Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

The world is a post-apocalyptic wasteland caused by ecocide and a nuclear war over resources.{{Cite book |title=Avenging nature: the role of nature in modern and contemporary art and literature |date=2020 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-1-7936-2144-3 |editor-last=Valls Oyarzun |editor-first=Eduardo |series=Ecocritical theory and practice |location=Lanham Boulder NewYork London |chapter=17 |editor-last2=Gualberto Valverde |editor-first2=Rebeca |editor-last3=Malla García |editor-first3=Noelia |editor-last4=Colom Jiménez |editor-first4=María |editor-last5=Cordero Sánchez |editor-first5=Rebeca}} In Mainland Australia, Max Rockatansky crosses the desert in a carriage pulled by a team of camels. The airborne bandit Jedediah and his young son attack him and steal his vehicle and animals. Max follows Jedediah's trail to a trading post called "Bartertown". Initially refused entry because he has nothing to trade, he impresses the local officials with his toughness, and the founder and ruler of the town, Aunty Entity, offers to resupply him if he completes a task.

Bartertown's energy comes from "Underworld," a subterranean refinery that turns pig feces into methane. The refinery is run by Master, a dwarf who rides around on Blaster, his giant bodyguard. "Master Blaster" has begun to challenge Aunty for control of Bartertown; Aunty wants Max to kill Blaster so she can subvert Master to her will.

Max infiltrates Underworld to size up Master Blaster and befriends Pig Killer, a convict sentenced to work there for slaughtering a pig to feed his children. When Master Blaster learns his newly-acquired vehicle belonged to Max, he forces Max to disarm its booby-trap. In doing so, Max sets off his alarm and discovers that Blaster is hypersensitive to high-pitched noises.

By law, conflicts in Bartertown are resolved by a fight to the death in Thunderdome, a gladiatorial arena. Max publicly accuses Master of stealing his vehicle, and a battle is scheduled against Blaster. Blaster dominates until Max blows a whistle, which makes Blaster grab his head in pain. Max knocks Blaster's helmet off and prepares to kill him, but relents upon seeing that Blaster has an intellectual disability. Max reveals Aunty's plot and Master threatens to shut down the refinery, so Aunty has Blaster killed. She is then able to terrorize Master into keeping the refinery running.

For breaking a deal, Max is bound, placed on a horse, and sent into the Wasteland, his punishment determined by the spin of a wheel. When the horse collapses from exhaustion, Max frees himself and continues on foot until he also collapses.

Warrior girl Savannah Nix finds Max near death and heals him. Her home, "Planet Erf," is an oasis populated by a primitive tribe of teenagers and children. The children are descended from survivors of a crashed Qantas Boeing 747, some of whom left to seek help and never returned. They believe Max is the pilot, "Captain Walker", come to fix the aeroplane and fly them to the fabled "Tomorrow-morrow Land". Max denies he is Walker and insists there is no longer any civilisation like that in their stories. Disillusioned, some teenagers and children led by Savannah want to attempt the journey to Bartertown, but Max stops them and has them tied up, saying everyone should go on living in the oasis.

During the night, the separatists escape. Max agrees to bring them back, taking some members of the tribe along. However, both parties are in bad shape by the time he catches up. Out of supplies, Max is forced to lead the contingent back to Bartertown.

The combined group sneaks into Underworld and, with Pig Killer's help, frees Master and escapes in a modified truck along train tracks, destroying the refinery and most of Bartertown in the process. Aunty orders her forces to pursue and retrieve Master. Max and his group do their best to fight off the attackers. They come across Jedediah and his son, whom Max coerces into providing a ride in their aeroplane. With the approach of Aunty's army shortening the runway, Max gets in his vehicle, which a child stole from their pursuers, and crashes it into the oncoming attackers to create an opening so the plane can take off. Injured and alone, Max is spared by an impressed Aunty who leaves to rebuild Bartertown.

Jedediah flies Master, Pig Killer, and the separatists to the ruins of Sydney. Years later, they have established a community with other wanderers. While they attempt to rediscover the knowledge of the pre-apocalyptic world, each night Savannah recites the story of their journey, and they light up the city as a beacon for Max or any other travellers to follow. Meanwhile, Max wanders in the Wasteland alone.

