventually opted to not do so as "the whole budget would be taken up by a so-called American name." So instead the cast would deliberately feature lesser known actors, so they did not carry past associations with them.

[camila]

One scene is an homage to the train station scene in High Noon (1952).

[sara]

Goose's motorcycle is a 1977 Kawasaki KZ-1000. It has a top speed of 120 miles per hour. The sticker on the side, is of a goose wearing goggles.

[amber]

The stolen interceptor driven by the Nightrider in the opening scenes is another production vehicle. It is an "HQ Holden Monaro", which was sold in Australia in the early '70s with a variety of motors including large capacity V8s. Also, the other police vehicles in the movie, were sedan versions of the XB, although one was the previous model XA..They also had 351 cubic inch engines, and are a common car on Australian roads.

[phyllis]

Because The Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne) murders Max's family and friends and sets Max on a murderous revenge, it is he (Toecutter) who is directly responsible for "The Road Warrior's" existence in future films.

[tom]

The handgun Bubba Zanetti uses is a Mauser C96 "broomhandle".

[camila]

George Miller has called the film a mix of two genres - the car action movie and the horror movie.

[tammy]

George Miller raised the money for Mad Max (1979) by working as an emergency room doctor.

[alyssa]

George Miller wanted a Gothic, Bernard Herrmann-type score, and hired Brian May after hearing his work for Patrick (1978).

[norma]

When Toecutter sticks the shotgun barrel into Johnny the Boy's mouth, it cut the inside of Tim Burns' mouth.

[mathew]

In November 1977, it was announced in several Australian newspapers that actress and model 'Katie Morgan would be appearing in the film as Jim Goose's girlfriend, named Calamine.