History Film / MadMax2TheRoadWarrior

* PersonalEffectsReveal: In a blink-andf-you-miss-it moment, [[BigBad Lord Humungus]] opens a decorated and classy gun case, dissonant with his gang's diesel punk look. Also, there is an old photograph of a married couple inside the case. It gives him and his comforting words to [[TheDragon Wez]] (''we've all lost someone we love'') an extra layer of HiddenDepths.

* EatTheDog: The Gyro Captain raises snakes as a food source as well as guards for his aircraft.

* NoPlaceForMeThere: Papagallo offers Max a place in their community and a future where LivingIsMoreThanSurviving. Even though both the Feral Kid and the Gyro Captain are shown to take up the offer, Max continues roaming the wasteland just like he was at the start of the movie.

-->'''Gyro Captain:''' Uh uh uh. A fellow -- a ''quick'' fellow -- might have a weapon under there. I'd have to pin his head to the hood.

* DwindlingParty: The tanker defenders go down one by one as the chase continues: Zetta gets his leg caught with a grappling hook and his platform dragged off the tanker, the Warrior Woman gets riddled with quarrels then dragged under the tanker, taking the Mechanic with her when he tries to save her, and Papagallo gets killed by Humungus, stabbed by a throwing knife when he tries to get the Feral Kid off the tanker. Even the Gyrocaptain, while not killed, is effectively taken out of the fight when his autogyro gets shot down. By the end, it's only Max and the Feral Kid left on the rig by the time Max crashes it.

* WastelandElder: Papagallo is a somewhat younger version of this trope. He leads the refinery settlers to ThePromisedLand, [[spoiler: even if he doesn't survive to see it happen. The Feral Kid eventually becomes this trope in the ending narration.]]

* AnnoyingArrows: Both played straight and subverted

* SoMuchForStealth: Max tries to sneak through the Marauder camp at night only to fall down a hole. As he's carrying four jerry cans of fuel this makes a lot of noise that draws a Marauder to him. He's saved by the Feral Kid imitating a dingo howl.

* ShoutOut: Humungus refers to his [[Theatre/JuliusCaesar "dogs of war"]] and says they are in the [[AsTheGoodBookSays "valley of death"]]

** One group of guys under the Humungus's command is known as "Smegma Crazies" (NSFW, unspoiler at your own risk: [[spoiler: smegma is the viscous mix of skin cells and body oils that builds up on the unwashed human penis]] and another as "Gayboy Berserkers."

* ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge: Both sides use bows and crossbows, as well as arrows fired by compressed air. The Warrior Woman uses a compound bow and is shown manning a modern version of a ballista on the compound walls.

* ArmCannon: Wez and several other Marauders are shown with wrist-mounted crossbows, presumably because it leaves their hands free to drive a vehicle. This is shown when Pappagallo has a similar weapon attached to his arm while he's driving his own vehicle.

** Max turns out to have been [[WeaponForIntimidation bluffing with an empty shotgun]] when he finds ammo again [[spoiler: which turns out to be a dud]]. While Pappagallo gives him a bag of shells for the final break out, he spills them during the action and has to send the Feral Kid crawling out onto the hood of the truck to pick up the last remaining shell.

** In the opening car chase, Max comes across a tractor-trailer whose driver has been killed. He makes a deal with Pappagallo to fetch it for them in exchange for his vehicle and fuel.

** When Pappagallo says he's going to drive the tanker, [[spoiler:he then studies the sand pouring through an egg timer he's holding.]]

** While Pappagallo tries to save the Feral Kid, he yells, "We won!" This is despite the fact that they are still being chased by Humungus and his marauders. This implies that he knew of another goal, namely [[spoiler:they're the distraction]].
** In the opening narration, [[spoiler:the car Pappagallo drives during the final chase is sitting abandoned next to Max, a hint that the driver didn't survive the film]].
* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: Pappagallo turns it into TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.
-->'''Pappagallo:''' What is it with you, huh? What are you looking for? C'mon, Max, everybody's looking for something. You're happy out there, are you? Eh? Wandering? One day blurring into another? You're a scavenger, Max. You're a maggot. Did you know that? You're living off the corpse of the old world. Tell me your story, Max. C'mon. Tell me your story. What burned you out, huh? Kill one man too many? See too many people die? Lose some family?
-->''(Max briefly gives Pappagallo a DeathGlare)''
-->'''Pappagallo:''' Oh, so that's it, you lost your family? That makes you something special, does it? Do you think you're the only one that's suffered? We've all been through it in here. But we haven't given up. We're still human beings, with dignity. But you? [[NotSoDifferentRemark You're out there with the garbage.]] You're '''''nothing'''''.

