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Max did the 180 grades move at the end just because he knew he was a dead man. It was the last effort of a man on serious suicide mission. At that point, Max didn't give a shit if he was alive or dead.

My only doubt is: why on hell did Pappagallo, the Mechanic and Warrior Woman embark on such a death trip if it was mathematically SURE they would have been killed and the gas tanker stolen?
How did they persuade Max to drive a gas tanker throughout the Wasteland AD LIBITUM, until the Marauders get tired and resourcefulness?

"Max... they will chase you... but when their cars would be running empty on gas, you win".

Is it supposed to work as a race?

As someone explains before, Max did the 180 grades move to meet the rendez-vous point with the papagallo's people.

My thinking's been that Max did the 180 partly outta revenge (kill Humung), but did Pappagello have the capacity to refine Deezle? Guess so - he supplied it for the Mack...

I don't know about that one, Stef-Man. If Max was planning on meeting up with the others, he turned around way too soon. He was still surrounded by bad guys and all he would be doing is leading them to the convoy. Also, I don't think Max even knew about the rendezvous. He was still kinda out of it and just walking up when Pappagallo was talking about that. I think Max's 180 was just a desperation move. He was being hounded by bad guys and he had little chance to ram any vehicles while going in a straight line. He had to buy himself some time, and maybe by 're-shuffling' the vehicles he'd have a better shot at ramming one. Max had no idea Humungus would be coming up like that; the last he saw of Humungus, his vehicle was stopped on the side of the road and on fire.

As for why the others went on the mission, it was NOT suicide. Yes, the odds of surviving were bad. But they certainly had a chance. Most of them almost made it anyway. If the Feral Kid wasn't there, then Pappagallo never would have been on the road to give Humungus a chance to kill him, and Pappagallo could have just driven away. Also, if the Mack hit the Humungus Vehicle on a straight road instead of a turn, it probably would not have crashed, and therefore kept going. Max lost control and then hit the curve in the road; no curve = no crash.

HUMVEE Driver

HUMVEE Driver wrote: then Pappagallo never would have been on the road to give Humungus a chance to kill him, and Pappagallo could have just driven away.

HOW? The road was filled with Marauders.
How could Max drive away, among the other things?

I thought the guys on the tanker were going to lead the Marauders well away from the rendevous point, climb into the cab then release the tanker whilst driving.

Then they make their getaway whilst the Marauders are busy with the dropped tanker.

I didn't see it as a suicide mission.

frank wrote:I thought the guys on the tanker were going to lead the Marauders well away from the rendevous point, climb into the cab then release the tanker whilst driving.

WTF? And losing all that precious juice? (REMEMBER, from Max's perspective it is full of gas).

And then? They all jump on the cab and... how do they reach the rendevous point? The road is packed with Marauders.

The Marauders would be busy with getting their fuel cans and running to the tanker ( which was full of sand ) and by the time they realised they had been tricked, the cab Max was driving would have some distance on them.

frank wrote:The Marauders would be busy with getting their fuel cans and running to the tanker ( which was full of sand ) and by the time they realised they had been tricked, the cab Max was driving would have some distance on them.

Yeah but...

1- The rendevous point... where is it located? Should Max & Company come back to reach the point OR the path is circular?

That's the way I see it:

Rendevous point -------> Refinery ----------------> The Road --------------> point Max leaves the tanker and drives away, safe.

2- The "trick" is not STATED in the movie.

It's not like this:

Pappagallo to the Defenders: "The tanker is full of GAS, yeah, fuel. Max will drive the tanker out of here. Then, we - Max, me, Gyro, Zetta, Mechanic and the Warrior Woman - will leave the tanker to the Dogs of War and can reach the rendevous point."

Got it? So yours is speculation...

Killing Pappagallo wasn't very high on the marauder's to-do list. Killing Pappagallo wouldn't accomplish very much at all. He really had no way to influence the battle, so he didn't matter. Remember, only three or four marauders ever went after him. The only reason Humungus got him is because Pappagallo made himself a convenient target by pulling alongside the tanker. At any time, Pappagallo could have just driven away into the desert and escaped. I doubt anyone would have followed him; they were all after the tanker. Pappagallo could then just turn around and find the road again whenever he liked.

Max did not turn around to start for the rendevous point because:

A. He was still surrounded by marauders and he'd be just be leading them to the others

B. Not enough time had passed and the convoy was still somewhat close by. Max and the marauders would just overtake them

HUMVEE Driver