Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

Taglines: Hold out for Mad Max. This is his greatest adventure.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome movie storyline. Bartertown is a city on the edge of a desert that has managed to retain some technology if no civilization. Max has his supplies stolen and must seek shelter there in a post apocalyptic world where all machines have begun to break down and barbarians hold what is left. He becomes involved in a power struggle in this third Mad Max film where he must first survive the town, survive the desert and then rescue the innocent children he has discovered.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (also known as Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome or simply Mad Max 3 or Thunderdome) is a 1985 Australian post-apocalyptic action adventure film directed by George Miller and George Ogilvie, distributed by Warner Bros., and written by Miller and Terry Hayes.

In this sequel to Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, Max (Mel Gibson) is exiled into the desert by the corrupt ruler of Bartertown, Aunty Entity (Tina Turner), and there encounters an isolated cargo cult centered on a crashed Boeing 747 and its deceased captain.

About the Story

With the world climate altered to a parched nuclear summer, Max Rockatansky crosses the Australian desert in a camel-drawn wagon when he is attacked by a pilot named Jedediah and his son in a Transavia PL-12 Airtruk, stealing his wagon and belongings. Continuing on foot, Max follows their trail to the seedy community of Bartertown. While refused entry at first, Max is brought before the founder and ruler of Bartertown, the ruthless Aunty Entity. She offers to resupply his vehicle and equipment if he completes a task for her.

Aunty explains that Bartertown depends on a crude methane refinery powered by pig feces, which is run by a dwarf called Master and his giant bodyguard Blaster. “Master Blaster” holds an uneasy truce with Aunty for control of Bartertown; however, Master has begun to challenge Aunty’s leadership. Aunty instructs Max to provoke a confrontation with Blaster in Thunderdome, a gladiatorial arena where conflicts are resolved by a duel to the death.

Max enters the refinery to size up Master Blaster and befriends Pig Killer, a convict sentenced to work for slaughtering a pig to feed his family. Max finds his stolen vehicle in Master Blaster’s possession, and helps disarm his booby-trapped engine to converse with him. Here he discovers that Blaster is exceptionally strong but extremely sensitive to high-pitched noises.

Max then faces Blaster in the Thunderdome and uses his weakness to gain the upper hand. He refuses to kill him after discovering he is developmentally disabled and has the functional mentality of a child, telling Aunty it was not part of their deal, revealing her plot. Master, previously unaware of this covert deal to kill Blaster, is furious and vows to shut down the refinery and, by extension, Bartertown. An enraged Aunty has Blaster executed, Master imprisoned, and Max exiled, bound, masked, and sent on a horse in a random direction to the wasteland. As his horse perishes in a sinkhole, Max frees himself and presses on.

Near death, Max is found by a desert dweller named Savannah Nix, who hauls him back to her home, a primitive community of children and teenagers who live in an oasis. The children, survivors of a crashed Boeing 747, were left by their parents who went to find civilization. They believe Max to be the flight captain, returned to fix the aeroplane and fly them to civilization. Max denies this and insists that they remain in the relative safety of the oasis, knowing that the only “civilization” within reach is Bartertown.