* KickTheDog: When Max brings in the truck he's treated like a hero, only to curtly refuse to drive it for the breakout as he has what he wants. When Pappagallo tries to convince him to join their community instead, he punches the wounded man and then shoos away the Feral Kid when he wants to join him.

* SaneBossPsychoHenchmen: Lord Humungus commands a gang of renegades even crazier than him, especially TheDragon Wez, a psycho punk who wants them dead, especially when his protegee The Golden Youth is killed by one of them.

** The Gyro Captain upon learning that Max has been bluffing him with an unloaded shotgun: "Empty, all this time! That's dishonest! ''Low.''"

* WastelandWarlord: Lord Humungus is a brutal and relentless warlord in charge of a raider party who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

* NoOneCouldHaveSurvivedThat: Wez drives off after seeing Max's crashed Interceptor explode along with all its fuel in a huge ball of fire,not knowing that Max crawled out of the car beforehand. Max is then rescued by the Gyro Captain after he sees smoke rising from the direction Max left in.

* FaceHeelTurn: Implied with some of the Marauders who wear police uniforms and drive Main Force Patrol vehicles. This was foreshadowed in the first film when Max worried that he would become no different from the terminal crazies the MFP was up against.

* {{Leatherman}}: Wez, Humungus' [[TheDragon Dragon]].

* MolotovCocktail: The Mechanic throws molotovs from the truck until he is hit and drops one onto himself. He's not too fussed about being on fire though (possibly due to being unable to feel his legs?).

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: After Max completes his mission to get the truck to the refinery, he turns down an offer to drive it the ensuing mission to evacuate the area and escape from Hummungus' gang. He then sets out on his own, intending to leave for good, but an attack by Hummungus' troops subsequently destroys his vehicle and leaves him with no choice other than to participate in the mission after all. If Max had been allowed to leave unmolested, it would have deprived the refinery inhabitants of their greatest warrior/driver and significantly reduced their chances of success. Instead, the attack on Max ensures he will be fighting on their side.
* NitroBoost: The Humungus has nitro boost on his personal vehicle. When Max tries running the blockade in his V8 Interceptor, Wez steals the vehicle and uses the nitro to catch up and run Max off the road. Humungus himself uses the boost in the final battle. [[spoiler:As a result, he's going so fast he doesn't have time to swerve on suddenly encountering Max coming in the other direction.]]
* NoNewFashionsInTheFuture: The apocalypse obviously happened in the 1980s, because the remnants of fashion are frozen there. The nameless heroic warrior woman has crimped hair, and Arkie Whiteley's character looks like she stepped out of an 80s aerobics class. The villains' technicolor mohawks and some of their leather gear are also pretty solidly confined to 80s punk culture.
* NoOneCouldHaveSurvivedThat: Wez drives off after seeing Max's crashed Interceptor explode along with all its fuel in a huge ball of fire. He doesn't know that Max crawled out of the car beforehand. Ironically Max was about to be shot by a Marauder when the booby-trapped car exploded, killing the Marauder instead.

** Wez wears a wide-eyed, fierce, almost-haka face in practically every scene, but still manages to bug out his eyes even more when [[spoiler:he is about to get crushed between Max's tanker and Humungus' speedcar.]]

* PopTheTires: Wez with his wrist-mounted crossbow, and then a Marauder with an air rifle, fire at the tires of the Mack truck. Since it's such a huge and powerful vehicle with multiple wheels it doesn't accomplish much, and the truck keeps on going despite the flattened tires.

* PragmaticHero: While helping the good guys, Max is first and foremost motivated with his own, personal well-being and a supply of gas he can secure. And he would rather leave than bother with further help for the people living in the refinery.

