Script To Screen: “Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior”

A key scene from the 1981 movie Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, screenplay by Terry Hayes & George Miller & Brian Hannant.

Plot Summary: In the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline rich, community escape a band of bandits.

50. NO MAN'S LAND, DAY. 50.

The vanguard of 5 vehicles stops on the causeway,
just out of range.

MAX and WEZ look across no man's land, recognizing
each other. WEZ grins, a gold tooth flashing. The TOADIE, a comically dressed Marauder perched on
the top of the Humungus vehicle, waves his arms. The
Marauders cut their motors... Silence. The TOADIE announces: TOADIE
Greetings from the Lord Humungus
The Warrior of the Wasteland!
The Ayatollah of Rock and Roller. Camera cranes up to the HUMUNGUS as he rises in his
seat. His voice is amplified by two loudspeakers
mounted to the roll cage of his vehicle: HUMUNGUS
I am told you wish to take
the gasolene out of the
wasteland... The SECOND VICTIM lashed onto the Humungus vehicle
shouts in defiance: DEFIANT VICTIM
Shoot! Shoot him! While you've
got the chance... The TOADIE takes the wind out of him with an elbow
to the stomach... The FERAL KID watches from a rabbit warren near a burnt
out hut. The HUMUNGUS continues... HUMUNGUS
You set out this morning to
find a vehicle. A vehicle
strong enough to haul that
fat tank of gas... Suddenly, the escaped rabbit runs from a hole in the
barricade and out into the wasteland. WEZ whirls his
arm around... thud!... the rabbit falls dead from a
crossbow bolt.

The FERAL KID eases back down into his hole.

The TOADIE bellows: TOADIE
You see! There is no escape.
The Humungus rules the
wasteland... DEFIANT VICTIM
Don't give them the gas!
Blow it up! WEZ leaps from his bike and head-butts the man into
unconsciousness, The BROKEN VICTIM sobs uncontrollably. The FERAL BOY runs from his hole, screaming. He
lets fly with the chrome boomerang... The projectile whistles past WEZ'S head and returns
to the KID. He reaches up and - clunk! catches it in his steel,
plated mitten. The MARAUDERS roar with laughter. The FERAL KID throws the boomerang again...

WEZ ducks and it buries itself into the head of the GOLDEN YOUTH.

The MARAUDERS are dumbstruck. 51. THE BATTLEMENTS. DAY. 51. The MECHANIC grimaces. The rest of the DEFENDERS are silent. MAX is impressed. 52, NO MAN'S LAND. DAY. 52. WEZ bends over the GOLDEN YOUTH and pulls the weapon
from his skull. He hurls it at the FERAL KID. The boomerang whistles across the ground... the KID
throws himself down into the hole... the boomerang
arcs and returns to WEZ... out of his reach. The TOADIE runs forward... TOADIE
I got it! I got it!

He reaches up to catch it...

Then falls to his knees clutching his bleeding
fingerless hand. The HUMUNGUS and MARAUDERS roar with laughter. WEZ, bellowing with rage, leaps up dnto the
HUMUNGUS vehicle. He hits the ignition, yelling: WEZ
There's been enough talk.
I'm going in! Powerful arms encircle him from behind. WEZ is lifted
bodily from the seat. The HUMUNGUS reaches over and cuts the ignition and
the P.A. system. 53. THE BATTLEMENTS. DAY. The CAMP PEOPLE ease back on their weapons... MAX is concentrating on his manacles, starting to use
a small, file to pick the lock. 54, THE HUMUNGUS VEHICLE. DAY.

Maintaining his vicious hold on WEZ the HUMUNGUS
hisses soothingly in his ear. HUMUNGUS
Be still my dog of war. I
understand your pain. We've
all lost someone we love...
But, we do it my way.
Fear is our ally.
Later, you can have your
revenge. WEZ tries to break free but still, he cannot move.
The HUMUNGUS reaches over and flicks on the P.A. System. HUMUNGUS
There has been too much violence
too much pain. None here
is without sin,
But, I have an honorable
compromise.
Give me the gasoline and I'll
spare your lives. Just walk
away. I will give you safe
passage in the wasteland...
Walk away and there will
be an end to the horror... He hits the ignition, eases WEZ aside and turns the
vehicle around... HUMUNGUS
You have one full day to decide!! The TOADIE jumps on board as the HUMUNGUS leads the
HORDE back over the rise. As the vehicles rumble away, the FERAL BOY retrieves
his bloodied boomerang and scurries back into his
hole.

The movie version of the scene:

This is a genre piece. While it may seem like these type of lower budget movies would be more improvisational in nature, the fact production is constrained by budget actually can translate into a script that is thought through shot by shot, simply because the crew doesn’t have time or money to do a bunch of takes. Here is a good example as the sequence as shot and edited is extremely close to the script.

One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a weekly series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.

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