During an interview, Tim Burns, the actor who played the role of Johnny The Boy, told me that the scene where he burned his arm in Mad Max 1 was inspired by Lawrence Of Arabia. It is funny, when we see the film again today, to see that there is much more than this scene and that the tributes, or reminiscences, seem to multiply!
Goose accident inspired by T.E. Lawrence accident scene.
Burning fingers with a match in Lawrence of Arabia inspired Johnny the Boy (Tim Burns) burning fingers with a match and a lighter in Mad Max.
Similar shot framing like in Fury Road.
Camping in the desert scene and sharing food.
A convoy saw through the binoculars.
"Hut Hut Hut!” is the same thing that The Bullet Farmer yells to go in the Peacemaker.
Similar framing of the shot.
The Dark Beduin.
Passing through the canyon.
The airplane attack.
Facing a panicked crowd, Prince Fayçal shout "Stand and fight!" and Aunty Entity shout "Where are you going to run, where are you going to hide?” as Bartertown explodes.
Similar framing of the camp.
Similar framing of the shot.
Aqaba is the equivalent of Bartertown/Citadel. It has to be reached by desert and destroyed/taken over. Lawrence is called "Mad" for trying to do this. In Fury Road, Dag calls Max "Mad" for trying to go back to the Citadel.
The Sun's Anvil vs The Devil's Anvil (Mad Mad Beyond Thunderdome Screenplay).
The edge of the desert, "nothing but salt”
"From here until the other side no water but what we carry”, Max upon going into the desert in MMBT "I need as much water as I can carry".
Shaving in a camp.
Black shape in the desert.
Beduin dehydrated, covered in dust.
Kid spotting Lawrence carrying dehydrated beduin. One of the kids in MMBT spots Savannah carrying dehydrated Max. Finn runs down the dune.
The entire scene of Lawrence saving dehydrated beduin seems to have been copied by
MMBT. Savannah saved Max just the same. Both Lawrence and Savannah are
enthusiastically greeted by their tribe. Lawrence gets a new outfit from the tribes. Max gets a hat being now
called „Cpt Walker” (Essentially giving the main character a new identity of a
hero by outsiders).
Similar imagery. „Help” coming down the dune on a horse. Vuvalini coming down the dune on motorbikes (originally the Vuvalini rode on horses and the bikes have horse saddles as well.
Shot/scene composition - the gathering. Left panning over to the right capturing faces of people who attend a gathering.
Shot composition. Women observing the convoy from atop. Rock Riders observing the War Rig from atop of rocks.
Overlooking Aqaba at night from the dunes. Very similar to overlooking Bartertown at night from the dunes.
Lawrence surprised he has to execute someone. Max surprised he’s about to execute someone. The entire scene looks like a version of Thunderdome fight. Two men in dispute, both have to die. A huge crowd of audience.
For Aqaba or The Compound, there's a storm coming.
Quicksand scene. Copied by MMBT. Both children hold onto a rag. Both children are swallowed by sand.
Lawrence arrives at the location after a long journey but the
destination point is destroyed. Furiosa arrives at The Green Place to find out
it’s destroyed. They both are so shocked they completely zone out.
Train rollover very similar to Truck rollover in Mad Max 2.
Lawrence is ambushed and shot. Pappagallo is ambushed and shot.
People cherish Lawrence chanting his name and holding random items in their hands. The Wretched cherish Immortan Joe holding random items as well. Lawrence presents himself as a leader in white robes. So does Immortan Joe.
Lawrence is drawing a map next to a truck. So does Max in Fury Road.
One of Lawrence’s servants dies in the dunes, Lawrence is with him (and kills him). Gekko dies in the dunes, Max is with him. (Deleted scene from MMBT)
Lawrence held down to be tortured. Max held down to be tattooed and branded.
Return of Lawrence. Similar to Furiosa returning to the Citadel. The journalist is on the hood of the car like Immortan.
"Where do we ride?" "Damascus!" "Yes but for what?" "For Lawrence!”
"No way, not for him!” "But it’s not for him. It’s for me, Bubba.”
Obsession for killing ruined Lawrence. So was Max.
The most obvious nod to Lawrence, Maurice Jarre's score.
George & Lawrence.