• Mel Gibson as "Mad Max" Rockatansky, a lone warrior who was an MFP (Main Force Patrol) officer before the collapse of society. Aided by his small pet monkey, he roves the desert Wasteland aimlessly.

; The Flying Jalopy

• Bruce Spence as Jedediah, the marauding pilot of a small plane, who trades stolen goods in Bartertown. Spence previously played "The Gyro Captain" in Mad Max 2.{{cite web |title=Returning to the road with Mad Max's original adventures |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/returning-road-mad-maxs-original-adventures/ |website=GamesRadar |publisher=Future plc |access-date=14 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514035348/http://www.gamesradar.com/returning-road-mad-maxs-original-adventures/ |archive-date=14 May 2015 |date=12 May 2015}}
• Adam Cockburn as Jedediah Jr.

; The People of Bartertown

• Tina Turner as Aunty Entity, the ruthless, determined ruler of Bartertown.{{cite journal |title=Tina Turner Excels in First Dramatic Role in 'Mad Max' Movie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mLQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA30 |journal=Jet |date=29 July 1985 |volume=68 |issue=20 |page=30 |access-date=7 April 2015 |publisher=Johnson Publishing Company}}
• Frank Thring as The Collector, who runs Bartertown's trade and exchange network.
• Angelo Rossitto as The Master, a diminutive former-engineer who used his technical expertise to build the methane extractor responsible for Bartertown's electricity.
• Paul Larsson as The Blaster, Master's enormous, silent bodyguard, who is revealed to have an intellectual disability.
• Angry Anderson as Ironbar Bassey, the head of Bartertown's security and Aunty's top henchman.
• Robert Grubb as Pig Killer, a convict in Bartertown sentenced to shovel pig feces in the methane refinery for the crime of killing a pig to feed his children.
• George Spartels as Blackfinger, the head mechanic in Underworld.
• Edwin Hodgeman as Dr. Dealgood, Bartertown's flamboyant auctioneer and judge.
• Bob Hornery as Waterseller, a man who tries to sell Max radioactive water.
• Andrew Oh as Ton Ton Tattoo, Aunty's saxophone player.

; The Tribe Who Left

• Helen Buday as Savannah Nix, one of the oldest members of an isolated primitive tribe of teenager/child survivors of a plane crash (or the children of those survivors). She and Slake ensure the tribe remembers its oral tradition through "Tells" (recitations of their mythical origin and salvation narrative).
• Mark Spain as Mr. Skyfish, a child who flies a feathered kite.
• Mark Kounnas as Gekko, a child.
• Rod Zuanic as Scrooloose, a mute and alienated teenager who paints his face white with black around the eyes. He's the outcast of the Planet Erf tribe. Scrooloose can replicate anyone else's skills, including driving a vehicle.
• Justine Clarke as Anna Goanna, the child who first tells Max that Savannah and the others have escaped into the Wasteland to try to make it to Bartertown.
• Shane Tickner as Eddie, the smallest child who later catches up and joins the rescue party.
• Toni Allaylis as "Cusha... the pregnant girl".
• James Wingrove as Tubba Tintye, the hunter sent with Max and Anna Goanna.
• Adam Scougall as Finn McCoo, the child who is the first to hear Savannah when she initially returns with Max.

; The Tribe Who Stayed

• Tom Jennings as Slake M'Thirst, the leader of the Planet Erf tribe.

