Mad Max Retrospective Bonus (Mad Max Renegade 2011)

My Mad Max retrospectives have covered all the movies in the trilogy, but there is one last bit of Mad Max that I don't think can be looked over. A lesser known director named Paul Miller created a short film known as Mad Max Renegade in 2011. This movie is supposed to take place between Mad Max and The Road Warrior. I don't know if it is canon with the mythos George Miller created but I think it is worth mentioning because it's very entertaining.

This nine minute short starts off with a newly wed couple driving along the highway with a box filled with blankets which the wife refers to having a baby in. Over the radio, there is an announcement of unrest on the highways and sure enough, a car chases after the couple. Max, in his V8 super charger, hears the call for assistance and goes off to check it out. Max finds the husband dead and the wife dying. With her last breath, she begs Max to save her baby. Max chases after the marauders and catches up to them, shooting the driver in the face with his trusty sawed off shotgun. The car crashes and Max pulls over to check the wreckage. Max opens the car to find a puppy with a name tag that says "Baby". Max looks at the dog and takes the collar off and says, "Let's go Dog". The radio then asks for reinforcements to come to the justice building because there is some civil unrest.

This short is nice because we get a little bit more of Max who is played by Liam Fountain and not Mel Gibson. Liam Fountain tried out for the part of Max in Mad Max Fury Road but obviously lost out to Tom Hardy. Liam was a good Max, but Tom Hardy has a lot more experience and fame behind him. I also like how this movie gives a little origin to where Dog, from The Road Warrior, came from which is nice. Other than that, we have short chase sequence and that's it for the movie. I think it was really entertaining and it was cool to use some recordings from Mad Max. Apparently, the last radio recording was cut from the first movie. There was supposed to be a part where Toecutter's gang takes revenge on the MFP and kill the other officers in the justice building. The only thing that is off about Mad Max Renegade is that Max is walking without a problem. Max gets shot in the knee, which takes quite a long time to heal, but he walks around with little problem. Now if that's the only complaint I can have, that certainly doesn't make the movie bad. If you haven't checked it out, here is the link so you can watch it yourself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phFDAJep1jo. I give Mad Max Renegade seven minutes of run time out of ten. Hope you enjoyed this little bonus article and help this short get a bit more well known.