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Post by Science Fiction Movie on May 28, 2024 11:56:43 GMT
 Mad Max 2 was filmed in New South Wales (Australia), around the areas of Broken Hill and Silverton. The first stop for any Mad Max tourist should of course be the Silverton Hotel, pictured above. There is a wealth of history surrounding the hotel, and inside you will find pictures from Mad Max 2, and many of the other productions that have been done out there over the years. The road out past Silverton will also take you to the Mundi Mundi plain, where much of the opening of the film was shot. Note that several Broken Hill residents managed to keep various items from the film, and if you ask around you should be able to find them and look at these things for yourself. All that they ask is that if you take a look, please leave things as you find them, for everyone else to see after you. |
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Post by Science Fiction Movie on May 28, 2024 11:58:28 GMT
  The road out past Silverton, towards Mundi Mundi plain, was used in many shots, primarily the opening chase, and the final truck wreck. The truck is initially parked at the Mundi Mundi lookout (note that the sign was a film prop and is not there).  Looking up the hill towards Mundi Mundi lookout The reverse side of the hill is used in the opening chase, where Max dodges the wrecks, while the Landau just crashes through them. Down from the Mundi Mundi lookout is a tight corner, which is where the truck is crashed off the road in the final scene.  Mundi Mundi Road, as used in the opening chase, looking towards the corner Around the corner and onto the straight, and this road is again used in the opening chase. Note in the opening chase that you can see the cars fly past some old electrical poles, about when the Landau is knocking posts out of the ground. The poles are still there, as pictured below. |
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Post by Science Fiction Movie on May 28, 2024 11:59:41 GMT
 The final truck roll over scene was just down from the Mundi Mundi lookout, as mentioned above (same locations as for the opening chase). The impact itself occurs just as the hill starts to drop down from the Mundi Mundi lookout. In the truck crash picture shown above, the lookout is just over the crest of the hill, behind the F100. After destroying Humungus' truck, the truck careers down the hill, and leaves the road and hits the dirt as it rounds the corner, shown below.   |
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Post by Science Fiction Movie on May 28, 2024 12:02:39 GMT
 Stuntman Guy Norris (left) prepares for the stunt, and Guy Norris later on, after the stunt.  The landing site is prepared The Cannonball Stunt was designed to be one of the most spectacular stunts for Mad Max 2, and it most certainly turned out that way. The set up for the stunt is the mayhem following Max shooting the driver in the red XA Falcon pursuer, and the subsequent crash of a buggy, followed by a biker ploughing into that buggy.  Guy Norris leaving the bike The stunt concept itself is fairly simple, although obviously also very dangerous, and requiring very precise timing. Guy Norris has to ride directly at the crashed buggy, and then leave the bike only a fraction of a second before impact, sailing through the air, like being shot out of a cannon, to land safely in the boxes.  Guy Norris being attended to by George Miller (far right) and stunt co-ordinator Max Aspin (far left) Unfortunately for Guy Norris, the stunt did not go exactly according to plan. He mis-timed his leap from the bike, leaving a fraction of a second too late, the bike having already impacted with the buggy. Unfortunately, this sent him tumbling end over end, instead of flying straight as was supposed to happen.  Guy Norris being stretchered away On top of this, the impact itself broke Guy's leg. To make matters worse, this same leg had already been broken before, and already had a metal pin inserted - the force of the impact actually bent this pin too.  To the hospital driver... As soon as the severity of the accident was determined, Guy Norris was obviously stretchered off to hospital to be attended to. Unfortunatley this meant missing the remainder of filming, but it was perhaps a small price to pay for giving us one of the most spectacular stunts ever seen on screen. |
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Post by Science Fiction Movie on May 28, 2024 12:05:49 GMT