Beyond Thunderdome was the first Mad Max film made without producer Byron Kennedy, who had been killed in a helicopter crash in 1983.{{cite news |title=Byron Kennedy, 33, Producer of Film, 'The Road Warrior' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/20/obituaries/byron-kennedy-33-producer-of-film-the-road-warrior.html |access-date=12 May 2015 |agency=United Press International |work=The New York Times |date=20 July 1983 |archive-date=1 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701034156/http://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/20/obituaries/byron-kennedy-33-producer-of-film-the-road-warrior.html |url-status=live }} Director George Miller was hesitant to continue without his producing partner, saying later: "I was reluctant to go ahead. And then there was a sort of need to – let's do something just to get over the shock and grief of all of that."{{cite web |last1=Byrnes |first1=Paul |title=Filmmaker Interviews: George Miller on ASO |url=http://aso.gov.au/people/George_Miller_1/interview/ |website=Australian Screen Online |publisher=National Film and Sound Archive |access-date=13 May 2015 |archive-date=26 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526200623/http://aso.gov.au/people/George_Miller_1/interview/ |url-status=live }} There is a title card at the end of film before the credits roll that reads: "...for Byron".{{cite web |last1=Brew |first1=Simon |title=Dedications at the end of movies, and what they mean |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/movie-dedications/28196/dedications-at-the-end-of-movies-and-what-they-mean |website=Den of Geek |publisher=Dennis Publishing |access-date=12 May 2015 |date=1 April 2015 |archive-date=17 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517091635/http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/movie-dedications/28196/dedications-at-the-end-of-movies-and-what-they-mean |url-status=live }}

Miller co-directed the film with George Ogilvie, with whom he had worked on the 1983 television miniseries The Dismissal. About this decision, he said: "I had a lot on my plate. I asked my friend George Ogilvie, who was working on the mini-series, 'Could you come and help me?' But I don't remember the experience because I was doing it to just... You know, I was grieving."{{cite web |last1=Bibbiani |first1=William |title=SXSW 2015 Interview: George Miller on Mad Max, 'Fury Road' and the Apocalypse |url=http://www.craveonline.com/entertainment/film/interviews/837957-sxsw-2015-interview-george-miller-on-mad-max-fury-road-and-the-apocalypse/4 |website=CraveOnline |publisher=Evolve Media |access-date=13 May 2015 |page=4 |date=23 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521021009/http://www.craveonline.com/entertainment/film/interviews/837957-sxsw-2015-interview-george-miller-on-mad-max-fury-road-and-the-apocalypse/4 |archive-date=21 May 2015 |url-status=dead}} For the film, Miller and Ogilvie employed a group workshopping rehearsal technique that they had developed.David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p85-87

Exterior location filming took place primarily in the mining town of Coober Pedy, though the set for Bartertown was built at an old brickworks (the Brickpit) at Homebush Bay in Sydney's western suburbs, and the children's camp was in the Blue Mountains.{{cite journal |title=A Few Days on the Set of Mad Max III Beyond Thunder Dome |journal=Starlog |date=June 1985 |issue=95 |url=http://www.lofficier.com/madmax.htm |access-date=13 May 2015 |archive-date=14 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214170853/http://lofficier.com/madmax.htm |url-status=live }} According to cinematographer Dean Semler, "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome proved far more challenging than Mad Max 2. We were dealing with more varied environments than before and it was essential that each of the worlds created for the film have a distinctly different look."{{cite journal |last1=Edwards |first1=Phil |title=Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome |journal=American Cinematographer |date=September 1985 |volume=66 |issue=9 |url=https://www.questia.com/magazine/1P3-1298102351/mad-max-beyond-thunderdome |access-date=13 May 2015 |archive-date=4 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704075424/https://www.questia.com/magazine/1P3-1298102351/mad-max-beyond-thunderdome |url-status=live }}

It was the most expensive Australian film at the time.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|date=November 27, 1985|page=39|title='Burke & Wills', 'Wills & Burke' Collide In Oz; Bad Biz Results|last=Stratton|first=David|author-link=David Stratton}}

