Mad Max is one of the most iconic sci-fi movies of all time, and for good reason-it launched the career of Mel Gibson, brought a human edge to post-apocalyptic movies, and it put Australian cinema on the map for movie lovers across the globe.
But did you know that Mel came to his audition sporting a shiner from a bar fight he'd been in the night before, and that this rough look helped him get the role?
Hit the jump if you want to find out more fun facts about Mad Max, which will make you appreciate the long road Max had to take to get to Thunderdome.
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here's a fun fact that the original article failed to mention: when the film was released in the US, the distributors were afraid Americans would have a hard time with the Australian accents, so they had voice actors overdub the whole film. the resulting overdubs made the film seem completely ridiculous and the really do change the whole tone of the movie into something far less dark than what it really is. i believe all of the DVD releases have the original dialog track restored as the default, but (at least on my copy) you can go into the audio options and select the "American Overdub" version that was present on the film's original US release. it's pretty hilarious just how bad the overdubbing is, and it's worth watching at least once with it turned on.
ultimately 'Mad Max' is a pretty basic revenge story, but it was done in such a way that, at least for its time, it was pretty unique and i think it still holds up really well against modern dystopian movies. the whole series does, really. The Toecutter is one of the most under-rated movie villains of all time, and one of my favorites. Hugh Keays-Byrne was probably the most seasoned out of all the actors in the film, and it really shows: the Toecutter is one of those brilliant villains who's both supremely intelligent and also just little completely psycho!