I saw this movie a long time ago and recently reacquainted myself with it. MY reaction: Man this is a cartoon!!

It is... But it's a fun cartoon. I have a DVD copy that has the original Australian dub. It's still a cartoon, but not nearly as much.

I love Mad Max. Action packed which is pretty none stop. Of course its a cartoon :)

It is... But it's a fun cartoon. :yes:

Nice bikes :thmbsp:

Its a fun flick, and if you remember the context of the time it was written/produced .... it's still a good flick.

Especially Goose's Kawa... Love that bike. I think watching Mad Max is what turned me into a Gearhead.

I think it and the Road Warrior are classics. Obviously, they are both takes on the old post apocalyptic theme, but they are outstanding.

Mad Max I shows its budgetary constraints. But RW went for it and succeeded. Great stuff.

"You! You can run, but you can never hide!"

Love that movie. Even with the low buck effects and cheesy acting. Saw it the other day and boy did Mel Gibson look like a fresh faced kid back then.

LOVE IT!!! Still..

Back when it was first released, it was a really great movie.. but now with the way movie production and filming has progressed.. it's a pretty cheesy b class movie.. back then it was a step up..

Mad Max is a classic.

Overall :thmbsp:. Toecutter is one of the great villains in cinematic history.

I've always loved "Road Warrior", although it lost something when I watched it again once the threat of nuclear holocaust went away, with the end of cold war (can't have a belief in a post cataclysmic society without the threat of the cataclysm present).

I also think this movie is in the great tradition of the lone rider western/cowboy movies with a lot of similar themes; with motorcycles for horses and trucks for wagons.

"Water World" is in a similar genre/theme, now made more current by our pervasive fear of global warming and general ice cap meltdown (Road Warrior on a Catamaran :banana:)

C'mon guys we all know that the Mad Max trilogy is basically a historical account of things to come. Of course the near future is going to be all desert-scapes and feather headresses, with Mohawks and body armor where we all fight to the death over the remaining fuel sources.....:D

They were all awesome movies....

first movie is still stunning blower on v8 and kawasaki kz 900 bikes wow

I love those two films (as action films go) much more than the Hollywood ones simply because they look so much more gritty and real, and all the crashes and stunts are performed by real people, not CGI.

The tanker sequence is much more powerful than anything Schwartzenegger has done, because you can feel the effort of what it took to get the shots.

And 'Max 1' should be seen with its original Australian track (and subtitles if you need them :D)

Best,
C.

Yeah, I never had any trouble w/the "Australian" voice track...The earlier ones were better, IMHO. The Tina Turner one was just too out there for me.

LOVE IT!!! Still..

Back when it was first released, it was a really great movie.. but now with the way movie production and filming has progressed.. it's a pretty cheesy b class movie.. back then it was a step up..

I was really surprised by my reaction when I saw it recently. (I had seen it many years ago).

I liked the first two; I always considered them comic-adventure, much like Indiana Jones, etc.

The third one with Tina stunk.

Where do I start, I love that movie. It IS a western/samuri movie. Lawless society, terrorised townfolk, lone lawman/avenger..............and down here we find it hard to believe that it was dubbed for American audiences (I'd like to see that version just for a giggle), someone should have told the producers we both speak the same language. I still think that the opening scene with the knightrider chase is THE best opening sequence of any action movie ever! All the stunts are real and done at actual speed (a stuntman was killed in the filming, the biker who gets hit in the back of the head on the bridge) Chock full of Z900's and XB Falcons dosent hurt either

And it was filmed up the road from where I live!

How long will it be before this classic from my childhood is rehased? It's about the only movie that hasn't been redone in the past few years.

and down here we find it hard to believe that it was dubbed for American audiences (I'd like to see that version just for a giggle), someone should have told the producers we both speak the same language

Rest assured we Yanks have always been equally astounded that they would dub it. When they rereleased it undubbed I grabbed a copy.:) Ironically, a few years later America went through a love affair with all things Australian, so it would have fit right in.

You should see it as the voices sound even funny to Americans. Max sounds like Speed Racer. The other "Bronze" sound like over the top old men. Johnny sounds like this jerk kid I went to school with. The Toecutter sounds like a refined redneck.

The one exception is the Night Rider who sounds more psychotic in his American voice. Bubba is not too bad either.

MY reaction: Man this is a cartoon!!

Well , of course it is. Is that a bad thing?

I think it and the Road Warrior are classics. Obviously, they are both takes on the old post apocalyptic theme, but they are outstanding.

