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November 15, 2024:
In 1985, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome seemed to be the final act in the Max Rockatansky (a.k.a. Mad Max) saga. Yes, there would be more films — but the world didn’t know that then, and it would take three decades to see them anyway. So, for this article, I will only address the first three films: Mad Max (1979), Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981), and Thunderdome.
November 15, 2024:
In 1985, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome seemed to be the final act in the Max Rockatansky (a.k.a. Mad Max) saga. Yes, there would be more films — but the world didn’t know that then, and it would take three decades to see them anyway. So, for this article, I will only address the first three films: Mad Max (1979), Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981), and Thunderdome.
Thunderdome's Place in the Larger Sage
Let’s distill these three films down to their essence. They tell the larger story about civilization’s fall through the eyes of a profoundly damaged man (played by Mel Gibson) who struggles to cling to his humanity despite the world falling apart around him.
In the first film, the apocalypse is coming — hinted at by the lawlessness creeping in at society’s edges and Max’s vain attempt to keep it in check as a highway patrolman in the Australian wilderness. He fails, of course, and in the process, sees his wife and young son murdered. The Road Warrior is set approximately three years later. The apocalypse has now happened, and human beings are fighting for survival and resources — particularly the nearly exhausted gasoline supply. Max, who now roams the Australian outback alone in his old Ford Falcon patrol car, stumbles upon a small, peaceful settlement under siege by marauders bent on stealing their oil. Despite all his misery, Max cannot turn his back on the settlement and becomes the its reluctant defender. Set fifteen years after the events in The Road Warrior, Thunderdome shows society’s first (albeit flawed) attempts to put itself back together. Consequently, Thunderdome is the least dystopian, the most optimistic, and the most complex of the three films.
The movie starts in a familiar enough place: an aerial shot where a thin ribbon of dust rises from the flat Australian desert. To the viewer’s surprise, it is not speeding vehicles as we saw in the first two movies, but rather a camel-drawn caravan cobbled together from long-defunct automobiles. This immediately sets the tone for the rest of the film: it will not be a movie primarily about weird vehicles outfitted for some kind of dystopian warfare, which was the hallmark of the first two films.
In the first film, the apocalypse is coming — hinted at by the lawlessness creeping in at society’s edges and Max’s vain attempt to keep it in check as a highway patrolman in the Australian wilderness. He fails, of course, and in the process, sees his wife and young son murdered. The Road Warrior is set approximately three years later. The apocalypse has now happened, and human beings are fighting for survival and resources — particularly the nearly exhausted gasoline supply. Max, who now roams the Australian outback alone in his old Ford Falcon patrol car, stumbles upon a small, peaceful settlement under siege by marauders bent on stealing their oil. Despite all his misery, Max cannot turn his back on the settlement and becomes the its reluctant defender. Set fifteen years after the events in The Road Warrior, Thunderdome shows society’s first (albeit flawed) attempts to put itself back together. Consequently, Thunderdome is the least dystopian, the most optimistic, and the most complex of the three films.
The movie starts in a familiar enough place: an aerial shot where a thin ribbon of dust rises from the flat Australian desert. To the viewer’s surprise, it is not speeding vehicles as we saw in the first two movies, but rather a camel-drawn caravan cobbled together from long-defunct automobiles. This immediately sets the tone for the rest of the film: it will not be a movie primarily about weird vehicles outfitted for some kind of dystopian warfare, which was the hallmark of the first two films.
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When Jebediah the Pilot (Bruce Spence) and his son hijack the camels and the caravan, Max is forced to follow them on foot to a pseudo-civilized outpost called Bartertown. The community is co-ruled by Aunty Entity (Tina Turner), who oversees the town itself, and The Master (Angelo Rossitto), who manages the underground methane production plant that fuels Bartertown. Aunty very much wants to seize control over the menthane plant, but is thwarted by both The Master’s scientific knowledge for creating methane and his hulking bodyguard called The Blaster (Paul Larsson). To regain his caravan, Max makes a deal with Aunty to kill The Blaster in a combat arena called Thunderdome. However, Max refuses to go through with the killing when he discovers The Blaster is a feeble-minded pawn controlled by The Master. Furious that Max broke the deal, Aunty has her guards kill The Blaster, and Max is banished to a seemingly endless dune sea where death is nearly assured. |
After stumbling through the dunes without any water, Max finally collapses but is rescued by Savannah Nix (Helen Buday), a member of a tribe of children and young adults who call themselves “The Waiting Ones.” This prescientific cargo cult lives in “The Crack in the Earth,” a remote valley where water and food are plentiful. The community is led by Savannah and the “First Hunter,” the oldest alpha male called Slake (Tom Jennings). Unlike Barterown, The Crack in the Earth is a peaceful paradise. Yet, to Max’s surprise, The Waiting Ones are anxious to leave. As the offspring of a group of apocalypse survivors whose airplane crashed nearby years earlier, the tribe has been watching for their savior — an airplane pilot called “Captain Waker” — to return and fly them back to a Sydney that no longer exists.
The tribe initially confuses Max for “Captain Walker.” When it becomes clear he’s not, Savannah and several others decide to find their lost parents and homeland by venturing into the dunes. Max and several other kids pursue them across the wasteland and wind up back in Bartertown. The group decides to jailbreak The Master, now Aunty’s captive. They escape the community using a locomotive that had been retrofitted into a generator. Aunty and her forces set off in pursuit, intent on recovering The Master alive but showing “no mercy” for Max and the others.
