Mad Max shooting locations in outback Australia

Revisiting the Dystopic Outback World of Mad Max

Revisiting the Dystopic Outback World of Mad Max

Atlas Obscura
Your Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders
July 29 2014 12:16 PM

Revisiting the Dystopic Outback World of Mad Max

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Approaching the Mundi Mundi lookout.

Photo: Simon Yeo/Creative Commons

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The release of the Mad Max: Fury Road trailer at Comic-Con over the weekend stirring up interest in the 35-year-old action franchise, but the new film, starring Tom Hardy, won't be in theaters until May 2015.

While you wait, here's a virtual trip back to the dystopic desert home of the original Max Rockatansky, Mel Gibson's broken down, biker-chasing road warrior.

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Mad Max 2, released in 1981 to critical acclaim, was shot in and around Broken Hill, an isolated mining town founded in 1883 deep in the Australian outback. About 15 miles north of Broken Hill is Silverton, a town of 90 or so residents that, in traditional Australian fashion, manages to maintain a busy pub. (Said pub, the Silverton Hotel, also makes an appearance in the second movie.)

Die-hard Mad Max fans will want to visit Silverton's Mad Max 2 Museum, a collection of costumes, props, and vehicles assembled by British ex-pat Adrian Bennett. Look out for the disembodied model head sculpted to look like an injured Mel Gibson.

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Rush hour on the main street of Silverton.

Photo: Tam/Creative Commons

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The souvenir shop and Silverton Hotel, as featured in Mad Max 2 and many other films, commercials, and TV shows.

Photo: Amanda Slater/Creative Commons

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A battered Beetle in Silverton.

Photo: Tam/Creative Commons

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Silverton Municipal Chambers and resident donkey.

Photo: Amanda Slater/Creative Commons

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The Mad Max 2 Museum in Silverton.

Photo: Chris Fithall/Creative Commons

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A sign in Silverton offers helpful advice.

Photo: Amanda Slater/Creative Commons

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The landscape around Silverton.

Photo: Rowan Peter/Creative Commons

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A railway station at Broken Hill. Many of the town's streets are named after minerals and chemical elements in recognition of its mining past.

Photo: ConnollyB/Public Domain

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The Broken Hill landscape.

Photo: Simon Yeo/Creative Commons

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The road to Mundi Mundi plains, as seen in the opening chase scene of Mad Max 2.

Photo: Tam/Creative Commons


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Ella Morton is a writer working on The Atlas Obscura, a book about global wonders, curiosities, and esoterica adapted from Atlas Obscura. Follow her on Twitter.