www.madmaxmovies.com

Explain this to me:

In the movie "The Road Warrior" the wasteland
gang was desperate to get at the oil well and the fuel, correct?

And, in an early scene, Max puts pots under a leaking
wreak to catch pathetic drops of gas coming from
a broken fuel tank, even absurdly sopping some up with a rag, correct?

So.....if fuel is that precious HOW exactly, are all
these high-powered gas-guzzling V-8 engines even remotely
viable as raiding vehicles?

Why do the gangs drive around and around the camp in useless circles,
squandering fuel if it's that precious? Where are they getting theirs?

Wouldn't people switch over to horses pretty fast once the fuel ran out?

Also.....that village/camp that is around the one
oil well....What are they using for water? Food? No gardens? Saw a couple of
pigs, fine. What are they feeding the pigs? Grain? How do they grow grain in the desert?

Walls of that camp appear to be made of piles of old tires. You're gonna tell me
a truck couldn't ram through a wall like that?

Also, how are they refining the oil? Isn't it a complex
process requiring a huge factory?
They can figure out how to refine oil, but not how to make gunpowder?

They are out in the desert....so....where are the
windmills, solar cells and electric cars?

Also.....Max is wearing LEATHER in the desert.
So, he's sweating like a pig, correct? To stay alive, much less fight, he'd
need MANY quarts a day to drink! Where is the water
coming from? Rain? Nope, that's still got radiation in it, not safe.

Don't misunderstand. I'm not really putting the movie down. It's okay for
what it is, but could have easily been so much better.
It is mistakes like these that allow people who don't enjoy it to dismiss all
SF as "stupid" and "gay".

Whats the point in having forums if people cant be bothered to use the search function. Every single whine you make here about fantasy vs reality has been debated ad nauseum.

You do know its a film and not reality...

toecutter wrote:Whats the point in having forums if people cant be bothered to use the search function. Every single whine you make here about fantasy vs reality has been debated ad nauseum.

You do know its a film and not reality...

So, have you always been a bitter, arrogant, mean-spirited asshole, or
did you have to work at it? Does it not occur to you that YOU are the whiner here, asshole?

FANTASY begins with a clearly-impossible premise, and goes from there, i.e., "magic" as the cause of things.
The key is CONSISTENCY, the point is LOGIC. Unless you're going to say, "it all happened by magic", which
the Mad Max series does not do, you MUST be LOGICAL AND CONSISTENT, otherwise, the movie is JUNK.

When people say that SF fans are idiots, they clearly have YOU in mind.

The technical term is "suspension of disbelief." Believe me, I've thought about a lot of the same questions, and you know what? Those little gripes go away when I submit myself to the magic of the movie. (And by "magic" I mean the ability of the movie to transport me to a different time and place.)

Also, Max is wearing a stillsuit. Desert style.

Are you critical of Hollywood movies as well or just this one?
Tell me exactly which recent "hollywood" movie was realistic in what happens?

Like, cars blowing up on impact, people shooting 1000s of rounds of ammo at a car and those flimsy doors stop the bullets from hitting the person hiding behind it, or a car crashing and jumping through the air without an engine present or even a driver in the car etc etc etc.....

So.....if fuel is that precious HOW exactly, are all
these high-powered gas-guzzling V-8 engines even remotely
viable as raiding vehicles?

Those V8s you mentioned were only a few in number... most were motorbikes, buggies with 4 cyclinder VW type engines and straight sixes....

Why do the gangs drive around and around the camp in useless circles,
squandering fuel if it's that precious? Where are they getting theirs?

You missed the opening scene with the abandoned cars and semi-trailer? Gee i dunno im guessing they kill people on the desert highway and steal their food and supplies....

Wouldn't people switch over to horses pretty fast once the fuel ran out?

You asked about the pigs and how they fed them? How do you feed a horse when there is no grass in the desert?

Also.....that village/camp that is around the one
oil well....What are they using for water? Food? No gardens? Saw a couple of
pigs, fine. What are they feeding the pigs? Grain? How do they grow grain in the desert?

How about bore water? There was a vege garden in one sence. Grain fed pigs? Only piggeries feed grain to them.
How about the pigs get fed all the scrap food?

