Fact Finder - Movies

Fact
The Doof Warrior’s Flame-Throwing Guitar
Category
Movies
Subcategory
Movie Legends
Country
Australia
Description
In 'Mad Max: Fury Road,' one of the most legendary visual elements is the Coma-Doof Warrior, a blind musician strapped to a truck of speakers playing a double-necked guitar that shoots flames. Far from being a CGI trick, the instrument was a fully functional, 132-pound custom-built guitar. Designed by production designer Colin Gibson, it actually played music and the flame-throwing mechanism was controlled by the guitar's whammy bar. The performer, Australian musician iOTA, had to play the instrument while being flung around on bungee cords as the truck sped across the Namibian desert at 70 km/h. This extreme instrument became an instant cinematic icon, representing the film's 'high-octane' energy and the creative lengths filmmakers go to to create a new movie legend.