Mad Max (1979) questions

[Ron3]

After Max's girl/wife escapes Toe Cutter's gang she drives to meet Max with Cundalini's hand still on the chain behind the wagon.

There is a scene where Max is talking to a guy wearing dark clothes (on the telephone IIRC). I don't recall ever understanding what they were saying because the music is too loud.

I think this is one of those scenes where the final edit messed it up.

My question is who the heck was that guy? A lawyer? Friend? I found his name is "Ziggy". They are talking about the hand and presumably the attack. But who is that guy?

Also, the old lady with the SXS shotgun. (At the farm/rural house) Who was she again? Max's aunt? His girls Mom? Grandma? "May Swaisey" is her name.

And who was the big lug/simpleton? (also at the farm/rural house) "Benno" was his name.

[m1a_scoutguy]

Dang,thats a ways back ! I've seen the movie tons of times but I sure can't remember. I'll check with my Son,,,he is good with all that stuff. I'll get back tomorrow but someone else will help ya before that I'm sure !

[Iraqgunz]

Ziggy was the local sheriff in the area. Aunt May was a friend of Max and his wife. Benno was not really described and was most likely her son.

After Max's girl/wife escapes Toe Cutter's gang she drives to meet Max with Cundalini's hand still on the chain behind the wagon.

There is a scene where Max is talking to a guy wearing dark clothes (on the telephone IIRC). I don't recall ever understanding what they were saying because the music is too loud.

I think this is one of those scenes where the final edit messed it up.

My question is who the heck was that guy? A lawyer? Friend? I found his name is "Ziggy". They are talking about the hand and presumably the attack. But who is that guy?

Also, the old lady with the SXS shotgun. (At the farm/rural house) Who was she again? Max's aunt? His girls Mom? Grandma? "May Swaisey" is her name.

And who was the big lug/simpleton? (also at the farm/rural house) "Benno" was his name.

[RetroRevolver77]

deleted

[Doc Safari]

The thing I didn't get about the whole movie is what kind of future they were living in. Had the whole word fallen into virtual anarchy just because civilization was breaking down? Or was Australia sort of the last remnant of civilization after a nuclear war had devastated the rest of the planet? Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior sort of alluded to it being the latter scenario, but there was also the suggestion that society had fallen apart before the first movie, then a nuclear exchange had finished the job between movies one and two.

[Ron3]

The thing I didn't get about the whole movie is what kind of future they were living in. Had the whole word fallen into virtual anarchy just because civilization was breaking down? Or was Australia sort of the last remnant of civilization after a nuclear war had devastated the rest of the planet? Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior sort of alluded to it being the latter scenario, but there was also the suggestion that society had fallen apart before the first movie, then a nuclear exchange had finished the job between movies one and two.

Thanks, guys, that answers my questions.

I think the time of "Mad Max" is that things were falling apart a bit and the nuclear war came afterward.

[sundance435]

The thing I didn't get about the whole movie is what kind of future they were living in. Had the whole word fallen into virtual anarchy just because civilization was breaking down? Or was Australia sort of the last remnant of civilization after a nuclear war had devastated the rest of the planet? Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior sort of alluded to it being the latter scenario, but there was also the suggestion that society had fallen apart before the first movie, then a nuclear exchange had finished the job between movies one and two.

I always thought it was the former, at least in "Mad Max".

[Moose-Knuckle]

ANSWERS TO ALL YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MAD MAX UNIVERSE

What Caused Earth to Become a Wasteland?
The voiceovers in the trailers for Fury Road actually give a more explicit description of what happened to Earth than any of the previous Max movies ever did. Max says his world is "fire and blood" and a newscaster's voice mentions "the water wars."

In the original Mad Max, the setting doesn't look like our elaborate dystopias of today with everyone wearing tattered yet fashionable knits and dictators living in luxury amidst the general squalor. It's mostly like the Wild West reborn in Australia. Lawmen play judge, jury, and executioner, and small-town folk keep to themselves, trying to get by while defending against invading gangs (just replace men on horseback with men on motor bikes). Infrastructure is crumbling and some sort of energy crisis has forced everyone into a competition for resources, hence all the raiding parties. But people still wear proper clothes and can go home and wash their hands, so it hasn't all gone to hell just yet.

By Road Warrior, five years after the events of the first movie, everything has gotten considerably worse. Towns have disappeared and society consists of isolated collectives scrounging for fuel and water. Humanity has divided into three types of people: marauders, people living in small groups just trying to get by, and solo wanderers like Max. There are no more bars or ice cream shops like in Mad Max, and the clothing, cars, and homes all look like they've been salvaged from some sort of wreckage. If humanity is to carry on, we seem to have lost all hope of looking like the first world ever again.

https://www.wired.com/2015/05/mad-max-faq/

[pinzgauer]

When the original was made Oz was having some very violent rural attacks by gangs. The farm scene was the "home invasion" of the day, would have been fresh and relevant to Aussies when the movie was 1st released.

There are other Oz movies covering similar home/farm invasions that made no sense to us. It still comes up in Aussie movies.

So I interpreted the MM backstory to be an extension of that lawlessness, made worse by world unrest and fuel shortages. (Also familiar to anyone alive in the early 70s)

Clearly had not been nuclear holacost down under.

[Moose-Knuckle]

When the original was made Oz was having some very violent rural attacks by gangs. The farm scene was the "home invasion" of the day, would have been fresh and relevant to Aussies when the movie was 1st released.

There are other Oz movies covering similar home/farm invasions that made no sense to us. It still comes up in Aussie movies.

I always liked Fortress (1985) as well: