Mad Max 2 and subtitling it "the thrilling predecessor to "The Road Warrior"." Despite the title change, grosses from the US release were on par with other countries. Warner Bros. felt comfortable to keep the title of the third "Mad Max" film, "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome", intact for that film's American release. "Mad Max 2" received positive reviews and is regarded by many critics as one of the best films of 1981. The film holds a 98% rating based on 42 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes with and average rating of 8.4/10 and with the consensus, ""The Road Warrior" is everything a bigger-budgeted Mad
Mad Max roads. Still, as filming progressed the Victoria Police became interested in the production, helping the crew by closing down roads and escorting the vehicles. Because of the film's low budget, all but one of the police uniforms in the film were made of vinyl leather, with only one genuine leather uniform made for stunt sequences involving Bisley and Gibson. Shooting took place in and around Melbourne. Many of the car chase scenes for "Mad Max" were filmed near the town of Little River, northeast of Geelong. The early town scenes with the Toe Cutter Gang were filmed in the main