Also, how are they refining the oil? Isn't it a complex
process requiring a huge factory?
They can figure out how to refine oil, but not how to make gunpowder?

A huge refinery refines a HUGE amount of crude..... A small refinery refines....
Gunpowder? you cant fill ya tank up with gunpowder.... nor can you run generators with it.

Walls of that camp appear to be made of piles of old tires. You're gonna tell me
a truck couldn't ram through a wall like that?

There is a moat around most of the camp.... like a tank trap.
And how many trucks did you see in the film? Do you know how heavy a truck tyre is?

Also.....Max is wearing LEATHER in the desert.
So, he's sweating like a pig, correct? To stay alive, much less fight, he'd
need MANY quarts a day to drink! Where is the water
coming from? Rain? Nope, that's still got radiation in it, not safe.

Radioactive rain?? They are 1000s of KM from the nearest major city.... why would the rain be "radioactive" ?
Dinki Di dog food contains all the moisture sustaining nutrients he needs...

At the end of the day.... it is a MOVIE!!!! Made in the 1980s....
Its not real life...
It is by far more believeable then the rubbish that comes out of Hollywood these days.

So.....if fuel is that precious HOW exactly, are all
these high-powered gas-guzzling V-8 engines even remotely
viable as raiding vehicles?

V8's are faster and more powerful. Useful qualities for raiding.


Why do the gangs drive around and around the camp in useless circles,
squandering fuel if it's that precious? Where are they getting theirs?

You only see a few shots of the marauder's camp, but they do have fuel drums laying around. Also, Humungus' vehicle by itself has two 55 gallon fuel drums. Not to mention what they take from other victims in the wasteland.


Wouldn't people switch over to horses pretty fast once the fuel ran out?

As it's been mentioned, horses won't survive long in a desert for many different reasons.


Also.....that village/camp that is around the one
oil well....What are they using for water? Food? No gardens? Saw a couple of
pigs, fine. What are they feeding the pigs? Grain? How do they grow grain in the desert?

The defenders have a lot of equipment (welders, first aid station, mechanic's set-up, etc). It's not a big stretch to think that they also brought a lot of food and water with them.


Walls of that camp appear to be made of piles of old tires. You're gonna tell me
a truck couldn't ram through a wall like that?

Like roadwarriormfp said, the moat/ditch kept them out, along with barbed wire. Also, those tires were probably filled with dirt; can you imagine how sturdy that would be?


Also, how are they refining the oil? Isn't it a complex
process requiring a huge factory?
They can figure out how to refine oil, but not how to make gunpowder?

Refining oil isn’t that complex. Gunpowder is; needing several different high-quality chemicals. Also, for gunpowder to be more useful then a half-assed grenade, they’d need bullets, casings, and of course, firearms.


They are out in the desert....so....where are the
windmills, solar cells and electric cars?

??? You do know this is the Australian outback, right? WHAT windmills, solar cells, and electric cars?


Also.....Max is wearing LEATHER in the desert.
So, he's sweating like a pig, correct? To stay alive, much less fight, he'd
need MANY quarts a day to drink! Where is the water
coming from? Rain? Nope, that's still got radiation in it, not safe.

Not really. Max spends most of his time in his vehicle, which provides its own air-conditioning. Yes, leather is hot, but the protection it gives makes it worth wearing.

HUMVEE Driver

this dude is funny

Point out the problems in the real world then fix those. I'm sure we will all be greatfull to you for that.

bearcat22 wrote:Explain this to me:

In the movie "The Road Warrior" the wasteland
gang was desperate to get at the oil well and the fuel, correct?

And, in an early scene, Max puts pots under a leaking
wreak to catch pathetic drops of gas coming from
a broken fuel tank, even absurdly sopping some up with a rag, correct?

So.....if fuel is that precious HOW exactly, are all
these high-powered gas-guzzling V-8 engines even remotely
viable as raiding vehicles?

Think availability/reliability. Plus consider speculating to accumulate, using extra fuel in a faster vehicle increases your chances of stealing more fuel from others. Max soaking up the fuel with a rag is pretty hopeless but visually communicates a key point of the plot, fuel is scarce.

bearcat22 wrote: Why do the gangs drive around and around the camp in useless circles,
squandering fuel if it's that precious? Where are they getting theirs?

