Visible crew/equipment: You can see the string that pulls Bubba off the bike when Max shoots him. (01:19:41)
Visible crew/equipment: In the widescreen edition DVD, when Max's wife tugs at the chain on the back of the car after they have escaped the gang members, before she sees the ripped-off hand tied to it, you can see a crew member's hand holding the chain. (01:00:50)
Continuity mistake: When Max has stolen the Interceptor and is closing in on the bikers for the first time, there's a sequence of shots showing the bikers and the approaching Interceptor. They're on a two-lane road surrounded by trees. Cut to Max turning on the car's blower and shifting gears. Then we see him dive into the bikers; but the whole scenery has changed. The road is now narrow and there are no trees around.
Continuity mistake: Just in time for the impact, the semi truck that kills Toe Cutter instantly has a large metal shield in front, painted to look like the actual front of the truck seen moments earlier. It even has all the lights painted to appear as if they are lit up.
Continuity mistake: After Max and his family reach Aunt May's house, Jessie decides to go down to the beach. As she walks toward Max, working on the Holden, she's wearing sandals. She walks around the van and is now wearing sheep skin boots. Yet, as she walks off, she is now wearing sandals again. (01:02:15)
Continuity mistake: During the opening chase sequence, one police car (March Hare) is behind Nightrider while another (Big Bopper) is on another roadway attempting to join the chase. Big Bopper is wearing an air dam beneath the front bumper, while March Hare is not. But for a few shots, we see March Hare does have an air dam. It is seen when March Hare is first shown from the front, in the distance behind Nightrider, then again when both Hare and Bopper are shown right behind Nightrider as they approach the boy in the road. It is also present when Big Booper spins and we see March Hare pass, viewed through Bopper's windshield. (00:03:10 - 00:07:10)
Chosen answer: It was nuclear war. Tectonic plate movement could make ports dry and flood others. None of the movies ever goes into great detail about the apocalypse.
Grumpy Scot