The Moat Jump Stunt  Stuntman Max Aspin (with makeup blood, not the real stuff!)  Approaching the ramp, and the jump itself The setup for this stunt is that the marauders, driving a modified Valiant Regal, are attacking Max as he attempts to deliver the rig, shooting out the tyres. The Gyro Captain comes to the rescue however, dropping a snake onto the arrow gun operator, causing him to misfire into the back of the driver, sending the car out of control, and into the moat.  The Charger clips the wreck pile, and plunges The ramp is set up at just the right height to send the car over a pile of wrecks sitting in the moat, just clipping the top car as it goes over. The Valiant is supposed to sail over the top fairly cleanly, and to a safe landing.  Max Aspin is pulled from the car, while the safety guys clean up. Byron Kennedy (left of the Mohawker) watches on. However, the stunt does not unfortunately go exactly to plan. The Valiant clips the pile of wrecks a little harder than was intended, and doesn't end up landing as safely, or softly, as it was supposed to.  Max Aspin is carried off The car comes down harder than it is supposed to, apparently breaking Max Aspin's leg. As with Guy Norris after the Cannonball Stunt, Max makes the trip off set, and into hospital. |
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Post by Science Fiction Movie on May 28, 2024 12:08:54 GMT
The Bike Gag "Shoot the Tyre!"  The marauders are in hot pursuit and starting to climb aboard the tanker. One unfortunate biker gets a little too close however and is sucked under the rear wheels! Although in screen time the stunt is relatively short, it was actually quite a complex shot, as the storyboard below illustrates:  Storyboard design for the gag  The dummy biker hanging from the tanker The special effects team of Monte Fieguth, David Hardy and Steve Courtley designed, set up and executed this complex gag. The setup involved an intricate arrangement of hooks, cables, counterweights, explosive charges and so on. The mechanism was designed to release the bike and pull it under the wheels, at the same time pulling all of the cabling out of shot and ensuring that the bike didn't become entangled.  The system had to be operated manually, and Monte Fieguth actually road underneath the tanker to operate all the mechanisms. In the end the sequence was actually filmed four times until they got exactly the shot they wanted. |
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Post by Science Fiction Movie on May 28, 2024 12:10:13 GMT
 The script for Mad Max 2 called for a remote oil refinery, a large scale set built to house the community which had claimed it, as society had spiralled downwards amidst the war that had stopped oil production worldwide, and brought society to a halt. Although a massive set, it's setting in the vast landscape of Broken Hill at times under emphasises its scale. A quick glance at the construction photograph below brings this back into perspective. Now take a look at the photograph of the completed set below - the backbone framework shown above comprises only a small portion of the overall compound construction.  Principal photography for Mad Max 2 progressed throughout May, June and July 1981, using the compound set as the backdrop to much of the action. Then, on Wednesday July 22nd, 1981, it came time for the filming of one of the major set pieces for the movie - the compound explosion. |
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Post by Science Fiction Movie on May 28, 2024 12:11:42 GMT
On the day the compound area was strictly patrolled to ensure the stunt went to plan. Onlookers from the film were permitted a front row seat, but were directed to specific vantage points beyond the range of the blast itself. The force of the explosion was expected to be so great that all mines in the Broken Hill area were closed. There was to be no risk of anyone being trapped underground, should the force of the explosion be so great as to cause any collapse in the surrounding area. The plan was for a massive explosion, designed to totally out class any which had come before it. The desire was for a double barrelled effect - a combination of a huge fireball, coupled with the explosive impact to destroy the compound and propel debris skyward. In explosives terms these are mutually exclusive events, as the explosive propelling force cannot exist in the same space as the fuelled fireball. Thus experts from the explosives industry were brought out specifically to stage this one special effect, crafted carefully to ensure that it would include both flaming fireball, and explosively propelled debris. Watch closely in the film itself as the series of both effects are set off side by side during the compound explosion, to full effect. Of course, precautions had to be taken to ensure that no one set off the show prematurely... And then it came time to let her rip...   Photographs showing the explosion sequence. Note carefully the solid black spec to the upper left of the explosion...  The picture is enlarged to review that the spec above is the Mad Max 2 production chopper taking a view from the air... (I believe that, in theory, all aircraft were grounded in the Broken Hill area at the time of the explosion). |
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Post by Science Fiction Movie on May 28, 2024 12:13:00 GMT
