Mad Max

Mad Max #1

by Terry Kaye (Pseudonym), Terry Hayes

MAD MAX will make you stab for the brake until the very last page.

Your blood will turn to ice and your eyes will squirm with horror. Bullet down the spine of suicide highway with the Toe Cutter, Bubba Zanetti, and Johnny the Boy hissing with revenge for the death of their hero The Night Rider, killed after a frenzied car chase with mad-cop Max.

Mad Max, Jim the Goose, and Fifi Macaffee follow a twisted trail of highway smashes, torture, and brutality in pursuit of the nomad bikies. MAD MAX will careen you into a metallic volcano, exploding with fiendish crimes, lightning chase scenes and one man’s madness against a gang of bike riding psychopaths. Hit the road with MAD MAX and crash the hot metal nightmare of a lifetime.

STEPHEN KING AND HUNTER S. THOMSPON EAT YOUR HEARTS OUT!

Genres: Science Fiction, Thriller, Post Apocalyptic, Media Tie In, Horror

Paperback

First published March 1, 1979

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘If I stay out there on the road much longer I’m going to become one of them. Just a terminal crazy with a bronze shield to say I’m one of the good guys. And I’ll die like one of them.’

This novelisation was surprisingly well written in parts and adds a lot of context to the first, legendary Mad Max movie which was produced on a shoestring budget and featured a bunch of young Aussie upstarts that included Mel Gibson. Although it barely hints at the increasingly dystopic setting, it does give a lot more context to the movie, in the way it describes the increase in crime on the super highways and why the Main Force Patrol (MFP) was formed. It was interesting to learn the hoops that MFP recruits like Max, Goose, Charlie and Roop had to jump through to join the MFP: besides intense driving & pursuit training, they also received commando and weapons training before being accepted into the MFP, which would explain Max’s range of driving, martial and scouting skills in movies like The Road Warrior and Fury Road. The book also reveals that Max is in fact the eldest of the lot: a cop who thinks he’s too old for the road who is planning on winding down, although his life is about to take a turn which will guarantee him a future which is anything but calm and peaceful. His worst fear, that he will end up becoming as bad as the violent and lawless hoons that he’s out to police, will also inevitably come true once the misdeeds of the Toecutter’s gang fling his mind over the edge. The book also explains why the Nightrider is blazing along the super highway in the first place, and why the MFP go to such lengths to try and ‘waste’ (kill) him and his teenage girlfriend. There was also a lot more context provided as to why Max is gifted the interceptor / pursuit special by the MFP and why ‘The Acolytes’ bikie gang led by the Toecutter are out to get Max.
Another touching scene which was missing from the movie was the soliloquy delivered by the Goose on his birthday in Max’s house, when he talks about taking the speed of his motorbike ‘over the edge’. Two interesting characters who were completely absent from the movie are also introduced in this novel: Goose’s girlfriend who has to endure his philandering ways and the mysterious cop named ‘The Dark One’ (who has long been a mystery to Mad Max tragics since his name is scrawled on one of the doors of Max’s police car in the movie, so that fans have long assumed that he was the cop that partnered Max and who must have been killed by the gangs).
People who were intrigued by The Acolytes bikie gang in the movie will learn a lot more about the less prominent bikies in this book, with Mudguts, Cundalini and Diabando fleshed out a lot more. This is also true of prominent bikies like the Toecutter himself, who I actually found to be a lot creepier in this novelisation than he was in the movie (which is not a criticism by the way, because he was brilliantly realised in the film).
One of my personal favourites: Max’s boss the chief of police Fifi Macaffee is also a lot more fleshed out. One scene which I expected to feature in this novel but which was absent was the scene when Max returns to Police HQs after he loses Jess and Sprog to find his fellow cops all slaughtered by Toecutter’s gang. Movie director and Max creator George Miller did not film this scene since he was so low on budget at the time but I was surprised to find that it was also omitted from the novel.
Overall I found the writing surprisingly good, particularly when it describes vehicles and car / bike chases. The story doesn’t really feel dated either, except for the whinging of Goose’s girlfriend about the sexist content of magazines, which was probably relevant at the time but is a theme that’s long been done to death since. Another amusing part of this futuristic, dystopic story was when Max’s missus Jess regrets the fact that she has to shop for groceries in large impersonal supermarkets instead of the smaller stores where she once did her shopping.
That said I do have one gripe which prevents this novel from being a 5 / 5. The novel does not explore Max’s reaction to the terrible loss that finally tips him over the edge. Following the tragic loss of his family I appreciate that he becomes desensitised and purely running on cold logic to the point that his brain is operating like a computer, but I expected the novel to delve into how he handled his loss a little bit more.
As a side note: the more time goes by the more the character of Max resonates with me. To my mind he is someone who always tries to do the right thing but somehow always finds himself increasingly alienated in a society that’s suddenly changed for the worse, due to events beyond his control. After many years I am still taken by Max’s rugged, solitary, anti-hero status, a vagabond who just wants to be left alone but who inevitably always finds himself having to reluctantly fill the role of champion of the oppressed and take on stupid odds.
In conclusion I should add that this book is sadly out of print but interested readers can listen to it for free through an audio recording generously posted on YouTube by a Yank named Jon Olsen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNfP5...

[Abbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novelization of the movie. I have seen the movie a 100 times so it was hard to get too excited about this book. I bought it mostly for the beautiful cover.

[Aricia Gavriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Am soooo lucky to own the original paperback! They're rare as hen's teeth. It's a quick read which does a very good job of capturing the iconic movie on paper ... obviously, the movie is better (which came first, the chicken or the egg? Bit of a "duh" there). The book itself is a piece of history! Read this for the first time in something like 1980. And yes, I do like the original movie best of all the Max movies. For me, it's the "true" one ... call me weird, if you must, nudge, wink.

[Love of Hopeless Causes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Movies adapted from books tend to take away more than they add. It's insulting to sit through dialogue aimed at seventh grade dullards, even when the movies are rated R. The exceptions are so few, they hardly bare mentioning. Thus, I gave up on modern cinema entirely. In your face, Netflix!

Now consider this reverse adaptation, film into book. You get more of everything: entertainment per dollar, emotion, character, etc. Particularly in the relationship between Goose and Johnny the Boy.

I felt this movie lacked continuity, until this book filled in basic details. This demonstrates how movies are defined more by what they can't show, than what they can.

Thanks to Audiobooks for the Damned. Remember the Toecutter when you look up at the night sky.

[notgettingenough]

This is about The Book of Eli, curiously, a book which does not exist. Upon reflection, if you do see the movie, this will not surprise you. I strongly advise if a book does come out, not to read it.

Things I want to ask:

What the fuck happened to Gary Oldman? Honestly. How could a guy who played the roles he did in Sid and Nancy, Prick Up Your Ears, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead go to the US and play such crap over and over again?

Things I wish to observe:

I would have thought if you go to Gold Class and spend $74 on two tickets, they should make it easier than usual for you to have sex. Instead, the opposite is so. You get given these chairs that are so enormous, that even though you sit next to your companion, you might just as well be in the next cinema. My advice: if you are planning sex during a movie, go for the cheapest seats. By the way. I'm not necessarily saying I wanted to have sex. Or do I mean I'm not saying I necessarily wanted to have sex. I'm more just saying if I had wanted to...

The thing that kills me about US post-apocalyptic movies is that they take themselves so seriously. Jeez. Mad Max was made on a weekend on a budget of $50. The people making it had fun. The audience has fun. It spawned a whole industy of American big budget movies that are no fun.

Things you will want to know before you go to this movie:

Don't go if you don't like the bible. It wins. You'll be slightly less happy than a Swedophile watching somebody making Swedes look silly.

I'm not saying don't go to the movie. I'm just saying, but....

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mad Max, written and directed by George Miller


9 out of 10


Mad Max is a legendary motion picture, included on The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list:

https://www.listchallenges.com/new-yo...

now that we have the more recent Mad Max Fury Road, it is interesting to compare, to see how far the sequel has reached, what the differences are, if any.

Although 40 years old, the original Mad Max is still impressive in its use of stunts and the technology of the time.
For instance, there is an outstanding scene wherein Mad Max aka the iconic, if controversial over the past years, due to his rants when drunk and stopped by the police, Mel Gibson, is chasing a motorcyclist.

The latter ends up facing a truck, which is coming from the opposite direction and the crash is credible, making the viewers think about what they used, a plastic body, how on earth have they managed to pull it off?
Max is a police patrolman that has to see horrors on the road, or as a result of confrontations that take place there, between the law and the gangs, or the criminals and civilians, innocent people that have some gasoline, or they just happen to attract the attention of these lunatics.

In the opening scenes, a deranged individual, calling himself Nightrider, is on the loose on the highway, with his woman partner, when they meet their gruesome end, in an explosion caused by their excessive speed, mishandling of the car and the resulting crash.
The gang sets to welcome the body arriving in a coffin, at railway station, where horror is combined with post-apocalyptic humor, just as the lunatics show up for the last rites for their fellow gangster.
Jim Goose is a colleague and friend of Mad Max, a fierce enemy of the vicious criminals, trapped in a car wreck at one point, when the Ultimate Villain, Toecutter is disputing with a fellow gang member, Johnny the Boy, over the murder of the immobilized policeman.

Johnny the Boy does not want to set fire to the gasoline which is spilling from the overturned car and thus murder the man who is shouting in pain and asking them not to start the fire.
However, the monstrous, disgusting beast starts the fire and the victim is tortured nearly to death.

