# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/61 "2013-02-10T05:31:06Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > That doesn’t sound right to me. Didn’t he go after the bikers for revenge, then that was it, movie ends? > > Then in the sequels didn’t he pretty much want to be left alone in the now post-apocalyptic wasteland (though events kept dragging him back in, of course)? > > More of a reluctant hero, anyway, not a force for good looking to take on all the bad guys around. Reluctant Hero, then. His need to be left alone will always be trumped by the needs of others. When they no longer need him, he goes away - just like Nanny McPhee. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/62 "2013-02-10T23:46:15Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > There was at least one I think. Kind of black and white, with a woman running away, holding a child and looking back over her shoulder. Was that Max’s wife? That is correct. In the prologue montage to Road Warrior (AKA Mad Max 2), clips from the original Mad Max are interspersed with stock footage of war and oil refineries and whatnot while a voiceover describes the events leading up to the world and Max’s current state. ---
**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 11, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/63 "2013-02-11T20:37:59Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > That is correct. In the prologue montage to Road Warrior (AKA Mad Max 2), clips from the original Mad Max are interspersed with stock footage of war and oil refineries and whatnot while a voiceover describes the events leading up to the world and Max’s current state. Was that in its original run or added to the video release? I remember seeing it, see, but I’m not sure about my first theater viewing of it. ---
**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 11, 2013, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/64 "2013-02-11T22:37:28Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Do we ever get any indication about what shape the world outside Australia is in? I mean there are parts of the world that have oil. > > Hell by Thunderdome the rest of the world might be recovered from the war already.🙂 I recall reading a timeline of the Mad Max movies a long time ago, the basic idea was that Mad Max was pre-Apocalypse, civilisation was gradually winding down and falling apart as resources became scarce, the actual nuclear apocalypse occurred between the first and second films as a result of fighting over those resources and the latter two are the only actual post-apoclyptic movies. That’s probably the most disturbing part of the Mad Max films, not that a nuclear exchange occurred knocking civilisation back centuries but that aren’t enough resources left in the world to recover back to anything like a late-20th century lifestyle. > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I think it was just a (perhaps overly) clever nod to the previous film (like the 2 actors who always ended up as half-zombies in the _Return of the Living Dead_ films.) They even went as far as casting a Feral Kid look-alike as his partner. > [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Have you ever watched a Tim Burton film, especially re: Helena Bonham Carter? He’ll even not in his films she’s always a creepy lady who has never med a comb. > > I would understand your confusion, though. Presumably, Miller worked with Spence before and liked his role. And wait… a guy named Bruce and he’s originally from… New Zealand? Is that name stereotype associated with NZ, too? > [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > There are only a handful of actors in Australia, and some of them are off on walkabout at any given time. If they didn’t re-purpose Bruce Spence, they would have had to give Paul Hogan a call (and nobody wanted that). Thanks for the answers everyone! And re Helena-Bonham Carter, while that’s a fair point she usually doesn’t appear as similar characters in _sequels_. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/65 "2013-02-11T23:07:25Z")
That’s the impression I got too: Civilization did not go out with a bang, but a whimper. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/66 "2013-02-11T23:10:58Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > Thanks for the answers everyone! And re Helena-Bonham Carter, while that’s a fair point she usually doesn’t appear as similar characters in _sequels_. I’m glad you brought that up again, the conversation had moved on by the time I thought of the one series where I’m pretty sure there \*were \*actors playing different characters from season to season: Jeeves and Wooster (the Laurie/Fry version) - but I’ll be damned if I can find confirmation from IMDB. Perhaps some other poster has the time to check it out. If there’s the interest. ETA: D’oh, and I forgot a friend of mine from years ago who’s had three parts (but on a soap opera, so it hardly counts); Two minor parts as different patients and a major story line as a baddie. ---
**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 12, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/67 "2013-02-12T00:48:35Z")
Deadwood on HBO did this with the Coward McCall and Mr. Wolcott both played by Garrett Dillahunt in season 1 and 2 respectively. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/68 "2013-02-12T04:12:55Z")
Please, for the love of god, do not argue about why the tanker was filled with dirt. If you must have a logic argument revolving this movie, here it is: if the wasteland gangs so desperately need gas, why do they spend all day driving in circles around the oil refinery. They spend all day, with dozens of cars, just driving and driving, wasting gas, waiting for a break in the security to get this precious gas that they apparently definitely don’t need. This point alone makes my brain hurt. ---