It's a fair point but but its cinema, it's important the film shows the compound dwellers are being terrorised. We can only theorise the tactics behind Humungus' strategy but it's clear he was using a lot of propaganda to beat their spirits down. We can't say how much fuel his marauders actually had, they may have already plundered plenty, the important point is they want what's in the compound.

bearcat22 wrote: Wouldn't people switch over to horses pretty fast once the fuel ran out?

Possibly, that's logical. But the fuel hadn't run out. In the Mad Max time line it's not until Thunderdome we can assume petrol is near impossible to find. Hence people using camels and turning to alternative fuel sources.

bearcat22 wrote: Also.....that village/camp that is around the one
oil well....What are they using for water? Food? No gardens? Saw a couple of
pigs, fine. What are they feeding the pigs? Grain? How do they grow grain in the desert?

These elements are barely touched on in the film and any assumptions are just pure speculation. One thing the film does communicate clearly is that the compound dwellers desperately need to leave. In my opinion they were at stalemate with the marauders, if they had plenty of resources they tactically could have decided not to fight and simply try to out survive them.

bearcat22 wrote: Walls of that camp appear to be made of piles of old tires. You're gonna tell me
a truck couldn't ram through a wall like that?

Would you risk your life on assumptions based on appearances. Tires are strong and more importantly absorb impact, just look how few tyres it takes to stop a crashing race car at high speed, just think of the energy there and how it's dissipated. Plus those tyres could have been hiding a multitude of other things. Just think - how would you ram through them? How would you pass the ditches around the compound, how would you fight back when you stranded part way into the compound, a sitting duck waiting to be burnt alive?

bearcat22 wrote: Also, how are they refining the oil? Isn't it a complex
process requiring a huge factory?
They can figure out how to refine oil, but not how to make gunpowder?

Refining oil isn't actually that complex and the amount of refining required is dependant on the quality of crude available. Gun powder/black powder requires elements like raw carbon, sulphur and potassium or ammonia nitrate. This is actually a lot harder to obtain/make. Regardless AFAIK they hadn't 'figured out' how to refine oil, they had simply decided to hold up at a pre-existing Seven Sister refinery.

bearcat22 wrote: They are out in the desert....so....where are the
windmills, solar cells and electric cars?

All this is highly advanced technology requiring some pretty rare elements to be a viable source of energy. You need to look at Thunderdome which shows development into alternative fuel sources.

bearcat22 wrote: Also.....Max is wearing LEATHER in the desert.
So, he's sweating like a pig, correct? To stay alive, much less fight, he'd
need MANY quarts a day to drink! Where is the water
coming from? Rain? Nope, that's still got radiation in it, not safe.

Where is radiation mentioned in the film? The costume choice for all characters in The RoadWarrior is very clever, the marauders all wear dark leather and masks while the compound dwellers wear angelic white and clearly show their faces. Max is shown to be somewhere between the two because he is slipping towards the devolved social state of the marauders.

bearcat22 wrote:Don't misunderstand. I'm not really putting the movie down. It's okay for
what it is, but could have easily been so much better.
It is mistakes like these that allow people who don't enjoy it to dismiss all
SF as "stupid" and "gay".

Who cares about the opinion of anyone who uses terms like that?

If you think it could have been done better then perhaps you could write an alternative and try to get it made into a movie?

I believe the term is: "Theatric license". It is after all, a movie. Would always rather to have a detuned V8 to outrun the bad guys than any hopped up 4 running on old and dirty fuel...

bearcat22 wrote:
So, have you always been a bitter, arrogant, mean-spirited asshole, or
did you have to work at it? Does it not occur to you that YOU are the whiner here, asshole?

(dribble snipped)

When people say that SF fans are idiots, they clearly have YOU in mind.

No one has ever called me an idiot, so maybe when you have been accosting people at bussstops to talk about how youre on your way to the stargate to travel across the universe, people have rightly called you an idiot.

Or was it when you tried to buy a moon pie at the Piggly Wiggly and pay with a bar of ferengi latinum you were called an idiot.

I could go on, but its probably time for you to go an watch 2012 and report back on how it all seemed so real.