When the train reaches the end of the line, the children escape from Aunty in Jebediah the Pilot’s airplane. In proper form, Max sacrifices his escape by diverting the pursuing vehicles so the plane can take off. Jebediah flies Savannah and the other Waiting Ones to their “promised land” of Sydney, only to find that the city is in ruins, as Max had told them. The film’s final scenes have Savannah recounting the Tale of Max… without knowing his fate.
In fact, Max’s fate is very ambiguous at the end of Thunderdome. Aunty spares his life but again leaves him stranded in the desert. In the last shot, Max walks off into the sunset. Once again alone.
The tribe initially confuses Max for “Captain Walker.” When it becomes clear he’s not, Savannah and several others decide to find their lost parents and homeland by venturing into the dunes. Max and several other kids pursue them across the wasteland and wind up back in Bartertown. The group decides to jailbreak The Master, now Aunty’s captive. They escape the community using a locomotive that had been retrofitted into a generator. Aunty and her forces set off in pursuit, intent on recovering The Master alive but showing “no mercy” for Max and the others.
When the train reaches the end of the line, the children escape from Aunty in Jebediah the Pilot’s airplane. In proper form, Max sacrifices his escape by diverting the pursuing vehicles so the plane can take off. Jebediah flies Savannah and the other Waiting Ones to their “promised land” of Sydney, only to find that the city is in ruins, as Max had told them. The film’s final scenes have Savannah recounting the Tale of Max… without knowing his fate.
In fact, Max’s fate is very ambiguous at the end of Thunderdome. Aunty spares his life but again leaves him stranded in the desert. In the last shot, Max walks off into the sunset. Once again alone.
Lessons from the Thunderdome
As I rewatched Thunderdome — my first time in probably a decade or more — I was struck by how it seemed to be two movies by presenting two different visions of the post-apocalyptic future. The first is the Bartertown outpost. Aunty Entity might be proud that she built a society, but it's far from civilized. In the grand tradition of a Roman emperor, Aunty has turned conflict into spectacle by having disputing parties fight to the death in the Thunderdome. Likewise, lies and betrayals are addressed through a spinning wheel in which the offenders’ fate is decided randomly. Death and suffering are not feared in Bartertown, but rather embraced as a kind of sick entertainment.
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The second vision is the tribal culture of The Waiting Ones. Devoid of adult supervision, this community of young adults, teenagers, and children is ignorant of the outside world and highly superstitious. Unlike Bartertown, they also appear nonviolent and highly cooperative — partly because they respect how “Mr. Death” can jump anyone at any time. When it comes to how disputes are handled, the differences are compelling. After Savannah announces her attention to leave The Crack in the Earth, Slake argues with her but makes no attempt to restrain her. In fact, it’s Max who uses violence, going so far as to shoot at Savannah with a rifle in a failed attempt to intimidate her. He ultimately knocks her unconscious and imprisons her in the village. These actions astound and terrify the other tribe members, including Slake. Max certainly understands the rarity and the value of the Crack in the Ground, so perhaps his violence can be excused. After all, he was attempting to save the lives of Savannah and her followers, and after fifteen years in the wasteland, violence is his primary tool for dealing with any conflict. |
A Morality Tale
One of the criticisms I’ve heard over the years for Thunderdome is the role of children, especially The Waiting Ones. But just because children are present doesn’t mean that Thunderdome is a “kid’s film.” Max’s story has always been intertwined around the vulnerability of children and women and how both fall victim to violent and powerful men. As mentioned previously, one of the things that hardens Max is the violent loss of his son and wife in Mad Max. Saving and protecting children is a recurring theme throughout the other Mad Max films, including the recent sequels of Mad Mad: Fury Road and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. As such, children are symbolic for the hope of humanity, adults symbolic of its failures.
Thunderdome is undoubtedly the most divergent of the Mad Max films, but in some ways, it is also the most meaningful. While the first two films might be considered simple action films, Thunderdome has a larger story to tell. There’s a trace of hope in even its ambiguous ending, as reflected in Savannah’s storytelling as she and her new tribe again light the lights of a burned out Sydney:
“...I sees those of us that got the luck and started the haul for home. It lead us here and we was heartful 'cause we seen what there once was. One look, and we knewed we'd got it straight. Those what had gone before had knowing of things beyond our reckoning even beyond our dreaming. Time counts and keeps countin', and we knows now finding the trick of what's been and lost ain't no easy ride. But that's our trek, we gotta' travel it. And there ain't nobody knows where it's gonna' lead. Still in all, every night we does the Tell, so that we 'member who we was and where we came from... but most of all we 'members the man that finded us, him that came the salvage. And we lights the city, not just for him, but for all of them that are still out there. 'Cause we knows there come a night, when they sees the distant light, and they'll be comin' home…”
Thunderdome is undoubtedly the most divergent of the Mad Max films, but in some ways, it is also the most meaningful. While the first two films might be considered simple action films, Thunderdome has a larger story to tell. There’s a trace of hope in even its ambiguous ending, as reflected in Savannah’s storytelling as she and her new tribe again light the lights of a burned out Sydney:
“...I sees those of us that got the luck and started the haul for home. It lead us here and we was heartful 'cause we seen what there once was. One look, and we knewed we'd got it straight. Those what had gone before had knowing of things beyond our reckoning even beyond our dreaming. Time counts and keeps countin', and we knows now finding the trick of what's been and lost ain't no easy ride. But that's our trek, we gotta' travel it. And there ain't nobody knows where it's gonna' lead. Still in all, every night we does the Tell, so that we 'member who we was and where we came from... but most of all we 'members the man that finded us, him that came the salvage. And we lights the city, not just for him, but for all of them that are still out there. 'Cause we knows there come a night, when they sees the distant light, and they'll be comin' home…”
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