Mad Max Franchise: Ranking the Legendary Post-Apocalyptic Films and Celebrating Beyond Thunderdome’s 40th Anniversary

The latest: Beyond Thunderdome, the last movie in the original Mel Gibson-led trilogy, celebrates its 40th anniversary!

The original Mad Max, set just a few years from the present, starred Mel Gibson as Max Rockatansky, an Australian officer patrolling a society in rapid decline from pollution and dwindling natural resources. Director George Miller keeps the exact details behind the dystopia vague, using the encroaching apocalypse as a backdrop for high-flying action stunts and vehicular mayhem. Mad Max first released in 1979, deeply embedded in the Ozploitation era, when Australia was producing grindhouse-style movies like Wake in Fright, BMX Bandits, Dead End Drive-In, and The Cars That Ate Paris.

Miller and Gibson re-teamed for two sequels: 1981’s Mad Max 2, aka The Road Warrior, and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in 1985. By the start of the first sequel, civilization has completely collapsed, with Max turned into a taciturn survivalist roaming through barbaric communities across the wastelands. The iconic leather scavenger look of the sequels has influenced just about every desert post-apocalyptic setting since. While Miller considers the movies standalone myths of a wanderer told over oil barrel campfires, they form a cohesive trilogy with continuity across Max’s clothing, car, and of course the actor portraying him.

While Beyond Thunderdome faced criticism for sidelining Max in favor of a group of children and Tina Turner, it had the challenge of following The Road Warrior, widely considered one of the best action films ever made.

The 2015 Mad Max: Fury Road was decades in development, allowing Miller and collaborators to develop deep lore, worldbuilding, and backstories for Max, warlord Immortan Joe, his rogue lieutenant Furiosa, and War Boy underling Nux. Tom Hardy took on the Max mantle, with Charlize Theron as Furiosa. Immortan Joe was played by Hugh Keays-Byrne, who was also the villain Toecutter in the first movie.

To maintain continuity while enhancing the mythology, Fury Road is set in a separate timeline. The original trilogy’s events have occurred, but details shift to support the new narrative. Miller was involved in a 2015 four-issue comic book series that explores Immortan Joe’s rise, Nux’s upbringing, Furiosa’s motives, and Max regaining his Interceptor car between Thunderdome and Fury Road. (The Mad Max video game exists in its own continuity.)

Filming Fury Road was notoriously difficult, involving flooded sets, long sun-soaked days in Namibia, and lead actors feuding — all documented in Blood, Sweat & Chrome by Kyle Buchanan. The result was a groundbreaking sensory assault and pure action cinema, earning six Oscars plus nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.

With Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Miller returns to the strongest link in the franchise, setting the 2024 film explicitly 15 years before Fury Road, starring Anya Taylor-Joy.

Now, we rank all the Mad Max movies by Tomatometer scores:

#1 Mad Max: Fury Road
Critics Consensus: With exhilarating action and surprising narrative depth, Fury Road revitalizes George Miller’s post-apocalyptic franchise with vigor.
Synopsis: After civilization’s collapse, tyrant Immortan Joe enslaves survivors in the desert fortress, the Citadel. [More]

#2 Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
Critics Consensus: A bigger-budgeted sequel delivering everything expected — bigger, faster, louder, but not dumber.
Synopsis: After avenging his family, Max roams the wasteland fighting for survival. [More]

#3 Furiosa
Critics Consensus: Adds emotional depth enriching Fury Road’s narrative, continuing Miller’s thrilling cinematic journey.
Synopsis: Young Furiosa’s story unfolds after being snatched from the Green Place. [More]

#4 Mad Max (1979)
Critics Consensus: Perfectly staged car stunts and crashes bring Miller’s violent, post-apocalyptic vision to visceral life.
Synopsis: In a near dystopian future where oil is scarce, Max patrols the crumbling society. [More]

#5 Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Critics Consensus: Deepens Max’s character without losing the iconic vehicle choreography and stunts.
Synopsis: Max drifts into a town ruled by Turner and confronts new challenges. [More]