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THE ROAD WARRIOR |
The Facts |
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In one scene, Max eats a can of "Dinki-Di" dog food. "Dinki-Di" is Australian slang for "genuine, real." (I'll leave you to draw your own conclusion.)
Renamed "The Road Warrior" for North American distribution because at the time, the original Mad Max (1979) had only been released there on a limited basis, so calling it Mad Max II would have confused viewers.
The logo on the tank truck is "7 Sisters Oil", reference to a conspiracy theory, popular before OPEC-conspiracy theories took over, that Standard Oil and six other companies controlled the world oil market and bought up and suppressed 200-MPG carburetor and so on to keep oil prices up.
Reasons for Max's silly outfit:
- Right arm of jacket missing: He had his arm run over by a bike in the first movie and medics would have cut the sleeve off rather than pull it over a damaged limb.
- Squeaky leg brace: He had his kneecap shot through in the previous movie.
- Harness with spanners and stuff dangling off it: To do running repairs on the V8.
- First two fingers of each driving glove missing: To enable easy insertion/retrieval of shotgun shells from gun.
Because he was relatively unknown in the US, the trailers did not feature Mel Gibson, but instead focused on the chases and action scenes.
The UK Warner Bros. PAL video is uncut & longer than the US R rated print; the extra footage (mere seconds) contains graphic torture to the good guys.
The initial US alternate version is distinguished by a unique "lightning bolt" design for the title logo. Subsequent US releases still bear The Road Warrior title, but in block lettering, and contain the full original footage.
When shown on American TV for the first time, the Feral Kid's speech was re-dubbed by someone speaking in a Southern accent -- perhaps to make people believe the action took place in the US!
The opening chase sequence jumps straight into the action with the camera pulling out of the V8's supercharger. This scene was originally shot with Max driving past a farm that Wez and others were ransacking, the bodies of the owners hanging dead from a tree. Seeing Max they all ran to their vehicles and gave chase and there were several cars. The camera then panned out of the car's charger to signify a short passage of time and THEN the scene is as we know it with just Wez and two cars still in pursuit due to the Interceptor's power.
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