The Headscratchers on this page are for the first movie in the franchise, Mad Max. The other movies have their own pages:
New entries on the bottom.
open/close all folders
Motorcycle Clothing
- All the MFP officers wear leather motorcycle clothing, yet only Goose is ever shown on a motorcycle. Anyone have an explanation for this?
- It's possible they're all motorcycle cops, and there's a regular rotation of officers between bikes and cars, to reduce strain on officers from constantly riding a bike. In a deleted scene, Goose and Max switch vehicles and have a drag race.
- They seem to crash their vehicles quite often. Protective clothing might be a good idea against bruises, burns etc. Also, black leather has at times been part of some forces regular uniforms.
- Rule of Cool.
- Goose does briefly ride in Max's car, but this could be him on light duties while his leg heals.
Max weapon choice
- When Max gets his arm run over by Toecutter, he's reaching for his sawn-off shotgun, yet all MFP officers carry a Smith & Wesson Model 28
, yet he doesn't simply use that.- He was probably used to using the shotgun, which is why the revolver is not seen, or at least is not obvious, in the sequel.
- No no, he only uses the shotgun during his Roaring Rampage of Revenge. It's more likely that .357 Magnum ammo is a tad more scarce than 12 gauge rounds in the Mad Max verse.
- Yet he seems to ignore it when his shotgun is just out of reach, allowing Toe Cutter to run over his arm, when the world is only just beginning to break down and ammunition is still being issued by MFP (by the way, .357 revolvers will accept .38 Special rounds, by virtue of the .357 being longer). In fact, the only time his revolver is seen unholstered is when Max's infant son is seen playing with it in the background before he leaves for the station and another three days of service.
- He just had his main hand run over and he needs to make a shot that probably means life or death to him. It's much easier hitting something with a shot gun, especially with his off-hand and pulling the revolver might take longer time.
- Not exactly. He had his upper arm (not hand) run over because he was reaching for the shotgun.
- Given the number of weapons MFP issues (12 gauge VG Bently (double barrel) and Winchester Model 1912 (pump action) shotguns, Winchester Model 70 in .30-'06, and the Smith and Wessen) plus Goose draws his when they find Johnny and the girl, and the number of vehicles they maintain and the fact they have the money to modify a Pursuit Special to retain one patrolman (which the commisioner is not happy about), and that society is just starting to breakdown, but everything is well before the end and industry is still in place, it seems unlikely at best they couldn't afford or find ammunition for their sidearms, to say nothing of the notion they would issue a weapon without any ammunition available. A real department is not going to spend the money to issue a weapon if no ammunition is available or affordable when that it could be better spent elsewhere, such as a sidearm they can readily supply ammunition or more ammunition for their other weapons.
For those wondering where the sawn off came from, it's a VG Bently, one of MFP's standard issue weapons. In an extended version of the film, he takes the Model 28 and shotgun and several boxes of .357 and 12 Gauge ammunition from the MFP armoury and, while not explicitly shown, he saws off the barrel and stock when he goes after the gang (although the shotgun he takes is a pump action, which is probably why they left this scene out).
Bikers Attack MFP Base
- The Mad Max Movies page has a whole list of scenes filmed but cut from the final print. One of these scenes was where Toecutter's biker gang (after killing Max's family) attacks the Main Force Patrol station, injuring or killing the officers there. This probably explains why no fellow officers came to console Max over the loss of his family, why he encountered no resistance when he took the Pursuit Special and why no patrols were chasing him after that. (Some viewers claims to have viewed this scene in early US prints of the film; at this time, footage or a script excerpt has not been found.) So if a scene does exist, how can the Toecutter and his fellow bikers pull this off? It's presumed, and also shown in a yet another deleted scene, that the MFP have an armory stocked with handguns, rifles, shotguns and ammunition. What would a biker gang use against armed police officers? Harsh words? That'd be like a real life street gang launching a full-scale assault on a police precinct station.
- I don't recall there being a whole lot of cops ever shown in the film. Given that the cops seem to be having a tough time holding back the tide of lawlessness on the roads in this crapsack world, they're most likely understaffed. Just having an stockpile of guns doesn't mean that that a skeleton crew of beleaguered cops couldn't be taken by surprise and gunned down by a sudden attack of well-armed, ruthless road marauders.
- If you listen carefully just prior to Max getting lured out of the Pursuit Special to get his leg blown out, you can still hear the radio dispatcher sending messages out to patrolling MFP officers, including an APB regarding the ongoing unauthorised use by an officer of a Pursuit Special.
The End, After The End or Before The End?
- It is clear that society is breaking down in the movie given the failing infrastructure, the ineffective justice system, the Main Force Patrol operating with a skeleton crew out of dilapidated buildings and so on. But the Just Before the End scenario is not clarified. Has the nuclear war over oil (implied in the Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome) not happened yet? Is the nuclear war/World War 3 happening already but hasn't yet reached Australia? Or has it already happened and Australian society is trying but failing to survive?
- It's never implied that some sort of global apocalypse is sweeping over the world and just not yet hit Australia. Max's whole conflict is being torn between risking his life to pursue criminals and living a life of peace with his family. If it were only a matter of time before nuclear war reached his shores, his conflict would be radically different. Australia is simply being torn apart by crime and lawyers.
