Mad Max: Prop Design

Mad Max: Fury Road is definitely in my top 10 of movies that I’ve watched so far. I’ve always been a sucker for post-apocalyptic worlds and crazy, over the top set design. But when it comes to this movie I wanted to focus on one thing in particular; the cars that are presented in the movie.

Now I have never been a motorhead in any sense of the word; I feel like if I ever had to catch an Uber at any point in my life I would sooner die than have to identify whatever car was coming to pick me up. But whilst watching this movie, i fell in love with the completely outlandish and chaotic designs of the vehicles that provide the essential mode of transportation for our protagonists throughout the course of the film. Having never watched a Mad Max film until this one, I did a little bit of research and found out just how important the cars are to the franchise as a whole and not just within the most modern version of it.

Given that our story takes place in a post apocalyptic wasteland where resources are almost nonexistent (a highly important plot point is the way limited water supplies are hoarded and regulated by a megalomaniac villain in power) the existence of something as coveted as a functioning car is an immediate symbol of authority and power in this hellscape. This is even more true when observing the cars that belong to our main antagonist, Immortan Joe. Not only is his main vehicle one of the most imposing within the film, it’s made as a fusion of two cars rather than just the one. It’s almost as if the very design of his car is a brag to whomever he might encounter that he is powerful enough to own something so desired and valuable.

I was even more impressed to find, after more digging, that everything that is seen within the film (with the exception of large scale destructive forces such as the huge sandstorm they drive through to escape their pursuers) is all practical effects; even going as far as to create an actual flamethrowing guitar solely for this film. The mechanics and proper designers spent months working on the concepts that George Miller presented them with, eventually coming up with all of the chaos that we see in the film today.