— Ch. 1 · From Rock Movie To Wasteland —
Mad Max 2.
~6 min read · Ch. 1 of 7
Director George Miller abandoned a project called Roxanne in Los Angeles. He had been working on that script with Terry Hayes for months. The rock and roll movie never got made. Instead, Miller felt pressure to make a sequel to his 1979 film Mad Max. He wanted more control over the final product than he had received before. A larger budget allowed him to be more ambitious this time around. Brian Hannant joined the production as co-writer and second unit director. Principal photography began in the winter of 1981 near Broken Hill. Filming took place over twelve weeks in the Outback of New South Wales. The scene where the Pursuit Special rolls over was shot at Wilangee Road. That location sits just outside Silverton near the Mundi Mundi Plains lookout.
The Settlers And The Marauders
A global war caused widespread oil shortages and ecocide across the world. Civilisation collapsed into barbarism after the conflict ended. Former policeman Max Rockatansky drives through the desert Outback scavenging for food and petrol. His dog accompanies him on these lonely journeys. Max outmanoeuvres a group of marauders led by biker Wez using his driving skills. He steals petrol from wrecked vehicles belonging to one of his pursuers. Later, Max tries collecting fuel from an abandoned gyrocopter but gets ambushed by its pilot. They arrive during a daily attack on a working oil refinery facility. A motorised gang attacks the compound while cars leave the besieged area. Nathan is the sole survivor of one car that gets chased down by marauders. Max rescues Nathan and strikes a deal to return him to the complex. The leader of the settlers, Pappagallo, says the deal died with Nathan. A feral child kills Wez's partner with a metal boomerang. Lord Humungus offers to spare the settlers' lives in exchange for their fuel supply. The settlers remain divided over whether they can trust Humungus.