 Also pay special attention to the "mini" explosives set off inside the compound prior to the main event, for the marauders close up shot - watch those stunt men duck! Of course, the best view of the explosion is most obviously seen in the film itself, captured in all its glory from the numerous camera angles to full effect. The producers certainly achieved everything they had aimed to, and in closing below are some pictures of the aftermath.   |
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Post by Science Fiction Movie on May 28, 2024 12:14:00 GMT
Humungus Machine Crash and Tanker Roll Late in July 1981, with Mad Max 2 filming nearing completion, it came time for the final climatic stunts of the film - The Humungus Machine Crash, and the Tanker Roll. The script called for the tanker to crash head on into the Humungus machine, obliterating it. Following this, the tanker was to leave the road, rolling over onto its side, and crashing violently to rest. An extremely dangerous stunt, never before attempted, and which to this day still has people questioning as to whether or not the tanker was actually manned during the wreck itself. Of course, an unmanned tanker would have never landed quite so precisely, and as per all of the truck stunts seen in the film, the stunt was performed under the control of the precision truck stunt driver, Dennis Williams. The destruction of the Humungus machine firstly involved setting up the machine itself in a ready to explode state. It was constructed on the road, with the parts loosely wired and tac welded together, ensuring that it would explode into pieces when hit head on by the impact of the truck. For the Mack, all windscreens and glass were removed, and replaced with steel mesh to safely enclose the cabin. This would prevent any parts of the Humungus machine from protruding the cabin and impacting the driver, or from shattering glass throughout the cabin. If you watch carefully in the film itself, you will also clearly see Dennis wearing a full safety helmet. All set up, the stunt was ready to go, and so Dennis executed it. He held the truck flat stick, as fast as he could take it down that road, ensuring at the impact point that the destruction would be total.   Note the ambulance parked down the road, to the top right of the picture |
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Post by Science Fiction Movie on May 28, 2024 12:16:31 GMT
The Humungus machine destruction went perfectly to plan, obliterating the vehicle and sending debris in all directions. However, the prime mover suffered some damage, including a severed brake line, and the roll over stunt was unable to be completed on the Friday as planned. The debris scattered site was left to stand overnight while the truck was repaired, returning the next day for the final climactic stunt. One of the fears for the roll over stunt was that the force of the impact would cause the trailer to break its mounting, penetrating through the cabin of the truck itself (noting that the trailer was indeed fully loaded with tones of sand - an empty trailer would have been too light, and not behaved correctly on film). To counter the risk of the mount breaking, a steel framework was built at the rear of the cabin, angled up and over, so that should the mount break, the path of the trailer would be deflected upwards instead of directly forwards. The framing can be seen highlighted in the photograph below.  "You don't just go and do 'em willy nilly - they're set up." Fortunately, the framing above was never required, as the mount held firm as the rig slammed into the dirt. Again, Dennis held the tanker as fast as he could go, smoke still belching from the exhausts as he put it over.  Note the tyre to the left of the picture sequence above, exploding under the force of the impact as the truck goes down As the tanker went over, it was followed closely behind by a safety crew in a dune buggy, on hand immediately should Dennis have required any assistance. An ambulance was once again on standby, along with a helicopter close by. None of this ended up being needed of course, the stunt being executed perfectly to plan.    Dennis Williams (left, as Max) surveys the wreckage |
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Post by Science Fiction Movie on May 28, 2024 12:17:07 GMT
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Post by Science Fiction Movie on May 29, 2024 10:26:06 GMT
 Mad Max 2 (The Road Warrior) 1981/2013 @ The Pinnacles, Broken Hill, NSW, Australia. Area is now off limits. Owned by a mining company. |
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Post by Science Fiction Movie on May 29, 2024 10:30:05 GMT
 Mad Max 2 (The Road Warrior), released 1981. March 2023 at Mundi Mundi Lookout in Silverton. |
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Post by Science Fiction Movie on May 29, 2024 10:32:49 GMT
 Mad Max 2 (The Road Warrior), released 1981. May 2023 at Mundi Mundi Lookout in Silverton. |
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