How was max's brace connected to boot?

[madgeorge]

Hi Guys,
I have a brace and was wondering how to connect it to my boot. I was thinking about taking it in and having it put in the heel the way its meant to. I remember last Halloween having a problem with the brace sliding down a lot. I want it to stay put this year. Any info?
Thanks

George

[Max Replica]

This may be better put in the costumes and props part of the forum, but I'll answer it here and maybe it can be moved later.

From the HD screenshots I've looked it, it is unclear whether or not Max's AFO brace was ever actually attached to his boot. The straps on his boots cover the bottom of it most of the time. The only time we see the bottom of his boots is when he's crawling away from the car wreck and about to be picked up by the gyro. But it's unclear there, all you can see are the straps from his boot bracelets.

There is one shot however, the closeup of his boots when he starts up the rig, that seems to show that the brace is simply passed underneath his boot, and not attached at all. It passes under the boot around the same area where the boot harness strap goes, so it's hard to get a look at. They might have left it unattached to make it easier to get everything on and off, or to keep the brace from interfering too much with Mel's movement (after all, these braces are meant to change the way your foot moves, if you have what's called a "drop foot" for example - and it might be frustrating to walk with one if you don't actually have any physical problems).

As for the boot brace for my costume, I'm going to go ahead and have it permanently attached to my boot. I think it will make things easier. Most AFO braces have a metal plate at the bottom that is hammered in at the top of the heel, or in between layers of the heel. Something that could be done at most shoe repair places. But if you don't know already, Max's boot brace is on backwards. Something that may or may not matter depending on whether or not you have one very similar to his. I have one that is nearly identical and plan to have mine put on backwards as well.

I know someone who chose not to attach the brace to the boot because he liked the boots so much that he wanted to be able to wear them sometimes without the costume, and having an AFO brace permanently attached would have made that impossible.

[dusty hills]

There is evidence that brace makes him walk different. If your lucky to have the censored version it shows a scene where Max gets out the interceptor and walks over to the gyrocopter in an overhead shot not seen in the normal DVD. You only pick this up in the censored version squeeks & all.
I thought those leg braces have a pin that run under the boot in front of heel so as not to cause discomfort, but anyway...thats my 2 cents

[HUMVEE Driver]

Yeah, this should get moved over to costumes and props...

If you try wearing the knee brace without it somehow connected to your boot it may start to slide down on your leg. Especially if you are doing much walking. I had that problem early on with my outfit. So I connected it permanently to my boot, as you can see in the pic below. I drilled a hole through the heel for a bolt and bent a piece of steel around the round part of the heel; all to make it more stable.



But I don't have an ankle brace and I'm not even sure how it should be set up. If I had some good images of it I'd make one up, but until then I'm pretty happy with what I have now.

HUMVEE Driver

[Max Replica]

AFO braces are meant to attach to the shoe. Slippage is not something you want when you're trying to help someone walk correctly. The type of afo brace that has a split stirrup, or even sometimes what looks like a straight stirrup (because a plate has been removed or not attached yet) can be just passed in front of the heel, but for medical purposes it would always be attached. (this is re: vintage braces like Max's of course, modern ones are totally different)

This diagram shows two examples of vintage braces. The one I have is the conventional stirrup type:

http://classes.kumc.edu/sah/phth760/convent_afo.htm

And yes, there are scenes when Max limps in the movie. Because his character is supposed to have a bad leg. My point was that Mel the actor may have not wanted to actually be in real discomfort. They may have also done it for safety reasons - while a brace can help an injured leg, it can also injure a healthy one.

[HUMVEE Driver]

while a brace can help an injured leg, it can also injure a healthy one.

Yeah, while walking around DragonCon for 12+ hours in a leg brace, I can vouch for that!

HUMVEE Driver

[Desloc]

So, out of curiosity. Do you think he got the brace from May?
v/r
Mike