What Happened to The Road Warrior?

Quick: what’s the all-time best middle movie in a popular OG cinematic trilogy? Yes, The Godfather Part II and The Empire Strikes Back are obvious and beyond reproach, but what else comes to mind? Aliens? Terminator 2? Back to the Future Part 2? Evil Dead 2? Hell, what about Oldboy or The Temple of Doom? Yeah, all worthy responses that happened to be flat-out wrong!

When peering through the rear-view at the best movie trilogy centerpiece, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior leaves the others in the dust. Released two years after the handcrafted, low-budget original Mad Max, the making of The Road Warrior couldn’t have been more different than what visionary filmmaker George Miller experienced on the first go-around. For instance, the first film was hampered by limited resources and budgetary restrictions. Meanwhile, the sequel was strapped with over 10 times the original movie’s budget, allowing Miller to execute the dazzling, death-defying set pieces and action sequences that eluded him in the first film.

Yet, despite the financial leeway that gave Miller creative freedom, the maxing of The Road Warrior was anything but a smoothly paved escapade. In detailing the production history of Mad Max 2, we’ll learn what inspired the film, how it was developed, how long it took to make, the problems Miller encountered, on-set injuries and accidents, cool trivial anecdotes, and more. After all, we’re not just here for the gasoline, we’re about to find out What Happened to The Road Warrior ahead!