Called Mad Max 2 it’s obviously the second movie in the franchise, was really the first to be seen by most American audiences, hence the double title: The Road Warrior. The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, across the Australian deserts with an extreme fuel shortage. Max still has his high speed police car, and has a dog as his traveling companion. ( Side note: the dog was picked up at the pound and trained for the movie, then adopted by a member of the film crew afterwards). The Road Warrior scavenges for food and fuel. The land is ravaged by gangs of land-pirates who run people off the road for their fuel. Max comes across a gang of bikers about to harvest petrol from their most recent kill, and chases them off with his shielded car, taking the fuel for himself. Before he leaves he sees a small chopper and decides to take it’s fuel too, but the pilot jumps him. Winning the upper hand Max lets the guy live for info about a refinery.
The pair arrive to find the oil refining compound to find the rag-tag group of survivors there under attack. A plan is hatched to escape with Max bringing in a transport he saw not to far away to haul a tanker of fuel. Without giving anything else away, you will find that The Road Warrior is a great action packed movie. One of the best action films of all time according to critics and the highest grossing Australian film worldwide. Complete with a souped up car, motorcycles and a transport truck. The bad guys have a real punk look to them, (The film was released in 1981) with Mohawks and fetish leather…Come to think of it, with their leader being called Lord Humungus, there is a BDSM homoerotic twist to it.
Mad Max 2 is one of those movies for people that just like a movie with a gritty edge and some vehicle based action. It’s completely worth the watch on a Friday night. However, it’s not a good couples film because there’s zero romance in it. You can also click here to watch the 1st Mad Max movie.
