# Why does Max stay behind? (Road Warrior) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631 "2013-02-07T20:31:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/1 "2013-02-07T20:31:22Z")
At the end of _Beyond Thunderdome_, “Mad Max” stays behind so the lost children can escape. But in _The Road Warrior_ he could have gone north with the settlers, but it seems like he chooses to stay behind. Why does he stay behind? Did I miss something? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/2 "2013-02-07T20:38:53Z")
Think Moses or Ethan Edwards. That’s my take on it. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/3 "2013-02-07T20:45:38Z")
Dude!! I decided to brush up on Thunderdome, and look! A new MM film: > **[Mad Max: Fury Road](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Max:_Fury_Road)** > > Mad Max: Fury Road is a 2015 Australian post-apocalyptic action film co-written, co-produced and directed by George Miller, who collaborated with Brendan McCarthy and Nico Lathouris on the screenplay. The fourth instalment in the Mad Max franchise, it was produced by Village Roadshow Pictures, RatPac-Dune Entertainment and Kennedy Miller Mitchell, and distributed by Roadshow Entertainment in Australia and by Warner Bros. Pictures internationally. The film stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Thero Mi... > [@](#): > > Mad Max: Fury Road is an upcoming 2014 Australian post-apocalyptic action film co-written and directed by George Miller, and the fourth film of Miller’s Mad Max franchise. [1] Planned to be released in 2014 > [@](#): > > Filming finally began in July 2012 in Namibia, more than eighteen months late. The filming wrapped on December 17, over-budget and with studio Warner Bros having sent out an executive to put things back on track. Miller announced that they would be returning to Namibia for pick-ups in early 2013 and the rest of the year would be taken up by CGI work and the conversion to 3D before a Christmas or New Year release. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/4 "2013-02-07T20:52:34Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > At the end of _Beyond Thunderdome_, “Mad Max” stays behind so the lost children can escape. > > But in _The Road Warrior_ he could have gone north with the settlers, but it seems like he chooses to stay behind. > > Why does he stay behind? Did I miss something? My WAG is that he stays to police the badlands. A force for good in a world gone bad. In the first Mad Max movie (IIRC) he was a police officer and went off the deep end after his wife and son are killed by a biker gang. After torturing and killing the bad guys he wanders off into the sunset ready to take on all forces of evil. That’s paraphrasing, mostly what I remember of the first movie is bad sound levels and lots of yelling. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/5 "2013-02-07T21:15:53Z")
It fits into the lonely male drifter trope/idea that we have about him. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/6 "2013-02-07T21:16:13Z")
He’s just not that into them. Seriously, he is a wanderer. No ties. No shirts, either, come to think of it. The Road is his home. I would’ve thought of getting some medical attention before loping off again, but it makes a wicked cool visual for the ending as it is. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/7 "2013-02-07T21:18:42Z")
As mentioned above, a viewing of Mad Max would help one get a handle on the Road Warrior’s mental state. It’s the earlier movie in the series, but I don’t think it was USA available until after RW made money here. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/8 "2013-02-07T21:24:28Z")
Once he loses his wife and child in the first movie, Max no longer makes long-term attachments to others. Glad Mel isn’t playing Max in the new one. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/9 "2013-02-07T21:52:10Z")
I’m not. If Mel was playing Max againthen he could be out saving the world from the evil jew biker gangs who only want to rape our women and steal our gas. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/10 "2013-02-07T21:53:38Z")
He has serious commitment and trust issues. But, then again, a lot of folks are always trying to kill him. Actually, it’s for the same reason that the hero “rides off into the sunset.” It’s a Hollywood trope. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/11 "2013-02-07T22:22:14Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > As mentioned above, a viewing of Mad Max would help one get a handle on the Road Warrior’s mental state. It’s the earlier movie in the series, but I don’t think it was USA available until after RW made money here. It had a limited 1980 release in the USA. Think midnight movie. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/12 "2013-02-07T22:31:31Z")
Didn’t we have a very very long thread debating whether or not Max knew he was the decoy? He might not have had a choice in the matter. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/13 "2013-02-07T22:37:23Z")
He’s a loner Dottie, a rebel. Same thing happens in Thunderdome. He leaves so that the plane can take off. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/14 "2013-02-07T22:39:45Z")
> [@BMax](#): > > It had a limited 1980 release in the USA. Think midnight movie. Yeah, that sounds about right. Was that the badly re-dubbed version? I vaguely remember that, but I’m not sure of when I saw it. I think I myself didn’t see it til after RW. Renting the Aussie language version a few years ago was a lot better for me. FIFI !!! ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/15 "2013-02-07T22:40:43Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Once he loses his wife and child in the first movie, Max no longer makes long-term attachments to others. This. I was going to say Max wasn’t with the other settlers at the end of The Road Warrior, but somehow he must have got the Feral Kid back to the second convoy. > [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > I’m not. If Mel was playing Max again then he could be out saving the world from the evil jew biker gangs who only want to rape our women and steal our gas. It might have been cool to see an aging Mad Max played by Mel. Plus he’s actually mad now! [Sort of like how they are making an aging Conan film.](http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=98827) ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/16 "2013-02-07T22:41:06Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Glad Mel isn’t playing Max in the new one. I’m not sure I agree, a fourth Mad Max film showing what happened to the title character in the later years of his life could be excellent if done well, but of course that’s a very big ‘if’… And as for the OP’s question, I just assumed its because Max is very much a loner…I do imagine though that if he survived long enough he’d settle down as leader of his own colony, maybe even help to start getting things back on track civilisation-wise _(assuming there’s enough resources out there in the Mad Max story-world to make such a thing possible)_ > [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Didn’t we have a very very long thread debating whether or not Max knew he was the decoy? He might not have had a choice in the matter. Do you have a link to that thread? I thought it was pretty obvious he _didn’t_ know he was the decoy, but as always I’m willing to be corrected. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/17 "2013-02-07T22:44:03Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Didn’t we have a very very long thread debating whether or not Max knew he was the decoy? He might not have had a choice in the matter. Whether he had a choice in the decoy strategy is another thing all together, but he did have a chance to join the group at the end. The Feral Kid got taken to the rest of the group by Gyro Captain. Max could have hitched a ride. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/18 "2013-02-07T23:09:52Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Whether he had a choice in the decoy strategy is another thing all together, but he did have a chance to join the group at the end. The Feral Kid got taken to the rest of the group by Gyro Captain. Max could have hitched a ride. I would like to point out one particular nerdy avaition thing. When it comes to “one extra passenger” in small craft avaition, “one more passenger” can often be “not a bit harder to fly” but it is instead the difference between “flying poorly and not flying at ALL”. That goes double for gyrocopter type craft which may be most ineffiecient of flying craft there is ( though they do have other advantages). ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/19 "2013-02-07T23:24:57Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Glad Mel isn’t playing Max in the new one. Tom Hardy is a good choice, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/20 "2013-02-08T00:02:09Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > Do you have a link to that thread? I thought it was pretty obvious he _didn’t_ know he was the decoy, but as always I’m willing to be corrected. I’d like to read that one too. ETA: I found this but only one page long: > **[Did Mad Max know? (possible Road Warrior spoilers)](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=100979)** > > Okay, I’m putting the question to the Teeming Masses. This was the topic of a heated lunchtime discussion the other day, and where better to get enlightenment than here? (I’m going to try to dance around any specifics here, so as not to spoil the... [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631.md?page=2)