For the thirty-fifth anniversary of its premiere, the second installment of director George Miller’s Mad Max magnum opus, The Road Warrior, joins protagonist Max Rockatansky—played by Mel Gibson, reprising his role as the original Mad Max—as he wanders a world years after achieving his hollow vengeance on the murderers of his wife and child. In Road Warrior (known internationally as Mad Max 2), Max is as almost empty of feeling as the post apocalyptic world in which he lives is devoid of fossil fuel and water. And that world is being terrorized by a gang led by the giant, mutant gladiator Wez, who describes himself as the “Ayatollah of rock and rolla.” For Warrior, Miller created an environment of searing waste and scorched expanses that, over three decades ago, seemed to prefigure an environment devastated by overuse of resources. Miller’s is the first Western on an Earth blasted by climate change, photographed with sumptuous, eye-catching detail by Dean Semler. Max falls in with a traveling group of survivors trying to cling to life as desperately as he tries to hold on to what remains of his humanity; he’s more stoic than angry, which is why the U.S. title (which became a part of common parlance and has remained so ever since) feels more apropos for the film. Three-and-a-half decades later, Warrior is as epic, thrilling and engrossing a spectacle as it was in its initial release.

1981, 96 min, color, 35mm | Screenplay by Terry Hayes, George Miller, Brian Hannant; directed by George Miller, with Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Vernon Wells, Emil Minty

Ticketing Information

$5 for Film Independent, LACMA Film Club and the New York Times Film Club members. Members of these three groups can purchase tickets starting at 12 pm on Thursday, August 18. Limit two tickets per membership. Proof of member status is required to reserve tickets during advance reservation period.

$7 for LACMA members, students with valid ID and seniors (65+); $10 for the general public. Members of these four groups can purchase tickets starting at 12 pm on Thursday, August 25. Two ticket limit.

PLEASE NOTE: Pre-reserved tickets for this event can be picked up at LACMA’s Ticket Office, located in the Hammer Building, on the day of the event—as early as 5:30 pm. Tickets are for general, unreserved Bing Theater seating. Ticketed guests must be in their Bing Theater seat 15 minutes prior to the advertised start time or seat(s) may be released. Reservations do not guarantee entry, even with a ticket in hand. Entry is first come, first served, so please arrive early. Program and guest participation subject to change or cancellation without prior notice. Tickets are nontransferable and can only be picked up by the individual who purchased or reserved them.