Every Mad Max Movie, Ranked

Much to its credit, the Mad Max franchise has never had an outright bad movie. That said, there are two that are much better than the other three. Even at its worst the franchise has always strived to deliver breakneck set pieces and a desolate world. For the most part, the five installments have succeeded in delivering at least one of those two things. This is the franchise that really helped popularize Australian cinema across the globe. And, to that point, it put its creator and director, George Miller, on the map. Years from now, when people look back on his career, they’ll first think of this post-apocalyptic saga.

That’s a high compliment considering Miller also directed The Witches of Eastwick, wrote and directed Lorenzo’s Oil, wrote Babe, wrote and directed that film’s sequel, and created the Happy Feet franchise. He’s a versatile talent, but Mad Max will always be his greatest creation. But which of his five action packed movies is the best?

5) Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is basically tied with the next entry as the “Worst” of the franchise. But they’re ranked low for different reasons.

The next entry feels like it has stakes. Not many stakes, but one event does establish a devastating degree of stakes. Thunderdome has no such event. It basically is to the Mad Max trilogy what the Ewoks were to the Star Wars original trilogy. It’s basically just Peter Pan in a desolated hellscape wasteland. There are highpoints, like Tina Turner’s work as Aunty Entity and Max’s fight against Master Blaster, but oftentimes its tone is so lightened from what was seen in The Road Warrior that we feel as if we’re watching films from two different, similar-looking universes. Choices were made in Beyond Thunderdome‘s construction that are pretty confusing, given how The Road Warrior was an influential financial success. Why deviate from what really, really worked?

4) Mad Max

In terms of budget to overall financial haul, the original Mad Max was by far the most profitable. In fact, it’s still considered one of the worthiest investments in film history. But man is it a different animal from the rest of the franchise. In other words, it doesn’t even really quite have the spirit seen in the other films. Even Thunderdome did a better job of capturing post-apocalyptic anarchy.

The original film does take place in a dystopian Australia that is going to hell thanks to an oil shortage, but it really doesn’t feel like a dystopia at all. There are occupied buildings everywhere, there’s still a police force, everything just feels kind of…normal. Sure, there’s a rabid motorcycle gang, but we’ve yet to reach the post-apocalyptic, deserted terrain vibe that has helped the franchise feel so unique. Furthermore, Max plays better as a loner. And, if he’s not going to be a loner, the script better go out of its way to make his wife and child stand out as important, not just as doomed catalysts for Max to turn, well, Mad.

3) Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

It may be a bit overlong, but plenty of credit is due Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga for being the most ambitious entry of the franchise. It arguably complicates Imperator Furiosa’s lore a bit more than it had to, but for the most part it’s a visually stunning work with plenty on its mind. Not to mention, if Chris Hemsworth’s work as Dr. Dementus isn’t his best to date, it still ranks mighty high.

Miller has discussed a return to Mad Max after Furiosa, but the film’s underperformance has unfortunately made that quite unlikely. But if there’s one thing Furiosa proved it’s that Miller still has plenty of intriguing ideas left to further flesh out this particular cinematic world.

2) Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

As mentioned, Max didn’t have much personality in the original film. That’s surely intentional because it’s never been altered in any of the sequels. However, in Mad Max 2, we got to see him have a pup, and it’s surprising that dynamic has never been revived in subsequent films. After all, his wife and child were such nonentities in the original film that his bonding with “Dog” in The Road Warrior (as it is called in the United States) carries so much more weight. The same goes for his fate, which is about the same as the fates of Max’s wife and child.

The Road Warrior works so well because Max’s dry personality feels more logical now that the world (which is firmly and fully established in this film) has become a mess. We believe that he’s really in it for himself, but we also get glimpses of the good man he still is deep down, e.g. when he gives one of the compound’s youngest residents a music box. There’s just enough character development in The Road Warrior for us to feel as if we know Max and to genuinely want to know him better. Plus, the film has not one but two great villains in Lord Humungus and Wez.

1) Mad Max: Fury Road

Filled with breathtaking, practical effects generated action sequences and loads of instantly iconic decked-out vehicles, Mad Max: Fury Road is easily the most enthralling entry of the franchise. But it’s not the best based solely on that.

Fury Road is the best Mad Max because it’s not really even about Mad Max. It’s about Imperator Furiosa and, like with Max, we don’t know much about her. But we do know enough to make her intriguing. Furthermore, while we don’t know many details about her life, we know that she’s risking it to save the lives of a few women who are being forced to have the babies of a tyrant. That’s a protagonist we can get behind, the action sequences (which, again, are some of the best in film history) are just icing on the cake. Toss in a franchise-best villain in Immortan Joe and Fury Road is the winner.

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