Mad Max is a series of Australian post-apocalyptic action films and media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with Mad Max, and was followed by three sequels: Mad Max 2 (1981, premiered in the United States as The Road Warrior), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015); Miller directed or co-directed all four films. Mel Gibson starred in the first three films and Tom Hardy took on the role of Max in the fourth film.
The series follows the adventures of Max Rockatansky, a police officer in a future Australia that is experiencing social collapse due to war and critical resource shortages. When his wife and son are killed by a gang of bikers, Max kills them in revenge and becomes a loner drifting in Wasteland. As Australia sinks further into barbarism, this skilled road warrior finds himself helping civilisation targets, initially for his own interest, but his motives always drift toward others more altruistic.
The series has been well received by critics, and each film is marked “Certified Fresh” on the Rotten Tomatoes movie review suite website; Mad Max 2 and Fury Road in particular are among the best action movies ever made. The series has also had a significant influence on popular culture, particularly in apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and covers works in additional mediums, including video games and comics. In 2016, Fury Road became the first film from the Mad Max franchise to receive Academy Award recognition, earning six of its ten nominations.
