Mad Max is a post-apocalyptic Australian action film series 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, released 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 his son are murdered by a motorcycle gang, Max kills them in revenge and becomes a loner adrift in the Wasteland. As Australia sinks deeper into barbarism, this skilled road warrior finds himself helping pockets of civilization, initially out of self-interest, but his motives always drift toward more altruistic ones.
The series has been well received by critics, with each film being marked “Certified Fresh” on the film review group Rotten Tomatoes 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 apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and encompasses works in additional media, including video games and comics. In 2016, Fury Road became the first film in the Mad Max franchise to receive Academy Award recognition, winning six of its ten nominations.