1 / 8
MONEY
Did you know
Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
MoodPlayr · trivia#01
Mad Max 2
"Just one man can make a difference."
1981 1h 36m EN
👍
7.4
SOLID
🔥
93%
CERTIFIED FRESH
👌
77
METACRITIC
⭐
7.6
IMDB
★7.4TMDB · 4,344🍅93%Rotten Tomatoes●77Metacritic★7.6IMDB · 211,905
ActionThrillerScience Fiction
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
Max Rockatansky returns as the heroic loner who drives the dusty roads of a postapocalyptic Australian Outback in an unending search for gasoline. Arrayed against him and the other scraggly defendants of a fuel-depot encampment are the bizarre warriors commanded by the charismatic Lord Humungus, a violent leader whose scruples are as barren as the surrounding landscape.
“Just one man can make a difference.”
Cast
Mel Gibson
Max Rockatansky
Bruce Spence
The Gyro Captain
Michael Preston
Pappagallo
Max Phipps
The Toadie
Vernon Wells
Wez
Kjell Nilsson
The Humungus
Emil Minty
The Feral Kid
Virginia Hey
Warrior Woman
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- George Miller
- Writers
- Terry Hayes, George Miller, Brian Hannant
- Languages
- English
- Countries
- Australia
Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.
Did you know?
Fun facts 🍿
2 / 8
MONEY
Did you know
Grossed $25M — a 12.3× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
MoodPlayr · trivia#02
3 / 8
ERA
Did you know
45 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
MoodPlayr · trivia#03
4 / 8
CINEMA
Did you know
Part of the "Mad Max Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
MoodPlayr · trivia#04
5 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Directed by George Miller, shot by Dean Semler. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
MoodPlayr · trivia#05
6 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Original score by Brian May. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
MoodPlayr · trivia#06
7 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Editor Michael Balson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
MoodPlayr · trivia#07
8 / 8
CAST
Did you know
Mel Gibson and Bruce Spence and Michael Preston carry the top of the cast.
MoodPlayr · trivia#08
Cinephile deep dive
The take
George Miller directs. Dean Semler behind the camera. Brian May scores. Michael Balson cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Australia. Dialogue in English.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 1Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
- 2Grossed $25M — a 12.3× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
- 345 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
- 4Part of the "Mad Max Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
- 5Directed by George Miller, shot by Dean Semler. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 6Original score by Brian May. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
- 7Editor Michael Balson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
- 8Mel Gibson and Bruce Spence and Michael Preston carry the top of the cast.
- 9Marketing tagline: "Just one man can make a difference.".
- 10IMDB entry: tt0082694 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 11Classified under 38 themes, including "mask", "australia", "chase", "explosive".
- 12Released under 19 different titles around the world.
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Dean Semler
- Original score
- Brian May
- Editing
- Michael Balson
- Costume design
- Norma Moriceau
- Makeup / hair
- Bob McCarron
- Stunt coordinator
- Max Aspin
- Runtime
- 96 min · 1h 36m
- Aspect ratio (typical)
- 1.37:1 (Academy)
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $2,000,000
- Box office
- $24,600,832
- Return
- 1230% of budget
- Original language
- EN
- Certification (US)
- R
- IMDB
- Mad Max 2 (1981)
- Rotten Tomatoes
- 93% 🍅 Fresh
- Metacritic
- 77/100
- IMDB rating
- 7.6/10 · 211,905 votes
- MPAA
- R
Awards
8 wins & 12 nominations total
- AACTA Award for Best Production Design
- AACTA Award for Best Editing
- AACTA Award for Best Direction
- AACTA Award for Best Costume Design
- Saturn Award for Best International Film
- Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film
- AACTA Award for Best Sound
Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.
Part of
Mad Max Collection
Mad Max is an Australian dystopian action media franchise. Mad Max references are deeply embedded in popular culture; references to its dystopian, apocalyptic, and post-apocalyptic themes and bizarre landscape and desolate wasteland imagery. The collection currently includes Mad Max 1-4 also Furiosa and as of yet to be released Mad Max: The Wasteland.
Also by
George Miller
Stills · wallpapers
Selected frames
Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.