He is taken to the hospital, where is kept under a protection when Mad Max – who is perhaps Max, but not yet Mad at this stage, when he comes close to losing his patience and mind – comes to see him.
He is devastated and protests on the corridor, once he comes out of the room of the patient:

This is not Goose…it is terrible it cannot be him…or words to that effect

Mad Max might eventually have a chance to take revenge, but for spoiler alerts reasons, let us just consider the possibility.
Alas, his wife and child come under attack, for this band of murderers know no limit and enjoy tormenting and causing pain.

In one instance, as the hero is fixing his car in a garage, the wife takes the son to get some ice cream and meets the gang.
She is followed, harassed by Toecutter, but in the first instance, she manages to kick him in the groin, get to the car and drive away, just as the crazies throw chains and try to grab and mount the car.

Soon after, she is out at the beach with their dog, but on the way back she is followed by the deranged tormentors through the woods, barely making it back home, where an old woman has to use her shotgun.
Again, let us stop here in this scene and not continue to see what happens to her, the old woman or the baby.

Let me end with a moment of joy – well, a guilty pleasure, showing the dark, disgusting side of humans – when one of the villains is trapped, near a burning car, which would soon explode – this is after all a road movie, just like the last sequel Fury road – and Mad Max comes to him, making him tie himself with handcuffs to the car and then offering a saw, with the words:
You can saw it off – no question about it, he refers to the man’s limb – in about five minutes…

Think 127 hours, where trapped Aron Ralston aka James Franco had the choice of keeping his hand and die, or severe it.

[Dion Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this novelisation of Mad Max, one of the most iconic Australian movies, and a favourite of mine.

There is a few slight differences, its more about Max than the car, it has the same feel as the movie and I loved it just as much.

It's worth reading if you get the chance, I highly recommended it.

[Conan The Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vaya viajecito. Una gran historia, muy bien escrita y geniales personajes. Me encantó

[Mikepottz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The barren landscape with the highway and heinous gangs knocking off transport trucks of their abundant treasures. A special police force was made, the qualifications being a life of fast cars, hard driving, and a disregard for life. These special police eradicated the highways of these dirty cockroaches, one of these police stood above all of these, a hard driving battle hardened freak, his name Max resonated throughout the area. Max with his tinted sunglasses and black driving gloves. Driving down the highway at a hundred plus miles an hour where reaction needs to be done before one realises. Max kills a gang member and a big wig Toecutter puts a hit on Max. With dialogue like "I'll knock your balls into your mouth" this is entertaining. The gang will burn a cop alive, Max's best friend and he will be disillusioned and quit the force. Max's boss tells him he will be back, you're hooked and you know it. Max's wife will spin through the air like a rag doll hit from one of the gang members and his kid both killed. Max is going to fuck people up big time. He will put on his black jodhpurs, knee high boots, black leather jacket, elbow and shoulder pads and seek revenge. He is now ravaging fucking mad. A very rare book. Happy to have in the collection.

[Hugh's BigBookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the movies/books which warn against the glorification of the creation of vigilantes. People are not at their happiest when they are made warriors with nothing left to lose, they are instead what life has made them, lost souls. This book captures that sentiment and poetry beautifuly and savagely. You both look forward to seeing Max get his revenge, but also mourn the loss of his family even when they are avenged. This is the tragedy of a man who loses his life, and becomes another man entirely, a road warrior: Mad Max.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was eh. I found this on YouTube, read by Audiobooks for the Damned. Thank goodness, because it's impossible to find in print. I don't think it would be worth the price anyway.

[CHILTONM · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok so this isn’t good but more importantly it is FASCINATING what this changes from the movie. It effectively makes max an entirely different character! Removes everything about him consciously trying to protect himself and the good parts of his life, retroactively makes him act through the duration of the plot in a way he *only earns at the end of the movie*! Even this early on there was this total lack of comprehension about what Max’s actual journey was and where he was coming from in favor of a weird macho flattening. So wacky!!

[Douwe De · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very well written, very one dimensional characters but that is to be expected from a book adaptation of an 80s action movie. Would have helped a lot of the Toecutter gang wasn't just evil for evils sake but had some motivation.

Pacing was a bit weird. But it was short and the second half was at least captivating enough to finish.

[joaqui. · Rating 2 out of 5]

"I’m a fuel-injected suicide machine. I’m a rocker. I’m a roller. I’m an outa controller. I ain’t never comin’ back.”






adapted film:
mad max (1979) dir. George Miller.

[Kris Andre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly more character and scene development than the movie. Not really well written but it is readable. Follows the movie pretty close. Funny 1970’s Australian terms. It kind of lost me when it said the car was turbocharged lol.

[Graeme Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. However this was a YT audiobook.. The original paperback is out of print. one other thing: the storyline explains some parts the movie skips over.