Pamono Mad Max Original Vintage Movie Poster by Tom Beauvais, Belgian, 1982> Posters

Making a bold visual statement with a clean and straightforward design, this small-format poster for the first Belgian release of George Miller’s groundbreaking 1979 pre-apocalyptic action thriller ‘Mad Max’ utilises the same superb Tom Beauvais artwork created for the British campaign posters, which draws us in as we look down the twin-barrels of a shotgun. As noted by Sim Brannaghan in his 2006 book on ‘British Film Posters,’ the Beauvais design strips “the film down to its basic elements of cop, the car & the road”. Set in a bleak dystopian near-future Australia veering towards societal collapse due to critical petrol shortages, the influential film starred a little-known Mel Gibson in the titular role as a police officer turned vigilante when his family are murdered by a sadistic biker gang. Essentially a revenge western meets apocalyptic road movie, the film’s sparse dialogue made way for a kinetic combination of visceral action sequences, chaotic car chases and an other-worldly visual style, hinting at the barren wastelands we would see in later films. Shot on a shoestring budget of $400,000 Australian dollars, ‘Mad Max’ became a cult hit, earning more than US$100 million at the box office, making it the most profitable film ever made at the time, and kicked off a wildly successful franchise that has given rise to three sequels, with a fourth in the works.

Conservation backed on linen. Backing has smoothed and diminished one horizontal fold. Light surface wear and faint colour transfer to fold line. Three tiny pinholes to each corner. A couple of light creases to white ground.