Trailers & featurettes
Watch the pieces
Community reviews
What people are saying
- John Chard★ 9/10
The last of the V8 Interceptors and the battle for gasoline! It's post nuclear war Australia and the precious commodity is gasoline, all the varying degrees of survivors pursue it in anyway they can. Director George Miller is here armed with considerably more cash than was available for the first cult hit offering in the series, and boy does it show as we get more destruction, even more outlandish stunts, and a fully realised apocalyptic vision of the future. It's incredible to note that there is no CGI here, this is pure raw stunt work, the film plays out as a standard good versus evil tale, but it's the realisation of the crash bang wallop sequences that lift it to being one of the most important sci-fi action movies of modern times. The baddies are a seething mass of leather, masks, and mohawks, they scowl as they rape pillage and plunder anything in their path, they will stop at nothing to get the craved gasoline that is so important in this world. The good guys are joined by the road warrior himself, Mad Max Rockatansky, a former police officer who turned to being the angry lone warrior of the road after his wife and child were murdered. Can these honest folk survive the onslaught of the crazed plunderers?. Well it's high octane entertainment finding out, and the pace is relentless. The direction is first rate, the scenes are put together with breath taking exhilaration, and the sound mix is incredible for those fortunate enough to own home cinema. Pic may be guilty of having little to no dialogue for the most part, yet it really isn't needed since the story unfolds via the smartly stitched together action sequences. So just strap yourself in and enjoy the ride given to you by a film that's still a benchmark for the genre. 9/10
- Wuchak★ 7/10
Fighting for fuel in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of the Outback In the years after a global holocaust, an ex-lawman (Mel Gibson) in remote Australia befriends people at a refinery compound and helps them escape a band of ruthless punk bikers who want their resources. Bruce Spence plays the Gyro Captain while Vernon Wells is on hand as a subordinate leader of the bikers. "The Road Warrior,” aka “Mad Max 2” (1981) shows a grim, bleak, brutal future, but it's too comic booky and sometimes goofy to truly disturb because it screams exaggeration. A truly disturbing movie debuted fifteen years earlier, “The Wild Angels” (1966), which is shocking because it’s realistic rather than cartoonish. But “The Wild Angels” was an outlaw biker drama whereas “Mad Max 2” is an action-packed adventure. There’s a lot of motorhead thrills if that trips your trigger. The movie’s an Australian production and avant-garde bordering on surrealism. The protagonist is aloof and laconic while the antagonists are bizarre, even psycho, which makes sense in that people would become a little mad in a desperate post-apocalyptic environment. It’s a strangely detached film about cartoonish people surviving in the wastelands of Australia, but the characters and images are often iconic; and there IS some human interest, like the Gyro Captain’s developing relationship with the cute blonde, the so-called Captain’s Girl (Arkie Whitley). Meanwhile Virginia Hey is striking as the Warrior Woman. The film runs 1 hour, 34 minutes and was shot in the Outback of New South Wales, Australia. GRADE: B
- JPV852★ 8/10
Really great sequel that surpasses the original. While short on character moments, the action sequences were fantastic culminating with an adrenaline-filled finale. All in all highly entertaining with just enough weidness to make it stand out all the more... 4.0/5
Production companies
Who made it
- KE
Kennedy Miller Productions
AU
Key crew
- ProducerByron Kennedy
- EditorMichael Balson
- EditorDavid Stiven
- EditorTim Wellburn
- Art DirectionGraham "Grace" Walker
- Costume DesignNorma Moriceau
- Makeup EffectsBob McCarron
- Transportation CoordinatorRalph Clark
- Producer's AssistantLinda Bates
- Production CoordinatorJenny Day
- Assistant AccountantJennifer Lee-Lewes
- Assistant CameraPeter Lipscombe
- Visual EffectsKim Priest
- CharactersGeorge Miller
- CharactersByron Kennedy
- Special Effects Makeup ArtistBob McCarron
- Makeup ArtistKathy Coultrup
- First Assistant DirectorPatrick Clayton
- First Assistant DirectorBrian Hannant
- Third Assistant DirectorPhillip Hurst
- Second Assistant DirectorToivo Lember
- Assistant DirectorAndrew Plain
- Assistant DirectorMichael Parkhurst
- Second Unit First Assistant DirectorMark Thomas
Themes & keywords
What it's about, really
- mask
- australia
- chase
- explosive
- dystopia
- boomerang
- deal
- post-apocalyptic future
- exploitation
- pilot
- villain
- feral child
- community
- ex-cop
- sequel
- truck
- tragedy
- oil
- wasteland
- gang rape
- motorcycle gang
- dog
- desolate
- oil refinery
- music box
- adventurer
- oil tanker
- wanderer
- angry
- frantic
- grim
- action hero
- good versus evil
- antagonistic
- forceful
- harsh
- ominous
- urgent
Release history · US
When it landed
- Premiere2008-09-19· Austin Fantastic Fest
- Theatrical1982-05-21R
- Physical1997-03-26R· DVD
- Physical1986-01-01R· "The Road Warrior" Warner Home Video #11181 [VHS] 95 minutes
Also known as
International titles
- AsfaltkrigarenFI
- Mad Max II - AsfalttisoturiFI
- Guerrero de la carreteraUY
- The Road WarriorUS
- Mad Max 2: The Road WarriorCA
- Mad Max 2: The Road WarriorUS
- Mad Max 2: Le défiCA
- Mad Max 2 - AsfalttisoturiFI
- Mad Max 2: Der VollstreckerDE
- Mad Max: Der VollstreckerDE
- मैड मैक्स २IN
- Mad Max II: El guerrero de la carreteraMX
- Mad Max 2: Wojownik szosPL
- Mad Max: Wojownik szosPL
- Mad Max 2: Războinicul şoselelorRO
