``Mad Max: Thunderdome'' Why chase scenes were largely deleted in favor of a human drama

Getting over the death of a friend

Byron Kennedy is an up-and-coming producer who led the success of `` Mad Max '' (1979). Known as Australia's Nouvelle Vague, he met George Miller, with whom he would go on to form a long-term partnership, at the University of Melbourne's film workshop. That was in 1969.

Kennedy became interested in movies and machines from an early age, and would spend his days disassembling and restoring junk 8mm cameras and shooting short films with his friends. Director Miller has also been a big movie buff since he was a child, and his favorite pastime was watching American movies at small theaters on the weekends. Kennedy and Miller immediately hit it off and embarked on a career in film production.

The pair's first film, Violence in the Cinema, Part 1 (1971), was directed and written by Miller and produced, shot and edited by Kennedy. It won two awards and attracted attention both domestically and internationally. Although they were small in size, they produced several works and steadily built up a track record. Meanwhile, George Miller was working at a hospital as a medical student and writing several movie scripts. One of these stories was a story about a skilled police officer and a motorcycle gang, and this was the first full-length film produced by Kennedy, ``Mad Max.''

“Mad Max/Thunderdome” (c) 2013 Warner Bros Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The first film was an unusual hit all over the world, and the second film, `` The Road Warrior '' (1981), which was produced in response to its success, remained a strong duo, and once again became a huge hit both domestically and internationally. Ta. Byron Kennedy and George Miller's names quickly echoed across the ocean and into distant lands. Just as I was getting through work, tragedy suddenly struck. Byron Kennedy died in a helicopter accident while on location scouting. That was in 1983. Kennedy passed away at the young age of 33.

Miller is unable to accept his friend's untimely death and is overwhelmed with despair. George Miller, who had completely lost his desire to pursue the project due to the sudden death of a friend, hurriedly invited George Ogilvy, a stage director with whom he had previously worked on a drama, to direct him to the production of Mad Max: Thunderdome. He was appointed as co-director.

Ogilvie, who has a wide range of talent in opera, ballet, and drama, directed the entire drama part of the film, while Miller only directed the chase scene that concludes the film. The reason why the number of chase scenes, which are the ``deliciousness'' of the ``Mad Max'' series, decreased significantly was due to the sudden tragedy of the death of a friend.

Director Miller overcame the death of his friend to successfully complete the film. No, I have some doubts as to whether or not I have overcome it. In any case, the ``Mad Max'' series would go into a long slumber for a while after that.

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“Mad Max/Thunderdome” theatrical program

Text: Hayato Otsuki

Born in May 1993 in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Writer, editor. He started his writing career in 2016 and currently contributes columns, movie reviews, etc. to various media. By reading the creator's Arrival from a bird's-eye view, we incisively analyze and explain the original intention of the work. His writing publications include "THE RIVER", "IGN Japan", and "Real Sound Movie Club". My specialty is action and fantasy.

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