}
Mad Max (1979) Mad Max is a 1979 Australian action film directed by George Miller and written by Miller and James McCausland from a story by Miller and producer Byron Kennedy. Set "a few years from now", it tells the story of highway policeman Max Rockatansky, who is repeatedly attacked by a criminal biker gang amidst a broader
social breakdown, and who is caught between his opposing desires to stay home with his family and to take revenge on the bikers. The film, starring the then little-known
Mel Gibson, was released internationally in 1980. It became a top-grossing Australian film, and has been credited for further opening the global market to
Australian New Wave films. For twenty years, it held the record in the
Guinness Book of Records for the most profitable film ever made.
The Blair Witch Project claimed the record in 1999.
Mad Max 2 (1981) Mad Max 2 (released as
The Road Warrior in the United States) is a 1981 Australian
post-apocalyptic action film directed by George Miller and written by Miller,
Terry Hayes, and
Brian Hannant. Mel Gibson returned as Max Rockatansky. In this film, the societal breakdown depicted in
Mad Max has degenerated into a global apocalypse, for which the film's prologue provides additional backstory. Max, now wandering through the post-apocalyptic wasteland, meets a community of oil drillers trying to defend itself against a roving band of marauders. The film follows an archetypal "Western" frontier movie motif, as does Max's role as a hardened man who rediscovers his humanity. Miller explained that the
Mad Max films "effectively look forward to the past ... in the same way that the American Western allowed for allegory figures playing out morality tales in a landscape." This sequel to Miller's
Mad Max was a worldwide box office success that further boosted the career of Mel Gibson.
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is a 1985 film, the third installment in the franchise. The film was directed by George Miller and
George Ogilvie, was written by Miller and Terry Hayes, and starred Mel Gibson and
Tina Turner. In this film, Max is still wandering through the wasteland, civilisation has shifted to a barter economy, and gladiatorial combat is a key source of entertainment. After robbers steal Max's belongings, Bartertown's ruler Aunty Entity (played by Turner) recruits Max to fight a political rival in her "Thunderdome", with a promise to replace his belongings if he wins. In addition, Max also has an encounter with a lost tribe of children. Miller initially lost interest in the project after his friend and producer Byron Kennedy was killed in a helicopter crash, but he later agreed to move forward with the assistance of Ogilvie. The original music score was composed by
Maurice Jarre.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Mad Max: Fury Road, the fourth film of the franchise, is a 2015 post-apocalyptic action film directed by George Miller and written by Miller,
Brendan McCarthy, and
Nico Lathouris. It features
Tom Hardy as Mad Max and
Charlize Theron as his unlikely ally
Imperator Furiosa. In this film, the remaining trappings of pre-apocalyptic civilisation have given way to a system of ruthless warlords, who dominate Australia's remaining agricultural and industrial centers with their private armies. Max, still wandering the wasteland, is captured by warlord
Immortan Joe, but seizes the opportunity to escape when Joe's lieutenant Furiosa attempts her own escape from Joe's fortress with Immortan Joe's remaining wives. Max and Furiosa team up to fend off Joe's army so that they can reach Furiosa's home called the "Green Place", from where she was kidnapped twenty years earlier. The film spent many years in
development hell; Mel Gibson was attached to return as Max in 2003, but the production fell through.
Location scouting resumed in 2009, but production was delayed until June 2012 due to unusually high levels of rain, which caused vegetation to grow in the Australian desert, detracting from the post-apocalyptic feeling that Miller wanted. Shooting ultimately took place in Namibia the following year. In 2016,
Fury Road won six
Academy Awards from ten nominations; the six wins were more than any other film that year. In Metacritic's tally of 105 critic lists of the best films of the decade,
Fury Road topped more lists than any other film, with 20 critics placing it at number one, over twice as many as second-placed
Moonlight. In addition, a 2016
BBC poll of 177 film critics listed
Mad Max: Fury Road as the 19th-
best film of the 21st century.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the fifth film in the franchise, is a 2024 post-apocalyptic action film directed by George Miller and written by Miller and Nico Lathouris. It is a prequel to
Fury Road; Miller said that while the franchise has "no strict chronology," it "probably" takes place after
Beyond Thunderdome. In this origin film, Furiosa is kidnapped from the "Green Place" by members of Dementus's Biker Horde as Dementus later sells her to Immortan Joe. Over the following decade, she trains as a soldier and mechanic so that she can take revenge on Dementus for killing her mother. While writing
Fury Road, Miller and McCarthy found that they had enough story material for two additional scripts, one of which centered on
Fury Road co-protagonist Imperator Furiosa. In March 2020, it was announced that Miller had begun auditioning new actresses for the title role; Miller considered using
digital de-aging technology to make Charlize Theron look like she was in her twenties, but decided that the technology had not yet overcome the
uncanny valley. Although
Furiosa, like
Fury Road, was disrupted by inclement weather in Australia, advances in VFX technology allowed the
Furiosa shoot to move forward in Australia as originally planned. Shooting took place from June to October 2022.
Mad Max: The Wasteland (TBA) In March 2015, Hardy revealed that he was attached to star in three more
Mad Max films, following
Fury Road. After the release of
Fury Road, Miller announced that he was planning to release a follow-up film with the working title of
Mad Max: The Wasteland. Miller provided more concrete details while promoting his films
Three Thousand Years of Longing and
Furiosa. He revealed that
The Wasteland would be another
Fury Road prequel, explaining that he and Lathouris had written what was "basically ... a novella" about Max's travels in the Wasteland in the year preceding his capture by Immortan Joe's forces at the start of
Fury Road, and that they were planning to adapt the novella into a screenplay. Miller envisioned that
The Wasteland would feature a character-based story like that of
Furiosa, although there would still be "a lot of action." He added that he was "waiting to see the reception on
Furiosa" before taking more concrete steps. Miller confirmed in a February 2025 interview with
Vulture that he was still interested in making
The Wasteland, but hoped to focus on other projects first. Stating that, "But if for whatever reason the planets align, you can never tell. Too often, you're lining up to do a movie and then something happens. Some things fall into place and some don't, so all I can say is we'll see." == Cast and crew ==