Mad Max I shows its budgetary constraints. But RW went for it and succeeded. Great stuff.

"You! You can run, but you can never hide!"

I loved both of them, but the first dident convey the "near the end of mankind" nearly as well as Road Warrior did. The Road Warrior left me wondering how anyone dident die making that film.
LOVED the car BTW (anything with a blower is good in my book) and was PISSED when it blew up.

Great movies for their day ... still good entertainment, although either they have dated themselves a bit (times and perceptions have changed) or perhaps one sees things differently with age, or else we've become too accustomed to the genre which they largely pioneered/initiated. I don't know, I still enjoy them, but not like when they first came out.

A number of movies were like that - so new and different when they came out that they were "special" when new, but then later so often copied by others that they have largely lost that impact, that sense of being "special". Star Wars and the Alien movies come to mind in this sense.

Mad Max originally had something of a "cult" following, much like Vanishing Point or The Warriors, but those didn't spawn the many "post-apocalyptic" imitators that Mad Max did.

I loved both of them, but the first dident convey the "near the end of mankind" nearly as well as Road Warrior did. The Road Warrior left me wondering how anyone dident die making that film.
LOVED the car BTW (anything with a blower is good in my book) and was PISSED when it blew up.

I think Mad Max was showing the first signs of the coming doom. Anarchy began on the roads with the police holed up in deteriorating headquarters and little support. Its was obviously made on a budget and quite frankly did drag at times.

The Road Warrior, as the prologue stated, took place after some kind of world war. Quite a leap from societal decay to world war, but science fiction is just that. It had a bigger budget and the plot was more outrageous. Gibson was a better actor and the Max character was obviously different than the first film due to all that had taken place.

What is your reaction to Mad Max?
Even though the steering wheel was on the other side, I always wanted that Ford Falcon XB GT with the 600hp Interceptor and nitro boost that he drove. :yes:

http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/2007/W27/070620070921204705.jpg

This (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fv20071111pl.html) is an interesting read too, and to make it easy 4.3 million Yen is approx. $40,000.

Gay motorcyclists engaging in extreme-violence, fighting for oil. Sounds like and average Saturday night nowadays. Saw the set while Mad Max 2 was being filmed (from a distance) with me old grandpa while on school holidays, just outside my birthplace- the city of Broken Hill. Saw the movie at the cinema when it was released with my Dad. He laughed when he recognised a couple of the film extras as locals. The same year we went to the hills called The Pinnacles, where many scenes were filmed, and dug some rusted car parts out of the graded over soil for souveneirs. Grew up in Melbourne- Mad Max 1 was shot just north of there, and to the west, but I could be completly wrong. This may bring back some memories http://www.madmaxmovies.com/making/madmax2/index.html

Cool, Japan sure is a long way from Broken Hill! (in more ways than one).

Heres were they shot the first one

http://www.madmaxmovies.com/making/madmax/index.html

Gunna have to take the kids to science works so I can check out the MFP head quarters

I've seen both the "dubbed" one, & its "unadulterated" Oz version, & the voices in the dubbed one were SO BAD, you gotta wonder WTF were they thinking ? I mean, they were even worse than the cheesiest anime you've ever heard...

...Dubbing: a classic case where 'wanting to make it better' makes it far worse.

I will not view anything dubbed. If there is no other option, I will sit through a film in its native tongue without subtitles before I view it dubbed.

The horrific unnaturalness and (usually) bad delivery of the dubbers just destroy any semblence of atmosphere in a film, Mad Max definitely included.

Best,
C.

I saw this movie a long time ago and recently reacquainted myself with it. MY reaction: Man this is a cartoon!!

Not cartoon, comic book/graphic novel.

Watch it with that in mind and the edits & imagery make sense.

On its own, I love this film.

After I figured out the comic book angle, I love it even more.

Saw it on release and talked the theater manager out of the lobby poster too.

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/MG/189134~Mad-Max-Posters.jpg

Gay motorcyclists engaging in extreme-violence, fighting for oil. Sounds like and average Saturday night nowadays.

Maybe for you!

:lmao:

Overall :thmbsp:. Toecutter is one of the great villains in cinematic history.

:thmbsp:

Especially Goose's Kawa... Love that bike. I think watching Mad Max is what turned me into a Gearhead.

Not Kawa, Kwaka!

Here's all the stickers for the bike.

Kwaka Parts (http://www.madmax-jp.com/products/goose-project/goose-pro-top1.htm)

Other sites have the fairings to build a Jim Goose replica.

The Tina Turner one was just too out there for me.

