Mad Max Fanatic Lives The Big Screen Dream

Ian Woods, in Silverton, Australia
Three decades after the original film was released, it has just been announced that a fourth Mad Max film is about to go into production.

The news has come as perfect timing for one British fan of the film who has risked his life savings on the belief that thousands of others share his passion.
Adrian Bennett from Bradford moved to Silverton, the town in the Australian outback where Mad Max 2 was filmed, with a dream of opening a museum dedicated to the movies.

He brought his wife and teenage sons along, setting up home in the former silver mining town with a population of just 51.

His love affair with the trilogy of films starring Mel Gibson began when a friend persuaded him to go along to a Mad Max double-bill 28 years ago. He was hooked.
"From the opening credits of the first film to the closing credits of Mad Max 2, my jaw was on the floor and I was just blown away by what Id seen.

"And that really got me into it then and I was just obsessed with finding out more and more about the film," he said.

He lives and breathes Mad Max. It's actually hard to hold a conversation with him if it's not related to Mad Max one way or another.

First he bought an old Ford Falcon from a collector in Texas, shipped it to England, and turned it into a replica of the Interceptor car driven by Mel Gibsons character.
Then after a holiday in Australia, he decided to give up his job as a panel beater and move there permanently, first settling in Adelaide, and then buying a property in Silverton earlier this year. The Interceptor came with him.

His wife Linda says he was a fan of the film when she first met him.

"It's gone from a hobby, to an obsession, to here," she said, but because it was a gradual progression she thinks it is all quite normal.

Mr Bennett has several other replica vehicles including a buggy covered in kangaroo skin, plus many other items of memorabilia.

He has found bits of debris from vehicles used in the production, by scouring the vast area near his home where scenes were shot three decades ago.

He also has a dog called Dog, just like Mel Gibson's canine sidekick in the movie, and together they cruise the outback roads in the Interceptor, attracting the attention of tourists.

Mr Bennett plans to open his museum next year, and is convinced there is enough interest to make it a viable business venture.

The local pub, the Silverton Hotel, is also full of photographs from the movie, as well as other films which have been shot in an area dubbed "The Outback Hollywood". Scenes from Priscilla Queen of the Desert were among those filmed nearby.

The landlord Chris Fraser is among the locals who back the Englishman's idea.

"He lives and breathes Mad Max. It's actually hard to hold a conversation with him if it's not related to Mad Max one way or another. So I think he's that passionate about it that hell fulfil his dream."

Judging by the interest from the public already, he could succeed.

Although Silverton is isolated, it is a popular tourist destination, with more than 100,000 visitors a year passing through.

Many came up to see his car and have their photograph taken with it while we filmed. One of them was a young boy called, inevitably, Max.

There was another moment when real life imitated art: the films are set in the future when petrol is scarce, and when Adrian tried to start up one of his buggies, he discovered he had run out of fuel.

With the nearest petrol station 20 miles away, he had to siphon fuel from another vehicle to get it going.

And just as the engine kicked into life, a kangaroo which had come close to his house for a closer look, bounded off in fright.

All in all, a pretty normal day in the life of one Yorkshireman who lives life to the Max.