The Road Warrior Blu-ray "Differences"....

[Kinsella5]

For those of you who are fans of the Mad Max series, has anyone noticed any of the "differences" on the Blu-Ray version of "The Road Warrior" (aka Mad Max 2) compared to the standard DVD release? I don't mean the picture quality, but a few added scenes and extended scenes? I counted at least four of them.....curious if any others have caught them? I saw this film when I was 11 years old back in 1982 when it was released and loved it. There was only one standard DVD released as the proposed "special edition" never made it out. Since I have seen the film countless times, the extended/new scenes stuck out right away for me. Anyone else catch them?

[pjasonOH]

Aside from the title(Mad Max 2) the only thing I really noticed was that the scene when Wez pulled the boomerang from his "friend's" head appeared to be a bit more graphic.
I hadn't seen the film in a couple of years,I suppose if I had watched the DVD version more recently I would have noticed more.

[KenThompson]

I hadn't watched the movie in years when I bought the bd. It looked alot better than I remember, but any differences I couldn't tell you.

[aramis109]

Have you compared the running times? I don't own the title but that would be your first clue if there were differences or if you just hadn't seen the movie in awhile.

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by pjasonOH

Aside from the title(Mad Max 2) the only thing I really noticed was that the scene when Wez pulled the boomerang from his "friend's" head appeared to be a bit more graphic.
I hadn't seen the film in a couple of years,I suppose if I had watched the DVD version more recently I would have noticed more.

Yes, you are correct, that was one of the scenes I caught as well. It was more graphic in that they showed him pulling it out which I don't remember seeing in the standard DVD version or theatrical version. I have seen the film so many times, when I watched it on Blu-Ray for the first time, this, and a few other scenes stood out as being different.

The first scene I noticed was at the beginning. When Mel gets out of his car and begins to soak up the gas with a rag on the street, Wez and his blonde headed companion watch from the up the road on the motorcycle. Wez screams and this scene is extended, and a tad bit more graphic. The original version was not as long, but the Blu-Ray features a slightly longer version of Wez pulling out the (I want to say Harpoon) from his arm. Comparing the standard DVD version and then the Blu-Ray, you will see what I mean.

The boomerang scene as mentioned by PJason is another, again compare the DVD version to the Blu-Ray and will see a slightly longer and more graphic version on Blu-Ray. I also want to say we see more facial expression by Wez (played wonderfully by Australian actor Vernon Wells, who played Schwarzenegger's nemesis in the film "Commando" by the way).

Another scene, again quite brief, is when Mel honors his part of the "arrangement", gets his fuel and leaves the compound, only to be pursued by Wez and the outlaws. Watch the scene were Wez smashes Max's windshield and when the car starts to roll, there more footage of Max in the car as it tumbles. I know the DVD version showed a brief scene of it, but the Blu-Ray version's scene appears longer.

There were a few other differences, but they are escaping me right now as I type this. Perhaps I will watch it again and report back.

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by aramis109

Have you compared the running times? I don't own the title but that would be your first clue if there were differences or if you just hadn't seen the movie in awhile.

Running time on both is 95 minutes but be advised the extra scenes aren't really anything that would extend the film by more than perhaps a minute total. It was just a few seconds here, and there, and probably wouldn't be enough to warrant them changing the running time. But if you can, compare the two and see if you spot anything else.

[HumanMedia]

Yep these sound like the differences between the original Australian version and the USA "Road Warrior" release, which makes sense since it was titled "Mad Max 2" when originally released in Australia. So they must have gone back to an Australian master. Nice to know.

[#Darren]

I am Australian and this seems exactly the same as my Australian DVD.

I think there is a review on the net that says the the Blu ray is the exact same version as the original Australian release.

So maybe your US versions were "cut"...

[Bobby Henderson]

Some years back I saw a "Mad Max 2" cut that had different, and rather corny sounding opening narration from the US "Road Warrior" version.

Is the opening narration sequence on The Road Warrior BD the same as the previous Warner DVD?

[#Darren]

I can't comment on the US DVD. What I can tell you is that the Blu ray has the original opening narration "as released in cinemas" in Australia (and as it is an Australian film I consider this the correct version).

[Bobby Henderson]

Does it have the voice of an old man saying these lines below?

My life I hate,

the vision dims,

all that remains are memories.

I remember a time of chaos,

ruined dreams,

this wasted land.

But most of all,

I remember the Road Warrior,

the man we called Max.

To understand who he was

you have to go back to another time,

when the world was powered by the black fuel,

and the desert sprouted great cities of pipe and steel.

Gone now.

Swept away.

For reasons long forgotten

two mighty warrior tribes went to war

and touched off a blaze which engulfed them all.

Without fuel they were nothing.

They built a house of straw.

The thundering machine sputtered and stopped.

Their leaders talked,

and talked,

and talked.

But nothing could stem the avalanche.

Their world crumbled.

The cities exploded.

A whirlwind of looting.

A firestorm of fear.

Men began to feed on men.

On the roads it was a white line nightmare.

Only those mobile enough to scavenge,

brutal enough to pillage,

would survive.

The gangs took over the highways,

ready to wage war for a tank of juice.

And in this maelstrom of decay,

ordinary men were battered and smashed.

Men like Max: The warrior, Max.

In the roar of an engine he lost everything,

and became a shell of a man,

a burnt out desolate man,

a man haunted by the demons of his past,

a man who wandered out into the wasteland.

And it was here,

in this plighted place,

that he learned to live again.

