by Rohan James
In addition to the fantastic performances of Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road received praise for its screenplay, choreography, stunts and locations.
While filming for Fury Road primarily took place in Namibia, some scenes were shot in Western Sydney. Of course, the previous movies in the Mad Max franchise were largely shot in Australia, prompting several cinema fans to embark on their own post-apocalyptic-style road trip.
Even if you don’t own a vehicle equipped with flamethrowers and simply need to find a cheap car hire deal, hitting the fury road might be easier than you think…
Various car chases (Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015)
Filming for Fury Road was originally meant to take place in Broken Hill, Australia, way back in 2003. However, the location was ruined after unexpected heavy rains caused wildflowers to grow in the desert.
Even so, various car chases were still filmed at the Penrith Lakes sand mines in New South Wales. The area contains the Sydney International Regatta Centre as well as recreational facilities and parkland.
“Screen NSW worked closely with the production company to secure Penrith Lakes and another Western Sydney site, Potts Hill at Bankstown, as filming locations for Fury Road,” said NSW Minister for the Arts, Troy Grant.
“Fury Road has generated $80 million in production expenditure and hundreds of jobs for the State, and further boosted Sydney’s reputation as Australia’s number one movie-making destination.”
Max and Jessie’s home (Mad Max, 1979)
In the original movie, when he isn’t causing havoc on dusty highways, Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) lived peacefully at home with his wife Jessie (Joanne Samuel) and their young son.
This beachfront house can be found at 310 Great Ocean Road in Fairhaven, on the B100 coast road 60 miles southwest of Melbourne. According to The Age, it was sold to new owners in January 1997 for approximately $650,000.
Main Force Patrol headquarters (Mad Max, 1979)
The Main Force Patrol (MFP) were the Australian Federal Police special task force depicted in Mad Max. In the film, its headquarters is the Spotswood MMBW Pumping Station on Douglas Parade in Spotswood, Melbourne.
However, the interior shots of MFP HQ aren’t actually inside the pumping station. These scenes, including the famous ‘Halls of Justice’, were filmed at the South Melbourne Gasworks in Port Melbourne. The site closed down and abandoned in 1960 after natural gas reserves were discovered in Australia.
Since filming, the complex has been redeveloped and is now known as Gasworks Arts Park. It now occupies eight acres of parkland, with the heritage industrial buildings playing host to theatres, art galleries, studios and workshop spaces. The official address is 21 Graham Street, Albert Park, while the remains of the old gasworks buildings can be found on Beach Street at Esplanade West.
Definately not a “massive hit … at the box office”. Do the numbers. A budget of $150m. Global box office of $378.8m.
Even the most generous Hollywood assessment that a film must make three times its production cost to achieve profit, Fury Road would have had to achieve $450m.