And it is too bad about that.

The first half of the movie is great and then it becomes another movie.

The second half of Thunderdome is treacly crap.

I did, however, think the refugee "older" lead girl was kinda hot.

You sure it was all Kawa's?
I swore I saw my old bike....early 80's Yamaha Seca....in the movie as well?

Steve

You sure it was all Kawa's?
I swore I saw my old bike....early 80's Yamaha Seca....in the movie as well?

Steve

Jim Goose's bike was a KZ1000 -

Goose KZ1000 (http://www.madmaxmovies.com/cars/madmax/Goose/index.html)

Mad Max was released in 1979.

Loved it

Great movies. They always look to me like westerns in different place and time.

Great movie! Watched Mad Max and the Road Warrior back to back.

Even though the steering wheel was on the other side, I always wanted that Ford Falcon XB GT with the 600hp Interceptor and nitro boost that he drove. :yes:

http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/2007/W27/070620070921204705.jpg

This (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fv20071111pl.html) is an interesting read too, and to make it easy 4.3 million Yen is approx. $40,000.

Dude, we all did. I looked into importing a Falcon for a while. If I had more money...

Dude, we all did. I looked into importing a Falcon for a while. If I had more money...

On another board I bumped into an Ozzie who had the chance to buy the original Falcon used in Mad Max. We'd been talking about the Nightrider's Monaro. Here is the PM he sent me -

"Oh man, those old GT Falcon's are worth a packet now. (A mint cond. specimen sold at auction here recently for AU$600,000!) They are serious performers as well.

I'll scan an image I have in my photo album for you (I took it way before digital cameras) of the original black Ford that Mel Gibson drove in the first Mad Max film.

It was sitting in a wrecking yard not far from where I live. (The movie was filmed out around Broken Hill, up north in South Australia. I'm in Adelaide in the south of the state.) This was before the movie was released though, and it had probably just been sold off for parts.

I'm sure I could have bought it for a couple of hundred dollars at the time! Still had the dummy blower casing and all the bits and pieces on you see in the film. But I was (and still am) a GM man!"

Lord Humungus:D One of the best movie villans of all time!

http://www.cueball.de/images/MadMax/HDDVD/Humungus_small.jpg

.....and Wez.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y155/westsidemfp/NDVD_118.jpg

Great movies. They always look to me like westerns in different place and time.

You're right, compare it to you're classic wild west set up, town overrun by out laws, lone sheriff, revenge. And it was shot in the wild west (well, western suburbs of Melbourne, but thats pretty wild)

The Road Warrior was one of my favorite movies as a teen! The later one with Tina Turner, man what were they smokin? I remember reading a article in something like Car and Driver, where they put that car and few other movie car to the test. The Monaro was actually kinda slow, 0-60 in like 7secs. or something. Anyone remember "The Wraith", one of the best car flicks.

Jim Goose's bike was a KZ1000 -

Goose KZ1000 (http://www.madmaxmovies.com/cars/madmax/Goose/index.html)

Mad Max was released in 1979.

Cool... never knew that. I had a '78 KZ1000 back then. Last time I saw it, it was doing cartwheels down a hill.

I enjoyed Mad Max, total classic!

A blower that activates at the flick of a switch? I think that us gearheads were really drawn to that concept. We spent many nights trying to figure out how this could be done...classic car show.

My uncle always used to laugh about the whole 'driving around to find more gas so you can drive around' concept.

.....and Wez.

Definitely a high point in Vernon Wells' career. He was great as Wez. Convincingly played the total psycho. Then & now, I hope I look this good in my 60's!

http://www.londonfilmandcomiccon.com/imagegallery/lfcc1images/vernonwells1.jpg

A blower that activates at the flick of a switch? I think that us gearheads were really drawn to that concept. We spent many nights trying to figure out how this could be done...classic car show.

Man, did your post bring back memories...

Two of my best high school buddies and I, sat down one night and spent 3 or 4 hours trying to figure out a solenoid activated switch, and a way to route clean air around a 6-71 supercharger into a V8. We never got all the bugs ironed out, but we sure had a ton of fun thinking about it.

a post-apocalyptic High Noon with Australian sensibilities. What's not to like?

Liked 'The Wraith'. Thought that was a better movie then they were aiming for when they filmed it.

The sheer rawness of that movie is what makes it so special. Watching it you feel alone. I love that movie.

For a little update, if you haven't done "Max 2" on Blu-Ray, you should consider it. As rough and dirty as some of shots can be, the thing looks great, with sweat and grit in clear detail.

