My Mad Max Timeline website is up!

[Taipan]

I definitely agree with decosabute's timeline. It really makes sense, it's deducted from what little actual background (and legitimate) info there is.
I'd just like to throw in one mention about the 'war'.

The first two movies do not take place during any kind of war. They are in fact post-war. The actual conflict was short and happened in the middle east between Iran and Saudi Arabia. That was enough to cause global economic collapse which turned into decay of morals, values and desintegration of society (MM & RW). Right before someone decided to push the red button and make the whole world go up in smoke.

[samonia]

If a nuclear barrage occurred between MM1 and MM2 then how would Max and his Interceptor survive such an event?

[BRC1974]

If a nuclear barrage occurred between MM1 and MM2 then how would Max and his Interceptor survive such an event?

He was probably hundreds of miles away from the nuke.

[Taipan]

If a nuclear barrage occurred between MM1 and MM2 then how would Max and his Interceptor survive such an event?

It didn't. It's officially established that nukes fell after MM2. Straight from the source - George Miller.

[PL-12Airtruk]

I've always had trouble with this but I suppose if nukes officially fell after MM2 then thats how it is.

I always thought with the level of decay, lawlessness and upheval depicted in MM2 that any form of
a working government /military establishment would have been wiped out by that point?

I cannot figure out what is meant by the "wasteland" then if no nukes had fallen? The name of this place
implies some form of environmental / man-made disaster to me.

[Taipan]

I understand that the name 'wasteland' might imply some kind of a wipeout but in MM2 the 'wasteland' isn't really any different from what it really looks like all year round. The term 'wasted land' I think means land that's got next to nothing to offer. Can't grow anything there, wildlife is minimal, generally completely useless for man kind and hard to survive in.

And yes, you're right about the military establishment being wiped out. My personal theory is that Humungus' gang is basically full of ex-cops, ex-military guys "smegma crazies" that actually wear military clothes mixed in with punks, skinheads and god knows what other kind of people. Which is in tune with the preamble that states regular people started to form gangs. It's only logical that the craziest ones and/or the most well adjusted to danger (cops, military, crazies) would have an advantage out there. Also worth mentioning, some members of Humungus' gang are regular folks whom built their vehicles strictly to roam the wasteland, aka. The Lone Wolf Machine. It's all in the preamble, you can look it up yourself.

As for the working government, I believe whatever's left of the government in MM2 is rudimentary. Probably consisting of delusional folks clinging onto what little power they have. Keep in mind it's right before the nukes hit. Now this is a stretch, but maybe the nukes fell because of how weak the government was and someone saw it as an opportunity to secure the final drops of oil in Australia? It's all a blur at this point, nobody really knows why someone pushed the button and started a chain reaction that threw everyone into the medieval times.

[MWFV8]

While it's commonly seen that nukes are something used to start a war they are realistically there more to stop one starting in the first place or put an end to one already taking place. It doesn't make sense for a country to use them aggressively when it will start a chain of events ending in mutually assured destruction. They would most likely be used as a final blow against an army that had no ability to retaliate using nuclear arms.

In terms of making movies it seems to me Miller wanted to sidestep the complexities that come with a post nuclear war society but it was eventually leveraged in BTTD to give it more of a blockbuster feel.

[Uncle Entity]

And yes, you're right about the military establishment being wiped out. My personal theory is that Humungus' gang is basically full of ex-cops, ex-military guys "smegma crazies" that actually wear military clothes mixed in with punks, skinheads and god knows what other kind of people. Which is in tune with the preamble that states regular people started to form gangs. It's only logical that the craziest ones and/or the most well adjusted to danger (cops, military, crazies) would have an advantage out there. Also worth mentioning, some members of Humungus' gang are regular folks whom built their vehicles strictly to roam the wasteland, aka. The Lone Wolf Machine. It's all in the preamble, you can look it up yourself.

Agreed but... it takes many years to develop such a distinctive fashion and "organization", let alone the Junkmobiles, the Dune Buggies and the souped-up vehicles. In-between MM1 and MM2 there must be many years, not few. I stand correct.

[aussie muscle]

If a nuclear barrage occurred between MM1 and MM2 then how would Max and his Interceptor survive such an event?

It didn't. It's officially established that nukes fell after MM2. Straight from the source - George Miller.

while i wouldn't contradict GM, from the films there's no evidence of a nuclear war. Sydney is in bad shape, but not blown up. as for the giger counter, water is scarce, perhaps he acquired it from the cooling system of lukey heights nuclear reactor.

[mahenoguy]

I disagree.....Auntie talks about how "On the day after..i was alive "in her monologue to Max...plus the whole gigercounter bit . I always liked to think that the war happened between MM1 and MM2 or even had began before MM1 in other parts of world . In the monolog at the start of Mad Max 2 , it describes the " 2 Mighty warrior tribes going to war" as the catalyst to the gangs taking over the highway.....plus it shows all the war footage before any footage of Max suggesting that at least some sort of world conflict had taken place before MM1...perhaps the Nukes came later but the war had definitely began .