{{main|Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (soundtrack)}}

The musical score for Beyond Thunderdome was composed by Maurice Jarre, replacing Brian May, who composed the music for the first two films in the series.{{cite web |last1=Billson |first1=Anne |title=George Miller Talks About mad Max, Heroes & Tina Turner: The 1985 Interview |url=http://multiglom.com/2015/05/12/george-miller-the-1985-interview/ |website=Multiglom |publisher=Time Out |access-date=19 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150519223326/http://multiglom.com/2015/05/12/george-miller-the-1985-interview/ |archive-date=19 May 2015 |date=12 May 2015}} The film also contains two songs performed by Tina Turner: "One of the Living", which plays over the opening titles, and "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)", which plays over the end credits.{{cite web |title=Filmtracks: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (Maurice Jarre) |url=http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/mad_max3.html |website=Filmtracks.com |access-date=12 May 2015 |date=30 June 2010 |archive-date=21 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521161527/http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/mad_max3.html |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine |first=Stephen |last=Vagg |magazine=Filmink |url=https://www.filmink.com.au/10-aussie-80s-films-attempted-jazz-things-inappropriate-rock-soundtrack/ |title=10 Aussie '80s Films That Attempted to Jazz Up Things with an Inappropriate Rock Soundtrack |date=30 December 2019 |access-date=2 January 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102044039/https://www.filmink.com.au/10-aussie-80s-films-attempted-jazz-things-inappropriate-rock-soundtrack/ |url-status=live }}

"We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)" reached #1 in Canada, #2 in the US, and #3 on the British single charts. "One of the Living" was rerecorded for single release, and it reached #15 in both Canada and the US, but only #55 in Britain. At the 28th Annual Grammy Awards, "One of the Living" won the award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

A soundtrack album was released by Capitol Records in 1985. It included Turner's songs alongside an instrumental version of "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)" on Side 1, and some of Jarre's music on Side 2. A double CD containing only Jarre's original music was issued in 2010 on Tadlow Music/Silva Screen Records.{{cite web |title=Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome |url=http://www.tadlowmusic.com/2010/11/mad-max-beyond-thunderdome/ |website=Tadlow Music |access-date=12 May 2015 |archive-date=20 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520185810/http://www.tadlowmusic.com/2010/11/mad-max-beyond-thunderdome/ |url-status=live }}

Although the film's budget was larger than that of its predecessors, its box office yield was only moderate in comparison. It grossed A$4,272,802 at the Australian box office,{{cite web |title=Australian Films at the Australian Box Office |url=http://film.vic.gov.au/resources/documents/AA4_Aust_Box_office_report.pdf |website=Film Victoria |access-date=13 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723234802/http://film.vic.gov.au/resources/documents/AA4_Aust_Box_office_report.pdf |archive-date=23 July 2011}} less than what Mad Max made and less than half of what Mad Max 2 made.

In the United States and Canada, the film grossed $36 million,{{cite web |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=madmaxbeyondthunderdome.htm |title=Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome |publisher=Box Office Mojo |access-date=22 May 2010 |archive-date=26 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526083610/http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=madmaxbeyondthunderdome.htm |url-status=live }} generating theatrical rentals of $18 million. Outside of the U.S. (including Australia), it earned a similar amount, giving it worldwide rentals of $36 million.{{cite magazine |magazine=Variety |date=11 January 1989 |page=24 |title=Foreign Vs. Domestic Rentals}}

Reaction to the film was positive. {{Rotten Tomatoes prose|81|6.5|57|consensus=Beyond Thunderdome deepens the Mad Max character without sacrificing the amazing vehicle choreography and stunts that made the originals memorable. |ref=yes |access-date=7 June 2024 |archive-date=22 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422155307/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mad_max_beyond_thunderdome/?critic=columns |url-status=live }} {{MC film|71|18|ref=yes |access-date=23 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429152323/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mad-max-beyond-thunderdome/ |archive-date=29 April 2024 |url-status=live}}

Critics disagreed over whether they considered the film to be the highest or lowest point of the Mad Max trilogy. Most criticism focused on the children in the second half of the film, whom many found too similar to the Lost Boys from the story of Peter Pan.{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mad_max_beyond_thunderdome/?critic=columns |title=Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=28 April 2020 |archive-date=22 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422155307/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mad_max_beyond_thunderdome/?critic=columns |url-status=live }} Robert C. Cumbow of Slant Magazine identified "whole ideas, themes and characterizations" adopted from Riddley Walker, a 1980 post-apocalyptic novel by Russell Hoban.{{cite web |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/house/article/summer-of-85-we-dont-need-another-hero-mad-max-beyond-thunderdome |title=Summer of '85: We Don't Need Another Hero: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome |publisher=Slant Magazine |date=19 June 2010 |access-date=3 May 2015 |archive-date=12 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512134244/http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/article/summer-of-85-we-dont-need-another-hero-mad-max-beyond-thunderdome |url-status=live }}