In seeing the film again, I was struck by how sincere the opening narrative felt, even though it was made to be a kind of pseudo-pompous 'serious moment' to set up the craziness that follows.

AND: how many know where the Arriflex 35mm unmanned camera shows up in a shot? :banana: I gonna make you beg....:tresbon::D:D..unless you of course already found it...:thmbsp:

CC.

Ok, you won't have to beg. It's Christmas, after all :thmbsp:

The shot is the full-frontal slo-mo of the truck hammering into the gang vehicle. It's the shot just after Wells' last reaction, the shock zoom pretty much into his mouth.

If you look to the ground at the beginning of the truck impact, on the right side of the frame, you'll see a little bush by the road.
Behind said little bush, with its black mattebox sticking out into view, is either an Arriflex or a Mitchell taking in the mayhem by remote control.
Pity we never got to see that shot. A low wide of that impact, and in 'Scope to boot.

I'm glad the camera is still in there. That no do-gooder decided to protect future generations by having it removed digitally for the Blu-Ray release. It feels right not to mess with work already done.

CC.

the rawness of (the) movie...makes it...special. Watching it you feel alone.

That's it exactly. An excellent observation on your part, VH.

Man, did your post bring back memories...

Two of my best high school buddies and I, sat down one night and spent 3 or 4 hours trying to figure out a solenoid activated switch, and a way to route clean air around a 6-71 supercharger into a V8. We never got all the bugs ironed out, but we sure had a ton of fun thinking about it.

Magnetic clutch, you could have it slip too, so you could have full boost at lower rpm, then slip as the motor's rpms rise. Would be easier to do on a Eaton type supercharger

HA Ha this thread brought good memories..
How about Escape from New York for another good "cartoon"
My wife won't even watch it and thinks I am crazy for thinking it is funny; but it is!
Tal

Magnetic clutch, you could have it slip too, so you could have full boost at lower rpm, then slip as the motor's rpms rise. Would be easier to do on a Eaton type supercharger

On nearly every car forum I can think of over the years this topic inevitably comes up. Some pretty creative solutions get posted from using A/C clutches for the drive pulley to bypass intake ducting using vacuum operated solenoids. It is pretty funny how large this prop looms in the minds of so many gearheads, mine included. Hearing the belt slap & whine on start-up, you just know it's go time.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l284/lellykuick/MadMaxBlower.gif

Magnetic clutch, you could have it slip too, so you could have full boost at lower rpm, then slip as the motor's rpms rise. Would be easier to do on a Eaton type supercharger

Why take the fun out of a blower motor? The whole point of a blower is having a motor that keeps making more and more horsepower until it grenades or the rev limiter steps in for the faint of heart. I once had the pleasure of taking a real '65 GT350R (legit numbers car) with a Paxton to 55 mph in 1st. The sound that 289 made through the side dump Tri-Ys and glass pacs was a near religious experience.

finding a way to engage or disengage the belt is not the problem. getting air into the motor with the blower not spinning is the trouble. a roots type supercharger (blower) has to spin for air to pass through it. also, blowers don't make more and more horsepower either. as the engine rpms climb, the blower looses its effects. turbochargers are the opposite, they don't boost much at lower rpms. that's why there are so many combos on the market.

mad max was a very cool movie anyway!

blowers don't make more and more horsepower either. as the engine rpms climb, the blower looses its effects

mad max was a very cool movie anyway!

Agreed, on a dyno anyway but I was oversimplifying. Ignoring safer OEM limitations and with the right gearing a brute force blown set up for drags can be redline limited while the HP curve is still fairly steep. That's the fun I was talking about, pinned to the seats all the way through the gears till you run out of rpm.

Factoid: I once read that the blower on your basic 9000 hp top fuel car consumes 400 hp.

Factoid: I once read that the blower on your basic 9000 hp top fuel car consumes 400 hp.

I am thinking that is a pretty small percentage of the overall HP and there are no alternator or water pump losses either.

finding a way to engage or disengage the belt is not the problem. getting air into the motor with the blower not spinning is the trouble.

That's why you would use an Eaton type SC, it could be bypassed easily.

Why take the fun out of a blower motor? The whole point of a blower is having a motor that keeps making more and more horsepower until it grenades or the rev limiter steps in for the faint of heart.

perhaps the reason for the on/off was keeping in the theme of fuel conservation since gas was in short supply but the blower acted as the hp boost when needed to power away from the bad guys, or catch up to them..............

the night rider lives!!!!!!!!!