Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome Filming Locations
Bartertown
The text and photographs below were generously sent to me by David Seymour. David can be reached via the discussion forum. Enjoy!
One weekend twenty years ago a friend phoned me at home. He asked me if I had film in my camera. I said I had a fresh roll in the fridge so he told me to load it ready and that he'd pick me up in his car in five minutes. We drove down a dirt track past the old abattoir at Homebush Bay in western Sydney. We stopped at the top of the brick pit, got out of the car and looked over the ledge. I asked him what the hell we were looking at and he said it was a set for the new Mad Max movie being filmed. This photo was the first one I took that day. If you look carefully at the extreme right-hand side of the photo you will see the top and legs of Aunty Entity's lair. There was nothing going on that day except a couple of guys hooning in the cars (as you can see).
In this one we can clearly see nine of the cars including the famous "cow car" that Max ended up driving and Aunty Entity's car is in the middle. How could you miss it with those huge wheels ?
This photo shows how sneaky we had to be. We had security guys telling us to rack off via a PA system but nobody actually approached us or tried to take our films from us. I was laying on my chest to get this pic.
This photo shows a lot of the surrounding area. And how much it's changed in twenty years ! The brickworks in the top left-hand corner is gone. The refinery in the top right-hand corner can no longer been seen. The brick pit is very different these days.
Tent city ! I don't know if they had to set-up around mounds of coal or they put it there themselves. The white van parked behind the green truck is a Bongo van. Yes, same as the one wiped out in Mad Max 1.
The famous camels as seen in and around Bartertown.
Another one where I had to stay back from the edge. At least you can see the top of the Thunder Dome sign and Aunty's lair.
The cars are lined up. The road leading down to the bottom of the brick pit is long gone.
Last but not least. This photo was taken from the opposite side from where the others were taken. The railway track in the foreground is now gone. You can see the opening to Bartertown (central photo) but it's hard to pick the difference between the Bartertown walls and the brick pit itself. This photo had to be very sneaky because we were standing right next to a security guard!
The brick pit as it is today. It's now preserved for a rare breed of frog that lives in the water. To the right-hand side of the sign you can see "The
Dome" in the olympic park complex. It's pretty appropriate considering it stands within a few hundred metres of where the original Thunderdome stood.
!
A good one showing where the brick pit is in relation to olympic park. I'm fairly sure that Bartertown was built just left of centre on the far side.
A closer look at the area pointed out in the previous photo from the olympic side. A fence surrounds the entire brick pit and it's an A$1,100 fine if you go in, which is a shame....I would have loved a walk around in there.
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