Every ‘Mad Max’ Movie, in the Order You Should Watch Them
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The latest installment in the Mad Max Cinematic Universe is upon us. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga stars Anya Taylor-Joy as Imperator Furiosa, a role made famous by Charlize Theron in the 2015 Mad Max: Fury Road. The casting of Taylor-Joy is sure to bring new and unfamiliar fans into the world of Mad Max, but don’t walk into Furiosa blind. Arm yourself with the history of this cinematic saga which has spanned more than 40 years of lore.
A perfectly easy, comfortable, and chill watch for 2024, the Mad Max Saga follows a societal collapse in the not-so-far future, brought on by complete environmental destruction and widespread oil shortages. It’s a horror that hits too close to home, and has been doing fearsome numbers since its inception in 1979. The Mad Max world does not end with Furiosa, in fact there is a sixth film in production, Mad Max: The Wasteland. The release date is unclear, but it’s coming. Gird your loins.
Here is the rundown of every Mad Max film, in the order you should watch them. There are so many hours of streaming ahead of you, strap in.
Mad Max (1979)
The film that sparked a franchise, the original Mad Max comes from George Miller and stars Mel Gibson as the eponymous “Mad Max” Rockatansky, former cop turned vigilante living in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian Australia. When his wife and son are murdered by a biker gang, Max begins a relentless fight for revenge and a personal vendetta against the gang.
Mad Max 2 (1981)
The second film in the Mad Max franchise sees the return of Mel Gibson’s “Mad Max” Rockatansky, fresh off the avenging of his family (spoiler alert?), wilding out on his own in the Australian outback, defending himself against nomadic tribes. He finds himself entangled with a not-so-threatening tribe, initially planning to rob them, but ultimately rising as a leader in the group, helping to defend the people from criminal outlaws. A rare occurrence in Hollywood history, the second film is widely considered to be better than its predecessor, named one of the best action films and best sequels ever made.
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
Mel’s back, and this time with a co-star. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome features Tina Turner as the founder and leader of a trading post town called Bartertown who, after initially refusing Max’s entry into her encampment, agrees to resupply his personal arsenal if he completes a task for her. The task? Infiltrate the town’s energy-producing underworld and assassinate the man who runs it, paving the way for her to gain more control in this post-apocalyptic wasteland. The franchise that can’t be killed, the film was received positively and paved the way for a fourth, fifth, and sixth Mad Max installment.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Mad Max’s reentry into the zeitgeist came 30 years after the franchise’s third film with Mad Max: Fury Road. The first installment not to feature Mel Gibson, Fury Road stars Tom Hardy as “Mad Max’ Rockatansky and Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa, a former army officer who joins forces with Max to take down a cult leader she once served. The film is one long road battle, as the pair fight to free the leader’s sex slaves from his grips. The film was initially conceived of in 1987, but didn’t come to fruition until 2010 with the casting of Tom Hardy as the new millennium’s "Mad Max."
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
The diamond of the season, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga delves deeper into the character introduced in the previous film, Imperator Furiosa. The new film is set 15 to 20 years before the events of Fury Road, bringing franchise fans directly into the drama of the fictional societal collapse that began the lore so many years ago. Furiosa’s story begins when she is kidnapped by a villainous biker gang, ripped from her home at the Green Palace of Many Mothers. God, apocalyptic lore is so fun.
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