10 Insane Facts You Didnt Know about the Mad Max Franchise

It’ not every day that you see a film franchise in Hollywood last for decades.  Sure, there have been a few that have been around for a while, but most of the time – films with several sequels don’t really stick around.  However, the Mad Max franchise, which released its first film in 1979, just added another notch to its belt with the latest installment, Mad Max: Fury Road. But although the franchise has been around longer than some of its fans have been alive, there are still many things that viewers may not know about Mad Max. Before you head out to see the latest film, here are ten insane facts you didn’t know about the Mad Max franchise.

Supposedly, Mel Gibson almost didn’t audition for the role. 

It’s really hard to imagine Mad Max without George Clooney. According to reports, Gibson only went to the audition to support his friend, Steve Bisley.  Gibson, who has been in a bar fight that left him pretty busted up, did not think that anyone would even bother looking at him.  However, it seems like his busted face may have actually helped him in the long run.

Before Mad Max, George Miller was a doctor.

That’s right, before George Miller directed began working on the Mad Max film, he was working as an emergency room doctor. While man people would not have thought it was a responsible for him to leave steady work in order to pursue other interests.  The choice ended up more than way off now and Miller seriously never has to work again.  Although he probably will.

Mad Max 2 saved a dog’s life.

Sadly, there are dogs who are abused and killed very single day.  However, one dog was able to live another day thanks to the cast and grew up of Mad Max. The dog who was used in the second Max Million was taken from a kill shelter, and fortunately he was adopted by one of the show’s crew members.

Mad Max inspired the Saw movies.

The Saw movies are some of the most popular scary movies in recent years. However, if it weren’t for Mad Max – there’s a good chance they would have never existed.  The whole premise for the Saw films seems based off of the ending scene in Mad Max in which Johnny the Boy is forced to saw off his foot if he wants to survive the situation.

Tupac’s “California Love” video is connected to Mad Max.

“California Love” is one of Tupac’s most popular main stream hits.  The video was inspired by the film Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome and features a lot of similarities including the clothes and the cars.   Depends on film, I just never have any film.  According to sources, the music video was actually shot on the same for the Thunderdome,

Max only had 16 lines in the first film.

Usually characters who have a lot of on-screen time, also have a lot of lines. However, that’s not always the case. In the Mad Max film, Gibson – who was the star – only had 16 speaking lines. Yup, that’s right, and we can even push it down to 15 since out of 16 lines, two of them were: “I only came for the gasoline.”  Talk about a man of few words. Well, maybe it is better to be seen than heard, because the film still did well despite the fact that Gibson never really said anything.

Mad Max was inspired by the film A Boy and His Dog.

The 1975 film, A Boy and His Dog was an extremely important piece in this whole process. George Miller cites the film as one of his inspirations, and has borrowed a few designs.  It’s always nice to see people working together and communicating and finding new ways to do things used that are for all of us.

Mad Max: Fury Road is a sequel. 

Because it’s been decades since the last Mad Max film many feel like the most recent installment in the franchise is a remake of an earlier film.  However, Mad Max: Fury Road is actually meant to be a sequel that should fall in love with the other films in the budget.

The first Mad Max film had a $350,000 budget.

$350,000 sounds like a lot of money, but in the film making world – that’s not nearly enough.  However, Miller – whose work as a doctor helped fund the film – was ably to make it work, and the film eventually made way more than was originally pout into it.

Tina Turner’s dress weighed 121 pounds.

Tina Turner appeared in the 1985 film, Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome as Aunty Entity.  The dress that she wore throughout the film is said to have weighed about 121 pounds.  However, Turner’s legs, which are almost as famous as she is, were ably to carry the weight and then some.

(Photo by Michael Yarish/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. via Getty Images)

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