One of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year, Mad Max: Fury Road finally hits cinemas around the world this weekend.
Set in the same futuristic wasteland as the classic 1979-1985 original trilogy, series creator George Miller is back in the director seat once again for the new instalment and describes the reboot as a "western on wheels”.
To mark the Max’s return to the big screen, here below are ten Road Warrior themed world records.
The Mad Max films portray a society in which energy is scarce and society collapses as a result. The country with the largest consumption of energy per head is Qatar, which consumed an average of 22,057 kg (48,627 lb) of oil equivalent per person in 2006. Iceland was in second place with 14,237 kg (31,387 lb), while USA, which is the greatest annual consumer of energy, is 10th on the list with 7,768 kg (17,125 lb).
In the first Mad Max movie, Max drives a Ford Falcon XB sedan, 351 V8 engine police car. In the real world, the Italian police force has the edge over most criminals on the road, with a fleet of 309-km/h (192-mi/h) Lamborghini Gallardos - the fastest police car in service anywhere across the globe. Just 30 policemen and women are permitted to drive the car following special training.
In the original movies, motorcycle gangs scavenge the lands and terrorise the remaining population. One monster bike that certainly wouldn’t look out of place in the desolate wasteland of the movies is the Panzerbike, the heaviest motorcycle. Built by Tilo and Wilfried Niebel of Harzer Bike Schmiede in Zilly, Germany, it weighs 4.749 tonnes (10,470 lb).
Much of he action in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, the third film in the series, takes place in a massive caged arena in which two combatants are pitted in a fight to the death suspended by bungee ropes and given access to a variety of weapons. The largest stadium constructed in the ancient world was the Circus Maximus in Rome, Italy, with 255,000 spectators held in triple banks of seats within an elongated concrete, marble and stone structure measuring 609.6 m (2,000 ft) in length and 198.12 (650 ft) in width. It was used for the famous chariot races, as well as for athletics, gladiator combat, animal hunts and processions. The last race in the Circus Maximus is recorded by Procopius to have been run in AD 550.
Beyond Thunderdome sees Max eventually befriend a tribe of feral young children looking for a hero. Survival International, a charity dedicated to maintaining tribal societies, points to the inhabitants of the 72 km (28 mile) North Sentinel island in the Andaman chain, located in the Bay of Bengal, as the most likely candidates for the most isolated tribe. The Sentinelese - who have made it clear their wish for no contact with the rest of the world - have inhabited their island for over 60,000 years. Video evidence taken in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami that destroyed much of the Andaman archipelago confirmed that the tribe continues to cling to life.
The character of battle scarred police pursuit-officer Max Rockatansky, was originally brought to life by Mel Gibson. The incredible success of the low-budget first film in the series brought the Australian actor to the attention of Hollywood, where he would go on to become one of its biggest stars. Gibson shares the record for Only actors to win Best Director Oscar with fellow Tinseltown heavyweights Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner and Woody Allen, after picking up an Academy Award for directing Braveheart in 1996
British actor Tom Hardy takes over from Gibson in the role of Max in Fury Road. The star was on hand last year to show his support to a successful attempt by the Royal Marines Corps of Drums for the longest group drum roll world record at the Tower of London.
Organised by the UK’s Ministry of Defence as part of celebrations to mark the 350th anniversary of the Royal Marines as well as help raise funds for injured servicemen, the Marines notched up a new benchmark time of 64 hours 27 minutes 59 seconds.
Tina Turner famously starred in and sung the theme song to Beyond Thunderdome. The soul singer previously held the record for the largest paying rock concert attendance for a solo artist after playing to 180,000 fans at the Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in April 1990.
Tina’s record was beaten in September 1997 by Jean Michel Jarre who played to a paying audience of 500,000 at Moscow State University in Russia, on 6 September 1997.
Finally, while Mad Max Fury Road has already been well received by critics, it’ll have to go some way to beat the record for highest grossing post-apocalypse movie. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire took an incredible $424,668,047 (£255,278,000) in the USA and $864,565,663 (£519,711,000) worldwide when it was released in 2013 to set the current box office benchmark.
