Mapping ‘Mad Max’

With summer road trips in mind, New York Times movie critic A. O. Scott chooses 1979’s ‘Mad Max’ as this week’s Critics’ Pick. He may love the movie for its dystopian vision, take-no-prisoners action and Mel Gibson’s blue eyes (trust us, it’s in the video), but we love the movie’s dramatic setting most of all.

Scott says the film’s sweeping, dusty panoramas give the it a Wild West feel and we couldn’t agree more…

 

 

To see it for yourself head to Melbourne, Australia, and hit the open road, ‘Mad Max’ style. See if you can find a 1973 Ford Falcon XB Coupe (that’s the car that played the Interceptor), and be sure to grab a Melway map to help you make the journey out of the city.

Still don’t know where to go? Take a virtual tour of ‘Mad Max’ locations on Google Earth, with the help of the downloadable plug-in at Peter Barton’s comprehensive Mad Max FAQ. The Melbourne native has compiled an exhaustive list of locations from all three ‘Mad Max’ films, even designing a convenient day trip.

Scott and Barton aren’t the only people with ‘Mad Max’ on the brain. Some 25 years after ‘Beyond Thunderdome,’ the third Max film, director George Miller is planning to resume plans to film a fourth (without Mel Gibson). Plans for ‘Fury Road’ were halted in 2003, but rumor has it Miller has already begun location scouting for the film. Not only that, 3-D anime and video game versions of the films are expected to launch in 2011 or 2012. Talk about to the maximum Max.

Discover more of Australia in Museyon Guides’ Film + Travel. Gemma Blackwood is your guide to Australia’s Great Southern Filmscapes.

image: ccdoh1/Flickr