That's the version of the opening narration I've usually heard with The Road Warrior. The other one I heard (and it was from a TV broadcast from a New York City area TV station) was from some younger sounding man and it was just stupid sounding.

[#Darren]

Originally Posted by Bobby Henderson

Does it have the voice of an old man saying these lines below?

Yes. Except I don't think he says "my life I hate". But it is all those lines and it is the voice of an old man.

[Show spoiler]It is supposed to be the voice of the "feral kid" many years later.

[easyrider]

Originally Posted by iDarren

Yes. Except I don't think he says "my life I hate". But it is all those lines and it is the voice of an old man.

[Show spoiler]It is supposed to be the voice of the "feral kid" many years later.

.

I always thought he said "My life fades, a vision dims".

[Daredevil666]

The Blu Ray offers the uncut, original australian version of the film, while the previous DVDs offered the american, R sightly reedited version.
I think the LD was also same as the DVD.
The VHS in the 80's in europe were the uncut version (at least in france)

Problem with this Blu-Ray as noted on this site in the review, is the color scheme which is totally unlike the movie ever was. It's like they dropped a filter on the whole movie or something, and it's bad because it's not the movie at all.

There's a TV version with lots of cuts, and lots of extra footage extending most of the non-violent scene of the movie (don't laugh, there are some) and the chases. I say about 10 to 20mn of extra footage !.

http://www.madmaxmovies.com/films/ma...ion/index.html

Somehow, I wonder why all these extra scenes were not dusted off from the vault, and edited together into a documentary about this "lost" version. Don't get the bootleg it's crap.

[#Darren]

Originally Posted by easyrider

I always thought he said "My life fades, a vision dims".

That's more like it. Might be "my life fades, the vision dims".

[thelaserdisc2000]

From what I hear, the blu-ray release is the Australian theatrical version. The US version was cut substantially back in 1982.

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by thelaserdisc2000

From what I hear, the blu-ray release is the Australian theatrical version. The US version was cut substantially back in 1982.

Ok so after reading the responses (thanks to those Australians who shed some light on this), it appears the Blu-Ray version is in fact the original Australian release which is nice to know. Again, the extra scenes were not very long, I would say about a minute or so worth of footage added through out when all added together. These scenes really popped out at me which is why I wanted to start this thread.

Hopefully they will release Mad Max on Blu-Ray soon, was hoping they would have released it the day Road Warrior was released on the format. I know that when Mad Max was released here originally it had poorly dubbed in voices, but then later, a special edition DVD was released with the original Australian audio. It was funny to read that when it was originally released here, they decided to dub the voices because they didn't think we as Americans would understand the Australian dialect. LOL! The original Australian audio is so much better.

[Windmill McGill]

Huh interesting! I just rented this movie about a month ago and I only noticed the Boomerang part being bloodier and stuff. Movies a classic along with the first one. I didn't like the third one too much

[Porky Pine]

Originally Posted by Kinsella5

Yes, you are correct, that was one of the scenes I caught as well. It was more graphic in that they showed him pulling it out which I don't remember seeing in the standard DVD version or theatrical version. I have seen the film so many times, when I watched it on Blu-Ray for the first time, this, and a few other scenes stood out as being different.

The first scene I noticed was at the beginning. When Mel gets out of his car and begins to soak up the gas with a rag on the street, Wez and his blonde headed companion watch from the up the road on the motorcycle. Wez screams and this scene is extended, and a tad bit more graphic. The original version was not as long, but the Blu-Ray features a slightly longer version of Wez pulling out the (I want to say Harpoon) from his arm. Comparing the standard DVD version and then the Blu-Ray, you will see what I mean.

The boomerang scene as mentioned by PJason is another, again compare the DVD version to the Blu-Ray and will see a slightly longer and more graphic version on Blu-Ray. I also want to say we see more facial expression by Wez (played wonderfully by Australian actor Vernon Wells, who played Schwarzenegger's nemesis in the film "Commando" by the way).

Another scene, again quite brief, is when Mel honors his part of the "arrangement", gets his fuel and leaves the compound, only to be pursued by Wez and the outlaws. Watch the scene were Wez smashes Max's windshield and when the car starts to roll, there more footage of Max in the car as it tumbles. I know the DVD version showed a brief scene of it, but the Blu-Ray version's scene appears longer.

There were a few other differences, but they are escaping me right now as I type this. Perhaps I will watch it again and report back.

You forgot the one where Wez is chasing Max and Max engages his turbo in a blood-red Aussie sunrise. That also wasn't in the American version.

[pjasonOH]

Originally Posted by Kinsella5

Hopefully they will release Mad Max on Blu-Ray soon, was hoping they would have released it the day Road Warrior was released on the format. I know that when Mad Max was released here originally it had poorly dubbed in voices, but then later, a special edition DVD was released with the original Australian audio. It was funny to read that when it was originally released here, they decided to dub the voices because they didn't think we as Americans would understand the Australian dialect. LOL! The original Australian audio is so much better.

Amazing how dumb the studios think we all are!
I realize there probably hadn't been a whole lot of Australian films released in this country before Mad Max,but dubbing the dialogue.....that was a very poor choice to say the least!
I came across a VHS copy several years ago on ebay in the original Aussie,and it was like watching a whole new film.So much better!
After that it was only a few months before the special edition DVD came out,I picked that up on day one.I recommend the trivia track....I've watched it like three times,fascinating stuff.
I don't plan on double dipping a lot of my DVDs,but this one would probably be a must for me.Hopefully George Miller would do a commentary,as he was absent on the DVD commentary.