* RasputinianDeath: Wez takes impressive amounts of damage [[spoiler:before a high-speed oncoming vehicle finally kills him.]]

** Several settlers are sent out to find a vehicle capable of hauling their fuel, but they're quickly run down and killed (or captured and made to wish they had been killed). Max takes a survivor into the settlement, saving his life in exchange for a promise of fuel, but he dies leaving the deal invalid.
** Max sneaks out on foot (despite carrying several jerry cans of fuel) and fetches the truck he saw earlier and drives it back through the surrounding Marauders. He's given his Interceptor back in exchange, but when he tries to drive it out Wez and his gang are ready for him. Despite driving a faster vehicle, he's quickly run off the road and barely escapes with his life.
** For the final act, Max drives the fuel truck--now heavily modified for defense--while the rest of the settlers use this distraction to flee in the opposite direction.

** Max keeps the Gyro Captain in these, even after he leads him to the refinery. He only gives him the key after he helps fly Max back to the abandoned Mack truck.
** After Wez repeatedly defies him Humungus has his AxCrazy chained to the front of his vehicle like a rabid dog, releasing him for the final battle.
* ShipTease: Subverted. In any other film, the manner of the Warrior Woman's apology to Max, where she briefly touches him on the arm might peg her as a potential LoveInterest. Not here, though, as she gets arrowed and subsequently dragged under the tanker during the final chase.

* TheStakeout: Max (and the Gyro Captain) wait up in the hills watching the compound with binoculars. After a couple of days he gets his opportunity when he sees the scout wounded nearby, and goes to rescue him while the gang is busy chasing the others.

* VasquezAlwaysDies: [[spoiler:The ActionGirl who takes on the task of guarding the oil tanker from above gets killed, while the Gyro Captain's more feminine LoveInterest rides in the bus, which is not so much of a target]].

* WeaponForIntimidation: Max's shotgun for most of the movie. He uses it to bluff Wez into retreating at the start of the movie and rigs it up to keep the Gyro Captain captured. It's only when he searches some of the bodies by the autogyro and finds a single shotgun shell that we discover that the gun has been empty all along.

* AllThereInTheScript: The screenplay names Humungous' gang as the Marauders.

* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: Lord Humungus is a freakishly muscular giant of a man and leads his dogs of war. When Wez (himself a large psychopath) goes berserk at an inconvenient moment, Humungous personally chokes him out.

* BrickJoke: [[spoiler:The Gyro Captain only discovers Max's shotgun is empty when he removes a shotgun shell from a Marauder's corpse. The Gyro Captain points out the shell could be a dud, but isn't willing to try his luck. Turns out the shell ''is'' a dud, which Max discovers when he tries to shoot Humungous.]]

* MakeAnExampleOfThem: After Max breaks through his cordon with the truck, Lord Humungous drops the pretense of negotiation. He has the surviving scouts strung up and tortured to death [[ForcedToWatch in view of the compound]], while promising to LeaveNoSurvivors.

* NitroBoost: The Humungous has nitro boost on his personal vehicle. When Max tries running the blockade in his V8 Interceptor, Wez steals the vehicle and uses the nitro to catch up and run Max off the road. Humungous himself uses the boost in the final battle. [[spoiler:As a result, he's going so fast he doesn't have time to swerve on suddenly encountering Max coming in the other direction.]]

** The truck is modified with a steel bulldozer blade protecting the engine to prevent Humungus shooting it again, fighting parapets with SpikesOfDoom forged from metal fence pickets, and perforated steel plate shielding the tires.

** Protective sports gear is used by both Wez and the Warrior Woman.

** The Feral Kid uses a razor-edged metal boomerang, using a chainmail-reinforced glove to catch it on return.

* HiddenDepths: The Gyro Captain. He apparently has enough to become the leader of The Great Northern Tribe. Hinted early on in the film when he not only [[spoiler:lures Max into a trap,]] but very quickly susses out the various tricks and booby traps that Max might surprise somebody with.

* HooksAndCrooks: At the start of the final chase, a Marauder in a buggy manages to throw a grappling hook onto the truck's rear fighting parapet, pinning the man in place and eventually tearing parapet off the vehicle, though the buggy ends up being wrecked in the process. Later Wez manages to tear the door off Max's cabin with another hook.