Director: George Miller
Written by: Terry Hayes, George Miller, Brian Hannant
Cast: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Vernon Wells

Year / Country: 1981, Australia
Running Time: 96 mins.

Mad Max 2 also known as The Road Warrior is the high-powered sequel to the 1979 Australian cult classic Mad Max. The apocalypse that was still taking shape in the first movie is now complete. The country has turned into a desolate wasteland in which the few survivors scavenge for food and fuel.

Lone warrior Max and his Australian cattle dog (one of the great cinema pets!) are two of these wanderers, but unlike others he’s not part of a punk gang or local community. A gyrocopter pilot (Bruce Spence) leads him to a group that has a huge amount of fuel, but they are under constant attack by a gang of outlaws led by the savage Humungus. Max, who has lost his wife and child in the first movie, is out of touch with humanity. By aiding the desert people, he eventually finds some of his human feelings again.

The second movie in the series is the most critically acclaimed of the original trilogy and justly so. The budget was clearly higher after the box office success of the first one and the filmmakers have spent this money well on kick-ass costumes and apocalyptic vehicles. It takes some time before the action gets going, but when it does – oh man – it is really great stuff. Better even than the first one in terms of insane car wreckage, stunts and brutal deaths.

The final chase in which Max attempts to drive a rig to a safe haven – what would essentially be the entire plot of Mad Max: Fury Road is a delicious, irresistible piece of action cinema.

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Biography: George Miller (1945) is an Australian filmmaker, best known for his Mad Max franchise. In 1971, George attended a film workshop at Melbourne University where he met Byron Kennedy, with whom he formed a friendship and production partnership, until Kennedy’s death in 1983 (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is dedicated to him). Together they made the first Mad Max movie in 1979 for a budget of 400.000 Australian dollars. It earned 100 million dollars at the box office worldwide and became the most profitable film of all time (the record was not broken until The Blair Witch Project 20 years later). Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) earned Oscar nominations for best film and director. The latest entry in the series – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – will be released in May 2024.

Filmography (a selection): Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024), Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022), Mad Max: Fury Road (12015), Happy Feet 2 (2011), Happy Feet (2006), Babe: Pig in the City (1998), Lorenzo’s Oil (1992), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983, segment), The Dismissal (1993, TV episode), Mad Max 2 (1983), Mad Max (1979), The Devil in Evening Dress (1975, short)