Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
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Template:Infobox Movie Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (released in the US in 1981 as The Road Warrior) was a sequel to Mad Max. It was a worldwide box office hit, with its combination of odd characters and over-the-top car stunts, and was the film that launched Mel Gibson to international stardom. It was followed by Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, popularizing the Post-apocalyptic science fiction genre as referenced in later various films and other works of fiction.
The movie opens with a brief prologue explaining the chain of events that preceded the original Mad Max (no backstory was offered in that movie)-- totalitarianism and uprisings in Australia, and eventually an extended war gave way to lawlessness throughout the Outback of Australia, requiring special police assigned to protect the lands. This is followed by a brief recap of Mad Max. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior picks up a few years after the events of Mad Max. No organized government remains, anarchy has a firm grip on the land, peace and justice have given way to survival at any cost, and Max, the former police officer and vigilante has become a nomadic drifter.
He encounters a small community of morally upstanding people who have barricaded themselves in a small, isolated oil refinery, under siege by a gang of bloodthirsty bandits intent on killing them and stealing their precious fuel. At first, Max is only concerned with his own welfare and doesn't want to get involved, but later decides to assist them in escaping by driving a tanker truck loaded with fuel. The gang pursues him and a small group of the defenders, and despite putting up a valiant fight, he finally loses control of the truck and it crashes. It turns out the tanker was filled with sand. The others have used the distraction to escape with their petrol and their lives.
Max Fairchild, as the 'Broken Victim', who is tied to the front of one of the gangs vehicles, is the only actor, other than Mel Gibson, to have been in the original Mad Max and this film.
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Mad Max - Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior - Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome - Mad Max 4: Fury Road |