On the other hand, there was much praise for the concept of the titular Thunderdome, which Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called "the first really original movie idea about how to stage a fight since we got the first karate movies" and "one of the great creative action scenes in the movies".{{cite news |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19850710%2FREVIEWS%2F507100301%2F1023 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |title=Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome |access-date=6 September 2006 |archive-date=26 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326174707/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19850710%2FREVIEWS%2F507100301%2F1023 |url-status=dead }} Ebert awarded the film four out of four stars and later placed it on his list of the ten best films of 1985.[https://web.archive.org/web/20140113224948/http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/eberts-10-best-lists-1967-present Ebert's 10 Best Lists: 1967-present] via the Internet Archive. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 11 May 2013. Variety wrote that the film "opens strong" and has good acting from Gibson, Turner, and the children.{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/1984/film/reviews/mad-max-beyond-thunderdome-1200426532/ |title=Review: 'Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome' |author= |work=Variety |year=1985 |access-date=16 April 2015 |archive-date=31 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150131054335/http://variety.com/1984/film/reviews/mad-max-beyond-thunderdome-1200426532/ |url-status=live }}

Some fans of the series have criticised the film for being "Hollywood-ized" and having a lighter tone than its predecessors.{{cite web |last1=Barra |first1=Allen |title="Nostalgic for the apocalypse": George Miller's long, strange trip to "Mad Max: Fury Road" |url=http://www.salon.com/2015/05/14/nostalgic_for_the_apocalypse_george_millers_long_strange_trip_to_mad_max_fury_road/ |website=Salon |access-date=14 May 2015 |date=14 May 2015 |archive-date=15 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150515230033/http://www.salon.com/2015/05/14/nostalgic_for_the_apocalypse_george_millers_long_strange_trip_to_mad_max_fury_road/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Movie Review: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome |url=http://www.threemoviebuffs.com/review/mad-max-beyond-thunderdome |website=Three Movie Buffs |access-date=13 May 2015 |date=31 March 2012 |archive-date=18 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518101122/http://www.threemoviebuffs.com/review/mad-max-beyond-thunderdome |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Trumbore |first1=Dave |title=Mad Max Redux: Revisiting Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome |url=https://collider.com/mad-max-beyond-thunderdome-review/ |website=Collider |publisher=Complex |access-date=13 May 2015 |date=12 May 2015 |archive-date=15 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150515005711/http://collider.com/mad-max-beyond-thunderdome-review/ |url-status=live }}

=== Accolades ===

{{main|Mad Max in popular culture}}

As with the previous installments of the Mad Max series, Beyond Thunderdome has influenced popular culture in numerous ways. Of particular note is the widespread use of the term "thunderdome" to describe a contest in which the loser suffers a great hardship.{{cite web |first=Henry |last=McCusker |title="Thunderdome" is a euphemism for a contest where the loser suffers harsh consequences |url=http://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/thunderdome-euphemism-contest-where-loser-suffers-harsh-consequences |website=Regenerative Medicine Investors |publisher=Scimitar Equity |location=Hopkinton, MA |date=14 October 2013 |access-date=13 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513163228/http://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/thunderdome-euphemism-contest-where-loser-suffers-harsh-consequences |archive-date=13 May 2015}}

American filmmaker Chris Weitz has cited the film as an influence.{{cite web |first=Robert |last=Saucedo |title=Meet Chris Weitz, director of ABOUT A BOY and AMERICAN PIE, this weekend at Vintage Park! |url=https://drafthouse.com/news/meet-chris-weitz-director-of-about-a-boy-and-american-pie-this-weekend-at-v |website=Alamo Drafthouse Cinema |date=1 August 2014 |access-date=27 June 2018 |archive-date=28 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628044239/https://drafthouse.com/news/meet-chris-weitz-director-of-about-a-boy-and-american-pie-this-weekend-at-v |url-status=live }}

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• {{IMDb title|0089530|Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome}}
• {{TCMDb title|82280|Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes|mad_max_beyond_thunderdome|Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome}}

{{Mad Max}}

{{George Miller}}

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