Revisiting the Dystopic Outback World of Mad Max
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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.
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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