The original "Mad Max" came out in 1979, and was a huge hit worldwide. Fans loved its action, colorful characters, and apocalyptic world. Its influence on other films is obvious. Its two sequels followed in quick succession, and then a 4th film, "Fury Road" finally came out in 2015. (Whether "Fury Road" is a sequel, or remake, or reboot, or revisit, is up to debate.) And we're still not done--a fifth film in the universe, about Furiosa, is due out in about a month. Let's hope writer/director George Miller continues his winning ways. So let's get into the details of the first one. Questions followed by the answers. Many SPOILERS ahead.
Questions:
1) According to the opening words on the screen, when does "Mad Max" take place?
2) What road are the characters on in the opening scene?
3) What is the name of the law enforcement agency that Max is a member of?
4) What two officers of this agency do we first see?
5) What is the call sign for this pair's vehicle?
6) What is the call sign for the first car chasing the Nightrider?
7) What two men are in this vehicle?
8) We see an official highway sign. What does it read?
9) What is the last name of Fifi, the local Captain?
10) Where is Goose when we first see him?
11) What is the slang, disparaging word for the law enforcement members?
12) What kind of musical instrument do we see and hear Jessie playing?
13) From a television news broadcast we learn the Nightrider's real name. What is it?
14) Jess relates an attack upon her from their son, Sprog, that morning. What was it?
15) What message does Jess communicate to Max, using hand signals?
16) According to the intercom at the Hall of Justice, what is Memorandum 8?
17) Who is the mechanic at the Hall of Justice?
18) What are the features of the souped-up Interceptor, according to the mechanic?
19) We witness the Police Commissioner talking to Fifi. What is this man's name?
20) According to the sign, who owns and operates the Central Garage?
21) What is Goose's real first name?
22) What is the name of the small town that Toecutter and his gang ravage?
23) Why is Johnny the Boy released from custody?
24) What two members of Toecutter's gang are seen molesting the mannequin on the beach?
25) What is the name of the club that we see Goose attending?
26) After Goose crashes his (sabotaged) motorcycle, he starts driving back in a borrowed utility truck. Who is the owner of this vehicle?
27) What hospital is Goose taken to?
28) What kind of sandwich is Max eating on the beach? (He says what it is.)
29) For the only time in the series, we learn a tiny bit about Max's childhood. What does he reveal?
30) What is the motto of the Grease Rat's auto shop/dealership?
31) Which member of Toecutter's gang loses his hand while swinging the chain onto Max and Jess's vehicle?
32) What is the name of the local sheriff that Max and Jessie talk to about the hand?
33) What is May's last name?
34) What are Jess's traumas, according to a doctor?
35) What is Toecutter's gang member Bubba's last name?
36) How many members of Toecutter's gang does Max directly kill, or cause the death of?
37) The Nightrider quotes a bit from a real life band's song. Which band?
38) Did Toecutter's gang rape both the man and woman (Lair and his girlfriend) who fled in the Chevy? (Conjectural)
39) Did Jessie and Goose actually both die? (Conjectural)
40) Speaking of Goose, another person played him after the burning. (The burnt hand and arm we see is that of someone else.) What other character did this person play?
41) What year, make, and model is Max's black Interceptor?
42) Who shoots Max in his left knee?
43) And who runs over Max's right arm with his motorcycle?
44) How did the Toecutter gang find Max, Jess, and Sprog? (Conjectural)
45) What city is the Hall of Justice based in?
46) Is losing his family the only reason that Max is alive for the sequel? (Conjectural)
47) Which actor from this movie later co-wrote "Fury Road" and the upcoming 2024 Furiosa movie?
48) James McCausland, who co-wrote "Mad Max," appeared briefly in this movie. Name his character.
49) Which actor in this movie also wrote and produced the song that Jess played, and the one that the singer in the club sang?
50) Aside from Mel Gibson, obviously, who's the only actor or actress to also appear in the sequel, "Mad Max 2" aka "The Road Warrior"?
51) Okay the answer to Question #1 is intentionally vague. When does it really take place? (Conjectural)
Answers:
1) "A few years from now." See the answer to Question #51 for further detail.
2) It appears to be Anarchy Road (or Anarchie (sic) Road). One sign indicates that this road is 3 km. away, but later on the radio someone says the chase is on Anarchy.
3) The Main Force Patrol, often abbreviated as MFP.
4) Charlie and Roop. Charlie is the skinny religious one, and Roop is the rotund guy.
5) Big Bopper.
6) March Hare.
7) Sarse and Scuttle.
8) Highway 9, Sector 26. High Fatality Road--deaths this year: 57. Monitored by Main Force Patrol.
9) Macaffee. Other media (comics, etc.) give Fifi's real first name as Fred.
10) Fat Nancy's restaurant.
11) Bronze, after the bronze badges they wear.
12) A saxophone.
13) Crawford Montazano.
14) A right hook to her mouth. Max jokingly says he told Sprog to lead with his left.
