Mad Max 2 - Plot

Plot

In a post-apocalyptic setting, following a global war and the collapse of civilization after the Earth's oil supplies were nearly exhausted, barbaric anarchy has become the world's everyday law. Max Rockatansky, traumatised by the death of his family, roams the desert in a scarred, black supercharged V-8 Pursuit Special, scavenging for food and petrol. His only companions are an Australian Cattle Dog, and a rare functioning firearm – a sawn-off shotgun – for which ammunition is very scarce.

After driving off a gang of marauders led by the unhinged biker warrior Wez, Max collects the petrol from one of their wrecked vehicles and moves on to check a nearby autogyro for fuel. The autogyro is boobytrapped, but Max overpowers the pilot hiding nearby; in exchange for his own life, the pilot tells Max about a small oil refinery nearby in the wasteland. Max arrives just as the marauders, a motley collection of cars and motorbikes, besiege the compound. Their leader, a large, muscular man with a hockey mask over his disfigured face called "The Humungus", tries to convince the settlers to surrender the facility in exchange for safe passage out of his territory.

A group of settlers attempt to break out of the compound, but the marauders capture, torture, rape and kill them. Max makes a deal with the remaining survivor who is mortally wounded: he will bring the settler back to the compound in exchange for a tank of petrol. The man dies shortly after Max returns him, and the settlers' leader reneges on the deal; the settlers are on the verge of killing Max when the marauders return, and Humungus repeats his offer. Max offers another deal to Papagallo: he will retrieve an abandoned Mack semi-truck, capable of hauling the tanker trailer that the settlers use to store the fuel they refine, in exchange for petrol and his freedom. The settlers accept, but keep his car. Max sneaks out, joining forces with the autogyro pilot.

Max drives the semi back to the compound, evading Humungus' men. The settlers want Max to escape with the group, but Max opts to collect his petrol and leave. However, his attempt to break through the siege fails: Wez gives chase in The Humungus's nitrous oxide-equipped car and runs Max off of the road, wrecking his Pursuit Special and seriously wounding him. The marauders kill Max's dog with a crossbow and attempt to siphon the fuel from the Pursuit Special's tanks, but trigger an explosive booby trap that destroys the car. Max is left for dead, but the gyro pilot rescues him and flies him back to the compound.

Despite his injuries, Max insists on driving the repaired truck with the fuel tanker. He leaves the compound in the now heavily armored truck, accompanied by a feral child he has befriended, and with several settlers in armored vehicles providing protection. The Humungus and most of his warriors pursue the tanker, leaving the remaining settlers free to flee the compound in a ramshackle caravan. Papagallo and the settlers defending the tanker are killed during the chase, and the gyro captain is shot down. Max and the Feral Kid find themselves alone against the marauders, who continue their pursuit. Wez boards the truck to kill the two, but a head-on collision with Humungus' car kills both Wez and Humungus. Max loses control of the tanker, and it rolls off the road. As the injured Max carries the Feral Kid from the wrecked tanker, he sees not oil, but sand, leaking from the tank.

The truck and its trailer are revealed to be a decoy, allowing the other settlers to escape with the precious fuel in oil drums inside their vehicles. With Papagallo dead, the gyro captain succeeds him as their chief and leads the settlers to the coast, where they establish the "Great Northern Tribe". Max remains alone in the desert, once again becoming a drifter, leaving the Feral Kid (as an adult and the Northern Tribe's new leader) reminiscing about him.