Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome them, as Max, still alive in the desert, wanders on to places unknown. "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" was the first "Mad Max" film made without producer Byron Kennedy, who was killed in a helicopter crash in 1983 while location scouting for the film. While the film was in development before Kennedy's death, director George Miller was hesitant to continue without his producing partner. "I was reluctant to go ahead," said Miller. "And then there was a sort of need to – let's do something just to get over the shock and grief of all of that." A title card at
Mad Max: Fury Road before". These elements contrast this film with the male-centered hero in the previous Mad Max films. According to Mandalita De Barco of NPR, Theron's character, "Furiosa has a shaved head and a fierce leather outfit. And with a mechanical arm she jerry-rigged from salvaged tools, Furiosa is a sharpshooting powerhouse who can also handle an 18-wheel war rig charging through the desert." She is "a female road warrior." Throughout the film, Furiosa "is a character exactly equal to Max." Director Miller describes Furiosa and Max as "protagonist/antagonist". Kyle Smith of the "New York Post" said that the title character, Mad