Monday, 19 May 2014

Mad Max in Sideburn #17

In the latest issue of Sideburn, we run two pieces on the first, the rough and the dirty... Mad Max. We interviewed key players in the film's making, including the director George Miller, cinematographer David Eggby, Hugh Keays-Byrne (bike gang leader The Toecutter) and Bertrand Cadart, who made the fairings for the (mainly) Kawasaki Z1000s. We even managed to talk to Dale Bensch, reputedly killed when the infamous bridge stunt went wrong (see clip below). He seemed remarkably chatty for a bloke 36 years dead.

On top of that, in a separate feature we asked Repo Man and Straight To Hell director Alex Cox for his views on what has become a post-apocalyptic benchmark, shot on a budget, featuring Melbourne bike gang members as stunt men and that only made it to the screen thanks to long nights and hard graft by a couple of blokes with a vision. There you go, just two reasons of many to pick up Sideburn #17. MP

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13 comments:

  1. Anonymous19 May 2014 at 22:37

    Awesome!!! I met and worked with Grant Page who did the stunts for the original Mad Max and he told me that one of the guys on a bike cartwheeled and broke his leg. I think they kept the footage in the film. Telling all these gems while occasionally wiping the wetness around his fake eye. A true legend!!!! ]

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-PVEoR4rB4

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  2. Anonymous20 May 2014 at 08:36

    Ha ha and I know Tim, the guy in the leather jacket leaning against the car. My son went to school with hs kid in Bondi but he's got grey hair now.

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  3. Anonymous20 May 2014 at 08:42

    If you look closely when the first guy bails, as he's picking his bike up you can see his swingarm is broken in half

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  4. Mick P20 May 2014 at 11:40

    View Askew - Tim Burns (Johnny the Boy in the film) is also interviewed in the article. His insight into working with the force of nature that is Hugh Keays-Byrne is very entertaining.

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  5. Nick20 May 2014 at 13:35

    It's a film I've meant to watch for ages, must try and get it on DVD

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  6. Sideburn Magazine20 May 2014 at 13:35

    Nick, you can get it on DVD for peanuts. G

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  7. Mick P20 May 2014 at 14:36

    ... but make sure it's the original version, not the one dubbed with American voices for the US market (yes, really). I think the modern version of the DVD, if it has the American audio track, the original is also on there as an option.

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  8. Diedre Greenshields20 May 2014 at 14:43

    The Egyptian version (yes, really) is a whole lot more fun

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  9. Tom20 May 2014 at 22:32

    I am the Nightrider. I'm a fuel injected suicide machine. I am the rocker, I am the roller, I am the out-of-controller!

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  10. Mick P20 May 2014 at 23:55

    And what a pleasure it is to meet you Mr Nightrider, could I interest you in a small sherry, or perhaps a Dubonnet?

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  11. Tom21 May 2014 at 08:06

    Oh a small Amontillado would be super, thanks! Death racing in the heat is such thirsty work.

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  12. Anonymous22 May 2014 at 08:29

    Those XB's are huge. I bought one when I lived in Sydney from a guy who swore there was no rust. He sent video to prove it. What a sucker I was. Anyway, they are enormous, much bigger than they look on film but really really really really cool!!!

    Possibly the greatest car/bike film ever made

    There's a rawness to it that is unmatched. Australia, had that in spades in the 70's and 80's.

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  13. Tom24 May 2014 at 14:42

    The Nightrider would have one of these under the bonnet now
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA6am0rCwAk#t=183

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