15) "Crazy about you." This is all Jess's creation, and not real sign language.
16) "Hospital vouchers are available again" (for MFP officers). Foreshadowing!
17) Barry.
18) A V8 engine, it runs on nitro, has a Phase 4 head, twin overhead cams, and a 600 horsepower blower (supercharger).
19) Labatouche. Who's obviously into fencing, as he's brought his uniform.
20) C L Britten.
21) Jim. Alternate (non-canon?) sources give his surname as Rains.
22) Wee Jerusalem.
23) Because no one--not the girl, none of the gang, and none of the townspeople--shows up for his court appearance.
24) Mudguts and Cundalini. Mudguts just might be a nickname.
25) The Sugartown Cabaret.
26) Midge.
27) St. George's Hospital.
28) Peanut butter and honey, and it looks like wheat bread.
29) That he loved going on walks with his dad, who was tall and took long strides, clad in his special shined brown shoes. And Max had a difficult time expressing his love and admiration to his father.
30) "Speed is just a question of money. How fast can you go?"
31) Cundalini.
32) Ziggy. Originally this character was going to be The Dark One, a former partner of Max's, but they changed it. Although later when May calls for aid, she's told to call The Dark One.
33) Swaisey.
34) A subdural, and trauma to the spleen, liver, flail chest, left head of femur, and renal shutdown.
35) Zanetti.
36) At least 4, and up to 8. There are 9 named member of the gang--Toecutter, the Nightrider, Bubba, Johnny the Boy, Cundalini, Diabando, Mudguts, Starbuck, and Clunk. Max chases the Nightrider, causing him to die in the fiery crash. He chases Toecutter into and under the big semi truck. He shoots Bubba, and blows up Johnny using the improvised fire trap. He ran his car into the bikes of Diabando, Starbuck, Mudguts, and Clunk. (The first two wrecking on the bridge, the latter two sent into the river below.) It is unknown if any of these 4 survived. Cundalini is presumably alive at film's end, albeit without his throttle hand. I'm also not including the Nightrider's girlfriend, who also died in the crash, since a sexist gang like this wouldn't admit female members, I think.
37) Australia's own AC/DC--Nightrider loosely quotes from "Rocker," and possibly "Live Wire."
38) Probably. The woman was stripped, and clearly traumatized, and Fifi makes mention later that she was the "town bike," i.e. an old-timey sexist term for promiscuous, clearly implying she was raped. And her beau, Lair, is seen traumatized, and fleeing pantsless in the field, so probably he was, too.
39) For Jess, she's badly injured, but still technically alive. The doctor says she's "salvageable," which might be referring to harvesting some of her organs. But, it's unthinkable that Max would have abandoned her, so I think she definitely died soon after. Goose is badly burnt, but also technically alive. Fift says Goose "bought it," but it's unclear if he again, actually died. There were early plans to make Goose the main villain in "Mad Max 2," but Miller scraped that idea. So Goose presumably died soon after, too.
40) Sheila Lawrence, who played May, also played Goose's burnt arm and hand.
41) It's a 1973 Ford XB Falcon GT351, with a hardtop and a supercharger.
42) Bubba.
43) Again, Bubba. Toecutter seems to delegate a lot of his acts of murderous violence.
44) It appears to be mostly bad luck. The gang was tailing Goose, but there's no evidence they were trailing Max at first. By chance the gang was camped out right by the ice cream store that Jess and Sprog visit. After their altercation, the gang does tail Max, Jess, and Sprog, finding out from the Grease Rat that they were probably headed north. Evidently they checked each residence along the road, until they saw Max and Jess's vehicle, or the folks themselves.
45) It's never said. We hear that the Nightrider was imprisoned, and escaped, and chased from a community named Sun City, but all we know about the Hall of Justice is that it's along Highway 9, in Sector 26.
46) Probably. Because it's revealed Max went crazy with grief after losing his family, and went to live in the isolated wasteland, and so missed the great war preceding "Mad Max 2." Presumably otherwise he'd still be living near civilization, and probably would have died in the conflict.
47) Nico Lathouris, who played the Grease Rat.
48) James is seen at the end of the Fat Nancy scene, playing "bearded man with apron."
49) Nic Gazzana, who played the gang member Starbuck.
50) Max Fairchild played Benno in the movie, and Broken Victim in the sequel.
51) Briefly, and partially from other media, in the Mad Max universe there was a great war between Iran and Saudi Arabia in about 1979, causing the Middle East oilfields to be burnt and destroyed. The resulting fuel shortage affected the whole world, sparking riots and instability. Australia reacted to this carnage by creating the Main Force Patrol in 1983. But society continued to collapse due to mob violence and shortages. In "Mad Max," we see a handwritten date on the "Highway 9 Sector 26" sign giving a date of 1984. And it's unreadable, but the sign outside the Hall of Justice indicates it was established in 1983. Therefore, it's evident that this movie takes place in the mid to late 1980's probably 1985-87.
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