Mad Max In
Mad Max, Max Rockatansky is a Main Force Patrol (MFP) highway patrolman tasked with maintaining law and order on the roads of a
dystopian Victoria, Australia. Max is quiet, rarely speaking to any great extent, and never paying much attention to his steadily increasing reputation. He and his wife, Jessie, have an infant son, referred to only as "Sprog" (slang for "child") in the film. He is played by actor
Mel Gibson. Though the best officer on the force, he is secretly afraid that he is becoming as cold and heartless as the criminals he pursues. He reaches a breaking point when a gang of criminally insane bikers led by the "Toecutter" burn Max's partner Goose alive inside a borrowed
ute. The sight of Goose's charred body in a hospital bed prompts Max to resign from the MFP. However, he is convinced by his commanding officer to take a vacation before committing to his decision. The MFP's officers are increasingly infuriated with the Australian prosecutors' inability to convict the criminals that they arrest, and Max's commanding officer gives him
license to do as he pleases with the biker gang. Max goes on holiday with his family, but runs across Toecutter's gang, which kills Sprog and injures Jessie, leaving her in a coma; she later dies. Overwhelmed with grief and rage, he takes the MFP's
Pursuit Special ("the last of the V8 Interceptors") and systematically pursues and kills each gang member responsible. Max is injured in an ambush set for him by the Toecutter, where he is shot in the left leg and has his right arm run over at the elbow. Despite his injuries, he manages to fatally shoot gang lieutenant Bubba Zanetti and pursues the Toecutter to his death. After hunting down final gang member Johnny the Boy and leaving him in a death trap, Max drives out into the wasteland, leaving the fading remnants of civilization behind him.
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior In
Mad Max 2, set about three years after the first film, Max wanders the wasteland of the
outback in his battle-scarred Pursuit Special. The character is again played by
Mel Gibson. He runs out of petrol and seeks refuge with a human settlement manning a remote
oil drilling station and
refinery, which is besieged by Lord Humungus and his horde of marauding bikers. Initially acting out of self-interest, Max agrees to help the settlers in exchange for petrol, although ironically, Humungus destroys the Pursuit Special shortly after Max refuels it. However, Max develops a mutual respect for the settlers and bonds with an innocent child, who helps him partially rediscover his humanity. In a fierce road battle, he helps the settlers escape to the
Sunshine Coast. However, the mentally scarred Max still cannot form any significant bonds with others. At the end of the film, he leaves the survivors, choosing to continue wandering the wasteland alone. The narrator (the child Max bonds with) notes that he never saw Max again.
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome In
Mad Max 3, set fifteen years after the second film, Max is still wandering through the wasteland, scavenging whatever he needs for survival. This is Max's final appearance played by actor
Mel Gibson. His hair has grown long, and very few remnants of his old police uniform remain recognizable. After robbers steal Max's camels and possessions, Max visits the settlement of Bartertown to reclaim his belongings. He falls afoul of Aunty Entity, Bartertown's dictator, and is exiled into the desert, where he is rescued by a tribe of children living in a wilderness oasis. Max initially tries to leave the children, who mistakenly see him as a quasi-religious savior. However, he eventually agrees to help the children escape to the ruins of
Sydney with one of the last remaining planes in the wasteland. In a climactic desert battle, he sacrifices his own seat on the plane to ensure that the children can take off safely. After arriving in Sydney, the children use pre-apocalyptic technology to begin rebuilding civilization, but Max is once again stranded in the wasteland. In this movie, Max arguably comes full circle, regaining his humanity and sacrificing his own well-being for the sake of others. The narrator (one of the children Max saves) explains that every night, she leaves a light in a skyscraper so that Max, if he so chooses, can find his way to Sydney.
Mad Max: Fury Road Sometime after
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, the opening to
Fury Road finds Max - played by
Tom Hardy in this film - haggard and alone with his car. After his Interceptor is wrecked and he is captured by a gang known as the "War Boys", he is imprisoned and used as a live
blood donor for the gang. Strapped to the bonnet of a car in pursuit of the War Boys' renegade general,
Imperator Furiosa, Max escapes and reluctantly helps Furiosa in her quest to help five women escape from the War Boys' despotic leader,
Immortan Joe. After the group defeat their pursuers, Max parts ways with the survivors of the group and disappears.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Max makes a
cameo appearance in the prequel film
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, he watches from a distance as an injured
Praetorian Furiosa struggles to walk back to the Citadel. He is played by Tom Hardy's
Fury Road stuntman,
Jacob Tomuri. ==Games==