I am sad to report that our friend Hugh Keays-Byrne passed away in hospital yesterday. The Man from Hong Kong director Brian Trenchard-Smith took to social media to post the following tribute to Keays-Byrne: It has been confirmed that Keays-Byrne passed away on December 1st at the age of 73. Sadly, the man who menaced Max as two different characters is no longer with us. Many viewers didn't even realize it was the same actor who played Toecutter under the hair and makeup of Immortan Joe, but once again Keays-Byrne turned in an awesome performance. He made such an impression that Miller turned to him again more than thirty years later when he needed someone to play the villain in Mad Max: Fury Road, Immortan Joe. In 1979, Keays-Byrne delivered an unforgettable performance as the villainous Toecutter in George Miller's Mad Max. The Dragon Flies), and Mad Dog Morgan – but there are two credits that really standout among all the others. Some teaser photos online already hint at some pretty damn cool vehicle designs, and we really hope that it stays true to the series first two film's gritty roots and gives us some awesome Road Warrior-style action.Hugh Keays-Byrne had a screen acting career that lasted around fifty years, and in that time he earned over fifty credits, including on Australian cult classics Stone, The Man from Hong Kong (a.k.a. Which brings up to the the new film in the works, 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road, which stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron. As the title indicates, most of the action takes place inside a large jungle gym style arena called the Thunderdome and featured a character Blaster, whom we're told, has the mind of a child. The third film - and one we can all agree was the weakest link in the series - Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was released in 1985, but the film really didn't feature any awesome motorcycles or sweet cars like the past films. A props buyer for The Road Warrior purchased the sidecar, removed the fiberglass body and fitted a metal platform. The sidecar originally belonged to Allan Levinson from Sydney, Australia who had listed it for sale in 1981 because he couldn’t get used to how it rode alongside his Yamaha 650 Special. Wez also wreaks havoc in a Yamaha XS 1100 E sidecar that was modified to become a standing platform. production run in 1976, but continued on in Europe and elsewhere until around 1980. The Triples ranged in displacement from 250 cc to 750 cc. Goose’s KZ1000 had a cafe racer appeal and aesthetic, which is probably why its popularity hasn’t waned even after so many years, with fans creating replicas to this day and a Whitehouse, a Japanese company, was creating movie accurate replicas as recently as 2002.Īfter Goose injures his leg, he’s seen at the police station riding a 1976 Kawasaki KH250, also known as one of the Kawasaki Triples due to its 3-cylinder, 2-stroke engine. La Parisienne also modified 13 other KZ1000s for the film’s antagonist group, the Toecutter’s gang, which were played by members of a local Victoria-based motorcycle club, the Vigilanties. The future-retro fairings were made by La Parisienne, a Melbourne based company that unfortunately went out of business a few years after the film was released. One of the most recognizable motorcycles from the film is Jim “Goose” Rains’ KZ1000 Kwaka, a 1977 Kawasaki KZ1000. While Gibson carries the film pretty damn well (it's only his fourth film role ever) we’d like to think the real stars were the cars and motorcycles that raced, crashed and blew up on their way through one of the best movies ever made. The dystopian actioner starred a young - and not yet crazy - Mel Gibson as a police officer out for revenge against a biker gang for the murder of his partner, wife and son.
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