**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 12, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/69 "2013-02-12T21:44:00Z")
> [@Surbey](#): > > Please, for the love of god, do not argue about why the tanker was filled with dirt. If you must have a logic argument revolving this movie, here it is: if the wasteland gangs so desperately need gas, why do they spend all day driving in circles around the oil refinery. They spend all day, with dozens of cars, just driving and driving, wasting gas, waiting for a break in the security to get this precious gas that they apparently definitely don’t need. > > This point alone makes my brain hurt. Well to be fair that was part of the whole ‘Grasshoppers VS Locusts’ part of the scenario. The people in the community were the Grasshoppers carefully husbanding their resources and extracting gas for future use, the gang were the Locusts who had no goal other to burn the place up and enjoy themselves while doing it, stealing, abusing and destroying the resources and hard work of others. The gas was really only an excuse to give the gang some direction, their rampage was actually an end in itself, they really didn’t care how much gas they used as long as they had a good time doing it, if it ran out there they’d just move on elsewhere…of course when eventually no gas was available they’d turn on themselves and fall apart. They were living in the moment with no real long-term plans except where they could get their next hit. It could actually be viewed as what happened to general civilisation in the Mad Max world in microcosm, on a global scale the Locusts who just wanted to consume and have a good time used up all the resources and things fell apart. Your criticism makes logical sense but the gang wasn’t working from a logical basis, and I imagine any gang members who raised such awkward questions quickly found themselves strapped to the front bumper of Humungus’ death-mobile. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/70 "2013-02-13T15:15:15Z")
So Max was the octopus who mooched off his girlfriend, then got a race car? ---
**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 13, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/71 "2013-02-13T15:45:33Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > Well to be fair that was part of the whole ‘Grasshoppers VS Locusts’ part of the scenario. The people in the community were the Grasshoppers carefully husbanding their resources and extracting gas for future use, the gang were the Locusts who had no goal other to burn the place up and enjoy themselves while doing it, stealing, abusing and destroying the resources and hard work of others. > > The gas was really only an excuse to give the gang some direction, their rampage was actually an end in itself, they really didn’t care how much gas they used as long as they had a good time doing it, if it ran out there they’d just move on elsewhere…of course when eventually no gas was available they’d turn on themselves and fall apart. They were living in the moment with no real long-term plans except where they could get their next hit. > > It could actually be viewed as what happened to general civilisation in the Mad Max world in microcosm, on a global scale the Locusts who just wanted to consume and have a good time used up all the resources and things fell apart. > > Your criticism makes logical sense but the gang wasn’t working from a logical basis, and I imagine any gang members who raised such awkward questions quickly found themselves strapped to the front bumper of Humungus’ death-mobile. 😉 I agree with this and it makes logical sense. Ever watch I Almost Got Away With It. Criminals spend an incredible amounts of time and resources to escape from prison with no plan after that. They go straight back to the lifestyle that landed them there in the first place foolishly squandering freedom and resources. Driving makes them happy. That’s the plan. When they will have more gas is irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/72 "2013-02-13T17:54:49Z")
And the Grasshoppers were in the Humongous’ territory, doing their little community-game. Raising children, protecting the elderly, the handicapped and that incredibly cute, horribly naive, nurse-babe the pilot notices immediately. None of that can be allowed. Its an affront to the basic societal norms the Humongous has pledged to his constituency that he will preserve. That’s in addition to the consumption of the resource. Don’t assume the Humongous is wasteful – notice, at just the right moment, when the compound’s defenses are at just the weakest – he takes out the carefully preserved handgun, and loads it with his carefully stored shells. With all the dirt and rot around, it almost seems out of place for him to have it … than you realize … he may be a thug, but he’s not an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/73 "2013-02-14T03:04:15Z")
I will give you that they, except for Humungus, act with recklessness. But there is no way that their wrecklessness = infinite supply of the apparently scarce resource. They have nearly 30 vehicles out there just running all hours of the day.If anything, your argument about their wrecklessness makes the movie even more stupid. They would have run out of gas quite some time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631/74 "2013-02-14T03:22:10Z")
They’re not running all the time. Gotta eat, sleep, etc. Obviously their raids have yielded enough fuel to keep running. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-max-stay-behind-road-warrior/649631.md?page=3)