Furiosa Is Back! Here’s How to Watch the “Mad Max” Movies in Order

The 'Mad Max' franchise release order doesn't follow the story's timeline

The Mad Max franchise has grown from a cult classic into a beloved dystopian empire.

There are currently five films in the Mad Max universe, created by George Miller — who directed or co-directed each movie — and Byron Kennedy. The first Mad Max film came out of Australia in 1979 and was a breakthrough role for a young Mel Gibson, who depicted vengeful former cop Max Rockatansky as he dove deeper and deeper into an Australian wasteland in the first three films. Tom Hardy took over the role with the 2015 release, Mad Max: Fury Road.

The original Mad Max once held the Guinness World Record for the highest box-office-to-budget ratio of all time. Though it’s since been knocked off that pedestal, the franchise's next iteration — the origin story Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga — is the biggest movie production in Australia's history, according to New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

In the 2024 film, Anya Taylor-Joy plays the younger version of fan-favorite Imperator Furiosa, portrayed by Charlize Theron in Fury Road.

Related: Everything to Know About the Mad Max Prequel Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Miller has also said a sixth film, Mad Max: The Wasteland, is in the works. Though the franchise started with Rockatansky as a guide into the director's post-apocalyptic Australia, the more recent films are set in his universe but open the world to other heroic inhabitants.

From the original movie to Furiosa's origin story, here’s how to watch the Mad Max movies in order.

How to Watch the Mad Max Movies in Release Order

• Mad Max (1979)

• Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

• Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

• Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

• Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

How to Watch the Mad Max Movies in Chronological Order

Mad Max (1979)

Miller's directorial debut stars Gibson as Rockatansky, a leather-clad Main Force Patrol officer seeking revenge after a violent motorcycle gang killed his wife and son. The filmmaker worked on the story, set in a near-future Australia after oil has been depleted and peppered with what became the franchise’s signature eccentric characters, with his longtime work partner Kennedy and James McCausland.

He told the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia that Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd films were influential in making this “silent movie with sound.”

Mad Max was received well by fans and has become a cult classic but initially garnered mixed reviews from critics. It went on to win four Australian Film Institute Awards and once held the Guinness World Record for the highest box-office-to-budget ratio of all time, as it cost $380,000 to make but went on to earn more than $100 million worldwide.

To get a better reception in the United States, the Australian actors’ accents were dubbed with American ones.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

The sequel to Mad Max, directed by Miller and starring Gibson, follows Rockatansky through a post-apocalyptic Australia after he’s avenged his wife and son’s deaths. Though he initially plans to steal oil from a group of settlers led by Pappagallo (Mike Preston), he eventually helps defend them against Humungus (Kjell Nilsson) and his vagabond marauders.

Mad Max 2:The Road Warrior had a much bigger budget than its predecessor and set the stage for the iconography the franchise would become known for, blending Western film imagery and extreme action sequences.

The film is beloved by fans and was voted the best action film of all time in a 2015 Rolling Stone poll.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

Miller and Gibson completed their trilogy by upping the ante of the sci-fi Western series, making Rockatansky more empathetic and bringing in Tina Turner, who won an NAACP award for her role as Aunty Entity.

The third film, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, takes place years after Mad Max 2, in the aftermath of a nuclear war that has destroyed most of civilization. After losing his possessions to father-and-son thieves, Rockatansky strikes a deal with the leader of Bartertown (Turner), the most advanced settlement in the wasteland. The former cop becomes a gladiator in the Thunderdome but is later exiled to the desert and rescued by a band of children.

The movie was the first filmed without Kennedy, who died in a helicopter crash in 1983 — Beyond Thunderdome begins with a dedication to the late producer. Reviews were mixed though mostly positive, with frustrations focusing on the back half of the movie, when Rockatansky teams up with the kids.

Though some fans consider this the weakest film of the Mad Max franchise, it garnered mainstream box office success and was lauded for having the showiest visuals of the trilogy.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

The newest addition to the Mad Max universe is an origin story for Imperator Furiosa, portrayed by Taylor-Joy and Alyla Browne — the role of Furiosa was introduced by Theron in 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road. Directed by Miller, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga also stars Chris Hemsworth as the main villain Dementus — a stark turn from his usual hero roles — and Tom Burke as Praetorian Jack.

Filmed in Australia, the fifth Mad Max movieis a years-long saga that follows Furiosa as she's snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and lands with Warlord Dementus' Biker Horde. As they make their way through the wastelands, Dementus clashes with The Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), and Furiosa must survive numerous obstacles as she tries to make her way back home.

During CinemaCon 2024, Taylor-Joy described the film as “the story of one woman’s relentless commitment to hope.” Miller has said the film takes place in three distinct acts: I: Her Odyssey Begins, II: A Warrior Awakens and III: Ride Into Vengeance.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga opens in theaters on May 24, 2024.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Thirty years after the original trilogy ended, the franchise roared back into theaters in May 2015 with Hardy taking on the titular role of Rockatansky and Theron portraying Imperator Furiosa.

The movie was directed by Miller, who came up with the idea for the plot in the late ‘80s but ran into years of development delays. Finally filmed in Namibia, Mad Max: Fury Road finds Rockatansky begrudgingly joining forces with Furiosa in a days-long road war against cult leader Immortal Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne).

The cast was rounded out by Nicholas Hoult, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, Abbey Lee, Zoë Kravitz and Courtney Eaton. Praised by critics and fans, it is the highest-grossing Mad Max film so far, garnering over $375 million worldwide, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The action film also won six Oscars.

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